To The Batpoles! Batman 1966

Bat-fans with any awareness of which writer wrote which Bat-script have long had a love-hate relationship with Stanley Ralph Ross, one of the most prolific of the show's scribes. In season one, he co-wrote one of the most acclaimed arcs of the series, "The Purrfect Crime"/"Better Luck Next Time". On the other hand, he's also responsible for such disasters as the Archer story, and played a large role in the show's shift from Semplian play-it-straight humor to gags that would have been at home on Milton Berle's show. In this episode, we analyze a 1998 interview with Ross: what it tells us about him as a person and a writer, and the various holes it fills in our understanding of Batman and Ross' contributions to it. Plus, Francesco Alcozer's version of the theme, and your mail!

When you want analysis of Joan Collins' appearance as the Siren, there's only one man to call: High C! He's a mainstay of the all-seeing, all-knowing 66 Batman message board, and has made "The Wail of the Siren" a focus of much research. In this episode, we have him on the show to discuss the various versions of the script, at least one scene that was filmed and not used, the provenance of the Batgirl theme lyrics (which made their facepalm-inducing debut in this episode), what Collins and Adam West wrote about each other in their respective memoirs, and much more. Plus, the Guana Batz' version of the theme, and your mail! Stanley Ralph Ross' original treatment for The Wail of the Siren The Wail of the Siren, first draft The Wail of the Siren, final draft   The "omake" section of Batgirlbat-trap.com, including numerous articles on Siren/Joan Collins by High C! Joan in the 1969 movie "Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?" From the cut scene. Perhaps right after the Lorele

It's time to dig into another draft script, and another by Stanley Ralph Ross: That Darned Catwoman! We find many things that were left out of the broadcast version—some to our regret, others to our relief! In place of Pussycat, we have Poison Ivy. Is this the Ivy of the comics? Why might the character have been changed to Pussycat? We additionally see how Ross' attempts at cinematic set-pieces, and to keep promises made in the season two promo to display the new bat-vehicles, were foiled by the budgetary axe. Also: What does this draft tell us about the story of Ross intentionally cutting Burt Ward's lines? Why does this script have so many 1920s-1930s crime fiction references (many of which didn't make it to the screen)? Plus, the V-Rangers version of the theme, the announcement of our next bat-script, and your mail! "That Darned Catwoman" PDF script "That Darned Catwoman" thread on the '66 Batman message board "Pop Goes the Joker" PDF script "Pop Goes the Joker" thread on the '66 Batman message board  

At last, Batman '66 faces Two-Face! Adam West's final turn as Batman pits him against his classic-TV contemporary, William Shatner, in the animated release Batman vs. Two-Face! Producer James Tucker has said that last year's Return of the Caped Crusaders imitated the feel of seasons 2 and 3 of the original TV show, while this one has a season-one tone... but Tim and Paul beg to differ. The film again prompts us to wonder: would Two-Face have worked as a '66 villain? Why did they choose this particular villain for the second movie? Meanwhile, in the Bat-Research Lab, a breakthrough in the search for answers on the Legends of the Superheroes cowl! And your mail inspires more conversation about whether Batman '66 was a sitcom, and just what qualifies to be called that. Adam West confesses: "I have some gear!"

Frank Gorshin returns for one more round as the Riddler. Is he as good as ever, or down for the count? Does Joan Collins' appearance as Siren steal Gorshin's screen time? Is Riddler's alias Mushi Nebuchadnezzar meant as a Muhammad Ali reference? Is Batgirl way smarter than the Dynamic Duo, or is she just written that way? In our Camping Trip, Paul notes how the brisk pace of season three episodes has abbreviated the camp moments as well. Also, in the Bat Research Lab, we look at a late-'70s take on the '66 show from Gary Gerani's book "Fantastic Television." Plus, a metal version of Hefti's Bat-theme from 331 Erock, and your mail! Read the draft script of Ring Around the Riddler Batman 1966 Meets Metal Bat-Lava Soap Commercial

It's time to dig into another script: Stanley Ralph Ross's first draft of Shoot a Crooked Arrow/Walk the Straight and Narrow (take a look at the script here!). Most bat-fans agree, this is a less-than-satisfying arc for a number of reasons, from the casting of the villain to some seemingly nonsensical plotting late in part one. Reading the script helps us understand what was supposed to happen there: Why did Batman say he was going to cut open the net that he and Robin were trapped in, and then not do it? What was the point of Archer pretending to decapitate Alfred? It also raises some questions: How should Archer have been played? Totally British and debonair? Or maybe as a Jerseyite trying to speak with a British accent? Is Alan A. Dale meant as a wink to the gay audience, or the homophobe's caricature of a gay man? And, it answers the question: If I'm making a TV show, what happens if the screenwriter and/or director lets jokes and important story points go underemphasized? Answer: This arc! ALSO: The Lab

In 1949, six years after the wartime Batman serial, Columbia Pictures tried again with New Adventures of Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, with a completely new cast and somewhat changed bat-tableau. Typical of that era's serials, the production values are cheap, the script is full of illogical behavior and red-herring "clues", and the acting is something well short of Olivier. But it's instructive in how 1940s entertainment was made for an audience of nine-year-olds with no access to a "rewind" button. But was the '49 serial a major source of inspiration for the '66 TV series? We examine the evidence, in as much context as we can muster, and then we read your mail! Delmar Sherrill's "Stardust" column on movie serials (in Statesville (NC) Daily Record, 5/31/49) Old Batman Serials Win Praise as Single Movie (AP report in High Point (NC) Express, 12/11/65) Will Batman revive Saturday serial? (by Bob Thomas in The Evening News (Sault Sainte Marie, MI), 3/3/66) HONK article mentioning William Fawcett's aborted ap

It's Batgirl! She's in Gotham City, and she's here to save the Batman TV show! (Did it work? Spoiler alert: Not so much.) We look at the process that brought the Barbara Gordon iteration of Batgirl to the comics and to the screen, and give our impressions of the unbroadcast pilot and the first Season Three episode, Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin! Then, Tim at last describes his visit to the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie (see photos below), including what's involved in getting there and getting access to their huge stash of Batman scripts; which scripts he now has scans of; and... just how did William Dozier's papers end up in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains? Also, the Batman theme as performed by Screaming Urge with Don Bovee, and your mail!   Neil Hamilton and Yvonne Craig in "Perry Mason: The Case of the Lazy Lover" Perry Mason S01e35 The Case Of The Lazy Lover Posted by dmdm228 The Recycled Newspaper From "Batman is Riled", broadcast January 27, 1966. From "Enter B

In the wake of Adam West's not-so-recent passing, we felt compelled to do a "thanks for the memories, Adam" episode. But, well, every episode functions as that, so this time, we present the memories of many other bat-fans who grew up watching Adam & co. in syndication (and, in two cases, on Wednesday and Thursday nights in the '60s!). Not coincidentally, our guests are now working in comics themselves.... With one exception: our mom, Joann! Tim interviewed her while visiting home last month, to hear her memories of our Bat-fandom, and how her sewing skills helped to augment that fandom! 11:43 Ken Holtzhouser 14:16 Dale Lazarov, writer and art director of Sticky Graphic Novels Chicago, IL 19:54 Dylan Maconis, Outfoxed Karl Kesel, writer and inker of various Marvel and DC comics Helioscope Studio, Portland, OR 30:50 Cat Farris, The Last Diplomat Helioscope Studio, Portland, OR 37:00 Christopher Jones, artist on many titles including The Batman Strikes, Batman '66 #7 (False Face), Dr. Who Minneap

This time we convene in the place where the batmania started (for us): Centerville, Iowa! This is the town where we lived when we first fell in love with the show. We happen to be here just as we’ve finished watching season two, and we take the opportunity to compare the first two seasons. (Few would argue that there wasn’t a dropoff in quality as the series progressed, notably in the writing and the type of humor presented...or, does it just seem that way because the Lorenzo Semple take on the concept is our favorite?) Taking the slide in quality as a given, we have to ask: Was this slide inevitable, or could it have been avoided? What were the reasons for the slide? What’s the best attitude to take as we advance, trepidatiously, into season three? Also, Ric Napoli’s very interesting take on the Batman theme (and on our podcast!); a look back at our 1977 auto show meetup with Adam West (which cowl was he wearing??); and a Bat-mailbag overflowing with your thought-provoking missives! Paul in blue shirt. Sis

Though it's not the fault of Eli Wallach, his turn as Mr. Freeze ends the second season on a weak note. Of course, there are a few strong points, such as Batman's phone chat with Bruce Wayne, and yet another perfect Gotham City Police slogan from Commissioner Gordon. We discuss how Wallach ended up in the role, the reasons this arc doesn't pass the English Major test (including the reference to Rabelais), the over-dependence on stock footage, Robin's difficulties this time around, and more. Plus: The Tallulah Bankhead/George Raft connection, and your mail!  

If you thought our Black Widow episode was a total camping trip, our take on season two’s final Joker appearance may be even more so! Intentionally or not, Caesar Romero’s take this time has plenty of gay overtones. At the same time, the Joker is somehow more emotional and human this time. But has he become less intelligent? But the arc’s stated subject is pop art, and its opinion is: it sucks. But Stanford Sherman’s don’t-know-don’t-care attitude about pop art (and sniggering at critics’ reception toward it) is part of what makes this arc so hilarious. Also, what does this episode say about the real mission of Batman and Robin? Plus, in the Bat Research Lab, the Legends of the Superheroes cowl mystery continues; the surprising answer to the question “Just who is Mother Machree, anyway?”; and Tim’s upcoming visit to the William Dozier archives (scroll down the left-side menu for the link to "Scripts Television", and send us your wish list by August 2!) Also, the Voivod version of the Batman theme, and yo

Tallulah Bankhead, nearing the end of her career, appeared on Batman as the Black Widow in March 1967, in an episode that seems to be running on the theme of “bad judgement”. Did writer Robert Mintz have the bad judgement to pun on Bankhead’s name? (Probably not.) How was Bankhead’s judgement in life? What does Tim judge to have been his favorite part of the usual formula for each arc? We also touch on some ways in which this late season two arc differs from early season one — but characters talking to the camera isn’t one of them. ALSO: Further findings on the Legends of the Superheroes cowl, the De Maskers’ version of the Batman theme, and your mail! Tell us which scripts you'd be interested in from the Dozier Archive Holdings! (Scroll down the left-side menu to "Scripts Television")  

In 1966, the Batman TV show was big in numerous countries, including Tim’s adopted home of Japan, where it led to the licensed creation of a series of Japanese Batman comics. While the purpose of the comics (written and drawn by Jiro Kuwata) was to cash in on the show’s popularity, the stories are based on Batman comics of the early ‘60s and before, though often greatly decompressed, with added elements, and sometimes just freeform weirdness. In this episode, manga translator Kumar Sivasubramanian joins Tim and Paul to dig into the series — its influences, how it compares to the show and to the source-material comics, and a comparison of the 2008 Chip Kidd art book on the topic vs. the subsequent full publication of the ‘60s series in English — which is more worth your time? ALSO: The Sheena and the Rokkets version of the theme, a plot glitch in “Batman’s Satisfaction” that we somehow missed, and your mail! Which Batman scripts should we get to talk about?

   This episode, we first must tip our hats to our favorite caped crusader, Adam West, who passed away June 9 at 88. What was that magic touch he had as an actor? Would the show even have been the show without him? Then it’s onward with King Tut’s Coup and Batman’s Waterloo. Do these two episodes make up the best King Tut arc so far? If so, in what ways? Was Robin’s part in this arc intentionally minimized? Is the cheapening of the production starting to show through that much more? PLUS: The Flaming Lips’ version of the theme, and your mail!  GIVING PROPS TO RECYCLED PROPS The cage as it appeared in Fine Finny Fiends... ...and in Batman's Waterloo (sans umbrella)  The "Mardi Gras faces" in The Joker is Wild... ... and in the Royal Oil Boiling Room (in particular, the one at the top of the shot)  The costume change lever in its natural habitat (left) and at the Pyramid Club (below)                

It’s the showdown of the century… Bruce Lee vs Burt Ward! Or at least, that seems to have been how some young viewers — and Lee himself — saw this arc! As the Green Hornet and Kato visit Gotham, we dig into Lee’s seeming obsession with Ward. So why did the Hornet appear on Batman? Does the Hornet bring his own tone, or get his tone changed for him by Batman? Paul notes how different the Hornet looks with Batman cinematography. Meanwhile, Roger C. Carmel’s character Colonel Gumm, dismissed by most juvenile viewers, turns out to have plenty to offer us as adults. PLUS: an update on that Adam West appearance on The Floppy Show (and the weird cowl he wore there), the versions of femininity on view in Batman, and your mail! A History of the Notorious Purple Top  Minstrel's Moll, Octavia (Leslie Perkins) Joker's moll, Josie Miller (Phyllis Douglas) Dr. Cassandra (Ida Lupino)   Edward G Robinson's Planet of the Apes makeup test Adam West (and AJ Drew) on The Floppy Show -- November 4, 1977!

In September 1966, William Dozier’s Greenway Productions debuted its new series The Green Hornet. Originally a radio series beginning in 1936, the Green Hornet has also appeared in movie serials and comic books, and a 2011 movie. In this episode, we look at the character’s history, how the TV series came to be and the mark it left on the property (particularly on how the Hornet’s assistant Kato is portrayed), and the two principals, Van Williams and Bruce Lee. How did the show affect the trajectory of the Batman series? Why did the show only last one season? Also, the history of the theme music and Billy May’s jazzy score, and guest commentator Ken Holtzhouser tells us about the time he interviewed Van Williams! 1966 Batman movie cast interviews Green Hornet test episode

Catwoman goes to college, but says she can’t go straight without “the love of a good man.” And yet, she keeps trying to kill that good man! Even so, the sexual tension between bat and cat gives us a surprisingly long, natural-seeming conversation between the two to close out Julie Newmar’s final bat-appearance. In this episode, we also discuss the broadcast order of the Catwoman episodes, vs how they might actually fit together; the seemingly endless reduplication of Batman (and Bruce Wayne, and even Alfred) in various ways, and self-referential humor about “people in strange costumes”; more Borscht Belt humor from Stanley Ralph Ross; sloppy forensic science in Gotham City; Batman’s attempts to encourage Robin; and much more. Plus, the Link Wray version of the Batman theme, and your mail on The Impurrrfect Script!

“The Joker’s Last Laugh” arc is Lorenzo Semple Jr.’s last writing for “Batman”, a teleplay from a story written by crime novelist Peter Rabe. But that story originally featured Two-Face! (Read the treatment here. Thanks to High C for providing!) The Joker version contains at least one vestige of the Twofaceiness of the original story, and also shows Semple seeming to comment on the sitcom that the series had become. Other topics include: how we, too, were driven crazy by laugh tracks; the history of the Jokemobile; the Iggy Pop version of the Batman theme (NOTE: has a few f-bombs in it); and of course, your mail!  

 Analyzing draft scripts has proven to be a fascinating way to watch the Batman ’66 creative process happening, so this time we’re digging into Stanley Ralph Ross and Lee Orgel’s first draft of The Purrfect Crime/Better Luck Next Time. Among the questions explored: Why does Batman never say “Boy Wonder”? Why can Gordon not say “Batman” when he’s on the Batphone with Bruce not in costume? How did Lorenzo Semple help Ross clarify points in the story? What is the importance of making Robin smarter? What character assumptions of season one are abandoned in season two?  And as last time, we include some comments received from listeners about the draft. Also: An Adam West TV appearance on a show that dominated our early childhoods, even before Batman did! Hear our discussion of "Batman '66: The Lost Episode"