Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle -- On PBS
Chuck_Melville
Posts: 3,003
PBS is presenting a documentary on comic books and superheroes this month, titled "Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle". The description I have for it is as follows:
""Adventures of Superman,'' starring George Reeves, airs on television in the 1950s; a new breed of superhero emerges in Marvel Comics; superheroes are widely embraced in all forms of media and by all demographics."
The time may vary according to your local PBS channel, but I see the local channel here in Seattle is presenting it in two formats: as a three-hour film in primetime (which puts it smack up against SHIELD) on October 15, and broken into three one-hour chapters shown on three different nights at about three o'clock in the morning.
I haven't yet decided which version to watch. Oh, for a cable set-up that would allow me to actually use a VCR again!!!
""Adventures of Superman,'' starring George Reeves, airs on television in the 1950s; a new breed of superhero emerges in Marvel Comics; superheroes are widely embraced in all forms of media and by all demographics."
The time may vary according to your local PBS channel, but I see the local channel here in Seattle is presenting it in two formats: as a three-hour film in primetime (which puts it smack up against SHIELD) on October 15, and broken into three one-hour chapters shown on three different nights at about three o'clock in the morning.
I haven't yet decided which version to watch. Oh, for a cable set-up that would allow me to actually use a VCR again!!!
Comments
Also, Flagwaver, almost all PBS stations are airing the entire series from 8 pm to 11pm on Tuesday the 15th, along with other repeat airing. What station do you watch?
I saw a quick promo for this last night on the local PBS station. They are showing all three episodes tonight back to back.
"SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE is the first documentary to examine the dawn of the comic book genre and its powerful legacy, as well as the evolution of the characters who leapt from the pages over the last 75 years and their ongoing worldwide cultural impact."
There are a few clips on YouTube. Just search SUPERHEROES: A NEVER-ENDING BATTLE.
Neat little bite from Gerry Conway. He says DC offices in the 1960's was like an episode of Mad Men. Lots of stuffy starched shirts.
Local PBS stations are repeating the show in segments during the wee hours of the morning. Since the primetime showing is up against SHIELD, I'm opting for the early morning viewing, especially since I usually get up about that time anyway.
P.S. @phansford, thanks for that snippet of the Gerry Conway interview! I just listened to Conway being interviewed on the Word Balloon podcast and now I know what he looks like. lol
If the show interested you at any point about the connection between comics and American culture, I highly recommend "Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America" by Bradford Wright. He was featured in all three episodes. Easy to read, scholarly look on the topic. Lots of new information.
http://www.pbs.org/superheroes
Also loved Stan's comment on Batman and Robin "at the very least, people would talk". LOL.
I do feel that the documentary only gives us half of the story, though their focus was, as noted in the title, directed towards the Superhero and not the comics. I would have liked to have seen a more extensive documentary that looked deeper into the lives of the creators, the ups and downs of the business, the backgrounds of the publishers and the people who ran the businesses, the social impacts of the TV, Movie and Radio tie-ins, and the merchandising. In short, something much closer to a Ken Burns' documentary.