The Amazing Spider-Man was the first Live-Action Adaptation of Spider-Man that aired on CBS from 1977 to 1979, starting with a pilot movie titled simply Spider-Man and starring Nicholas Hammond as the web-slinger. Two pairs of episode were also released as Spider-Man Strikes Back in 1978 and Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge in 1981. Officially, this series takes place on Earth-730911 in the Marvel multiverse.
Peter Parker is a photographer working his way through college, and during a science experiment is accidentally bitten by an irradiated spider. This bite grants him all the same powers as a spider, which he uses to become the crime fighter known as Spider-Man. The series goes for a more realistic route and has Spider-Man tackle ordinary criminals rather than supervillains.
Not to be confused with the Japanese tv series that aired a year after this.
The Amazing Spider-Man provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Peter's spider-sense is significantly more powerful here than in the comics, as instead of simply warning him of danger it now alerts him to any crimes near him and occasionally even several miles away.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: The show features what is probably the happiest portrayal of J. Jonah Jameson ever, as he’s best friends with a Chinese spy.
- Adaptation Distillation: Here, Peter created the radioactive spider that gave him powers on his own.
- Adapted Out: The only characters from the comic aside from Spider-Man himself to appear in the series are J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, Aunt May, and Farley Stillwell in a cameo role.
- Adaptation Name Change: Instead of Ben, Peter's uncle's first name is Max in this series.
- Age Lift: Peter was bitten by the spider while as a college student, instead of being a high school student. Robbie is much younger, being closer in age to Peter than Jameson and seems to be in his early 30s.
- Compilation Movie: The show's two two-part episodes, "The Deadly Dust" and "The Chinese Web", were both edited into movies, the former into Spider-Man Strikes Back and the latter into Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge.
- Continuity Cameo: The episode "Wolfpack" features an appearance by a scientist with a nametag reading "Stillwell", alluding to Dr. Farley Stillwell, who in the comics was responsible for the creation of the villain Scorpion.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Max Parker is completely absent from Spider-Man's origin story indicating that unlike Ben Parker he died of old age before the series began.
- Dropped After the Pilot: Robbie Robertson makes no appearances outside of the pilot.
- Expy: Rita Conway for Glory Grant, and Doctor Moon for Miles Warren (the Jackal).
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: In "Night of the Clones" after Peter breaks his Errol Flynn -costume he was going to take into a costume party, he resorts to using his Spider-Man outfit himself.
- Leitmotif: Spider-Man has his own theme music, which frequently plays while he's spying on and fighting criminals.
- Pilot Movie: The 1977 television film Spider-Man served as a pilot for this series.
- Tracking Device: This series has the spider-tracers that Peter designed himself. As it is, Peter makes regular use of them.
