I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

one of my absolute favorites!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

"Peter Parker" (Nicholas Hammond) is a bright, young college student who accidentally gets bitten by a radioactive spider and soon finds out that he has gained great strength and can climb buildings because of it. At first he doesn't know what to do with his special powers but when prominent citizens begin doing bizarre things upon the command of a master criminal he realizes that he has little choice but to investigate the situation and to attempt to stop him. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film served as the pilot for a television series aired back in 1977 and because of that it clearly shows its age. Not only is it quite dated but the special effects were extremely basic and the overall plot definitely suffers from the made-for-television format. Having said that, while I don't necessarily believe that this particular movie is a complete waste of time, I honestly have difficulty rating it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

Just reading why this show got canceled makes me rather steamed. This was a favorite of mine as a kid and I always watched it when it came on no matter how many times I saw the episode. Sure the effects were not great, but they were also not horrible either. They did a fairly good job with the costume and it had the nice 70's vibe to it that is always enjoyable to see and hear as the music was also very 70's. It did not really have any villains from the comics, but then most comic book live show adaptations had none to very few actual super villains from the comics. Spidey's powers were a bit different here too, he had his Spidey sense and he could climb walls, but he was not nearly as strong as the Spider-man of the comics. He was super strong though as I do remember an episode where he broke into a room by breaking the door knob off, he just was not the car hurler that the one from the comic book can be. The show was set in Los Angelos so there were not as many buildings to swing from, but they did okay with the web. It is nice that this show actually has the web shooters and not organic shooters of the movie. I love the movies, but part of me wishes they would start over and do the more smarty pants Spidey that has the mechanical web shooters. This show had a good star as Peter Parker and he was okay as Spider-man, it is nice to see a Spidey who does not basically live in the slums like he does in the movies. Neither this show nor the movie though has a Spider-man that is quick with the insult like the one in the comic. Still, this show was fun without being as corny as the Batman show.

Does anyone know the status of a potential DVD release of Spiderman with Nicholas Hammond. It seems like everyone has forgotten about this series. Granted the F/X were not like they are now and it was played as camp. I know that a lot of Spiderman fans think of this series as a bad stepchild. I disagree, just part of the Spiderman legacy. I wish that whoever has the rights to release this on DVD will do this. I hope it is not another rights issue like the Superboy series. While we are at it. Sam Raimi if you are out there, contact Nicholas for a cameo in Spiderman 3. To some of us who grew up with Nicholas as Spiderman, it would be a treat. Bring Spidey back.

How awful can this stuff be? Shot in LA, with five-story buildings and EXTREMELY poor special effects, this is one of the worst television shows in history. Nicholas Hammond. 'Nuff said. Stick to the cartoon version or the movie, or both.