Discuss Adventures of Superman
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Problems with "Superman's Wife" episode [**warning: possible spoilers**]
posted by MoondoggieSTAFFMOD on February 12, 2017 at 6:27 PM
This episode is notable for giving Joi Lansing a prominent role as police Sgt. O'Hara (not to be confused with Sgt. O'Hara from Rin Tin Tin 
.) But the show suffers a bit from continuity errors as well as poor research.
For example, the full-size diving bell shown at the dock doesn't match the design/coloring of the small model shown being lowered underwater. The latter model has dark brown vertical pieces at the joints/corners where the sides of the bell meet. The full-size bell is all one light gray color.
In terms of poor research, Superman pulls the bell up to the surface by standing on the floor and pulling down on the lifeline cable after pulling it down through the top of the bell. But the physics are actually backward. Doing so would only pull Superman up off the floor. The way to pull the bell up from inside is not to stand on the floor and pull down on the cable; it is to stand upside down on the ceiling inside the bell, and then pull the cable down. Having Superman wedged against the ceiling would work fine; standing on the floor is useless.
Maybe they just couldn't afford technical advisors to help them with this simple physics problem.
Reply by Zürich Gnome
on February 12, 2017 at 7:19 PM
HI, MD. Good catch on both those items. Some folks may think, Why didn't Superman just jump off the floor and start flying upward, pushing on the ceiling of the diving bell with his hands? But Newton's third law of motion says: When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body. So if he tried to jump up, his downward push on the floor with his feet would exactly cancel out his upward motion toward the ceiling. Result: nothing.
Reply by PT 100
on February 12, 2017 at 8:03 PM
Warning: possible spoilers
Another thing I noticed is that when Superman rescued Sgt. O'Hara from the bridge, he could simply have pulled the fuse out of the dynamite before untying her. This would have resulted in saving not only her but also the bridge. I guess maybe the writers just wanted an explosion for some excitement and to emphasize the peril she had been in.
Reply by wonder2wonder
on May 18, 2022 at 7:12 PM
I thought that too. Or did they just forget?
Reply by PT 100
on May 20, 2022 at 5:09 PM
Given that it was a kids' show, I think they felt they needed to create some excitement/suspense, and made the threat really obvious so that younger kids would clearly understand and appreciate the peril. I think just pulling out the fuse, which had been done a lot in 1950s TV shows, would have been less exciting.
Reply by wonder2wonder
on May 20, 2022 at 5:56 PM
That's true. Even now I still think it's more exciting. And with ticking time bombs, it's always which colour wire to cut.