Shield-3

(2013-05-20 21:47:01)

Guilty Pleasure...

Yes, it's campy. Yes, the acting wasn't very good and the scripts weredull. Yes, the special effects are *very* dated.It doesn't matter. "Amazing Spider-Man" is one of those time capsules thatperfectly captures late 1970s action TV. It was funky, it was campy, it wascheesy, and it was great.Sure, it could have been better. Given time, the series could have hit itsgroove and easily been as good as the other Marvel TV series of the day,"The Incredible Hulk." Legend has it this show was cancelled because of lowratings, but I heard CBS both wouldn't commit to a consistent timeslot, andthey didn't want to be known as the Superhero Network (they had "Hulk,""Wonder Woman," and showed the hideous "Captain America" and "Dr. Strange"movies). They could have had a real winner...

Rectangular_businessman

(2013-05-20 10:42:37)

The worst Spiderman "adaptation" ever made

I only saw the pilot episode of this drivel, but that was enough forme. This awful series seemed to be made by people who never read aSpiderman comic or just didn't care at all about that character.This lacked of every single one of the virtues that made "Spiderman" apopular comic in first place. It didn't have anything to do with thestory in which it was supposedly inspired. Instead of that, it wassomething completely different (And not good at all, for that matter)which just shoehorned the superhero for a few couple of scenes. Severalviewers complained about the liberties that Sam Raimi took about theoriginal comic when he made his movie version of "Spiderman", but allthose liberties are nothing compared with the absolute nonsense thatthis series was.As something independent to the comics, this is merely bad (Withextremely poor production values and a boring storyline) but as anadaptation is just plain terrible. This series is just one big bad jokethat is best forgotten.0/10 (I would give this a negative score if I could)

dee.reid

(2013-05-20 02:18:52)

A great, early take on my favorite superhero...

Along with "Wonder Woman" and "The Incredible Hulk," "The AmazingSpider-Man" was the only other live-action superhero TV series to makea splash during the 1970s. It's really pointless to describe the plotsince if you know the Marvel Comics comic book series that inspiredSpider-Man, then you already know the story, with Nicholas Hammond asPeter Parker/Spider-Man. This series always had great death-defyingstunts, which were great for the time it was made, when everything hadto be done using live, flesh & blood human beings and not a computer.Many other iterations of Spider-Man would follow in the later decadesafter "The Amazing Spider-Man's" debut on television, most notablythree animated series and two live-action movie series. Sam Raimi's"Spider-Man" movie series - with Tobey Maguire as PeterParker/Spider-Man - was my favorite incarnation of the character ever,with "Spider-Man 2" (2004) as my favorite superhero movie and my #2favorite movie of all time. Spider-Man is my all-time favoritesuperhero. This show was just another reason why.10/10

swedzin

(2013-05-19 09:56:56)

Just for kids.

This TV series were strictly for kids from he 70s. (You ever wonderedwhy Kelso is so retarded?) As you grow up, you do realize that thiscan't appeal on your intellect? The comic book was extremely popular atthe time. Even animated TV series were good and popular. But, this...kids stuff. The same story, Peter Parker, a schoolboy gets bitten by aradioactive spider, that glows red! Wow! And he turns into a... ummm...let's just say that he has a bad costume and amazingly bad movements,it's slow and dumb. Well... the series didn't have any budget at all,so they did it desperately as much as they can to please audience...but, fans were mad and kids were like "love that"... Arrrgghh!! Ienjoyed this stuff when I saw it as a kid... my first Spidermanexperience! But, then... saw it again... Dear me... that was horrible!Just like Power Rangers! Let go of these TV series... you are done withthem for sure!

Spider-Lou

(2013-05-18 21:20:40)

A poorly spun web.

Before I was blessed with the miraculous live action adaptations on May3, 2002 and June 30, 2004, this friggin' TV show was all I had. It wasmoderately entertaining, and as a Spidey fan I watched it, but it wasstill devoid of Spidey's history and characterization. Then, I waitedfor all the legal turmoil surrounding the first movie's development togo away. In the meantime, I watched the show repeats on the Sci-FiChannel. Poor Spidey, caught in a web of extremely weak stories thatfit the bill for 70s crap.Spider-Man was far, far, FAR removed from the greatness of the comics,with extremely cheesy effects and stunts, no real threats orafflictions, his fluctuating super-strength, no wit or humor, no supervillains, and no BACK STORY except the spider-bite. To make mattersworse, the show was shot in L.A. Therefore, there were no tallbuildings for him to swing on! In Spider-Woman #20(Vol 1), Jessica Drewconfronts Spidey in L.A. and guess what? He couldn't swing to chaseher! THE WRITERS NEVER READ THE COMICS! Once you see what lame webs hiswebshooters shot, even the organic-haters (of which I *used* to be)will convert. Oddly enough, I liked Ben Reilly's (Spider-Man's clone)similar webshooters; impact webbing was cool. The costume was not bad,incidentally. I just couldn't understand the round eyelets, and Ialways thought Nicholas Hammond's hair was too poofy to squeeze underthat mask.Some may argue that all this was good for the times, but sadly it justwas not. "The Chinese Web" was the only compelling, yet still tame,episode. None of this was Hammond's fault, for he was decent as thecollege-days Peter Parker. The character was far too underdeveloped forhim to do any better.It's a bad, bad, BAD TV show/comic book adaptation. I will not watch itagain and I'll boycott the Sci-Fi channel if they ever choose to airthese episodes again. God bless Sam Raimi, Tobey Magure, John Dykstraand everyone involved in the BLOCKBUSTER "SPIDER-MAN" AND "SPIDER-MAN2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Big Movie Fan

(2013-05-18 13:58:59)

WHY DOES NOBODY BUT ME LIKE THIS SHOW?

For starters, I think this show was great fun and had great storylines butnot many people seem to like it.I guess whether you like it depends on your age. If you're a young kid who'sbeen brought up on a diet of CGI and all those amazing special effects thenit probably doesn't appeal to you. But I think it was fun.The stories were great. In one two part episode Spider-Man battles an evilvillain by the name of Mr White who has stolen an atomic bomb which he plansto detonate. There's plenty of fun as Spidey battles dangerous henchmen andperforms some unbelievable stunts. Another great episode featured Spidey inHong Kong but my favourite episode was where Spidey investigated a bogushaunting.Nicholas Hammond was good as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and he played the partof man with huge responsibilities on his shoulders very well. The lateRobert F. Simon played the grumpy but good hearted Jonah Jameson and did agood job.There were no super villains in the shows which I think was a good thing.The Incredible Hulk series of the 1970's didn't feature super villainseither. Spidey got involved in real situations with believable people and ina superhero TV series I think that is much better than having a superpowered villain every week.All in all, highly recommended. There's some good stunts in the series too.Whilst I am quite sure this series will pale in comparison to the new Spideyfilm due to hit UK cinemas in June 2002 I would have no problem inrecommending it to superhero fans.

Thorsten-Krings

(2013-05-17 21:21:26)

Awful adaptation

Spiderman was one of the first comic books to initiate a change in thegenre: in spite of being a very well made superhero comic book this isthe first series ever that added a real psychological depth to the maincharacter, had complex moral issue, round characters and alsohighlighted social and political issues. in other words: Spiderman wasthe comic book's coming of age. This TV series lacks all of thosecomponents. It's just a straightforward good buy / bad guy TV seriessuffering from obvious budgetary rerstraints that make the action scenemoderately exciting. Spiderman nylon webbing is about as convincing asthe cardboard rocks in Star trek. Nicholas Hammond is way too old forthe role at that point in time. I think he was well into his thirtieswheras Spider,man was really teenager at the time. For someunfathomable reason the writers also changed names and deletedimportant characters from the comic book which again just resulted inthe tension between characters basically disappearing.

mack3175

(2013-05-17 14:16:53)

A fairly descent show

It couldn't be the hit show that The Incredible Hulk show was. But it didallright in spots. At least it wasn't boring like The Bionic Woman. It mayhave had a few badly written episodes. And some revealing mistakes. Buttheacting was pretty good at times. And the wall crawling scenes wereterrificalso. It may not have been the best superhero show. But it was not theworst. Nicholas Hammond was a lot older then the comic book Peter Parker.But he was still good in the role. I hope when the Spider Man movie comesout, that fans will rediscover this series.

fish4spider-1

(2013-05-17 08:48:14)

this show should be on DVD

the amazing spider-man TV series had had 15 episode's all together anddid not last that long as a live action series it was shame as nicholashammond wanted the incredible hulk and spider-man to team up but itnever happened, the series did have its comic book moments j.j shoutingat parker robert f simon was great as jameson he had the voice. auntmay was played by irene tedrow and was terrible as aunt may in thefirst episode she is constantly moaning at peter to take his pills forhis allergy some of my favourite comic book moments spider-man's webshooter is broken and he goes to a taxi and ask' him to take him homethe taxi driver refuses because spider-man has no pockets in hiscostume spider-man jumps on top of Capt. Barbera's car and puts hishead down to speak to him, spider-man gets cloned and at the end j.j isdressed in a spider-man costume and capt barbera arrests spider-man butit not the real spider-man its jameson in the costume

mack3175

(2013-05-16 21:07:35)

A fairly descent show.

The show wasn't all that bad. Despite revealing mistakes, weak acting and,story lines. It did all right in spots. Some of my favorite episodes wereThe Curse of Rava, A Matter of State, Photo Finish, and The Chinese Web.ButSpider-Man couldn't be the hit that The Incredible Hulk was. Although itcould have lasted one more season. Nicholas Hammond seems a lot older andmature, then the comic book Peter Parker. But he was good in the role. Ihope when The Spider-Man movie comes out in May. That fans will rediscoverthis series.

betorlando35

(2013-05-16 03:22:31)

The Amazing Spiderman DVD

Does anyone know the status of a potential DVD release of Spidermanwith Nicholas Hammond. It seems like everyone has forgotten about thisseries. Granted the F/X were not like they are now and it was played ascamp. I know that a lot of Spiderman fans think of this series as a badstepchild. I disagree, just part of the Spiderman legacy. I wish thatwhoever has the rights to release this on DVD will do this. I hope itis not another rights issue like the Superboy series. While we are atit. Sam Raimi if you are out there, contact Nicholas for a cameo inSpiderman 3. To some of us who grew up with Nicholas as Spiderman, itwould be a treat. Bring Spidey back.

gowen29

(2013-05-15 14:07:31)

i liked it

i can remember when i first watched it. i thought wow, the real spiderman. of course i was like 5 years old, but the wonderment that i feltat watching a real person in a spider man costume stopping the bad guyswith his spider powers...i would love to see it again. but, since Stanlee and the majority of people didn't like it, we'll probably never seea DVD release of it. I wish i knew a way to find them on VHS ormeg...anything. i'd love to watch them again. Stan, for peter's sake,some of us enjoyed the old series, let us have them again. And forfuture reference, Stan, if you need any help with casting futurereleases of Marvel movies, let me know.

dwacon-2

(2013-05-14 19:05:56)

I remember this show. I honestly wish I didn't...

I was excited at the concept of my favorite comic book hero being ontelevision... and sorely disappointed at the end result.The only "amazing" thing was the wall crawling (despite the visibilityof the cable). I didn't think Nick Hammond was Peter Parker... and hewas visibly of a different build than the guy who did the stunts in thespider suit. You could tell they were two different actors.Granted, I can also spot in the modern Spider-Man movies when I amlooking at Tobey Macguire and when I am looking at CGI. But that isfrom a trained eye and experience working with CGI. Still, the 70'sversion could have been better despite lack of Special FX.The webs were hokey and looked like ropes that seemed to wrap aroundthings rather than stick to them. And what was up with giving him aspider mobile to ride around in. Hello? He's the web slinger people.Sorry... didn't mean to get so worked up, but our beloved wall crawlerdeserved better.

The_Light_Triton

(2013-05-14 16:39:34)

Too bad this wasn't given any time to stay alive.

Some people think this was a rather bad TV series, with cheesy effects.(considering it was filmed between 1977-1979) but really, look back atthose years and think, "We didn't have computers back then." so if youthink about it, it's a rather good TV series.I always figured bad ratings killed the show, but no. the network did.they canceled out their theme as "The superhero network" and abandoneda short lived spider-man series. if it had gone on, it probably wouldhave run well into the 80's, and if it was really lucky (And i meanreally lucky), the early 90s.And no one wanted to pick this series up.Anyways, Jolly old (or young) Nicholas Hammond, of The sound of musicfame, is brought to the TV screen as peter parker, the Secret identityof the amazing spider-man. along the series, peter deals with a clone,a beautiful girl from a foreign country, and a corrupt politician.while the series is way out of timeline (being that peter is alreadygraduated from university, and thats when he gets bit, and uncle Ben isalready dead,) The audience is treated to action, suspense, and theattitude that the characters have towards peter and his alter ego,spider-man.While it's also slightly disappointing that Robert. F Simon looksnothing like J.J.Jameson, it's not so disappointing that Betty grantisn't Betty grant, but a hot African American girl (who reminds me ofHalle berry, who is one of the hottest women on the planet) so really,this one wasn't so bad.but considering the time, and how much drama they packed into this one,it kind of foreshadows what bad TV is today. either way, it'sentertaining, even for today.8/10

LONE SOLO

(2013-05-13 23:06:29)

An exercise in 1970's cheese!

SPIDER MAN was an attempt to capitalize on a comic book hero by bringinghimto tv. The tv show suffers from bad writing, and 1970's cheesestorytelling.Granted, the concept is sound, but only if you have the special effectscapability to go along with the show. I enjoyed this program back in it'sheyday, but even then I could tell he really wasn't walking on awall......they had the wall laid out on a floor and had the camerapositioned to look like he was climbing...shades of BATMAN.

chucknorrisfacts

(2013-05-13 01:21:29)

I love this show!

I absolutely love "The Amazing Spider-Man"! It holds a very specialplace in my heart, as it was through this very series I was firstintroduced to one of the most famous and beloved comic book charactersof all-time, Spider-Man.Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich von Trapp in "The Sound ofMusic", portrays Peter Parker/Spider-Man to absolute perfection.Hammond is smart, funny, and everything the character of Peter Parkershould be and that Tobey Maguire wasn't. Unlike Maguire, Hammondactually has charisma and charm.Fred Waugh, the stunt coordinator, also took on the role of Spider-Manwhen some of the more dangerous stunts were performed. His work isstill awe-inspiring. Some highlights include Waugh's scaling of theEmpire State Building, hanging from a helicopter high above the citystreets, web slinging from one building to another, etc. I enjoywatching real stunts performed by real people not CGI. CGI is too easyto spot, and it really takes away from the enjoyment of an actionsequence. Give me a real guy in a real Spider-Man suit any day! The supporting cast is strong with Robert F. Simon, Chip Fields,Michael Pataki and Ellen Bry all well-suited for their roles. Simon'stake on J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the Daily Bugle, finds thatperfect balance between Jameson's trademark grumpiness and enoughlikability to explain why anyone would keep working for him. ChipFields is a delight as Peter's occasional sidekick, the tough-talkingbut sensitive Rita Conway. Rita is Jameson's assistant, and while notin the original comics, her sassiness and playful personality make fora welcome addition to the Spider-Man mythos. Michael Pataki, the lategreat character actor, played the irascible Captain Barbera, a New YorkCity cop who was often suspicious of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.His character appeared only in the first season. Ellen Bry played JulieMasters, an attractive young woman who was both a friend/love interestand rival of Peter Parker. She, too, worked as a newspaper photographerbut not for the Bugle. Julie's desire to always get her story led herto get in over her head on more than one occasion. Her characterappeared only in the second season.While the series changed the origin story of Spider-Man, most notablywith its removal of the murder of Uncle Ben, a satisfying alternativethat was more friendly for 1970s television and for any children whowould be watching was filmed in its stead. Aside from that, the serieswas quite faithful to the source material. Spidey's powers weregenerally the same: he had superhuman strength, the ability to cling towalls, leap high in the air, a super sense of a balance and a"spider-sense" to warn him of danger. Spidey's gadgets including hisweb-shooters, utility belt and "spider-tracers" also played animportant role in the show. To date, "The Amazing Spider-Man" providesthe only live-action depiction of the aforementioned spider-tracertracking devices, and are featured prominently in several episodes ofthe series.I can't say enough good things about this show, I absolutely love it! Igive it a ten out of ten! I definitely recommend checking it out. Theseries hasn't been officially released on DVD yet, but nearly allepisodes have been released on VHS. You can find "homemade" DVDs onmany online auction websites, you just have to look around for 'em.It has been recently announced that unknown actor Andrew Garfield willbe taking on the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a new reboot of theSpider-Man franchise scheduled for release in 2012. All I can say aboutthat is there's no way he'll be able to top what Nicholas Hammond'salready done. Hammond was, is and always will be the best Peter Parkerin my book. Thank you, Mr. Hammond, for introducing me to Spider-Manand for providing me with many fond memories of watching your showwhile dressed up in my own Spider-Man costume, pretending to fightcrime while on my own make-believe adventures.

Indyfan82

(2013-05-12 23:51:47)

A great live action superhero series

I have caught this show in reruns on SCI-FI before, and I have to say Ienjoyed it. Okay, so maybe the special effects aren't the best in theworld, but it was still a fun series. Spider-Man has always been one of myfavorite superheroes and I really enjoyed watching him fight crime in thisseries. I wish they could have brought in more of the supervillians forhimto fight though. But it was still a fun series to watch.

jrm23july@aol.com

(2013-05-12 10:23:53)

It Won't Be Truly "Amazing" Until CBS Releases The '78 Spider-Man on DVD

Though, short lived "The Amazing Spider-Man" was one of the best madefor TV versions of a famed comic book hero. Only "Wonder Woman" (LyndaCarter) (the best of the genre and "The Incredible Hulk" (Bill Bixby,Lou Ferrigno) were better."The Amazing Spider-Man" outclasses the 1966-1968 "Batman", because thehigh camp elements of the latter often ruin the adventure. "Spider-Man"outclasses all three television interpretations of "Superman"- "Loisand Clark", "Smallville", and of course the George Reeves "Superman"which brings up the rear."The Amazing Spider-Man" was an action drama, during the late 1970's,the pre-CGI era, when stunts had to be performed by stunt men, not inthe database of a computer. "Spider-Man" had its own very talentedstuntman to perform the death defying daredevil acrobatics. His namewas Fred Waugh, who donned the spidy suit for the action sequences.Nicholas Hammond, better known as one of Julie Andrew's children on theall-time movie classic "The Sound of Music" was Spider-Man during thedialogue scenes. Hammond's Spider-Man also had his own secret identityas Peter Parker, similar to Christopher Reeve- Superman/ Clark Kent,Adam West-Batman/Bruce Wayne, and of course Lynda Carter as WonderWoman/ Diana Prince.It's unfortunate that the series only had thirteen episodes. Becausewhen the first episode hit the airwaves in November of 1977, the entirecountry was watching it on CBS that Wednesday night. In all fairness,CBS should release this pilot episode as well as "The Deadly Dust", the"Captive Tower" etc. on DVD shortly. "Spider-Man" was short lived, butdid have a cult following, and in my opinion was a heck of a lot betterthan the movie interpretation of the famed comic book hero starringToby McGuire.CBS might be hesitant to release these episodes for two reasons. (A)There might not be a broad market for them based on the lack oflongevity of the series and a generation of children and young peoplewho weren't born when the series originally aired in the 1970's. (B)One of the early "Spider-Man" episodes dealt with a terrorist withdesigns on the World Trade Center, which was attacked twice many yearsafter this show went off the air, in 1993, and of course thedevastating attack against this country on 9/11/01 in which the towerswere destroyed and many innocent lives were lost.However I don't think that it would be in bad taste to release this"Spider-Man" episode even if the show was adventure, derived from acomic book, and camp in nature. The live action "Amazing Spider-Man"doesn't have a large following but it has a cult following. If and whenCBS releases it out on DVD this cult following could be explained alongwith the episode in which Spiderman saved the towers in 1978, but howin September of 2001 real life proved to be different from the movies.I like to follow the news, but I also like Science Fiction/Fantasy.Therefore I am eagerly awaiting the release of "The Amazing Spider-Manon DVD".

alanrayford

(2013-05-11 21:08:13)

One Amazing Spiderman.

It's easy to look at 1977's The Amazing Spiderman series and laugh ourasses off. We've already had three live action Spiderman films thatwere able to perfectly capture Spidey's grace and agility through theuse of cutting edge CGI. But, even before Sam Raimi's films, theoriginal live action Spiderman series was ridiculed on a regular basis.Even going as far back as the mid 80's, it looked so craptasticallycheesy it rivaled Adam West's and Burt Ward's Batman inpreposterousness. But, hindsight being 20/20, I realize we all may havebeen wrong. It may very well be the single best interpretation of thischaracter…EVER.I know this sounds insane. However, there were a lot of things thisshow had that really worked. One, for instance, is the lead. When thisshow was still airing on CBS, the comics saw Peter Parker as a collegestudent somewhere in his early to mid twenties. He was depicted asbeing tall and having a lean, athletic build. Well, Nicholas Hammondmatched those qualities to a tee. He stacked up to Peter Parker thesame way Christopher Reeves did to Superman. I won't lie; his portrayallost some strength when he was in costume. However, out of costume, hedid a damn fine job playing Parker as a highly intellectual dude withgreat power and great responsibility.Besides Hammond's physical performance, I've got to bring up thespecial effects. Silly string that stood in for webbing; webs that hadto wrap around flagpoles to stick; wall-crawling that looked like a manbeing lowered from an off camera rig; web swinging that definitelylooked like a stuntman being hurled through the air at the end of arope; Spidey leaping from rooftop to rooftop by overlaying video ontobackground footage. Yeah, they all look more like student filmterritory by today's standards—worse even. Nonetheless, when thisoriginally aired, these visuals were bleeding edge stuff. CGI was allbut science fiction. Green screen tech was too cost prohibitive fortelevision. This was the best that could be done, and, in 1977, itglued asses to seats. So while the first ten minutes of 2002'sSpiderman blow this out of the water, ASM was quite revolutionary andoutright jawdropping for its time.Spiderman looked cheesy, but realistic. The truth of the matter is thatspandex only makes for dynamic attire in comics, cartoons andvideogames. In real life, even if you were built like Hugh Jackman orthe Rock, it would make you look like a chump with an overly pronouncedfeminine side. So Hammond looking less than impressive, when incostume, is pretty much what Spiderman would look like in reallife—deal with it. The costumes worn by Tobey Maguire and the one to beworn by Andrew Garfield are more dynamic and eye catching. But, betweenstyle and reality, I always choose the latter.Over its brief thirteen episode run, none of the villains from thecomics were featured. This is a point of contention for most, and anunderstandable one. But this was a TV show in the 70's. There wassimply no money to include characters like the Green Goblin, Doc Ock,Sandman or any other classic foe of Spidey in a compelling manner. Evenso, ASM did feature a take on the 1970's clone storyline when it wasstill a fresh in the comics. It wasn't much, but it was the best theycould do and was quite remarkable for the time.Given the era in which this aired, ASM was nothing short of miraculous.1977 was over twenty years before comics were finally allowed to enterthe mainstream without being frowned upon. It was an extremely hostileperiod where comic books were treated with all the dignity of a dirtyKleenex. It was so hostile CBS gave ASM the runaround for two yearsbefore pulling the plug. When they did, it wasn't due to low ratingsbecause the show was doing well. They cancelled it simply because,after Wonder Woman and the Incredible Hulk, they were afraid CBS wouldcome to be known as the Comic Book Station. Seriously. That's it. Hell,Stan Lee saw fit to bash this show (even though he was a scriptconsultant). But I'm willing to bet that could've been over him notbeing given a cameo—something he's apparently quite fond of.In the over 20 years between the cancellation of ASM and the 2002 filmwhich rewrote the rulebook on blockbuster premieres and opened thefloodgates for Marvel in Hollywood, ASM was ridiculed by any andeveryone. I too occasionally took shots at it. But, now in my thirties,I can honestly look back and see what ASM really was. It was a programthat had a lot of ambition, took a lot of creativity, did everything itcould to succeed and still came up short—all because it was two decadesahead of its time. Had the public attitude towards comics been morepositive back then, this would've been on the air for years and been asmash hit. It would've been the best live action Spiderman, probably tothis day.If you're a fan of Spiderman or of comic related media that's seen fitto ridicule this effort, stop. 1977's The Amazing Spiderman deservesyour respect. It deserves all of our respect. And I just want to addStu Phillips' theme is one of the most infectious pieces of music I'veever heard. It gets in your head and just sticks there—like aspider…man.

Chris.

(2013-05-11 05:03:48)

The Other Spider Man

Like "The Incredible Hulk", "Spider Man" (played here by NicholasHammond) was another in the superhero stable that entertained legionsof fans (adults too) in the late seventies, myself included. My reviewhere refers to the pilot in which mild mannered Peter Parker inheritsthe senses and agility of a spider, after coming into contact withradioactive waves during an arachnid experiment. His boss at the localrag (David White, post-Larry Tate on "Bewitched") is eager for him tocover the story of how seemingly random citizens are suiciding, whichleads both Parker and his alter ego to discover an elaborate mindcontrol plot involving the evil Edward Byron (Thayer David) whereby hecommits crimes vicariously through his hypnotised victims.What distinguishes the pilot from its peers, in my opinion is the cast- Mike Pataki and Bob Hastings as the cops, Jeff Donnell as AuntParker, Len Lesser (future uncle Leo on "Seinfeld"), Ivor Francis andHarry Caesar. Lisa Eilbacher is so-so as the love interest in a rolenot too distant from her signature performance in "Beverly Hills Cop".It's definitely young adolescent material, but even as an adult, Ifound plenty of drama, action and light comedy to enjoy.Less pretentious than the recent remakes, I'm still a little confoundedas to why the three feature-length titles (the other two are "SpiderMan Strikes Back" and "The Dragon's Challenge") haven't beenre-distributed for DVD, to enjoy some residual popularity (and justplain ride the coat-tails of the Raimi success wagon). Anyway, probablystill available on VHS, so if you're spider mad or just curious aboutthis now 'ancient predecessor', it shouldn't disappoint.