Hero Journalism goes in-depth with legendary comic book artist John Romita about the 1977 The Amazing Spider-Man live action TV show, which also presented the Black Costume some seven years before it debuted in comics!
The Amazing Spider-Man is the 1977, live-action TV series based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.
The show began as a feature-length film, which was released on CBS television in the united states, but enjoyed a short theatrical run in other markets. The film spawned a short-lived, two season TV series, which contains only 13 episodes in total.
Nicholas Hammond stars as a college-age Peter Parker who attends University and works as a photographer for the Daily Planet. The series had comic book staple characters like J. Jonah Jameson (David White in the pilot film and Robert F. Simon in the series), Joe "Robbie" Robertson (Hilly Hicks) and even Aunt May (played by a variety of actors.
Although Spider-Man had appeared in live-action previously, during short segments of the children's TV show The Electric Company, this was the first live-action adaptation that prominently into Marvel's wall-crawler. Sadly, the show could not hope to capture the look and feel of the Marvel comics or cartoons, given the budget and technology restrictions of the day. The series did well in the ratings but CBS opted not to continue it, given that they were already heavy with superhero content. Neither does the show seem to inspire nostalgia in fans.
