It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!

The funniest Superhero story ever!

RELEASED 21 Feb 19751h 32m★ 4.4 TMDB

TV adaptation of the campy 1960s Broadway musical about the Man of Steel, his friends, his enemies, and his self-image problems.

WATCH NOTE

Standalone 1975 live-action television musical directed by Jack Regas and adapted by Romeo Muller from the Broadway musical. David Wilson plays Clark Kent/Superman, Lesley Ann Warren plays Lois Lane and Allen Ludden plays Perry White. Supporting credits identify David Wayne as Dr. Sedgwick, Kenneth Mars as Max Mencken and Loretta Swit as Sydney Carlton. Authored reporting identifies Danny Goldman as the copyboy, Michael Lembeck as Joe, Stuart Goetz (also rendered Getz) as Jerry, and Malachi Throne as the gangster boss; Harvey Lembeck, Al Molinaro and Lou Wills Jr. play gangsters. Moria identifies George Chandler as Jonathan Kent and Irene Tedrow as Martha Kent; individual official DC profile matches for the Kent parents remain unresolved. Exact assignments for Phil Leeds, Geoffrey Horne and the MIT Technician, plus complete supporting and silent/background coverage, remain under review. The copyboy is not established as Jimmy Olsen. ABC broadcast the special on February 21, 1975 within Wide World of Entertainment; airing 531 is not a season/episode designation. Runtime sources differ between approximately 120 minutes and a 92-minute DVD-R presentation; exact duration and edition differences remain unresolved.

Watch these first

4 titles to watch before It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! — 110h 7m in total.

The Adventures of SuperboyOptional background0h 26m★ 4.6
A separate adaptation of Superman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!’s story continuity.
The New Adventures of SupermanOptional background7h 56m★ 6.2
A separate adaptation of Superman and Lois Lane; useful for comparison, but unrelated to It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!’s story continuity.
The Superman/Aquaman Hour of AdventureOptional background1h 48m★ 7.1
A separate adaptation of Superman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!’s story continuity.
Super FriendsOptional background99h 57m★ 7.8
A separate adaptation of Superman; useful for comparison, but unrelated to It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!’s story continuity.

Opens the planner with just these titles, so you can set your own pace.

How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

Explore the full viewing guide

Where it fits in the DC universe

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! is title 74 of 75 in our Live-action Elseworlds viewing sequence. This standalone television musical introduces its own Superman origin and follows his conflict with Dr. Abner Sedgwick and Daily Planet columnist Max Mencken. Start with the special itself; no earlier screen adaptation is required. Its presentation within ABC's Wide World of Entertainment adds no separate adventure to watch.

Explore this viewing sequence