To The Batpoles! Batman 1966

In The Penguin's Clean Sweep, Burgess Meredith's final appearance on "Batman" (but not the last time as the Penguin!), Stanford Sherman's script has its moments, and so does Meredith, but… if you look closely, something just isn't up to snuff. And if you scratch the surface, there are way more inconsistencies and goofiness in the script than meets the eye. We're joined again by our childhood friend Kyle to discuss this feathered farewell: Is there a theme of barbecue implements? Did Penguin really expect that his infecting money at the mint would cause people to throw their cash in the street? And, we dig into the archives for another one of our Batman Radio Shows from the late '70s… also featuring Kyle! Plus, the Harry James version of the theme, a discussion of justifications for villains NOT unmasking our heroes when they have the chance, and your mail about The Wrong Earth and our Batman Radio Show debut!  

Without a doubt, one of the most maligned Batman episodes is Nora Clavicle and the Ladies' Crime Club. The episode's sexist portrayal of women obviously wouldn't fly today, but do the men in this episode fare any better? It seems to have been another of Stanford Sherman's satirical Batman episodes, arguably a failed one. But every episode has its fans, and this time we review Nora with a fan of this one: Fred, a.k.a. "twof," the former proprietor of the defunct Batgirl Bat-Trap web site. Fred has the script and tells us of changes and cut scenes that could have helped the episode had they stayed. Also, the Singaia version of the theme, and your response to the "Impossible Crimes" episode! Dig into the next set of scripts up for discussion! Tut Tut Tut, treatment by Pauline and Leo Townsend Tut Tut Tut, by Pauline and Leo Townsend King Tut's Coup, Stanley Ralph Ross' draft rewrite of Tut Tut Tut King Tut's Coup, final, by Stanley Ralph Ross Thread about these scripts on the 66 Batman Message Board    

Batman and Robin are "duly deputized agents of the law." Law comes up on the '66 show on a number of occasions, including two courtroom scenes. The very first episode features the Riddler filing a lawsuit against Batman. But, you might ask, how accurately is the law portrayed on Batman? In this episode, lawyer Jim Dedman is here to fill us in. How good of a prosecutor is Batman? Does he behave properly as an agent of the law? How would Alfred's method of breaking up the Batman - Marsha nuptials go over in real life? Would Gordon and O'Hara face any charges for unknowingly shooting the Duo in Penguin's shooting gallery? All this and more! Plus, the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies Concertino Orchestra's version of the theme, and your mail about our Louie's Lethal Lilac Time review! Batman and the law: Links provided by Jim Dedman: Is Batman a State Actor? The Dark Knight's relationship with the Gotham City Police Department and the Fourth Amendment implications, by Joshuah Lisk Is Batman a State Actor? -

What's this? An episode of To the Batpoles that isn't about Batman? Well…on the surface, no, it isn't. But in Ahoy Comics' series The Wrong Earth, Dragonflyman and Stinger act an awful lot like the '66 versions of Batman and Robin, and the Dragonfly seems very similar to Frank Miller's Dark Knight! Liberated of the copyright owner's limitations on how Batman and Robin can be used, what are writer Tom Peyer and artist Jamal Igle saying about Batman with this series? Also in this episode, back from the mists of time, an installment of the Batman Radio Show, starring Tim (age 10) and Paul (age 7)! Plus, Pablo Beltran Ruiz y su orquesta's version of the Batman theme, and your response to our talk with Oscar, the William Dozier fanboy!  

In 1965, as production of Batman was starting to get rolling, Lorenzo Semple was having some difficulties in getting across to writers his vision for the show. Leonard Stadd's "The Secret of the Impossible Crimes," a script that Semple rejected, shows Stadd's take on Semple's vision after reading the script for "Hi Diddle Riddle." The result is a funhouse-mirror version of Batman '66: it's recognizably the show, but bizarrely distorted in some ways. Once again, an unused script helps us understand what Batman '66 is, and what it isn't. Also, David Miller's trumpet version of the Batman theme, and your response to the Archie/Batman team-up! "The Secret of the Impossible Crimes," full script Semple's two-page memo about the script Discussion of the script on the all-seeing, all-knowing '66 Batman message board  

One of the reasons often given for the quality dropoff in Batman season three has been that, in one-part episodes with so many characters, time is tight. So how to account for Louie's Lethal Lilac Time, a one-parter that seems not to even have enough story for 22 minutes!? And yet, we seem to be missing things, as scenes are cut off before they appear to be over. Meanwhile, should Yvonne Craig be reporting Neil Hamilton to HR for #metoo-related reasons? Also, Tim reports on the Bowling Green State University "Batman in Popular Culture" conference, and gives highlights of the '66-related material presented there. Plus, the Beat Torrent version of the Batman theme, and your responses to the Catwoman/Joker script episode! All six radio ads for the 1966 Batman movie Japanese TV ad for "Mandom" cologne, starring Charles Bronson and featuring Percy Helton (1970) BGSU "Batman in Popular Culture" conference - list of panels Frank Zappa & Burt Ward -- "The Boy Wonder Sessions" 1966 Lee Hazlewood, The Woodchucks,

We all have our favorite characters and actors from Batman, but how many of us are fanboys for Executive Producer William Dozier? Well, for one, there's Oscar Lilley, proxy researcher at the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming. In the process of working with Dozier's papers, Oscar has grown intrigued with Dozier's backstory and impressed by how he did his job. In this episode, he tells us about his selflessness, his business sense, and how the trajectory of Dozier's 1965 series The Loner tracks with that of Batman. Also, more circumstantial evidence that seem to disprove the Fourth Season Myth! Plus, the Amosdoll Music version of the theme, and your response to our discussion of the Funny Feline Felonies! Semple to Dozier - Hi Diddle Riddle Doizer response to Semple Dozier to ABC - cliffhangers Dozier to Rod Serling Dozier to Adam West about Lyle Waggoner screen test Semple to Dozier - Frank Gorshin etc ABC's notes on Hi Diddle Riddle - caviar etc. Dozier response to ABC Semple notes Max Hodge's Mr.

A double-header for our 4th anniversary (and, we forgot to mention, Batman's 80th!). First, we review the recent six-issue series Archie Meets Batman '66. How does the Caped Crusader end up joining forces with America's favorite teenager? Then, listener Chris Cavanaugh joins us to talk about his Bat-fandom growing up, fueled as much by Silver Age DC comics as it was by Batman on TV! Plus, the Remix Maniacs version of the theme, and your mail about our Batman Returns episode! 16 things you didn't know about Poison Ivy American Heritage Center travel grants BGSU Batman Conference  

Stanley Ralph Ross's treatment, draft, and final scripts for The Funny Feline Felonies two-parter reveal a number of surprises: inconsistent concern for not doing the same gags twice, the death of the budding Batman-Batgirl romance, Ross errors that sometimes made it to the screen, a Ross gag that was, er, stubbed out like a cigar, and much more. The Batcave Podcast's John S. Drew joins us once again in the Bat Research Lab. Plus, Adam West's Batman and Robin and conversation with our listeners about Batman, camp, and Pop! The Funny Feline Felonies - treatment The Funny Feline Felonies - draft The Funny Feline Felonies - final The Funny Feline Felonies - shooting schedule Thread on The Funny Feline Felonies scripts on the '66 Batman Message Board (We'll have more scripts in the future, but... not quite yet.) Thread on the Sasha Torres camp/Pop essay on the '66 Batman Message Board American Heritage Center travel grants BGSU Batman Conference  

In the Funny Feline Felonies, Joker fakes getting kidnapped by Catwoman, only to then let her lead him around by the nose. He seems more childish than evil. What's wrong with season three Joker? That's one issue on our minds as we go through this two-parter. We also explore the provenance of the "Kitty Car," the ways in which this arc displays both male chauvinism and feminism, and the numerous extra characters and cameos that Stanley Ralph Ross included in this script — and an important cameo that all the other bat-commentators have missed! Also, a close look at Warden Crichton's office, the Los Straitjackets version of the Batman theme, and your mail! The Washington Post on Eartha Kitt's ill-fated 1968 visit to the White House Warden Crichton's evolving office: A comparison  

In 1992, Batman returned to movie theater screens, more Tim Burton-y than ever! His faceoff with Penguin and Catwoman contains numerous hallmarks of a Burton film, from the themes to the camerawork. Childhood friend Kyle joins Tim and Paul to (once we've wallowed in reminiscences quite enough) give Batman Returns the To the Batpoles treatment, including the lack of Robin, various cats and penguins, the relevance to Batman '66, and the Returns video game tie-ins. Also, what is the Wilhelm Scream? Plus, the Teddy Harpo harmonica version of the '66 theme, and your mail! Paul, Kyle, and Tim, joined by Tim and Paul's dog Tippy in front of their house, Centerville, Iowa, 1976  

Bring your Coleman stove! Grab your sleeping bag! "Go to the creek and brush your teeth!" It's time for a serious "Camping Trip"! Back in episode 12, we took time to examine the idea of "camp" and why Batman '66 is often described as "campy." Producer William Dozier and others involved with the show rejected that label because of its "gay" associations, and instead maintained that it was an example of Pop art. Listener Dan E. Kool pointed us recently to an essay by Sasha Torres, a professor at the University of Western Ontario. The essay is called The Caped Crusader of Camp: Pop, Camp, and the "Batman" Television Series, and it has inspired us to record this episode, on the idea of camp and Pop art as defining aesthetics for Batman '66. Is Batman camp or Pop? What tradeoffs do you make by designating it as either one? Also, now that we're in season three, do we still agree with our idea in episode 12 that Batman is a "sitcamp"? Has it totally become a sitcom by this point? Has the level of camp since season

In what we promise will be our last Egghead and Olga episode (maybe), we dig into the script for the original three-part version of their third-season story featuring Vincent Price and Anne Baxter. Because of an apparent aversion to running a three-part story (besides Londinium, that is), Batman's producers chopped part one, The Ogg Couple, and ran it six weeks AFTER broadcasting the second and third parts. As this decision was made AFTER shooting was completed, the decision necessitated not only script changes, but re-shooting of some scenes, and a lot of mucking with the ending tag scenes of a couple of other episodes. It also scuttled some much-needed part-one exposition and what was supposed to be a running gag through the three parts. We uncover some surprising details! Plus, the Bruce Lindquist guitar-tutorial version of the Batman theme, and your voluminous mail!   The Ogg Couple (original three-part version), "final script" by Stanford Sherman The Ogg Couple shooting schedule Thread on The Ogg Coupl

Back again for the first time, Egghead and Olga, in The Ogg Couple, originally meant to be the first of three parts. Did the producers do a good job of changing direction in midstream, or are the seams showing? In addition to containing a raunchy joke the censors seemingly overlooked, this Batman episode inspires several musical ruminations, related to the source of the name of the Silver Scimitar of Taras Bul Bul, Batgirl's sabre dance, and after a session in the Bat Research Lab, Eureka! Egghead's theme is identified! Also, the Lemon version of the Batman theme, and your mail! Lemon version of theme   MGM cartoon Abdul the Bulbul Ameer (1941) Abdul Abulbul Amir, sung by Frank Crumit (1927) Sabre Dance, by Aram Khachaturian, performed by Classic FM Orchestra, conductor: Maxim Eshkenazy Warner Brothers cartoon Swooner Crooner (1944) Chicken Reel by Joseph Daly (piano roll) Turkey in the Straw, as performed by The Original Schnickelfritz Band with Freddie Fisher (1942)  

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What better topic for our 100th episode than the star of our favorite show? We watched the Television Academy's 2006 interview with Adam West, which does overlap somewhat with Adam's Back to the Batcave, of course, but still gives us some new insights. Then we realized that there's someone else we haven't given enough credit for the good things in Batman '66: Executive Producer William Dozier. While we rail against his penny-pinching ways as the series went on, if it hadn't been for him, our beloved show might not exist! A bit of research turned up a 1966 episode of the CBC program Telescope which not only featured a Dozier interview that provides an interesting comparison with West's, but also some fascinating on-the-set footage. Plus, the Pleasantville 6th grade band's version of the Batman theme, and your mail! Adam West interview CBC's "Telescope" featuring William Dozier   Hollywood Reporter on Adam's art Holy Precursor! William Dozier and the First Organized Wave of Comic-Based TV Shows (rebeatmag.com

With Julie Newmar off (reportedly) filming Mackenna's Gold, Eartha Kitt was recruited to play Catwoman in season three. In this episode, we dig into her first appearance, Catwoman's Dressed to Kill, an episode that seems to exhibit a lot of misogyny — but is that primarily on the part of writer Stanley Ralph Ross, or on the part of Batman himself? Meanwhile, of course, the casting of an African-American Catwoman apparently led to the end of the Catwoman - Batman romantic tension, and in the Bat Research Lab, we take a look at an interracial kiss that was broadcast on American TV just three days before this episode, as well as a 1967 sitcom that clearly made a reference to Batman '66. Plus, the Boss Martians' version of the Batman theme, another Camping Trip, and your mail!   Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. share an interracial smooch   Spot the analogue to a certain actor we all know and love

In 1966, Signet released the novel Batman vs. Three Villains of Doom by Winston Lyon. Like most Batman '66 tie-in merch, it was released very early in the show's run, which means that its ability to ape the show is limited. Lyon sometimes borrows from the comics to augment what he doesn't know about the show, and sometimes simply has to make stuff up. The novel deals with a contest between Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman to defeat Batman and earn the coveted Tommy Award. But wait — where's Riddler? And just who is this Winston Lyon, anyway? In this episode we look into those questions, discuss what is and isn't in line with the '66 show in this novel, and somehow even find time to go on a camping trip. Plus, the Nashville Five version of the Batman theme, and your mail! Signet Batman Paperbacks explained at TVobscurities.com  

Dick Carr's first draft of The Silent Film Capers — which Bat-fans know as Death in Slow Motion — was submitted in November 1965. It went through numerous revisions before becoming the story we know and love. In this episode, we go through the first three drafts of the script and find the original form of the giant book, a cut subplot about chocolate cake, the reason Mr. Van Jones doesn't seem to mind that Riddler ruined his party, and much more. Plus, the Skeletal Family version of the Batman theme, and your mail! The Silent Film Capers by Dick Carr: First draft Second draft Polished version The Ogg Couple (original three-part version), "final script" by Stanford Sherman Thread on The Ogg Couple on the '66 Batman Message Board Captain Action information link from Chris Cavanaugh  

In spite of having three whole episodes to tell the story of the Terrific Trio's visit to Londinium, the show nonetheless leaves plenty of plot threads hanging, important moments unshown, and basic villain motivations unexplained. As Batman and Robin don "beefeater" uniforms, a certain old Wendy's fast food tagline comes to mind… There might not be much beef, but there is at least a bee. Of sorts. Also a rope trick that's both intentionally and unintentionally funny. With a hat-tip to a certain listener, we explore whether, by this point in the series, the show is still "camping" or straight-out, unintentional camp. Also, how does Batman's poor sense of logistics lead to at least three major points of this episode? Plus, the PelleK version of the Batman theme, and an extra helping of your mail!