(Opening begins at the 0:36-end mark from the theme from the final season of American Gladiators
original run play the camera pulls back to see James and everyone else on top
of a slab with the words “The Last Of The Americans” on it before cutting to James in his office)
TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and the views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours. With the recent passing of Margot Kidder and of course it being Superman's 80th birthday, a lot of people have been talking about something that needs to be de-mystified. The "Curse Of Superman"! (Cut to different iterations of Superman in either live action or animated forms as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover):
I mean it's not hard to understand how this supposed curse came to be! When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster lost the rights to Superman to DC Comics they were plenty angry and for many of Superman fans many believe Siegel and Shuster planted the curse and the biggest victim is that of the "Curse" if there is one IS Superman, When George Reeves died in 1959 many believed it was either murder or suicide due to depression caused by being Superman. But I never put stock into that because by that point in George's career he seemed to be glad to be Superman and was looking forward towards doing more behind the scenes work including more directing episodes as much as he was acting in them and many believed this curse began when Reeves died, however the character seemed to be going strong in terms of Comic Book sales that is until November of 1963 Superman was at heights many superheroes now know of and there was going to be an issue in one of his comic books in which he and John Kennedy the President at the time were going to be together talking about the Space Program. I'm certain what happened to John Kennedy in November of 1963 pretty much put the bullet in Superman's popularity because after Kennedy died sales of his comics went down the toilet and an animated series that had Clayton "Bud" Collier returning after performing the character in Radio shows and the Fleischer Studios Cartoons was mainly seen as awful. There was a Broadway musical that tried to emulate the style of the Adam West Batman series to hopefully recapture some of the ground he lost but it fell to earth faster than a speeding bullet and a late night special that was adapted from the musical is so universally panned there is no known copy of it on DVD, yet somehow I found a Bootleg copy of it on YouTube. Don't ask me how, I found it and let's leave it at that. One of the ways the curse hurt Superman was when Editor Julius Schwarz made some dumbass decisions like making Clark a TV News Reporter, Lois be adamant towards her disdain towards Superman and some ideas like nixing Kryptonite and turning it into red Solar Radiation that can weaken Superman. So I was glad when Crisis On Infinite Earths happened because after that event comic they rebooted the character back to the core essence and thankfully even with the new 52 messing around a bit with changing him again DC got him back working at The Daily Planet, married to Lois Lane and from what I've read, they have a kid together so Mazel Tov to that. But that didn't mean the Curse didn't hurt Superman before that point. I refer you to the fact that had it not been for Standards & Practices every single Fire Island/San Francisco joke landing on the last son of Krypton in the "Superfriends" animated series. Meanwhile Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster must've been angrier than ever when it was discovered that Warner Brothers which at that point owned DC Comics in conjunction with Alexander & Ilya Salkind were going to make an 80 Million Dollar Blockbuster directed by Richard Donner, written by Mario Puzo, having Marlon Brando play Jor-El and all of that happening while the creators were scrapping by on minimum wage? Neal Adams, famed Comic Book Writer, Inker, Penciler, Editor and Publisher wasn't gonna have any of that! Neal Adams made a series of public appearances for the creators and have the duo tell their story as DC made millions while they made Peanuts in terms of financial success and the fact they weren't being credited as the creators of Superman. In essence, Neal Adams nearly committed Career Suicide to help Siegel & Shuster and it worked out the best for everyone. Not only did they get DC to give them royalties and a pension plan so the two can live comfortably the rest of their lives, Neal Adams got Siegel and Shuster the right to be re-recognized as the creators of Superman and in 2013 there was a settlement between DC and the Estates of Siegel and Shuster in terms of the Rights of Superman. Now you think that proverbial curse would end? To which I say "Have you not heard the behind the scenes chaos that happened during production?". While the first movie remains one of the best movies ever made, it's no surprise Superman II, Superman III, Supergirl & Superman IV are the way they are nor did it come to no surprise when DC thought the only way to revive interest in the character was to plan a wedding between Lois and Clark after not only having Lois discover Superman's secret of him being Clark Ken and they planned a funeral! I am of course talking about "The Death Of Superman" comic book storyline while sales went through the roof it also left everyone in the creative bullpen who worked on the story stymied on how to remedy the solution so they went all in with all the ideas. While it worked the curse apparently struck again as "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman" did decently in their first season, everyone in the creative side, Tracy Scoggins and Michael Landes were let go! But it didn't hurt the series run. In fact they had some pretty awesome episodes ranging from adventures with H.G. Wells to the second season finale in which Clark proposes to Lois with whom she had been dating apparently during this season and in the next season's opener well... (Show clip of Lois saying "Who's asking, Clark...Or Superman before cutting to James physically as he is left dumbstruck before returning to the clips of the series and other Superman incarnations as he does a voiceover)
TLOTA(Voiceover):
That's right people, Lois discovered naturally that Clark Kent is Superman and throughout that third season the series went into unique places like having Nazis return to try and take over the United States and a psych-out moment that might've sent the series south when it's revealed that Lois Lane is in fact...A FROG EATING CLONE! WHAT?! Who in the writers room licked frogs and downed 100 lbs. of the Kryptonite Green Brownies to come up with such a whacked out convolution that'd send the post "Jumping The Shark" seasons of "Happy Days" into the funny farm. While the resolution to that is decent and the season finale would've been a good set up for a movie starring the cast of "Lois & Clark" while that didn't happen as the series got another season as in the comics Lois and Clark exchanged wedding vows. So as the comics did that, the series got another season which has the two tie the knot for real this time but by that point tragedy had struck Superman fans again, this time around with the first actor from my generation to wear the Superman suit Christopher Reeve suffered a life altering accident leaving him paralyzed from the neck down until he passed away nine years later then came the cancellation of "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman" got cancelled due to low ratings and the possibility of an new Superman movie coming out which didn't happen until a year after Christopher's and his wife Dana' passing. That movie is of course "Superman Returns", me personally I enjoyed the movie and if it's on, of course I'm watching it. But as for what happened to Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in "Superman Returns"? Despite what the movie "Ted" had implied, Brandon is now "The Atom" in the Flarrowverse. As a matter of fact after "Lois and Clark" both Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher had fairly successful careers. Teri Hatcher was a Bond Girl, won a Golden Globe for her acting on "Desperate Housewives" and went on to Cameo on "Smallville" as Lois Lane's mother and appear in the second season of "Supergirl" as Queen Rhea of Daxam which has Dean Cain appear as Jeremiah Danvers as a reoccurring character. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
So did every Superman and Lois Lane away from the Salkind series somehow avoid the curse? Or should I ask, Is The Superman curse real? Honestly... (Cut to different iterations of Superman as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover):
I really don't think the actors or performers who have been a part of the legacy of the Man Of Steel are cursed because of Superman, I just think they've had some bad breaks and the connecting factor is Superman. But for many mentioned they somehow embraced Superman, aside from Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher and Brandon Routh. Christopher Reeve decided to use the Superman Insignia as a symbol of hope and promise for his foundation to help find a cure to paralysis in addition to that the voice actors who played Superman in animated forms still have careers in Hollywood as well as ventures outside of it. But if there is a curse and there are people who wish the curse was real and would attack Henry Cavill, I don't believe in it and neither should anyone who believes in Superman. There is a reason Superman is iconic, he does what is right no matter what happens and nothing not even a curse, if there is one will stop Superman from being a symbol of Hope and of Truth, Justice and The Human Way. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and the views that I'm about to express are that of my own and some of yours. With the recent passing of Margot Kidder and of course it being Superman's 80th birthday, a lot of people have been talking about something that needs to be de-mystified. The "Curse Of Superman"! (Cut to different iterations of Superman in either live action or animated forms as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover):
I mean it's not hard to understand how this supposed curse came to be! When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster lost the rights to Superman to DC Comics they were plenty angry and for many of Superman fans many believe Siegel and Shuster planted the curse and the biggest victim is that of the "Curse" if there is one IS Superman, When George Reeves died in 1959 many believed it was either murder or suicide due to depression caused by being Superman. But I never put stock into that because by that point in George's career he seemed to be glad to be Superman and was looking forward towards doing more behind the scenes work including more directing episodes as much as he was acting in them and many believed this curse began when Reeves died, however the character seemed to be going strong in terms of Comic Book sales that is until November of 1963 Superman was at heights many superheroes now know of and there was going to be an issue in one of his comic books in which he and John Kennedy the President at the time were going to be together talking about the Space Program. I'm certain what happened to John Kennedy in November of 1963 pretty much put the bullet in Superman's popularity because after Kennedy died sales of his comics went down the toilet and an animated series that had Clayton "Bud" Collier returning after performing the character in Radio shows and the Fleischer Studios Cartoons was mainly seen as awful. There was a Broadway musical that tried to emulate the style of the Adam West Batman series to hopefully recapture some of the ground he lost but it fell to earth faster than a speeding bullet and a late night special that was adapted from the musical is so universally panned there is no known copy of it on DVD, yet somehow I found a Bootleg copy of it on YouTube. Don't ask me how, I found it and let's leave it at that. One of the ways the curse hurt Superman was when Editor Julius Schwarz made some dumbass decisions like making Clark a TV News Reporter, Lois be adamant towards her disdain towards Superman and some ideas like nixing Kryptonite and turning it into red Solar Radiation that can weaken Superman. So I was glad when Crisis On Infinite Earths happened because after that event comic they rebooted the character back to the core essence and thankfully even with the new 52 messing around a bit with changing him again DC got him back working at The Daily Planet, married to Lois Lane and from what I've read, they have a kid together so Mazel Tov to that. But that didn't mean the Curse didn't hurt Superman before that point. I refer you to the fact that had it not been for Standards & Practices every single Fire Island/San Francisco joke landing on the last son of Krypton in the "Superfriends" animated series. Meanwhile Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster must've been angrier than ever when it was discovered that Warner Brothers which at that point owned DC Comics in conjunction with Alexander & Ilya Salkind were going to make an 80 Million Dollar Blockbuster directed by Richard Donner, written by Mario Puzo, having Marlon Brando play Jor-El and all of that happening while the creators were scrapping by on minimum wage? Neal Adams, famed Comic Book Writer, Inker, Penciler, Editor and Publisher wasn't gonna have any of that! Neal Adams made a series of public appearances for the creators and have the duo tell their story as DC made millions while they made Peanuts in terms of financial success and the fact they weren't being credited as the creators of Superman. In essence, Neal Adams nearly committed Career Suicide to help Siegel & Shuster and it worked out the best for everyone. Not only did they get DC to give them royalties and a pension plan so the two can live comfortably the rest of their lives, Neal Adams got Siegel and Shuster the right to be re-recognized as the creators of Superman and in 2013 there was a settlement between DC and the Estates of Siegel and Shuster in terms of the Rights of Superman. Now you think that proverbial curse would end? To which I say "Have you not heard the behind the scenes chaos that happened during production?". While the first movie remains one of the best movies ever made, it's no surprise Superman II, Superman III, Supergirl & Superman IV are the way they are nor did it come to no surprise when DC thought the only way to revive interest in the character was to plan a wedding between Lois and Clark after not only having Lois discover Superman's secret of him being Clark Ken and they planned a funeral! I am of course talking about "The Death Of Superman" comic book storyline while sales went through the roof it also left everyone in the creative bullpen who worked on the story stymied on how to remedy the solution so they went all in with all the ideas. While it worked the curse apparently struck again as "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman" did decently in their first season, everyone in the creative side, Tracy Scoggins and Michael Landes were let go! But it didn't hurt the series run. In fact they had some pretty awesome episodes ranging from adventures with H.G. Wells to the second season finale in which Clark proposes to Lois with whom she had been dating apparently during this season and in the next season's opener well... (Show clip of Lois saying "Who's asking, Clark...Or Superman before cutting to James physically as he is left dumbstruck before returning to the clips of the series and other Superman incarnations as he does a voiceover)
TLOTA(Voiceover):
That's right people, Lois discovered naturally that Clark Kent is Superman and throughout that third season the series went into unique places like having Nazis return to try and take over the United States and a psych-out moment that might've sent the series south when it's revealed that Lois Lane is in fact...A FROG EATING CLONE! WHAT?! Who in the writers room licked frogs and downed 100 lbs. of the Kryptonite Green Brownies to come up with such a whacked out convolution that'd send the post "Jumping The Shark" seasons of "Happy Days" into the funny farm. While the resolution to that is decent and the season finale would've been a good set up for a movie starring the cast of "Lois & Clark" while that didn't happen as the series got another season as in the comics Lois and Clark exchanged wedding vows. So as the comics did that, the series got another season which has the two tie the knot for real this time but by that point tragedy had struck Superman fans again, this time around with the first actor from my generation to wear the Superman suit Christopher Reeve suffered a life altering accident leaving him paralyzed from the neck down until he passed away nine years later then came the cancellation of "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman" got cancelled due to low ratings and the possibility of an new Superman movie coming out which didn't happen until a year after Christopher's and his wife Dana' passing. That movie is of course "Superman Returns", me personally I enjoyed the movie and if it's on, of course I'm watching it. But as for what happened to Brandon Routh, the actor who played Superman in "Superman Returns"? Despite what the movie "Ted" had implied, Brandon is now "The Atom" in the Flarrowverse. As a matter of fact after "Lois and Clark" both Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher had fairly successful careers. Teri Hatcher was a Bond Girl, won a Golden Globe for her acting on "Desperate Housewives" and went on to Cameo on "Smallville" as Lois Lane's mother and appear in the second season of "Supergirl" as Queen Rhea of Daxam which has Dean Cain appear as Jeremiah Danvers as a reoccurring character. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
So did every Superman and Lois Lane away from the Salkind series somehow avoid the curse? Or should I ask, Is The Superman curse real? Honestly... (Cut to different iterations of Superman as James does a voiceover)
TLOTA (Voiceover):
I really don't think the actors or performers who have been a part of the legacy of the Man Of Steel are cursed because of Superman, I just think they've had some bad breaks and the connecting factor is Superman. But for many mentioned they somehow embraced Superman, aside from Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher and Brandon Routh. Christopher Reeve decided to use the Superman Insignia as a symbol of hope and promise for his foundation to help find a cure to paralysis in addition to that the voice actors who played Superman in animated forms still have careers in Hollywood as well as ventures outside of it. But if there is a curse and there are people who wish the curse was real and would attack Henry Cavill, I don't believe in it and neither should anyone who believes in Superman. There is a reason Superman is iconic, he does what is right no matter what happens and nothing not even a curse, if there is one will stop Superman from being a symbol of Hope and of Truth, Justice and The Human Way. (Cut to James physically)
TLOTA:
I'm James Faraci The Last Of The Americans and that's my opinion!
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