Superman TV shows: the complete list of every live-action and animated series

The live-action series

Six live-action series have carried the character or his immediate universe, from 1952 to 2024. Each corresponds to a different way of telling the hero's story: the postwar crime-fighter, the teenager, the journalist in love, the family man.

Adventures of Superman (1952-1958) is the template. Shot in black and white and then in color, it fixed the character's television image for an entire generation, with George Reeves in the role.

Lois & Clark (1993-1997) shifts the center of gravity toward romantic comedy: Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher make the Daily Planet the real setting of the show. It's the most human Superman on television.

Smallville (2001-2011) is the behemoth: ten seasons, the longest-running superhero series of its time, and a famous writing rule — no flights, no tights — that Tom Welling held to almost until the end.

Superman & Lois (2021-2024) finally tries the family-man angle, with Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane. Four seasons, and a deliberate conclusion rather than a cancellation.

The animated series

Animation was, historically, Superman's first screen: the Fleischer shorts predate the first live-action series by eleven years. The animated body of work is also the most consistent — there has hardly been a decade without animated Superman since 1941.

Two titles dominate. Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000) is the benchmark: Bruce Timm's style, a modernized gallery of villains, and a continuity that carries on in Justice League then Justice League Unlimited until 2006.

My Adventures with Superman (since 2023) takes the opposite approach: a rookie Clark, a style inspired by Japanese anime, and Lois Lane front and center. It's the series that brought the character back to a young adult audience.

Between the two, Legion of Super Heroes (2006-2008) deserves a mention: it sends a teenage Superman into the future alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes, a corner of the comics rarely adapted for the screen.

The series nobody mentions

Three series are almost always missing from the lists, and they deserve better.

• Superboy (1988-1992): four seasons in syndication, produced by the Salkinds — the same people behind the Reeve films. The series changes its lead actor after the first season, John Haymes Newton giving way to Gerard Christopher, and takes the title The Adventures of Superboy from the third onward
• Superman by Ruby-Spears (1988): thirteen episodes produced for the character's fiftieth anniversary, with an aesthetic close to the comics of the time
• Krypton (2018-2019): two seasons on Syfy, centered on Seg-El, Superman's grandfather, two generations before the destruction of planet. The hero doesn't appear, but the whole universe is there

The spin-off series

Two series extend the universe without placing Superman at the center. Supergirl (2015-2021), six seasons with Melissa Benoist, establishes Kara Zor-El in the same television world as Superman & Lois in its early days — Tyler Hoechlin makes his first appearance in the role there, in fact. Our article on differences between Supergirl and Superman details what sets the two cousins apart.

Krypton, already mentioned, works as a prequel: it explores Kryptonian society, the House of El and the hero's future enemies without ever showing him. It's the ideal series for anyone more interested in the mythology than in the character.

More distantly, you can add the hero's appearances in Super Friends and the Justice Leagueseries, where he shares the bill. They count in the body of work, but you don't watch them for him alone.

Where to start?

It all depends on what you're looking for. Here's a quick guide by intent.

• The origin story, long and detailed : Smallville. Ten seasons to watch Clark become Superman, with all the mythology around him
• The couple and the journalism : Lois & Clark. The lightest, most dialogue-driven series, the one where the Daily Planet matters as much as the cape
• The adult Superman and father : Superman & Lois. The most recent and the closest to the tone of modern comics
• The best adaptation, period : Superman: The Animated Series. Short, dense, and a gateway to the entire DC animated universe
• A rookie, modern Superman : My Adventures with Superman. Fast pace, short seasons, anime style
• The mythology without the hero : Krypton. For those who want to understand where he comes from

A tip for the undecided: start with the 1996 animated series. It's the shortest of the major series, and it gives you all the keys to appreciate the others — including the video games that often borrow its aesthetic.

Conclusion

The Superman TV shows tell the character's story at far greater length than the films: seventy years of television, six live-action incarnations, nearly uninterrupted animation since 1941. Every decade has had its Superman on screen, and each reflected its era.

On the Supergirl series, our profile of Calista Flockhart looks back at the character of Cat Grant and at the move from CBS to The CW.

The Supergirl series also has its figurehead: read our profile of Melissa Benoist, the actress who played Kara Danvers from 2015 to 2021.

Want to dig into the Smallville cast? Our profile of Kristin Kreuk, the show's Lana Lang, retraces her career before and after the role.

What's striking when you line them up is the variety of angles — crime-fighter, teenager, journalist, father — for a character often called monolithic. Television may be the medium that has best shown how much he isn't.

To find every actor, our article Who has played Superman? ranks all the actors, film and TV combined.