Adventures of Superman
The Runaway Robot
TV Flash files “The Runaway Robot” as hour 17 of 104 in the TV Flash guide — Adventures of Superman (1952–1958) on Syndication, season 1, episode 17, aired 1953-01-09, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E17: listed hour 17 of 104 in the Adventures of Superman guide, hour 17 of 26 in season 1. It aired 1953-01-09 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Double Trouble” (S01E16). Next is “Drums of Death” (S01E18).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The police are on the lookout for the Inventor of a robot, they believe the inventor is behind a crime wave instigated by the missing robot. Clark and his fellow reporters search for the truth.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Runaway Robot sit in the Adventures of Superman guide?
S01E17 is listed hour 17 of 104 — hour 17 of 26 in season 1, season 1 episode 17.
When did Adventures of Superman S01E17 air?
The Runaway Robot aired 1953-01-09 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with Reeves in the Daily Planet ensemble — Coates or Neill as Lois, Larson as Jimmy — and the weekly civic cliff. Color seasons are a later texture, not a prerequisite.
In the series
Why this series still plays
George Reeves's Adventures of Superman is the first live-action cape kids treated as scripture: black-and-white mythmaking that later went color without losing the civic-sermon tone. Watch it in 2026 to see how superhero television learned to sell truth, justice, and a weekly cliff before blockbusters industrialized the idea.
Look, up in the sky. (I said spoiler-free. The cape is the spoiler, and the kids already knew.) George Reeves put the cape on a syndicated schedule (1952–1958), 104 episodes across six seasons, and made truth, justice, and a weekly cliff into kids' scripture. Clark Kent, Lois Lane (Phyllis Coates, then Noel Neill), Jack Larson's Jimmy Olsen chased stories at the Daily Planet while Superman foiled crooks and mad scientists. Later seasons filmed in color though many stations still aired in black-and-white; the…
Filed against
- George Reeves as Superman / Clark Kent
George Reeves's Superman / Clark Kent was the first live-action cape kids treated as scripture — Adventures of Superman as 1950s black-and-white mythmaking that later went color without dropping the civic-sermon tone. Truth, justice, a…
- Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane
Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane on Adventures of Superman, the 1950s first live-action cape kids treated as scripture — George Reeves, black-and-white mythmaking that later went color without losing the civic-sermon tone. Truth, justice,…
- Noel Neill as Lois Lane
Noel Neill’s Lois Lane made Adventures of Superman the first live-action cape kids treated as scripture — 1950s black-and-white mythmaking, George Reeves, civic-sermon tone that later went color without losing the weekly cliff. TV Flash…
- Jack Larson as Jimmy Olsen
Jack Larson’s Jimmy Olsen made Adventures of Superman feel like a newsroom with a cape in the closet — cub-reporter bounce, civic-sermon 1950s mythmaking, kids treating live-action flying as scripture. Camera, crash, loyalty. TV Flash…
- John Hamilton as Perry White
John Hamilton’s Perry White barked Adventures of Superman into civic-sermon form — George Reeves’s first live-action cape kids treated as scripture, black-and-white mythmaking that later went color without losing the tone. Truth, justice,…