LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! (A FOLC guide to Metropolis)

1- Daily Planet
…Newsroom, where Griffin and Victor freeze everyone and search Lois’ computer
2- Lois' Apartment, where she finds it has been ransacked and discovers the Prankster is back
3- Griffin's Hideout, an abandoned building
4- Metropolis Edison Energy Plant/ Department of Power and Light: where they have just installed micro step-up transformers in their master switches
5- Mike Carney's Office, where Kyle, Victor and Edwin indulge in a few, painful, slapstick antics
6- Switching Room, where Victor manipulates the power to the city
7- Generator Room, where Lois is chained to a generator about to blow
8- Lakeside Towers, where Griffin lures Lois and Superman for a final test of the freezing weapon
…Elevator, where Kyle and Victor, pretending to be room service trap Lois with the camera weapon
9- Sidewalk Café, where Lois and Clark meet Bobby Bigmouth
10- Lakeside Towers Patio, from which Superman is pushed after being frozen
11- Metropolis Streets, where the Prankster looks for just the right victim, and where the presidential motorcade is stopped
12- Hamilton Labs, where a solution for the Prankster’s weapon might be found
13- Newsstand, which is destroyed by Superman falling from the Lakeside Towers penthouse

POWERS USED AS SUPERMAN

1- Vision, destroys the larger light weapon
2- Flight and speed, rescues Lois from falling, blowing up, etc.
3- Invulnerability, falls from a great height, destroys a newsstand, but does not make an impression in a concrete sidewalk

HINT! HINT! (for the galactically stupid)
N/A

CLARK’S LAME EXCUSES

When meeting with Bobby Bigmouth, Clark suddenly remembers a dental appointment in a few minutes. He has to go; he’ll meet Lois back at the newsroom, and hurries off to save someone from a piano about to fall.

DEVICES

1- modified Polaroid camera, has a flash attachment that can be used to freeze people
2- photoconductor cell, a component of the flash attachment
3- micro step-up transformer, needed to make the freezing light work on Superman (It will increase the weapon’s power twelve-fold, according to Victor)
4- larger version of the flash weapon, truck mounted to affect a wider area and more people
5- contact lenses, keeps the freezing light flash from affecting whoever wears them, some made by Griffin and Victor, some made by Prof. Hamilton
6- voice altering device, used by Griffin to impersonate Helen Bartlett


BEEN THERE (Clark’s travels)
N/A

SAY WHAT? (Clark’s languages)
N/A

HISTORY, HOBBIES, ALL CHARACTERS

CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN

1- meets Lois at the elevator to tell her Kyle Griffin has escape from prison, but she already knows and appears blasé about it, and shows him the picture
2- calls to Perry and shows him the picture of Lois and Kyle Griffin
3- as Lois mentions an intense yellow light, Clark finishes, “you don’t recall anything after that.”
4- explains it happened when Griffin and Victor broke out of prison, they left a guard frozen after using the light on him
5- tries hard not to laugh when Carrigan asks Lois if she is on medication after she starts babbling
6- asks Lois if she wants to stay at his apartment while Griffin is on the loose, but she turns him down
7- asks Jimmy if Lois can stay at his apartment until the Prankster is caught
8- leaves the newsroom for the airport after Griffin threatens to cut the power to it
9- responds to Lois’ call for help at ML&P and he responds
10- confronts Griffin and Victor and tells them they should never have come back to Metropolis
11- lets them escape in order to save Lois, whisking her away seconds before the boiler explodes
12- advises her to leave town until Griffin is caught but isn’t surprised when she refuses
13- tells her and Perry the next day that Met Ed (ML&P) was able to contain the blast and they can still meet the city’s power needs
14- as Lois worries over her 5 minute interview with the president, he suggests they spend the 24 hours between now and the interview looking for a lead
15- explains to Bobby Bigmouth about Lois’ interview with the president being cut to just 5 minutes because of Griffin
16- tells Lois if it were him, he’d ask the president about something totally unexpected to break the ice
17- leaves unexpectedly after hearing a call for help
18- returns to the newsroom and is amused to find everyone is frozen like a statue and pictures of Victor have been taped up all over the room
19- finds Lois with her dress removed and covers her with his suit jacket
20- looks appreciatively but is not embarrassed by the sight
- laughs as people start waking up and look around in confusion
21- wonders why Griffin was her in the first place and surmises he was probably looking for whatever he searched her apartment for and tells Lois to check her computer
22- wonders how Griffin and Victor were able to zap the entire newsroom at once but not be affected by it themselves (“They’re subhuman!” Lois declares.)
23- suggests they talk to Professor Hamilton
24- goes to the police department the next morning to try to get a lead from them on the Prankster’s whereabouts
25- gets a phone call from Griffin saying he has Lois, and asking him to send Superman to the Lakeside Towers penthouse
26- frozen by the light weapon as Superman, he is pushed from the balcony and hits the street, destroying a newsstand
27- awakened by the newsstand vendor who points to Lois falling toward them, springs up and catches her at the last moment
28- acting on Bobby’s tip, goes with Lois to investigate the Prankster’s hideout where they find evidence that the president’s motorcade will be Griffin’s real target
29- goes to find Superman to tell him to meet her at Prof. Hamilton’s lab as soon as possible
30- from the president’s limousine, assures Griffin the president is safe, but he and Victor are going back to jail

LOIS LANE

1- arrives home with groceries and fresh, cut flowers and finds her apartment in disarray
2- enters slowly, the light switch doesn’t work but she can see the place has been ransacked
3- a bright light is flashed in her eyes and she freezes in place
4- comes to as the effect of the flash of light wears off, puzzled, looking around, sees the picture in her hand
5- recognizing Griffin, is shocked and deflated as she realizes what happened
6- next day shows Clark the picture and says Griffin and Victor were waiting for her at home the night before
7- they had searched the apartment, looking for something, and left it in a mess
8- wonders why people like to break into her apartment and shine bright lights in her eyes
9- is the only reporter to get an interview with the president while he’s in town
10- thinks it would be an embarrassment for the White House to cancel the president’s visit just because the Prankster is loose
11- picks up her phone to call the Secret Service
12- tells Jimmy to search for the Griffins
13- in her attempt to convince the Secret Service the Prankster will not be a threat to the president, she makes Agent Carrigan suspicious of her
14- tells Clark she would feel uncomfortable staying with him since they are almost dating
15- phone rings as the lights begin to dim- it is Griffin and she signals for Clark to listen on his phone
16- stunned by Griffin’s demonstration of control over the city’s electrical power, she calls ML&P and is put on hold
17- goes to ML&P and finds the workers there frozen in place and Griffin calls to her, knowing she would show up
18- left chained to a broiler with the pressure gauge rapidly increasing, calls for Superman
19- tells him she can’t leave town because in two days she has an exclusive interview with the president
20- arrives at work the next morning, very unhappy, with three hours of sleep due to Jimmy’s TV being on all night, now understands why he lives across the street from a fire station
21- told her interview with the president was canceled, begins to rant about the Prankster, but is stopped by Perry: she has five minutes to interview the president. FIVE minutes??!! (“That’s five minutes more than any other reporter!”)
22- that’s enough for one question- just one question when she has so many areas she wants to cover
23- asks for advice on what the question should be
24- awakens after the Prankster leaves wearing her undergarments but covered by Clark’s jacket and immediately understand, “Griffin!”
25- recalls the Prankster’s eyes looked sparkly and tinted reddish when he came to the newsroom
26- her current novel is about a female reporter who meets an alien from outer space, and has a lot of good “stuff” in it, according to Victor
27- next day, arrives at work arguing with Jimmy over being kept awake until 3 in the morning
28- left the apartment for a brie time to use a phone, then shrugs when Jimmy asks her if she was the person who called the police!
29- goes to Lakeside Towers to meet with Helen Bartlett only to be ambushed and frozen by the Prankster
30- awakens in time to see a frozen Superman (“as stiff as a fishstick” says Kyle) pushed over the balcony as she watches in horror
31- is thrown, screaming, over the balcony by Griffin, too
32- is saved by Superman
33- reluctantly tells Carrigan the Prankster has found a way to stop Superman, so the president should postpone his visit
34- discovers the president is Griffin’s target and goes to see Prof. Hamilton with Superman
35- disrupts the Prankster’s plan to kidnap the president and when Griffin is frozen by his own weapon, rushes over to pants him- telling Superman the Prankster deserves it
36- tells Perry, Clark and Jimmy her first question broke the ice with the president and basks in Perry’s praise that it was first rate, she can think on her feet (It was Clark’s suggestion.)
37- thanks Jimmy for letting her stay at his place and apologizes for her behavior, but she was under a lot of pressure


PERRY WHITE

1- is puzzled but concerned when he sees the picture of Lois and Kyle Griffin
2- worries that Lois’ upcoming interview with the President of the United States might be canceled
3- thinks the White House might not want to expose the president to the Prankster
4- relieved there will not be another blackout in the city, tells Lois the White House is concerned about the Prankster
5- tells Lois her interview with the president will be rescheduled
6- “I told them they weren’t dealing with some small town rag. This is the Daily Planet!” (CK teases, “In other words you groveled.” P smiles. “But only on one knee.”)
7- tells Lane and Kent to concentrate on the Prankster- Metropolis hates him, but loves to read about him
8- takes Lois a file as she talks to Jimmy and asks if she has anything new on the Prankster, and is surprised by an unexpected answer
9- comes to after the Prankster leaves the newsroom and is puzzled to be holding a newspaper with a hole cut into in front of his face, just below a fruit fly spraying story (which, within the context of the story, is the third time the city has had to do this)
10- is unhappy that his favorite tie has been cut and wonders why it couldn’t have been the ugly fish tie Alice gave him for Christmas?
11- is seething with anger the nest day- Griffin took the time to reprogram the newspaper’s computers and typesetter, changing the masthead to “The Daily Prankster”
12- calls Lois a seasoned reporter, able to get her subject to open up and talk freely

JIMMY OLSEN

1- tells Lois that when Edwin Griffin got out of jail he sold his toy store and disappeared
2- the warehouse where she captured Griffin and Victor last time is now a Buddhist temple
3- tells her he’ll keep looking for more info and hurries away
4- is hesitant to have Lois stay with him – it’s a small place, but if she doesn’t mind roughing it
5- when she promises he won’t know she’s there, he runs off to clean up the apartment
6- needs to sleep with the TV on since he was a kid, the noise helps him sleep, that’s why he freaked out when Lois turned it off in the middle of the night
7- apologizes for freaking out and gives Lois a set of headphones so they can both get some sleep at his place
8- wakes up after the Prankster visits the newsroom and finds himself wearing Lois’ dress
9- tells Lois he didn’t know his friends were going to drop by and stay so late- they all live with their parents and have no other place to go!
10- not amused to discover she was the one who called the police on them
11- complains to Clark that Lois called the cops on him just because he had a few friends over
12- despite CK’s warnings, decides to get even with her
13- calls Lois a class act after she thanks him for giving her a place to stay and apologizes, but is too late to warn her not to open the drawer on her desk that he booby-trapped
14- runs out of the newsroom, deciding to take a vacation day when she opens it and glares at him

KYLE GRIFFIN

1- waits in Lois’ apartment, hiding behind the door after thoroughly searching the apartment
2- uses a modified Polaroid camera to cause her tp freeze like a statue
3- asks Victor to take a picture of him with her when she isn’t so – “Clothed?” smug!
4- reaches around to stretch her mouth into a wide smile
5- takes the flowers from her hand and replaces it with the picture
6- tells Victor that what they were looking for isn’t here and they can leave
7- stops to kiss frozen Lois behind Victor’s back
8- escaped from prison using the flash of light on a guard, who was frozen and left in his underwear and inside a dryer
9- reveals the big picture to Victor: kidnapping the president would make history, the government would pay “a lot” to ransom the president, more than robbing a bank
10- considers condemned buildings to be good hideouts because no one can find them there
11- puts a photoconductor cell into the camera and asks Victor if he has located a micro step-up transformer
12- pretends to see a rat to scare Victor
13- takes over the master control room at ML&P and calls Lois, directing her attention to the building across the street where the lights go out and some windows light up spelling “Hi Lois”
14- since she is his favorite reporter, he’s calling to give her a scoop: he’s going to shut down the airport
15- confronts Lois at ML&P with the weapon and tells her to call Superman but she won’t
16- chains her to a boiler and demonstrates how hot it is by pressing Victor’s hand against it and causing him to howl with pain
17- turns up the pressure on the boiler and he and Victor run away
18- when Superman arrives he uses the camera on him- but the beam doesn’t work
19- tells him in 15 seconds the boiler will blow and Lois Lane will become just a memory
20- escapes with Victor when Superman flies off to help Lois
21- reveals that they searched Lois’ apartment for information on Superman
22- drives through town looking for just the right setting to turn into a disaster and distract Superman and settles on a piano being raised to an upper floor of a building while a woman and her child are walking beneath it
23- goes to the Daily Planet, freezes everyone in the newsroom and searches Lois’ computer
24- plays a few pranks on the frozen staff before going
25- leaves Lois a message on her computer- Victor asking where she buys her lingerie
26- discovers an entire sub-directory on her drive about Superman- most of which he calls useless
27- finds the detailed information she kept about Superman’s temporary blindness and discovers Victor just has to make their light beam shorter
28- calls Lois and pretends to be Helen Bartlett from the White House and asks her to come to the Lakeside Towers to discuss protocol
29- Supey and Supester, a couple of Griffin’s nicknames for Superman
30- takes out his weapon, brags he’s made a few adjustments and fires it at him
31- tosses both Superman and Lois off the balcony
32- waits with his father for the presidential motorcade and signals Victor when to stop the limousines by blocking the street with a truck
33- approaches the president’s limousine with Victor and both are shocked to find Superman inside
34- sees Superman is wearing contact lenses like his own
35- turns to run but is stopped and knocked down and he loses his contacts and is frozen by the still flashing weapon
36- is mortified to come to and find his pants around his ankles

VICTOR

1- breaks into and searches Lois’ apartment along with Kyle Griffin
2- after switching the camera from “freeze” to “flash” takes a picture of Griffin and Lois and gives it to him
3- quickly takes another picture of Lois and himself and puts it in his own pocket
4- looking through Lois’ grocery bag, asks if he can take one of her candy bars- Griffin hits him with the flowers
5- is trying to make the camera flash work on Superman
6- is reluctant to confront Superman again and thinks they should just rob a bank but Griffin dismisses it because of the small amount of money involved
7- has a sweet, and ultimately irritating, knack for understatement, according to Griffin
8- is afraid of mice, which Griffin thinks is a hysterical fantasy from his screwed up childhood
9- drops a photo conductor cell when he sees a mouse and Griffin makes him pick it up twice to confront his fears
10- after giving the cell to Griffin for the last time, he runs to climb upon a crate and Griffin assures him he is good boy
11- wonders why they can’t stay some place nice
12- has found a micro step-up transformer at the Metropolis Department of Light and Power
13- causes the power at the Daily Planet and neighboring buildings to fluctuate
14- dreams of living on a ranch with Lois, having three kids, and roping steers, deep frying sausages…
15- gets a new transformer for the weapon that allows them to modulate the intensity and duration of the beam, allowing them to freeze victims from a few minutes up to a day- except for Superman
16- screams at seeing a mouse and is frozen by Griffin
17- when he comes to a few seconds later he suggests they search her computer at work
18- is supposed to be looking for information on Superman in Lois’ computer files, but he finds her novel and starts reading it and is terribly disappointed when Kyle deletes the file
19- later, celebrates with Griffin by taunting the Secret Service men frozen by the light before they kidnap the president
20- asks if they can take her with them after finding Lois frozen with everyone else and is elated when Kyle says he can
21- exclaims “it’s not fair!” when he sees Superman and gets punched in the face by Lois when he tries to run

EDWIN GRIFFIN

1- disguised as a worker from Acme Painting, gains entry to the MLP building and the office of Mike Carney
2- shows a work order to Carney and claims the office will get a new coat of Navajo white
3- alone in the office, calls Kyle and tells him he’s in, and soon he is joined by Kyle and Victor
4- brushes aside a compliment from Kyle, saying he hates suck-ups, revealing he is a verbal abuser
5- stays in the truck to operate the larger light weapon as Kyle and Victor go for the president
6- sees Lois Lane stop Kyle, again, and after Superman uses his laser vision to destroy the weapon, he cowers in the truck, exclaiming he should have had a daughter


CARRIGAN

1- dressed in sunglasses and a dark suit, approaches Lois’ desk, flashes a wallet and says, “Carrigan, Secret Service”
2- never uses the phone because Commies can tap phones
3- knows about the Prankster and there may be a problem because there is always a problem
4- relates the story of Carter going fishing and being attacked in his rowboat by a killer rabbit
5- should have been there, but was at the dentist for an impacted tooth (if you want to take care of the president, you have to take care of your teeth)
6- asks Lois if she’s on any kind of medication when she goes into babble mode
7- busy calibrating his communications device later on, tells Lois “all systems are go (for the president’s visit) and that his men are trained for all eventualities. Smiles and leaves.
8- converges on a vehicle unexpectedly blocking the president’s motorcade through the city
9- hears Lois call to him that it is a trap seconds before there is a flash of bright light and everyone in the street freezes
10- wakes up and tells Superman “I knew that!” when told to arrest Griffin and Victor

BOBBY BIGMOUTH

1- meets with Lane and Kent at a sidewalk café (Uncle Mike’s Patio Café?) but tells them he can’t help- Lois takes his sandwich away
2- says it might take a couple of days to find something, but Lois says that’s too late
3- takes the sandwich back and tells her to consider it a down payment for next time.
4- tells Clark she’s acting too testy
5- thinks Clark’s one question for the president is a good one, likes it
6- later tells Clark, Griffin is hiding at the abandoned apartment building he lived in as a kid

PROFESSOR HAMILTON

1- tells Lois and Clark that Griffin has found a way to divert optic nerve signals to another part of the brain
2- theorizes Griffin and Victor might have been wearing glasses that could block the effect of the light rays
3- agrees they could be wearing contact lenses and though he feels it’s a long shot, he’s willing to experiment and try to create some similar to theirs
4- comes through with some lenses for Lois and Superman, but because he didn’t know the exact wavelength of the weapon, he has reservations about them working


OTHER CHARACTERS

Mike Carney
1- Manager of Operations, Metropolis Light and Power
2- despite not knowing about his office being painted, leaves his office after seeing a fake work order


The President of the United States
1- mentioned by Perry
2- is coming to present an award to the city for having the lowest crime rate in the country
3- decides to cut his trip as tightly as possible, because of the Prankster being loose


Unnamed Pony-tailed Guy from season 1*
1- now has shoulder length hair
2- still walks past briskly in the background a lot
*(unnamed extras seen on the Daily Planet set were referred to as "Planeteers" on the call sheets)

Helen Bartlett
1- an official at the White House
2- mentioned by Perry
3- is impersonated by Kyle Griffin using a voice altering device


Vendor
1- man at the newsstand at Lakeshore Towers that Superman smashes through when he falls
2- manages to rouse him (“Hey, Supe!”) and indicates another falling person from the building


NAME THAT TUNE
N/A

NOT-SO SUPERMAN
Or, You Don’t Have To Be So Superman:

Superman (after catching falling Lois): Are you alright?
Lois: You seem ask me that a lot.
S: People seem to try to kill you a lot.
L: Yeah. I was so popular in high school!
S (chuckles): If you’ll excuse me.
L: Oh, Superman? There’s nothing you can do. If he froze you once, he’ll do it again.Look, Clark and I think we’ve found a way of neutralizing Griffin. Professor Hamilton is working on it. So… I guess this time you’ll just have to rely on us.

PERRY-ISMS
N/A (!)

LIFE GOES ON (other headlines)

Daily Prankster:
PROPERTY OWNERS FIGHT HIGH RISE BUILDING ZONE
JOB SURVEY IS NEARING COMPLETION
COMPROMISE HOUSING BILL SENT TO PRESIDENT FOR OK
NEW PROGRAM STARTED BY HEALTH BOARD

Daily Planet:
STATE UPENDS TRANSIT BILL VETO
FRUIT FLY SPRAYING

Old Headlines:

PRESIDENT PREPARES FOR HIS RE-ELECTION
PRESIDENT WINS CLOSE ELECTION

Metropolis Star:
PRESIDENT WINS CLOSE ELECTION

MISCELLANEOUS

1- The Five Questions: when Lois is trying to think of one question to ask the president, she gets five suggestions.
…a- Clark’s question: If he could be a major league baseball player, what position would he play and why?
…b- Perry’s question: Why did he veto the bill that would have made Graceland a national monument? (Lois: “I’m serious.” Perry: “So am I. Serious as a heart attack!”)
…c- Jimmy’s question: “I’d ask him for a job. It would be cool working at the White House!”
…d- Professor Hamilton: “I’d demand to know why the government is covering up hard data on the obvious existence of UFOs!”
…e- Superman: “I guess I would ask him why he wouldn’t give a great reporter like
Lois Lane more than a five minute interview.”
…None of the questions are what Lois had in mind, though she tells the professor: “Good one.”
2- Fun moment between Clark and Lois when he finds the newsroom frozen in place, and he wonders why Griffin was there. Lois: “My continuing degradation comes to mind.” Clark: “No, I think that was a bonus. My guess is he was looking for whatever he couldn’t find in your apartment. Check your computer, Lois.”
He takes every opportunity to tease her, no matter what! He also takes the edge off the situation.
3- two months have passed between the events of TEHI and this episode
4- Victor’s ode to Lois’ teeth: They’re so perfect and shiny, I love you so much, I wish you were miney…he is cut off before he can continue (thankfully)
5- Lakeside Towers is a tall, modern building dwarfed by much taller, bigger skyscrapers, much like the clock tower seen in another episode
6- Unit 15 reports sector 7 is secure
7- Silly String or something like it that Jimmy rigged Lois’ desk drawer with
8- 976 Infomercial, what was being broadcast when Lois turned off the TV at Jimmy’s apartment
9- Metropolis Formalwear, makes another appearance as the location where the Prankster freezes a man raising a piano to an upper floor while a woman and a baby pass by beneath it
10- “Inflicted with occipital opacity”- a description of Superman’s temporary blindness that Lois wrote while probably still under the influence of the Faraday light weapon
11- 1 or T (symbol) 7953, the license plate number on the vehicle Victor uses to stop the motorcade
12- Acme Pest Control, the signs on the truck the Griffins are driving
13- “Prankster Back In Jail”- the scrolling headline at the Daily Planet reads


OBSERVATIONS IN REAL LIFE

- Too bad they didn’t bring the Prankster back in later seasons. Speaking for myself I enjoyed Bronson Pinchot and Rick Overton as the luckless bad guys. The slapstick humor just appeals to me, I guess, the good with the bad. They, along with Harold Gould, seemed to have fun and I had fun watching them.
- How did Lois free one hand from the metal manacles holding her to the boiler without bleeding from scratches and cuts or scrapes or without suffering a broken bone or two?