Superman's 50th Anniversary

Superman's 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel is a 1988 American live action/animated television special made to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Superman.

Premise

Host Dana Carvey looks back over the history of Superman featuring sequences utilizing footage from the Max Fleischer Superman animated shorts, the Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves, and the Christopher Reeve Superman as well as vignettes wherein guest stars portraying various citizens of Metropolis give their two cents on Superman.

Cast

Host

Dana Carvey

Guests

Sketch cast

Fred Willard as Finn Howard
John Randolph as Morton Simon
Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster
Jackson Beck as Announcer
Marcia Gay Harden as Marcia Connolly
Robert Smigel as Brainwave

Production

With the approach of Superman's 50th Anniversary, CBS enlisted producer Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and staff writer Rosie Shuster to produce a prime TV special to mark the event. Later that same year, CBS would also air the Ruby-Spears produced Superman animated series

Reception

In his review for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor praised Dana Carvey as the host as well as the history covered regarding Superman, but criticized the comedy sketches as "labored" and "uninspired". Conversely, Terry Atkinson praised the special in a review for the Los Angeles Times calling it "a delightful and frequently irreverent 60 minutes of nostalgia and nonsense."