Jerry Seinfeld, Superman, and Jack Larson

Anyone who has ever watched Jerry Seinfeld on television or has read his book, Sein Language, knows that he is a fan of Superman. When it came time to prepare one of his American Express® commercials, Seinfeld thought it would be fun to incorporate not only his comic book hero, but a special cast member from the 1950s Adventures of Superman as well. Before the commercial premiered in January, Entertainment Tonight covered it with a short preview and background story. Only here, in the pages of The Adventures Continue, however, will you get the complete story of what happened the day the commercial was taped.

The following is item #5 from TAC, Jr. #16 published on January 5, 1998.

#5 -- COMMERCIAL MESSAGE --

In case you didn't see it, Jack Larson made a brief appearance with Jerry Seinfeld and an animated Superman last month during the NFL playoffs and again during the Super Bowl. The commercial shows Seinfeld and Superman chatting as they walk along a Metropolis street. Suddenly they hear a cry of desperation from Lois who is caught without funds as she attempts to make a purchase in a nearby store. Both Superman and Seinfeld rush to her rescue, but because Superman has no pockets (for moneyAs they leave the store, however, there are cries of terror from the people in the street who look up to see a comet hurtling toward the earth. After thepeople point heavenward, the camera cuts to a man standing across the street in front of the Daily Planet Building, seemingly unconcerned about Earth's impending doom ­ perhaps confident that Superman will come to their rescue. That man is Jack Larson. He looks up, and the camera cuts back to Superman and Seinfeld. Jerry says to Superman, "I guess you'd better handle this one."

Now you may have seen Entertainment Tonight's sketchy coverage regarding this commercial, but only in TAC, Jr. will get the whole story! In early October Jerry Seinfeld arranged to have lunch with an executive at Warner Brothers. Seinfeld has an agreement to do a series of commercials for American Express®, and he wanted to talk with a representative from Warners about working Superman into one of them. He also asked if there was any way Warners could get Jack Larson to do a cameo. And, Jerry Seinfeld wanted an autographed photo from Jack!

The executive called Jack, and after some discussion, he agreed to appear. He told the executive to arrange it through his agent. The only thing that bothered Jack was that no one was certain exactly what he would do in the commercial. After all arrangements were worked out, Jack was asked to report to the Warner lot in November to shoot it. Now pay close attention here to what Jack was supposed to do. As originally envisioned, the commercial would show Jerry Seinfeld and the animated Superman walking down the street and bumping into Jack who would look up and say "Hi, Pal" to Superman. Of course both Jerry Seinfeld and Jack Larson had to make believe that Superman was actually there.

Well, after repeated attempts, it just didn't look right, and Jack left thinking he would not be in it. Before he left, however, Jack gave Jerry the autographed photo he had asked for. But here's the part that really surprised him. Jerry Seinfeld has all the Adventures of Superman episodes on tape, and he asked Jack to come to his dressing room to watch one of them with him! Which one? It was "Panic In The Sky." And as they watched, Jerry asked how they did this and that, and he also wanted to know why Jimmy, Lois, and Perry didn't recognize Clark Kent as Superman when he lay in his bed without his glasses. Jack told him that he remembers questioning that on the Superman set back in 1953. At the time Whit Ellsworth told them they shouldn't try to open "that can of worms," and should just move forward with the episode.) in his costume, it is Jerry who must save the day with his American Express® card.

 Jimmy enters Kent's apartment.

Jimmy:

I'm back, Mr. Kent, I got some coffee and sandwiches. I'll put 'em on the table in the bedroom.

Sound of glass breaking. Jimmy rushes back to the bathroom.

Jimmy:

Mr. Kent!

Dissolve to Kent in bed. Jimmy offers drink of water.

Jimmy: 

Here we are.

Door buzzer sounds.

Jimmy:

Wait a minute.

Jimmy goes to door and opens it for Perry White and Lois.

Perry:

All right, where is he? What's this all about?

Jimmy:

He's in the bedroom.

Jimmy, Perry, and Lois rush into the bedroom. Lois stops by to view the damage in the bathroom.

Jimmy:

I finally got him into bed. He must weigh a ton! Guess he cracked his head pretty hard when he hit the floor.

Lois:

Jimmy, all that glass!

Jimmy:

I know. He must be the luckiest guy that ever lived. Not a scratch.

Perry:

Probably slipped on a piece of soap. Only why didn't you send for a doctor instead of us?

Clark begins to come too.

Clark:

Please . . . I . . . I'm all right. What happened to me?

Lois:

Don't you know?

Clark:

Uhh no, not since I opened my eyes. I'm sorry.

Jimmy:

Are you all right, Mr. Kent?

Clark:

What? What did you call me?

Jimmy:

Mr. Kent.

Clark:

Who? Wh-what's the matter? Don't any of you know me? Please answer me. Who am I?

Lois:

Amnesia. He's lost his memory.

Perry:

Oh nonsense. Kent, wake up. You're a reporter. You work for me. Now come on, stop this!

Clark:

Am I? Are you sure? (Turning to Lois) Who are you?

Lois:

I'm Lois Lane, reporter on the Planet.

Perry:

Kent, I want you to stop this. Now you can't lose your memory. It's not possible. You know us. I'm White. This is Jimmy. That's Lois. This is just a joke, isn't it, Clark? Of course, that's all it is. Well let me tell you one thing, young man, I'm in no mood for jokes. I've had all the headaches I want from all this asteroid business . . . Superman missing.

Clark:

Please, just a minute. You said Superman? Seem to have heard of him before somewhere. Who is Superman?

 Perry:

Great Caesar's Ghost!

(Fade out. We'll return to the Adventures of Superman in just a moment.)

But, boys and girls, that wasn't the final surprise. It was only later that Jack learned that Jerry Seinfeld was so determined to have him in the commercial that they took the scene that they had already filmed and altered it.

If you remember, they had filmed Jack standing by the side of the building and looking up when Jerry [and Superman] walked by. Well, they took that footage, optically removed Jerry Seinfeld from the scene, added the shadow of the approaching comet, and tacked it to the end of the commercial so that it would look like Jack is looking up toward the comet approaching Earth. Actually, of course he had been looking toward Jerry Seinfeld and the invisible Superman! Now I wonder where Jerry Seinfeld came up with the "comet hurtling toward Earth" idea! 

Since its first run during the NFL playoffs, this commercial is sometimes run in its shortened form without the "comet ending." But should you and a friend ever see the full commercial, you can tell your friend the real story behind what has become one of the most successful commercials American Express® has run in years.