In order to produce the first entry in the Superman series of films starring Christopher Reeve, the Salkinds had to pay Warner Bros. a fee to license the intellectual property.

The first season of the series, which began airing in October 1988, focused on Clark Kent / Superboy (John Haymes Newton), his childhood friend and love interest Lana Lang (Stacy Haiduk) and his college roommate T.J. White (Jim Calvert), son of Daily Planet editor Perry White.

This episode featured Superboy's first public appearance as he prevents a group of saboteurs from selling a powerful laser weapon developed by the U.S. government to an arms dealer.

Superboy's nemesis, Lex Luthor, was introduced in "The Jewel of Techechal" (the first episode broadcast) as Clark's classmate at Shuster University.

In an interview with The Superman Homepage, Newton revealed that it was his decision to leave the series, but the producers asked him several times to return to his role.

The character of T.J. White was written out of the series (he went to work for the Daily Planet) and Andy McCalister, portrayed by Ilan Mitchell-Smith, became Clark's new roommate.

Gilbert Gottfried appeared in two episodes as a nasty, wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick Knack" who used toys to commit crimes (a reference to the Toyman).

Philip Michael Thomas also made an appearance as a medieval alchemist who survived into modern times in order to battle a sorcerer spreading plague, and aided Superboy when he was infected by said disease.

The show's title officially became The Adventures of Superboy and the setting shifted from Shuster University to The Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters in Capitol City, Florida, where Clark and Lana were interns.

The Bureau is depicted as a government agency which investigates paranormal activities and aliens, including Superboy (this format change pre-dates the concept of the television series The X-Files).

A few journalists at the time suggested that this darker look was largely due to the success of Tim Burton's Batman film from a year prior.

"Carnival" shows a demonic individual named 'Deville' trying to acquire Superboy's eternal soul by tempting him to give in and kill a man who is implied to be a rapist.

The third season ended with the two-part episode "The Road to Hell" with former TV Tarzan Ron Ely guest-starring as an adult, retired Man of Steel from an alternate reality.

Noel Neill and Jack Larson made guest appearances in the episode "Paranoia" as employees of the Bureau for Extra-Normal Matters.

In 1991, higher-ups at DC had begun to conceive a new, more modern Superman series based on John Byrne's 1986 reset of the comic's canon, a move that resulted in Clark Kent never becoming Superboy.

DC President Jenette Kahn began work with Warner Bros. executives Deborah Joy LeVine and Les Moonves on the series.

Meanwhile, in the fall of that year, Superboy began its fourth and final season with the intention of continuing the story through a series of telefilms.

The final episode, which was to be called "Obituary For a Superhero", would end on a cliffhanger with Superboy's fate unknown; the telefilms would see his return and bring the series to a conclusion.

The final episode, titled "Rites of Passage", aired in two parts on May 10 and 17, 1992, and featured a story where Clark faced the potential of losing his superpowers and never becoming Superman.

Afterward, Alexander and Ilya decided to challenge Warner Bros. in court over the termination of their licensing agreement, eventually reaching a settlement in 2005.

Ironically, the series came about a year after DC Comics had "erased" the character of Superboy from their continuity in The Man of Steel reboot by John Byrne.

Siegelville, however, was depicted as a coastal city, as evidenced by imagery of both the new and old Sunshine Skyway Bridges (Interstate 275) in St. Petersburg, Florida in the opening credits.

Other comic book writers that contributed to the series include Denny O'Neil, Cary Bates, J. M. DeMatteis and Mark Evanier.

Between 1992 and 2006 the only way to see Superboy in the United States was by ordering bootleg VHS and DVD copies of the series sold on eBay and other websites.

Christopher sold these video tapes on his website by mail order and at personal appearances when attending various comic book conventions and shows.