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Those of you who've followed my INCREDIBLE HULK page since its inception, know that it was originally built around a Frequently Asked Questions document. This page is dedicated to the most common questions I get asked about the Spider-Man show. If you have other questions or interesting answers, please email me! 



Why Do You Like This Stupid Show? 
For all of its flaws, I find Spider-Man to be an exciting, fun and reasonably well written and acted show. Sure, it's kinda silly to watch the guy in the funny red costume but the excellent stunts made up for that. And if you weren't at least a little bit interested in this show, you probably wouldn't be reading this FAQ!

How Did You Even Remember This Show? Didn't It Have Terrible Ratings and Get Canceled Quickly?  

One of the most common misconceptions about the live-action Spider-Man show is that it was a "low rated program that was quickly Canceled because its ratings were so bad". This misconception tends to stem from two things: first, the critical reaction to the show was terrible and it was widely panned. Second, CBS only made thirteen episodes which suggests a show that ran for half a season and was canned. 

The saga of Spider-Man in prime-time  gives a glimpse into some of the bizarre decisions made by networks. The pilot film, made in 1977, generated very good ratings for CBS, so Spider-Man was transformed into a late-season replacement series in the spring of 1978. Five one-hour episodes aired during that spring, all to very good ratings. In fact, during the 1977/1978 season, "The Amazing Spider-Man" was the 19th most watched television series that year. It even had higher ratings than CBS' popular INCREDIBLE HULK series, which typically was a top 35 program. However, THE INCREDIBLE HULK was more popular with the adult audience than THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. 

Strangely, though, the network didn't renew Spider-Man for a full season.  Instead, they ordered eight episodes for the 1978/9 season which aired as "specials" all over the schedule throughout the fall and winter.  In an effort to grow the audience to include more adults, CBS got rid of the Captain Barbera character and added rival photographer, Julie Masters, as a love-interest for Peter. Ratings were still very good, but network, apparently tired of being known as "The Super-Hero" network and footing the bill for Spidey's expensive stunts, canceled the show. During the summer of 1979, the network aired Spidey's final TV adventure in the form of a two hour movie called "The Chinese Web" and then banished Spidey to syndication. 

 How Come Spider-Man did not swing on his webline in the series?   
Actually he did - just not very often! :-) Those scenes were really expensive to shoot, not to mention VERY DANGEROUS so Spider-Man wasn't seen traveling across the city by webline like he did in the comics and cartoon shows. Still, there are scenes of him swinging on his webline in the pilot, CURSE OF RAVA, CON CAPER and stock footage from the pilot was also used in THE DEADLY DUST.


Are Any Of These Episodes Available On Video Or DVD? 
At this time, none of Spider-Man's live-action adventures are available on video or DVD. You may be able to find older videos that are out of print by scouring your local video store or online auction sites such as Ebay.  At one time or other, all of Spider-Man's live action adventures except "The Captive Tower" have been released on video via on of three companies. These  include: 

From Prism Entertainment (circa 1984) 

Spider-Man Volume 1 (contains "Night of the Clones" and "Escort To Danger") 
Spider-Man Volume 2 (contains "Con Caper" and "The Curse Of Rava") 

From Children's Playhouse Video (circa 1986) 
Spider-Man (pilot) 
Spider-Man: The Deadly Dust 
Spider-Man: The Chinese Web 

From Rhino Entertainment (circa 1996)  
Spider-Man (pilot) 
Spider-Man: The Deadly Dust 
Spider-Man: Night of the Clones/Escort To Danger 
Spider-Man: Con Caper/The Curse of Rava 
Spider-Man: Wolf Pack/Matter of State 
Spider-Man: The Kirkwood Haunting/Photo Finish 
Spider-Man: The Chinese Web 


Where Can I Watch Episodes Of Spider-Man?  
Because Spider-Man only had 13 live-action adventures, Spider-Man tends not to be as commonly scene in syndication as - say - BAT-MAN or THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Nonetheless, you can occasionally catch Spider-Man movies on places like USA Today, the Sci Fi Channel and TNT. 


What Happened To Captain Barbera? 
The producers apparently disliked Michael Pataki's character, Captain Barbera,  and dropped him after the first season. In the second season, the producers' attempted to give Spidey a more adult flavor. Perhaps they felt that Barbera and his occasionally corny lines were too campy to help them achieve this.  In the second season, several different police captains were shown. Unfortunately for poor Captain B, no explanation for his disappearance was given. Perhaps he's still locked in a donut shop? Maybe he had an affair with Lisa Alvarez and was dismissed? 

Did Nicholas Hammond Do His Own Stunts? 
Nope! Fred Waugh did all of the really dangerous stuff like Spidey swinging from one building to another in the pilot; swinging from a helicopter in "The Deadly Dust"; and scaling the Empire State Building in "A Matter Of State". Hammond himself was actually afraid of heights! 

I'm Sure I Saw Nicholas Hammond Play Spider-Man In A Theatrical Movie Back In The Seventies? 
If you live outside of North America and saw Nicholas Hammond playing our favorite arachnid hero in the late 1970s, you probably did so in a movie theater. Three Spider-Man "movies" were show theatrically outside of North America including the pilot, The Deadly Dust (released as 'Spiderman Strikes Back') and The Chinese Web (also known as  Spiderman: The Dragon's Challenge). 

Is Chip Fields Related To Facts Of Life Star, Kim Fields? 
Yep! Chip is her mother.  In fact, Chip even played her mother on "The Facts Of Life".  Both mother and daughter are still in the business. 

Where Is Nicholas Hammond Now? 
Living and working in Australia and has been for some time. He's appeared in movies, commercials, television series' and stage plays. He's also apparently been writing screenplays. I saw him playing the deranged Agent Smiley on the new Flipper tv series a couple of years ago.  More recently, I saw him on an episode of "The Lost World", a show filmed in Australia starring the lovely Jennifer O'Dell.

Where is Robert F. Simon Now? 
Robert passed away in 1992. 

Michael Pataki Seems So Familiar? Has He Been In Other Science Fiction Shows? 
Michael Pataki is a big-time character actor who's played everything from a Russian boxing coach in Rocky IV to the Klingon that started the big brawl in the classic Star Trek episode, The Trouble With Tribbles. For a full glimpse into his career and to constantly think, "oh yeah - that was him!" go to his website: www.michaelpataki.com 

When Is The New Big Budget Spider-Man Movie Coming Out? 

For years I was pretty skeptical that Spider-Man would ever come to the big screen. The movie rights had been held up in red tape for years, but it's now cleared up and the new movie, "SPIDER-MAN" is scheduled for a May 3, 2002 release. Spidey will be played by Toby Maguire, Mary-Jane will be played by Kirsten Dunst and Willem Defoe is the Green Goblin. For more information, click here!


Do You Think Nicholas Hammond Will Appear In The Upcoming Spider-Man Movie?  
While it would be cool for Nick to appear in the new movie, much like Richard Roundtree did in the new SHAFT film, I have a sinking feeling that the notoriety of the series may make this a moot point. Plus, Nicholas Hammond lives in Australia!  Nicholas has apparently given his blessing to the project and thinks Toby Maguire is a "wonderful actor".

What Is Your Favorite Episode?  
For me, it's probably a close call between "The Chinese Web" and "Photo Finish". I generally like the second season better than the first. 

Would You Be Willing To Tape Episodes For Me?  
I get way too many requests to tape episodes from people who visit both my Spider-Man and my Incredible Hulk websites. If I were to try to honor all of these, I'd probably have to give up my job, my girlfriend and my life away in front of  the VCRs! As such, I generally don't. Sorry. 

Take heart, however. These things show on on Ebay all the time!


Do You Know If There Were Ever Plans To do An Incredible Hulk/Spider-Man Crossover? 
According to Hulk producer, Ken Johnson, "NO!" ... at least not at the time that THE INCREDIBLE HULK was in its original run. Johnson had enough trouble accepting that the Hulk was green and just couldn't fathom him hanging  around with a super-hero that wore red and blue tights. 

However, Nicholas Hammond recently gave an interview in which he mentioned that there were plans to do a Spider-Man/Hulk TV movie after both shows were canceled. Apparently Lou Ferrigno wasn't ready to re-don the green paint and the project was shelved. 

I want To Talk About This Show With Other Fans. Where Can I Do It? 
Try my discussion forum located within this site.

How Did Spider-Man, the television series, differ from Spider-Man the comic book? 
Generally, Spidey stayed fairly true to his comic book origins when compared to - say - THE INCREDIBLE HULK tv show or the CAPTAIN AMERICA tv movies. Similarities included: 

  • His powers were generally the same: he had superhuman strength, could stick to walls, could leap high up in the air, had a super sense of balance and a spider-sense that warned him of danger. 
  • He had the Spidey gadgets including the web shooters, utility belt and Spider-Tracers. Like early issues, he had to use a device to track his tracers. 

What was different tended to be found in the characterizations of the series.

  • Peter Parker's Uncle Ben never appeared in the TV show and had no impact on Peter's decision to become Spider-Man. 
  • J. Jonah Jameson wasn't Spider-Man's arch enemy in the series - just kind of an old grump. 
  • Mary Jane Watson, Felicia Hardy, Gwen Stacy and Peter's other leading ladies did not appear. 
  • Robbie Robertson only appeared in the pilot episode.
  • Aunt May was used only sparingly. 
  • Spidey's enemies tended not to be super-human. 
  • He tended not to make wise-cracks at his opponents but did occasionally do humorous things. 
  • Rita Conway, Captain Barbera and Julie Masters did not appear in the comic.

How did you design this site?
The bulk of the work was done on an iMac, using some files leftover from my original Windows PC. The pictures and video were captured using a combination of the InterVIEW capture device from XLR8 and the GrabIT by AIMS Labs. The MP3s were made using Ultra Recorder and iTunes. The images were photo-edited using Corel PHOTO-PAINT 10 for Macintosh, while the HTML work was done with Adobe Page-Mill 3.0.

Can I use the pictures/sounds/articles/videos on your site on a website I have?

Please don't. Please don't link to individual files either. If you'd like a picture, sound or video, it's probably better just to ask me. If you're thinking of taking my pictures, articles and such without asking my permission, please remember that plagiarism is ILLEGAL and not something I take kindly to.

 

 
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and PETER PARKER are trademarks of the Marvel Comics Group. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN live action television series is owned by Charles Fries Productions. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN live action television series page is an unofficial site created and maintained by MARK RATHWELL  that is not endorsed by either of these parties.