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        *        LOIS AND CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN        *
        *                  Detailed Episode Summaries                  *
        *                                                              *
        *                 Prepared by Jeffery D. Sykes                 *
        *                       sykes@ms.uky.edu                       *
        *                                                              *
        *                  Season 1: Premiere Episode                  *
        ****************************************************************

        This summary should be distributed free of charge.  Before
        including it in any other source or archive, please contact me
        at the above address.  All of my summaries, as well as my 
        Episode Guide, are available via ftp and e-mail.  See my 
        regular posting for more information.

 
1.  PREMIERE
    --------
    US Airdate 9/12/93
    Written by Deborah Joy LeVine
    Directed by Robert Butler

	In the Daily Planet newsroom, the staff is celebrating the exposing
of a car theft ring by star reporter Lois Lane, while outside the building
young Clark Kent arrives in Metropolis, hoping to become a member of their
illustrious news team.  Before he can make his way inside, he spots a bus
careening wildly down the street, its brakes inoperable.  Without a thought,
he rushes into the street, sets himself in front of the bus, and stops it
with a single hand, leaving a deep hand print in the front molding and an
astonished look on the face of a bystander.
	As the celebration wanes, a shabbily dressed man bursts into the 
newsroom, begging for Lois' attention.  As he is restrained and removed
from the room, he exclaims that the space shuttle Messenger, scheduled to
carry the last module of the new Space Station Prometheus into orbit, has 
been sabotaged and will explode.  This statement starts the wheels turning
in Lois' mind.  Clark, meanwhile, has begun his interview with Perry, who
seems less than impressed by Clark's experience with the Smallville Press
and the Borneo Gazette.  Lois bursts into Perry's office, interrupting the
interview, to promote the story about the Messenger.  After introducing the
two, Perry tries to redirect her to the story about the theater demolition
she had been assigned, but there is no changing her mind.  Once she leaves,
Perry informs Clark that he has nothing available.  Clark gives him an
incredibly firm handshake and departs.
	Clark checks into a small hotel and calls his parents to relay the bad
news.  After talking about the bus incident, they remind him that he must
be careful about using his powers.  Lois returns to her apartment, where
her sister Lucy expresses concern over her lack of a social life, pointing
out the fact that she still has no date for Lex Luthor's ball.  
	The next day, Clark proceeds to the theater that is about to be
demolished.  Using his x-ray vision, he spots an elderly woman inside the
building  -- unbeknownst to the demolition crew.  He quickly disables the
wrecking ball by using his heat vision to overheat the crane's engine and
then moves inside the building.  He watches her on stage, playing to an
invisible crowd, then applauds her performance.  She sadly explains how
she simply needed to say good-bye.
	After returning to his hotel, Clark writes the woman's story at super
speed, overheating his typewriter in the process.  He takes the story back
to the Planet, where Perry and Jimmy are duly impressed.  Lois, however,
is not.  Perry, citing Clark's initiative, hires him as a writer.  Suddenly,
they are called to the newsroom televisions, where they find the TV news crews
reporting the launchpad explosion of the Messenger.
	Faced with this tragedy, Perry grants Lois her story on Dr. Platt, the
"madman" who had previously warned them about sabotage.  However, he forces
her to take Clark with her.  As they leave the newsroom, Lois tries to make
it perfectly clear the Clark is the assistant, while she is the top banana --
to which Clark smugly replies "Got it.  You like to be on top!"  Lois simply 
gives him an evil look.
	Dr. Platt had been a scientist on the Prometheus project.  While there,
he had broken into a secure area, discovering a problem with the booster
rockets.  He had submitted a report to Dr. Baines, a superior in the space
program, but he claimed that she buried it.  He was then suddenly fired.
He frantically raves about how the space station will stage research which
could result in cures for thousands of diseases, then promises Lois and Clark
a copy of his report.  They then go to see Dr. Baines, whose story is markedly
different.  She claims that Platt was fired solely because of his incompetence
and because he had set a fire in his lab.  She denied the existence of the 
report.  Throughout the interview, Dr. Baines is much more receptive to Clark
than she is to Lois.  As they leave, Lois can't help but remark that she 
doesn't trust her.  Clark calls her cynical -- thinking that everyone is
dishonest and has an angle -- but Lois calls it reality.
	Back at the newsroom, Jimmy begins showing Clark around, and Clark
is introduced to Cat Grant, the paper's society columnist.  She throws 
herself mercilessly at Clark, who sheepishly (but amusedly) deflects her
attention for the near future.  Lois huffs in disgust, but later that
evening, after failing to find a date, she asks Clark if he wants to go
with her to Lex Luthor's ball.  Of course, Clark has to drag the invitation
out of her!  Just to tease her, he asks if this is a date.  She confirms
enthusiastically that it is not!
	After setting a time to meet her there, Clark leaves the Planet and
flies home to Smallville (Kansas) to have dinner with his parents.  When
he mentions Lois, they perk up and begin to bombard him with questions.
Generally, he describes her negative qualities, but ends by calling her
brilliant -- which he does so with an air of admiration.  After dinner,
he talks with his father about trying to act normal, his main problem
being that he can't use his gifts.
	At the ball, Clark and Jimmy are discussing Lex Luthor's prominence
in Metropolis as a businessman and philanthropist when Lois enters in a 
stunning dress, causing Clark to rise from the ground.  She works her way
to Lex, who asks her to dance -- and then to dinner.  Just as she feels she
is about to land her exclusive interview, Clark cuts in on them.  Miffed at
him, Lois storms away.  Clark follows her into Lex's office, where they begin
to snoop around.  As Clark inspects Luthor's weapons display, Lex discovers
them.  He takes them to his patio and explains that he enjoys his penthouse
view, not to mention the fact that everyone else has to look up to him.
	Returning to the party, Lex makes an announcement that the Congress of
Nations is talking about canceling the Prometheus project.  He then presents
his plans for the future of humanity: the privately funded Space Station
Luthor.  Clark, unlike the rest of the crowd, seems to be skeptical.  Later,
as Lex lies on the floor in front of his fireplace, the door quietly opens
and a cobra enters the room.  Lex turns his head just in time to come face to
face with the snake.  Unwavering, he glares at the deadly viper until it
backs down and slithers away.  
	Lois's and Clark's paths cross on the way to work the next day.  As she
tells him of her attempts to get into the EPRAD warehouse which is storing
the Messenger debris, there is an explosion from an under-street repair site.
As the crowd huddles around, the man who was trapped by the explosion is 
lifted out through the manhole.  Clark, who had been unnoticeably absent for
a few seconds, appears at Lois' shoulder, his suit covered in filth.  When 
the rescuee identifies Clark as his rescuer, the two of them write him off
as delusional.  She then tells him that he needs to keep a change of clothes
at work! 
	As they enter the Daily Planet building, Jimmy passes them on his way
out to take a copy of Platt's report to STAR Labs.  Then after fending off
another Cat attack, Clark speaks with Lois about their plan of attack.  They
agree that they need proof that Baines saw the report.  Meanwhile, Baines is
at Lex Luthor's penthouse, complaining that Platt, Lois, and Clark need to 
be silenced.  He allows her to send her thug to take care of Platt, but 
orders her to leave the reporters to him.  She begins to feel threatened
by Lois, so she reminds him how much she has done for him in causing the
failure of Prometheus and then warns him to stay away from Lois.
	Lois and Clark are working late into the night trying to sift through
Platt's report when Lois mentions that she is hungry.  When she suggests
Chinese take-out, Clark says he knows a place.  He leaves and quickly flies
to Shanghai, returning with native Chinese food.  After enjoying the food,
Lois is surprised that the fortune in her cookie is in Chinese.  Of course,
she is even more surprised when Clark can read it!  She comments "You are a
strange one, Clark Kent."  When he smiles and gazes at her for a moment, she
warns him not to fall for her -- she doesn't have time for it.
	Having troubles with his report, they decide to go pay Dr. Platt a 
visit.  When they arrive at his place, they find the door open and the lights
inoperative.  They proceed on in and find Dr. Platt electrocuted -- holding
an electric cable with his feet in a pan of water.
	When Lois hears the police decide that Platt committed suicide, she
refuses to believe it.  And when one of the cops cracks a "barbecue" joke,
Clark is deeply offended and severely reprimands him.  Lois is surprised by
his actions, so she goes to ask if he is all right.  He responds that he
feels like they should have protected Platt better.  Later he talks with
his parents on the phone, explaining that he feels responsible for the death.
Having heard of the manhole incident, they remind him once more to be 
careful, to which Clark responds that he has been thinking that maybe he
needs some sort of costume in which he can use his powers without fear of
being recognized.  Just then, Lois arrives.  He hangs up and answers the
door, but not having had a chance to get dressed, he's still wearing only
his towel from the shower.  Lois, quite stunned, reminds him that it's time
to go and that "I thought you'd be naked!"  While Clark goes into his room
to change, Lois snoops through his cabinets and refrigerator, finding nothing
but junk food.  When she asks how he keeps his build while eating like a 
pig, he feigns ignorance.
	That afternoon, Lex erupts in anger as the Congress of Nations 
announces their plans to continue with the Prometheus project.  And back
at the Planet, Jimmy has word from STAR Labs, that Platt's report was
correct.  The Messenger was sabotaged.  Clark asks Lois to dinner to
celebrate.  She accepts at first, then declines, remembering her plans
for dinner with Lex.  Clark gets a little jealous, they exchange words about
how he doesn't really trust Lex, and she begins to storm out.  When he
accuses her of being a snob and of resenting him, she turns around and tells
him that she lives by three rules.  First, she never gets involved with her
stories.  Second, she never lets anyone else get to the story first.  Third,
she never sleeps with anyone she works with.  Then she huffs out.
	At dinner, she goes through the normal banter with Lex that any 
reporter trying to get a scoop would.  Lex tells her that what he finds
important is not power, but the pursuit of pleasure, which she finds to be
unusual.  He asks her to loosen up a little and not think of the dinner as
work.  But then she backs away, telling him that he has misunderstood and that
she meant the dinner only as business.  He responds with some very smooth
words about what he finds intriguing about her, but they make her a little
uncomfortable.  She makes an excuse about making a deadline and excuses 
herself.
	The next morning, Perry reads, but refuses to print, their story.  He
credits the lack of credibility that Platt possessed.  They need some kind
of physical evidence.  Clark decides to call EPRAD for a look at the wreckage,
but expecting that to dead-end, Lois takes Jimmy and they break into the
warehouse.  But Dr. Baines happens to be there and see them.  She calls Lex,
who tells her again just to leave them alone and to proceed as planned to the
helicopter where she will receive her due.  But she is too worried about her
neck being on the line to listen to him.
	As Jimmy begins taking pictures of the debris, he is knocked out by
a blow to the head from behind.  When the thug approaches Lois, she exhibits
some impressive self-defense maneuvers, managing to lay him out.  But then
Baines steps in with a gun on Lois.  Back at the Planet, the staff is having
a late meeting.  When they realize that Lois and Jimmy aren't there, Clark
goes out to look for them.  When he finds them at the hanger, he knocks down
the door and orders Baines and her thug to drop their guns.  But realizing
he can't do anything without exposing his gifts, he allows himself to be
captured.
	While they are chained to a pole, Lois finally admits that everything
that is happening to them is "probably" her fault and begins to get emotional.
She "informs" him that she has a tendency to be impatient and gung-ho about
her stories.  In a brief moment of vulnerability, she admits that she has
broken each of her three rules.  She once slept with someone at work, only
to find the next morning that he had left early and stolen her story.  Clark
tries to console her, telling her that love makes everyone vulnerable.  He 
then tries to comfort her by telling her how Perry had described her at his
interview -- that she was the best reporter he'd ever seen.  She begins to
apologize for how she has been treating him, but she is interrupted by Dr.
Baines.  Baines sets up a chemical explosion then leaves.  As soon as all is
clear, Clark breaks his chain and frees Lois, explaining that there was a weak
link in the chain.  He grabs Jimmy and they rush from the building.  As the
building explodes he picks them up slightly off the ground and flies them a
short distance before dropping to the ground.  This he explains as the force
of the explosion carrying them away from the building.  As they watch the
fire, Baines' helicopter takes off from nearby, but explodes very shortly
thereafter.  Via video, Lex watches in smug comfort.
	At the Planet, another celebration is held to mark Lois and Clark's
work in exposing the sabotage.  EPRAD took the necessary actions to prevent
the same disaster from befalling the next shuttle.  Lois begs Perry to let
her go talk to the colonists who will be boarding Prometheus, but Perry has
to disappoint her with the news that no reporters are being allowed.  Lois 
then pulls Clark aside, warning him that he'd better never tell what she had
told him in the warehouse.  Clark tells her that she can trust him.
	Back home, Clark and his mother begin trying several costumes.  The 
first, with a leopard-patterned top, green tights, and orange shorts, is a bit
too much.  The second is all green with a yellow disk on his chest and blue
arms.  He then adds a green mask, and his mother adds a blue hat with yellow
wings on it.  Needless to say, that ain't it either.  Third, they try a solid
crimson body suit with a masked hood and brown sash.  The next one, a blue
top and leggings with red shorts and vertical red and yellow stripes 
circling his waist, is fairly decent, but not quite right.  Finally, the next
costume is the familiar blue body suit with red shorts and boots and a red
cape.  He looks in the mirror and asks his mother's opinion.  She comments
that at least no one will be looking at his face!  She's not sure it's right
yet, until she remembers something.  She goes under the bed and pulls out a 
box, from which she removes the red and yellow S-shield that they had found
in the ship in which he landed.  He removes his glasses to complete the image.
With the shield affixed to his chest, he goes out to see his father, who 
replies in pride, "That's my boy!"
	At the launch site, Lois manages to sneak on board the ship dressed
as one of the colonists.  She darts into a room next to the entrance, straps
herself into a chair, and then looks up to find a bomb.  In a panic to stop
the bomb, she cuts some wires to stop the countdown and keep the launch from 
happening.  Back in Kansas, the Kents are watching the launch on television.
When the countdown stops, Jonathan turns around to find Clark is already
gone.  As he flies over the crowd a few miles from the launch site, he is
spotted.  They speculate: "Is it a bird?"  "Is it a plane?"  Then a man with
binoculars informs them "No, it's just a guy in tights and a cape!"  For this
information, he receives the chastisement of the crowd!
	Clark, in costume, finds his way to Lois, who explains that there's
a bomb.  When he grabs the bomb, she questions his sanity.  When he EATS the
bomb, she asks "What ARE you?!?"  After having managed to deboard all of the
colonists, one of the children comments that she likes his costume.  He thanks
her and tells her that his mom made it for him.  News trickles to them that
the mission has been scrubbed, and therefore that Prometheus is finished.  But
Clark tells them not to give up, that he can give them a boost!  Needless to
say, the control room is astounded when the habitation module suddenly lifts
off.  Clark takes them to Prometheus and becomes an overnight worldwide
sensation.
	In the newsroom, Perry rants to Jimmy that he can't believe there's
any such thing as a flying man just as Clark flies through the window with
Lois.  As he sets her down, Lois regains her composure just long enough to
tell Clark that he owes her an exclusive.  He smiles and then flies out the
window.  When she asks how she can find him, he tells her that he'll be
around.  As Clark flies away, Cat walks up to Lois and asks her what the
S on his chest stands for.  Lois mindlessly whispers "Super..." and then
exclaims "SUPERMAN!"
	Before returning home, Superman flies up to Lex's penthouse, where he
informs Lex that he is on to him.  Lex points out that he has no proof, to
which Superman answers that Lex is no more above the law than he is.  He wants
Lex behind bars and will place him there some day.  In the meantime, Superman
explains, should Lex need to find him, he need only look up!
	The next day, Clark goes to work and meets Lois in the newsroom.  Lois
is practically aglow.  Clark comments how Superman made quite an impression
on her, and she agrees with a smile and a sigh.  They leave for their next
assignment, and when she reminds him that she is still in charge, he responds
with a knowing smile.


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        Jeffery D. Sykes                                              
        University of Kentucky                       sykes@ms.uky.edu  
        Department of Mathematics                      (606) 257-6806  
                                                                        
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