Robert Maxwell já havia desenvolvido a primeira temporada principalmente de seu programa de rádio antes de procurar patrocinadores. Quando a Kellogg's reviu a primeira temporada, eles insistiram que a violência fosse diminuída para tornar o programa mais amigável para as crianças.
The most objectionable moments from 1951 had been removed in the re-editing of the series, and were not likely to be repeated no matter who sat in the producer's chair. Watchdog groups would ensure that macabre plots and sadistic villains would no longer be welcome. - ch 12.
Quando Ellsworth assumiu, já havia clamor pela primeira temporada. Escritores como Jackson Gillis tentaram introduzir vilões mais épicos, mas o veto de edição de Ellsworth a impediu.
Em abril de 1953, houve audiências do Comitê Congressional sobre a delinquência juvenil, com quadrinhos e programas de televisão sendo exibidos e influências negativas.Meldini is described int he teleplay as "a myopic European scientist" with an accent. Ellsworth's first change was to turn him into something out of a comic book. Gillis' scientist was far more grim and evil. - ch 12.
"Superman (with the big S on his uniform -- we should, I suppose, be thankful that it is not an S.S.) needs an endless stream of ever new submen, criminals and 'foreign-looking' people not only to justify his existence but even to make it possible." - Wertham's conclusion on comic book influences. - ch 13.
Em setembro do mesmo ano, 24 editoras se uniram para criar a Autoridade de Código de Banda Desenhada, que usou um modelo do Código de Ética da DC, originalmente criou Ellsworth e Liebowitz em 1940. Incluía a cláusula In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
Ellsworth may have thought he'd effectively toned down the violence after Maxwell, but now he even had to reign in his own taste. Banished forever were stories that might remotely be construed as horror or overly suspenseful, such as "Panic in the Sky", "A Ghost for Scotland Yard" and 'Lady in Black." Banished was any form of murder, both on- and off-screen, and if a character received a blow to the head, the scrip specified that it should happen "OUT OF FRAME,' with never so much as a lump afterward. Banished were criminal masterminds like the Wrecker, replaced for the most part with bumbling two-bit hoodlums. If one with a medium of intelligence happened to slip by, he was always paired with an imbecile. - emphasis added. ch 13.
Essa última citação é talvez a mais reveladora. Super criminosos como Lex Luthor não foram permitidos no show.
Superman was now to be a children's show first, a family show second, with no risk of contraversy. - ch 13.
Vilões da ficção científica, como Brainiac, estavam um pouco fora do personagem para o show. Além do título de Kryptoniano, outros estrangeiros e histórias fora do mundo estavam no mínimo.
Não foi até 1957 que isso mudaria.
By the summer of '57, comic book fantasy had replaced Davy Crockett heroism in the eyes of American youth. Shrinking men and hulking giants , prehistoric creatues and teenaged werewolves forced the singing cowboy from the B-picture scene. The logical solution was to let fast-paced action take a back seat to situations laced with science fiction overtones. For the first time, the producer would dispense with Mort Weisinger's services and simply co-write non of the scripts himself; - ch 14
Isso não mudou o tom geral do show e a insistência de que o Good deve triunfar sobre o Evil. O show também sempre contou com Clark Kent e o Daily Planet com Superman chegando no final para salvar o dia. Para introduzir os super vilões regulares, seria necessário mais da história para se concentrar no Superman.
| Todas as citações são tiradas de Vôos de Fantasy: The Unauthorized, mas True Story of Radio & Aventuras de Superman da TV
Superman Super Site tem isto a dizer:
Neither Lex Luthor, Brainiac nor any of the regular comic book villains were used in the TV scripts, although a midget Martian, "Mr. Zero" (Billy Curtis) bore a vague similarity (in relative size only) to the comics' magical imp and recurring Superman villain Mr. Mxyzptlk. Carrying over the precedents established in previous electronic media productions of Superman, the bad guys on the TV show were usually generic thugs, evil scientists, Russian agents, crooked businessmen, or spies of fictitious foreign countries.
A alegação de que foi um precedente da mídia eletrônica estabelecida para não incluir os gostos de Lex Luthor é patentemente falsa. Como o Atom Man vs Superman de 1950 tem Lex Luthor disfarçado de Atom Man contra Superman.