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"Why is it so hard to do Superman right? Despite an impressive performance at the box office, Zack Snyder&amp;#039;s Man of Steel - starring Henry Cavill as the DC comics icon - has divided critics, just as the character&amp;#039;s last big screen outing - Bryan Singer&amp;#039;s Superman Returns - did in 2006.  Televisual takes on Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster&amp;#039;s creation have been equally as contentious. Over the years, there have been many attempts to bring Superman to the small screen - some popular hits, others more divisive. Join us now for a look back at the last son of Krypton&amp;#039;s best and worst TV outings... &amp;gt; Week in Geek - Arrow season two: Will we see Superman, Batman &amp;amp; the Justice League? &amp;gt; Week in Geek - Doctor Who: Matt Smith, Thank you for being the Doctor Adventures of Superman (1952-1958)  Kirk Alyn gave the role a decent stab in two &amp;#039;40s / &amp;#039;50s film serials, but for many comic aficionados, the first iconic screen Supes was George Reeves - the square-jawed star brought the Man of Steel to life with a warmth and charisma that captured the hearts and minds of viewers across America in the mid-to-late 1950s. Following 52 moody, noir-like episodes, Adventures switched to full colour and a lighter tone for three additional seasons - only the tragic death of the show&amp;#039;s star curtailed this monster hit. Superboy (1988-1992)  John Haymes Newton played the not-so-Big Blue in the first season of this well-received &amp;#039;young Superman&amp;#039; series, but was dropped by producers as part of a drastic season two overhaul. Gerard Christopher assumed the title role for the next three seasons, but ultimately legal issues derailed this impressive adaptation, leaving plans for a fifth and sixth season on the scrapheap. Not one to give up easily, Christopher loved playing Clark so much that he auditioned for the role again - successfully - for Lois &amp;amp; Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and was only dropped in favour of Dean Cain when producers outed him as a former Man of Steel - which shouldn&amp;#039;t really have been that difficult, if they&amp;#039;d been watching his show... Lois &amp;amp; Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993-1997)  Ah yes, Lois &amp;amp; Clark - often unfairly maligned by the comics hardcore for its tongue-in-cheek humour and soapy style, this &amp;#039;90s series was, at its best, pure bubblegum entertainment. And in the late Lane Smith, it also boasted - in the Week in Geek&amp;#039;s modest opinion - the greatest ever on-screen Perry White. True, the comic book trappings were really just a framework for the romantic tension between our leads, the aforementioned Cain and Teri Hatcher - their barbs and banter frequently accompanied on the soundtrack by some jazzy piano tinkling - but above all, The New Adventures of Superman was great fun, with a twinkle in its eye that the po-faced Man of Steel could perhaps have benefited from. Smallville (2001-2011)  Still the longest-running live-action Superman adaptation - and, for that matter, the longest-running comic book-based series in TV history - Smallville started strong as a traditional teen drama tinged with science-fiction overtones - in its early years, the show was essentially Clark&amp;#039;s Creek. But Smallville&amp;#039;s longevity ultimately proved to be a negative - as season after season passed, and star Tom Welling visibly aged on-screen, Clark&amp;#039;s journey stalled, frustrating many fans who&amp;#039;d been with the show since the beginning. Our hero finally suited up the series finale, but it wasn&amp;#039;t enough to salvage a series that had become a poor imitation of its former self. Which Superman TV series was your favourite? Could Man of Steel learn from any of its television cousins? Share your thoughts below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a493049/superman-on-tv-best-and-worst-of-the-man-of-steel-on-the-small-screen/>