THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY - "Unaired Pilot" (1961)

Tonight's Weird Wednesday feature is yet another unaired pilot, "The Adventures Of Superboy" that was made, but never sold in 1961. 

They tried to make it as similar to "The Adventures Of Superman" as they possibly could, but I guess there was just something missing!

If I hadn't told you this was Superboy, how would you ever know that it wasn't Superman?

Aw, it's a cute little baby Superboy come here all the way from Krypton!

John/Johnny Rockwell had the role of Superboy. Maybe if this series had got bought, he'd be as famous as George Reeves, but alas, that's not what happened!

This is a feel good story about a kid who goes to the same high school as Clark Kent, and is ashamed because his Father's occupation is a lowly doorman in the Aero Theatre, but after the theatre gets robbed by some thugs, his Dad becomes a hero!

These are the thugs in question! In the front seat are Charles (Peter Gunn, Adventures Of Superman, Star Trek) Maxwell as Gunner Ferde, and Stacy (Phillip Marlowe, Man With A Camera) Harris as Jake. In the backseat is Richard Reeves again, this time as an all-day sucker named Shifty.

Charles Maxwell was also the radio announcer in "The Twilight Zone" episode "I Am The Night - Color Me Black."

They're having the premier of  "Rajah's Ransom" in the theatre in Smallville, and as a promo, they're bringing in $200,000 worth of diamonds to show off to the public!

At least these hoods have a nice ride!

Here's the plan, although he doesn't like it, because he knows he's going to jail, Shifty is supposed to take some pot shots at a cop, so that Superboy will show up, and be distracted long enough for the other two to steal the jewels. Shifty will have to only do five or six months in the pen, and when he gets out, they will have fifty grand for him!

The cop shows up and Shifty starts firing! Personally, I think a six month sentence for shooting a dozen times at a police officer is deserving of a bit of a longer sentence, like twenty years for attempted murder!

Clark Kent and Lana Lang are doing their homework when this lamp starts flashing a signal to Superboy that the police need help. He tells Lana it's probably just the light bulb that needs to be replaced!

Next thing Lana knows is that Clark is gone!

"Last chance up there, are you coming out, or am I coming after you?"

The doorman can't identify these clowns as the robbers, even though they are known associates of Shifty.

But he's been learning to draw at home, so his son suggests he sketches them.

The super bright Captain then proclaims that the mugs must have gotten plastic surgery, and he would be right!

The premier still needs to go on, so Superboy does his nifty trick of turning coal into diamonds that they can put on display during the interim process!

Shifty ain't talking but Superboy can give him a makeshift lie detector test by listening to his pulse with his super hearing when he gets asked a couple of questions!

Later, Superboy needs to use his super vision!

The punk hoodlums kidnap the doorman to silence him once and for all, and they take him out into the boondocks and put him in the road, and are going to run over him, to make it look like a simple unsolved hit and run, but Superboy is on to them!

Superboy blocks the oncoming car and keeps it from creaming the guy!
Thanx go out this time to Rich (You Were Always Trouble) Arithmetic for turning me onto this little unpolished jewel!

And if you don't believe me, then check it out for yourself!

THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG / Weird! Horrifying! Fascinating! - 1939

When Dr. Savaard's experiment in cryonics is interrupted by short-sighted authorities, his young volunteer dies, and he is condemned to death. He vows vengeance on those people, if he can survive his own hanging... Man, that's one nice insert poster from Columbia Pictures.

It stars Boris (FRANKENSTEIN 1970) Karloff, Lorna (VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES - Lived to be 99 years old!) Gray, Robert (MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN) Wilcox, Roger (SCARED STIFF) Pryor, Don (BEWARE SPOOKS) Beddoe and Ann (THE GREEN HORNET - Ended her career with 379 acting credits!) Doran... What in the heck is VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES?!

Here's Dr. Savaard in his lab, preparing his volunteer patient for his experiment to bring the dead back to life. His assistant has brought him the final machine to complete his list of needed equipment. His nurse, Betty, is against the experiment, that's her boy friend there on the table. She gets locked out of the room so she goes to the police.

Is this a cool shot or what?!

Betty is frantic at the police station, saying that the doctor has committed a murder! Newsman 'Scoop' Foley is there on other business, but thinks he's got another scoop here!

Police Lt. Shane has his boys break into the doctor's lab. The experiment has been interrupted and the patient cannot be brought back from the dead now, as the doctor is taken away...

The doctor tries to persuade the jury to understand how important his work is for humanity. He even tells them about how the authorities are responsible for the man's death because of the interruption. But, the doctor is asked one simple question... Did you kill your patient? And he answers, yes. That's enough for the jury to come up with a guilty verdict, so, it's off to the gallows with him...

The doctor's assistant claims the body, and so, it's off to the lab! Doc's brought back and is filled with hate and revenge for the ones that are now his enemies. I don't know why but the first still reminds me of SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. Boy, that's one I loved when they showed it on late night chiller theater TV in the fifties!

The doctor sent out invitations using the DA's name to get them there. No one knew the doc was alive and the group wants to know if he had anything to do with six of the jurors that were found hanged... Savaard tells them, I'm legally dead, how could a dead man hang anyone?

Then the fun begins, he informs the crowd that they are all going to die tonight, and the DA will be first, exactly at 7, others will die every 15 minutes after that... And, there is no escaping from his house.

The DA starts to flip out and tries to leave. The doctor tells him.. DO NOT TRY TO LEAVE! A little reverse psychology can go a long way!

Then it's this guy's turn, he's tricked into answering the phone only to get a spike into his brain!

Then Betty's up to bat. The doctor turns off the lights and Betty becomes the target. She tries to hide but the doctor fires a rifle at her, but misses.

Savaard is hiding in a special room where he taunts the group over a loud speaker.

Wouldn't you know it, his daughter shows up, she didn't ever know he was alive again. He tells her to leave but she goes around to the front gate and threatens him saying she's going to open the gate, and he'd better turn the electricity off if he cares for her. He tries to flip the switch, but it's too late! Also, the doctor takes a bullet.

Daughter is rushed to the lab where her father brings her back to the land of the living.

After everyone leaves the room, the doctor takes his rifle and shoots up his lab, leaving the machine destroyed. A physician comes back into the room and asks Savaard why he destroyed his machine, and, the doctor keels over dead before he can respond...

So like, check in again on Wednesday when Eegah!! will try and satisfy your horror tooth again, here at The Dungeon!!..

THE ORSON WELLES SHOW - "Unaired Pilot" (1979)

I've got a great Saturday Night Special for you this evening, yet another unaired pilot that will just leave you scratching your head in wonder how it couldn't have possibly been sold to a network. No wonder I stopped watching TV back in those days because they weren't airing the cool stuff like this!

Orson Welles is just crazy brilliant cool, and fun to watch and listen to!

If I had to make a choice of five people from history to have dinner with, I'm pretty sure Orson would have been one of them!

"The Orson Welles Show" was done in a fairly straight forward talk show format, except they never show Orson and his guests in the same frame, at least as far as I can remember!

It's pretty damn funny, and they make like it's a coincidence that Orson and his first guest Burt Reynolds are both wearing red shirts!

Burt tells some truly funny stories and does a bit of an impersonation of Cary Grant!

Next guests up are The Muppets with Gonzo doing the cue cards!

Fozzie and Kermit get interviewed by Orson!

It's a crack up because it's all so serious!

Sometimes I get bored with a 30 minute or less show, but this show was 90 minutes long and felt like it got over too soon! It's that good!

Here's something you will never see again on a TV show, Orson Welles smokes at least three cigars over the course of 90 minutes!

Time to let the magic begin!

Sawing a woman in half wasn't good enough for Orson, he had to go for thirds!

Another Orson Welles feature you should absolutely see is his pseduo-documentary from 1973, 

"F Is For Fake!"

Not to be outdone by The Muppets, the next guests are the two main men behind The Muppets scene, Frank Oz, and Jim Henson!

Last but not least on the show is the beautiful Angie Dickinson, who doesn't say much, but instead is Orson's assistant in a couple more magic tricks!

In the "Don't Try This At Home" department, Orson's last trick is one that fatally failed when another magician from another time attempted it!

It's a form of Russian Roulette where Orson has to tell Angie when to stop firing before she hits the live shell.

 Pretty Dramatic no doubt and you finally stop wondering why they couldn't sell this show!

Unfortunately Orson picks the wrong time to stop and is hideously killed by the speeding bullet!

Just kidding, but I'm sure Orson would have loved to have been carried off dead, and you didn't find out until the next week that it was all just a trick!

Find out for yourself at the amazing and always free Internet Archive!

And while you're there check out the equally amazing radio shows by the guy who told me about this show,

LORD LITTER!