YouTube Theatre: S for SUPERMAN!

As a proud member of Sesame Street's original demographic (I was about 4 years old when it premiered in late 1969), I can still remember a few of their short educational bits.

The most unforgettable of them was, of course, "S for Superman".  In this minute-long segment, the Man of Steel gave us wee lads and lasses a short lesson on words starting with the letter "S", including Superman himself.

I probably saw this when I wasn't entirely sure who Superman was yet (though the comic book at Grandma's house may have tipped me off), but whatever the case, it fascinated me and stuck with me for many years.

As the years and decades flew by, I'd always hoped for an opportunity to see this segment again, but I could never seem to track it down...even as the internet age of random, obscure video dawned.

That is, until YouTube came along:

Highlights:

1.  Superman hurling the bad guy's spaceship to....who knows?  A police station?  Prison?  The SUN?

2.  Superman's urgent, no-nonsense tone throughout the lesson.  It's almost jarring in contrast to today's gentle, soothing tones in educational programming.  Granted, the lines were read by Bud Collyer (Superman's voice on the original radio show, the Fleischer cartoons and the 1960's Filmation series), so the recognition factor was definitely there for that audience...but still, it's pretty brusk. Endearingly so. 

3.  My favorite part?  The final line:

"Yes, sir!  'S' is a very important letter!  So the next time you think of 'Superman', think of the letter 'S'!  It's my favorite!"

Mine too, Superman. Mine too.

Comments

[Tom]

Well that brings back memories. Around the same time there was another Sesame Street type kids show called "The Electric Company", which features Spider-man as a recurring character. I remember the outfit looked pretty good excempt he didn't have boots but looked like he wore spandex socks... in typical kid fashion I thought he must slip a lot without shoes. I also remember the very lame 'webbing' effect they had... kind of a clunky cartoon pattern web that slowly 'wiped' from one end to the other. Still, it was always cool to see superheroes make appearances on other shows. Scooby Doo had an episode with Batman and Robin, and I think it was "The Brady Bunch" animated cartoon that had Superman one episode. I remember he had at least one of the kids on his shoulder at one point, then raced away and did something at super-speed, and got back before the kid started to fall. That one burned into my head... I still remember the visuals.

[Mark Engblom]

The Brady Bunch met Superman? Geez, thanks alot Tom....I finish one decades-long quest only to start another! THAT I have to see.

Yeah, I've got fond memories of the old Electric Company "Spidey" segments. I dimly recall that Stan Lee may have even narrated them. The strangely mute, mime-like Spidey threw me a bit, especially since he was such a chatterbox in his comic books at the time. But hey...it was still a "real" Spider-Man...and definitely the highlight of my school week when we'd watch the show in the classroom.