Adventures of Superman
The Unknown People: Part I
TV Flash files “The Unknown People: Part I” as hour 25 of 104 in the TV Flash guide — Adventures of Superman (1952–1958) on Syndication, season 1, episode 25, aired 1953-08-10, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E25: listed hour 25 of 104 in the Adventures of Superman guide, hour 25 of 26 in season 1. It aired 1953-08-10 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Crime Wave” (S01E24). Next is “The Unknown People: Part II” (S01E26).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane travel to Silsby, Texas, site of the deepest well ever drilled. But when they arrive, the well is being shut down and the oil company manager present isn't saying why. Meanwhile, two short beings with large heads and furry hands come up from the well to explore. Luke Benson leads a mob of townspeople wanting to kill the "unknown people." Despite Superman's efforts to calm things down, the mob has tracked the two creatures to the top of a dam, trying to kill them. What the mob doesn't know is the creatures cause things they touch to glow in the dark -- and may be radioactive. [Episode 25 and 26 together were originally the movie "Superman and the Mole-Men" (1951). Information from http://fandom.wikia.com/: "Superman and the Mole Men is a 1951 black and white film which later aired as two episodes of the Adventures of Superman TV series called "The Unknown People." It was the first theatrical feature film based on the Superman characters (although two live action Superman films had already been shown in cinemas, they appeared in a serial format). With an original screenplay by "Richard Fielding" (a pseudonym for Robert Maxwell & Whitney Ellsworth), it was shot in 12 days on a studio back lot. It served as a trial run for the syndicated TV series Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves and Phyllis Coates reprising their film roles as Superman and Lois Lane, respectively."]
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Unknown People: Part I sit in the Adventures of Superman guide?
S01E25 is listed hour 25 of 104 — hour 25 of 26 in season 1, season 1 episode 25.
When did Adventures of Superman S01E25 air?
The Unknown People: Part I aired 1953-08-10 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,…