September 1967: That’s Nice, That’s Terrific

Superman editor Mort Weisinger often took his story cues from the popular culture fads of the day, shopping for ideas by scanning movie posters and other such signposts of the zeitgeist.

But in 1967, that could be a little like looking into a mirror. Batman was on TV and a Superman musical had just finished on Broadway. DC superhero cartoons abounded.

And then came the live-action superhero sitcoms Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific, both premiering on the evening of Jan. 9, 1967.

Whatever appeal the superhero comedy concept might have had in 1967, the shows stumbled right out of the starting gate because of their back-to-back network scheduling.

Mr. Terrific starred Stephen Strimpell as Stanley Beamish, a filling station operator whose singular biochemistry permitted him to pop a power pill and become a flying, super-strong superspy for a maximum of 100 minutes.

Captain Nice was police chemist Carter Nash (William Daniels), a mother-dominated fusspot who nevertheless appeared to be the only person with any sense of civic responsibility in Big Town, USA. When goggled and caped, Carter seemed self-conscious but game, smashing through walls, catching bullets, shrugging off artillery shells and zipping around the globe in under 60 minutes.

Both Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice were obviously Superman parodies. In Action Comics 354 (Sept. 1967), Weisinger did a tribute to both shows, splitting the difference by creating a character called Captain Incredible.

Captain Incredible turned out to be a super-robot created by a 27^th century scientist to assist Superman. However, the strain of time travel proved too much for the mechanical man, and he became a menace.

Actually, the shows were virtually off the air then, having been cancelled. They were just finishing their summer reruns by the time Action 354 appeared on the stands in July 1967.

“How ironic,” as the comic books used to say.

Looking back, Daniels put his show’s quick demise down to the audience’s disinclination to cheer for an “insecure Superman.”

The super-sitcom rivals: Captain Nice and Mr. Terrific

January 1967: The Banality of Good

The runaway success of ABC’s Batman show in January 1966 prompted CBS and NBC to scramble for ideas for January of 1967. Both were superhero sitcoms.

The notion of parodying superheroes was pretty obvious, and Batman had already plowed that ground anyway.

Somewhat ironically, in an era obsessed with drug abuse, both superheroes acquired their time-limited super powers through wonder drugs. 

On CBS, Stephen Strimpell played a gas station attendant who gained the strength of a thousand men and the ability to fly as Mr. Terrific. Yawn.

But NBC had something fresh from the mind that had dreamed up Get Smart. Buck Henry, in creating his clever and largely unappreciated superhero sitcom Captain Nice, anticipated with comic effect something that might happen in real life if some masked, super-strong fellow were to fly around doing good deeds.

We imagine helpless, grateful citizens being overawed, and look-up-in-the-sky-ing, but very, very quickly we’d get used to him, just as we get used to every impossible thing that happens — men landing on the moon, nuclear reactors poisoning the Pacific, walking around with Star Trek communicators in our hands, and so forth.

I recall an episode in which a highway bridge, ruined by corrupt contractors, collapses during its dedication ceremony. Luckily police chemist Carter Nash (William Daniels) is on hand as Captain Nice to catch the bridge. 

The mayor wonders if he wouldn’t mind just standing there to support the bridge permanently.

Alice Ghostley co-starred as Nash’s mother and Ann Prentiss played policewoman Candy Kane. The character’s superhero name came from his spur-of-the-moment attempt to explain away his monogrammed belt buckle. His unfortunate costume was something his mother made him wear.

“Well, it had Buck Henry, and he would take a script, go into a room, and make it funny,” recalled Daniels. “But I can’t say as I remember too much about it except that once they flew me into the wall of the studio, and I banged my head!”