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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 20:27:07 GMT -5
Richard Egan:
In the mid 50's there was talk of developing a Sub-Mariner TV show based on the success of The Adventures of Superman. Unfortunately it never happened. If it had comics history especially Marvel's would have been very different. It was to star Richard Egan. Above is an altered picture of him to show how he might have looked as Namor. |
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 28, 2016 20:35:52 GMT -5
Wow !
I'd never heard of that.
Kind of surprised it didn't happen.
Any word on why ?
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 28, 2016 20:47:35 GMT -5
Wow ! I'd never heard of that. Kind of surprised it didn't happen. Any word on why ? I've heard of it and always surmised it was more of a pipe dream of Martin Goodman's and never got much further than talking stage. The Sub-Mariner character was not quite a property indelibly imprinted on the general public's consciousness , the mid-50s revival did not sell in large quantities, was a bi-monthly and was cancelled in about a year and a half. Nothing was ever filmed, no pilot or test footage was ever found and no sponsor signed on. A character who was predominately an underwater dweller posed it's own unique problems too. It didn't even attempt a theatrical movie as a test like the Superman vs The Mole Men feature that preceded the TV show.I'd be amazed if it actually made the airwaves ahead of a Batman or Wonder Woman show in the 1950s |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 20:51:12 GMT -5
Wow ! I'd never heard of that. Kind of surprised it didn't happen. Any word on why ? There have been a lot of rumors. This article is probably closest to the truth.
link
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 28, 2016 21:10:58 GMT -5
I suspect there may have been some initial talk and it never got off the ground.
Goodman was a huge skin flint, so the fact that it didn't get any further than just an initial idea, doesn't surprise me at all.
Let's also remember this was the Atlas era, where Goodman was at his absolute weakest.
I think this was nothing more than an idea that never got past the negotiations stage, especially since there's no mention of it whatsoever in the trade mags.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 21:26:48 GMT -5
Who really knows? I posted it because I had heard of this years ago. And I have always read conflicting versions of how close it came to happening. It intrigues me to think how different Marvel would have looked in the Silver Age if the TV show had happened & been successful...
I started this thread to get a discussion going on how different Marvel would have looked in the 60's had the TV show happened. |
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 28, 2016 21:36:29 GMT -5
It would have had a significant impact, but perhaps not how one might hope.
If, in fact, it had happened, Goodman would've been encouraged to continue to tow the line knocking off whatever else was successful in the marketplace.
Stan was allowed to go wild and unleash at his wife Joan's urging Stan to write that novel he's always wanted to.
He couldn't do that then, but he could certainly include some more 3-dimensional angst and more operatic elements and go with the Hail Mary long pass.
Goodman probably wouldn't have allowed it based on the success of Atlas and the Subby show and more-of-the-same, but who knows ?
It probably would've happened eventually, but who's to say that Ditko or Kirby would've still been around at that point ?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 21:47:58 GMT -5
It would have had a significant impact, but perhaps not how one might hope. If, in fact, it had happened, Goodman would've been encouraged to continue to tow the line knocking off whatever else was successful in the marketplace. Stan was allowed to go wild and unleash at his wife Joan's urging Stan to write that novel he's always wanted to. He couldn't do that then, but he could certainly include some more 3-dimensional angst and more operatic elements and go with the Hail Mary long pass. Goodman probably wouldn't have allowed it based on the success of Atlas and the Subby show and more-of-the-same, but who knows ? It probably would've happened eventually, but who's to say that Ditko or Kirby would've still been around at that point ? I agree. In the short term a show may have boosted Marvel's place in comics especially in the 50's. However I doubt it would have carried over into the 60's. And would we ever have seen the FF, Spider-Man, Hulk, etc? We probably would have seen Timely's big 3 from the 40's & others updated for the 60's instead. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 21:48:45 GMT -5
Wow ! I'd never heard of that. Kind of surprised it didn't happen. Any word on why ? There have been a lot of rumors. This article is probably closest to the truth.
link
I just bookmarked the link that you've shared with us and I just can't believe that this show came into fruition and I think that Richard Egan would been a perfect for Namor. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Aug 28, 2016 21:49:03 GMT -5
Perhaps I'm not giving the era the credit it deserves, but wasn't there enough trouble getting the Satanic looking Mr Spock on TV ten years later to suggest that The Submariner's very appearance would have been a roadblock to getting on television. As impressive as that photo of Richard Egan looks (and such photo manipulations usually look anything but) it would probably be more period authentic had his pointed ears been airbrushed round. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 21:53:23 GMT -5
Perhaps I'm not giving the era the credit it deserves, but wasn't there enough trouble getting the Satanic looking Mr Spock on TV ten years later to suggest that The Submariner's very appearance would have been a roadblock to getting on television. As impressive as that photo of Richard Egan looks (and such photo manipulations usually look anything but) it would probably be more period authentic had his pointed ears been airbrushed round. Who knows? TV censors were inconsistent. Plus how would they pull off the underwater scenes at that time?
Here is the original picture:
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Aug 28, 2016 22:05:00 GMT -5
Plus how would they pull off the underwater scenes at that time?
Answer: they couldn't, not with the special effects that existed way back then Have you ever watched the TV show Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges from the late 50s, half the show was Lloyd swimming around in a Hollywood studio tank, pretending it was the ocean, and narrating his thoughts to us. Very, Very boring sequences. The real action took place in boats or docks. I'm sure this was one of the major roadblocks |
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Post by MDG on Aug 29, 2016 8:11:49 GMT -5
Having seen Diver Dan, I wouldn't be too optimistic about the quality of the underwater scenes.
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 29, 2016 15:37:00 GMT -5
The impact of a Sub-Mariner TV show on Marvel would have been about the same as the effect that the 1955 Sheena, Queen of the Jungle TV show had on Fiction House comics. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_McCalla |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 15:46:52 GMT -5
The impact of a Sub-Mariner TV show on Marvel would have been about the same as the effect that the 1955 Sheena, Queen of the Jungle TV show had on Fiction House comics. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_McCallaI agree if it had been unsuccessful.
I disagree if it had been successful we may have never seen Spider-Man, The Hulk, FF, etc. Probably would have seen the Timely heroes updated instead.
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