Welcome to another special edition of Adventure(s) Time, where I look back at comics-to-screen heroes of the past. And this week, we're looking at the hero who's perhaps been adapted to the small screen more times than any other. Much to the chagrin of a certain metropolitan newspaper publisher, naturally.

SPIDER-MAN (1967)

Within five years of his comics debut, Spider-Man had already landed on Saturday morning television. 1967's Spider-Man premiered as a part of ABC's Saturday morning line-up, featuring animation from Grantray-Lawrence and consulting from Stan Lee. However, what truly endures from the series is the theme song, written by Academy Award winner Paul Francis Webster, with music composed by J. Robert Harris. And, somehow, the crudely animated series has been a prolific meme-generator for a few years now.

The series was released on DVD in 2004, from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, a subsidiary of a little-known corporate entity known as Disney. Yet, the streaming service Disney+ doesn't feature the series in its library. Now, it's worth noting the content library of Disney+ is massive. There is no shortage of obscure Marvel television series from the past to enjoy. Everything from the short-lived Spider-Woman series (featuring a quirky cameo from Spider-Man early in its run), to the obscure syndicated 1981 Spider-Man cartoon, to the infamous Spider-Man Unlimited, the series that re-imagined Peter Parker as a freedom fighter on the High Evolutionary's planet.

Heck, Disney+ even has a convenient Spider-Man bundle to stream, adding all of their Spidey shows to your watch list. But, as cool as this is, it also emphasizes all of the Spidey shows missing from the service at the moment. And if some of these bizarre series haven't made it to streaming by now, it's possible they never will.

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THE ELECTRIC COMPANY

The Electric Company Cast Spider-Man

The "Spidey Super Stories" short segments debuted in 1974, during the PBS series' fourth season, featuring Spider-Man (portrayed by puppeteer and dancer Danny Seagren) and some forgettable petty criminals. There's no acknowledgment of his alter ego, Peter Parker. Heck, there's no acknowledgment Spidey can even speak! His words appeared in speech balloons for the audience to read.

These appearances do have a strange legacy. Legendary painter Alex Ross says The Electric Company was his first exposure to Spider-Man, and the mute body language of Danny Seagren influences his depiction to this day. Also, a spinoff comic book, Spidey Super-Stories, was produced by Marvel Comics from 1974 to 1981, introducing a generation of kids to comics.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

Nicholas Hammond as Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man

The first live-action television series featuring the hero, The Amazing Spider-Man aired in CBS primetime from Sept. 19, 1977, to July 6, 1979. Ratings were strong, but not in the demographics CBS preferred, resulting in the series' cancellation after just 13 episodes. The series starred Nicholas Hammond, who broadly resembled the comics' Peter Parker, and featured a mostly loyal interpretation of the hero's costume. The over-the-glove webshooters were an invention of the show, but later adapted by the comics during the 1990s Clone Saga storyline.

Stan Lee reportedly hated the series, believing it "too juvenile." The show follows the basic premise of the comics, with Peter as a college student bitten by a radioactive spider during a demonstration and soon taking a job with the Daily Bugle, selling photos of himself in action. However, no villains from the comics were depicted, and appearances from the established supporting cast were rare. (Aunt May was played by a different actress in each episode she appeared!)

Aside from some 1980s VHS releases, and sporadic cable reruns in the 1990s, the show has rarely appeared since its original airings. (The VHS versions even has scenes filmed exclusively for the video release, which have never aired on television.)

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JAPANESE SPIDER-MAN

Japanese Spider-Man Leopardon header

This live-action tokusatsu television series, produced by Japan's Toei Company, was very loosely based on the American hero. Debuting in 1978, and only making its way to America for a brief period (streaming on Marvel's website in 2009), Toei's Spider-Man is famously crazy -- in a good way.

While the costume is comics-loyal, and pretty cool for the time, producers weren't shy about altering the source material to suit a new audience. This Spider-Man is teenage motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro, who discovers a crashed UFO and encounters Garia, the last surviving warrior of Planet Spider. He's injected with Garia's blood and soon adopts the identity of Spider-Man. He also pilots a massive robot known as Leopardon, and is far more likely to encounter giant monsters instead of bank robbers. The show inspired the Super Sentai series, which made its way to America as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

SPIDER-MAN: THE NEW ANIMATED SERIES

MTV Spider-Man show

An odd convergence of the launch of Sony's Spider-Man film series and Marvel Comics' desire to court a cool, 20-something audience brought us this computer-animated series that aired on MTV. This show debuted in 2003 to mixed reviews; some felt it a perfect compliment to Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man revamp, while others critiqued the animation style and forced attempts at making Peter and his friends "hip."

The initial development was intended to be a direct adaptation of Ultimate Spider-Man, but plans changed following the success of 2002's Spider-Man film. Allegedly the show is set in the film continuity, but Sam Raimi had no involvement.

Neil Patrick Harris, in the days before his career resurgence, voiced Spider-Man, joined by various of-the-era musical acts. It's not difficult to guess musicians like Eve and Rob Zombie were stunt-cast to make the show more MTV-friendly. But the series turned out to have the most impressive list of voice talents, overall: Everyone from Clancy Brown to Jeffrey Combs to Virginia Madsen is here. The late Michael Clark Duncan even appears, reprising his role as Kingpin from 2003's Daredevil.

Until recently, the show was included with Amazon Prime's streaming service. It's still on Amazon, and other streaming services, it's just no longer included for free.

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THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN

This is the big one. Debuting in 2008, during the final days of Kids' WB Saturday morning block, Spectacular Spider-Man was developed by  animation veterans Greg Weisman and Victor Cook. It's the first Spider-Man cartoon to be set during Peter's high school days, featuring numerous classic supporting cast members and more modern villains, such as Venom. (And, bizarrely, borrows its logo from one used by the comics for literally just a couple of issues in 1996.)

Some fans were turned off by the exaggerated designs, courtesy of Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, but the show quickly became a cult favorite. The writing found the balance needed for kids and adults, reminding many viewers of the more ambitious "all-ages" cartoons from the '90s. Some even spoke of it as Marvel's true competition for Batman: The Animated Series. TV Guide later listed Spectacular as one of the 60 greatest animated series of all time.

Although a third season was planned, the series was canceled before production could begin because of a rights dispute between Disney, Marvel's then-new owner, and Sony Pictures Television, which created the series. Presumably, that's why Disney+ can't stream the series today, although it is available for purchase on various platforms.

But, hey, hope springs eternal. It was unthinkable just a few years ago that the material we have today could be located on one service. Is it really that unlikely some of these shows will co-exist with, say, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends one of these days?

So that’s all for now. Until next time, check out the G. I. Joe novels I wrote for the Kindle Worlds project for free over at Smashwords.

NEXT: Pizza Time: How Spider-Man 2 Introduced the Internet's Tastiest Meme