The Amazing Spider-Man of the 1970s: The Original Series That was Made Without CGI

 

This was the first live-action TV presentation of Spider-Man, airing on CBS in the United States from September 14, 1977 to July 6, 1979.

Australian actor Nicholas Hammond, best known for playing young Friedrich von Trapp in The Sound of Music.

Unlike the original comic books, the TV series took a different direction by featuring more grounded and realistic adversaries, such as mind-controlling New Age gurus, cultists, and Latin American politicians, rather than traditional villains such as the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. .

Mary Jane Watson, a prominent character in the comics, was replaced by a reporter named Julie Masters as Peter Parker's love interest.

It focused largely on Peter Parker's personal struggles and his attempts to deal with crime.

Stuntman Fred Waugh bravely played Spider-Man, performing daring jumps, flips and building-scaling without the aid of modern CGI.

Waugh also filmed first-person footage of these stunts using a head-mounted "camera-hat".

Despite its innovative approach, The Amazing Spider-Man series was short-lived, airing only 13 episodes before its cancellation in 1979.

CBS executives were concerned that the network was airing too many superhero shows, leading to its premature end.

The series became the 19th highest-rated show of the entire season, but CBS was not able to commit to giving the show a regular/fixed time slot for the 1978–79 season, as the series was expensive to produce and continued. Poor performance with older audiences.

The second season, consisting of seven episodes, aired intermittently throughout the 1978–79 TV season.

The series continued to perform well in the ratings during its second season. CBS officially canceled the series shortly after the season ended.

It was already airing other live-action superhero series or specials at the time, including The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Doctor Strange.

The series received the first live-action depiction of Peter Parker's "Spider-Tracer" tracking/homing devices; He is featured prominently in several episodes throughout the series.