Episodes 120
Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires
Guest Stars:Zsa Zsa Gabor as Minerva
Trivia:The two customers at Minerva’s spa are producers Howie Horwitz and William Dozier
Niitpick:An evil beauty salon? Why not. Why are diamonds always the goal, are these villains not aware other jewels exist?
Bat Silliness:Minerva confused Robin for Batman’s son. I am not sure how to take that one.
Bat Gadget:Batman has steam neutralizing bat pellets in his utility belt because of course he does. Three second flat vault combination decoder.
Bat Trap:Batman and Robin in a pressurizer (nice to see one last trap)
Final Thoughts:We made it folks. The final episode of the series. And man is it just so...season 3. At Minerva’s Mineral Spa, we find Bruce Wayne getting his massage. Meanwhile another millionaire gets placed with a large hair dryer apparatus which steals the information of where his millions are. Somehow. This makes Riddler’s box in Batman Forever look plausible. Yesterday we missed our regular henchman and token woman, so we get them here. Gordon and O’Hara re trying to figure out how the millionaires got robbed of items no one knew the location of. They call Batman but Bruce Wayne has to run an errand at the spa. There Wayne is subjected to Minerva’s device. How many times has Batman has his brain probed or controlled in this series? Batman and Robin arrive to investigate but instead get stuck in a pressurizer. Why is Bruce an idiot when he is Bruce, Minerva saw him talking to his watch and then Batman walked in a second later. She’s not stupid! So Batman and Robin escape off screen (always a joy when that happens). They try to confront Minerva but that goes nowhere. Alfred disguises himself so he can trick Minerva (wow that’s original). It’s not even subtle and Napier barely tries this time. Batman figures out what Minerva did, somehow, while Batgirl and Alfred are put into the pressurizer. Batfight, end of episode. And the series.
Grade:C, being fair since it’s a final episode. Zsa Zsa was always so charming no matter what she was in and this episode is no exception. To bad the rest of the episode is just lame. Though not the worst either. That final scene was really disappointing, you really get the feeling no one cared anymore.
I should mention that after the series was canceled there was talk that NBC wanted to pick it up and put it on along with Star Trek (imagine that!). But the Batcave set had already been destroyed, so the 4th season never happened.. It’s probably for the best since everyone seemed to out of steam. The series ended in 1969 but I should mention that Adam West and Burt Ward would reprise there roles in various animated TV show and even two recent animated films.
Before we put this project to bed there are two more things we need to talk about. One is one more article I want to do based on this show. I have wanted to do but as I have mentioned, my memory of the show sucked so I never did it. Now that is not a problem so stay tuned for that. The other thing we need to discuss happened in 2003. Over the years there have been many Batman reunions on various talk shows. My favorite was from an episode of “Vicki” in 1993. But in 2003 the ultimate happened, a new TV movie all about the show. Starring Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar and Frank Gorshin. Oh yes, this happened.......
I saw this when it premiered, and hated it. It was so badly acted and corny. It’s basically a movie based on Adam West’s memoir (which is worth a read) much like how Barry Williams turned “Growing up Brady” into a movie (and stage show, I think). I decided to watch it again for this and I liked it more the second time. Maybe since my memories of the show were fresher. Although it’s far from a perfect product. The flashback’s tend to get into things we don’t care about, lie Burt Ward’s divorce, and the actors playing the past “characters” are only ok. The framing device where Adam and Burt have to find the Batmobile is corny like the series but I feel like it could have been stronger. It did have some moment like the scene of West and Newmar dancing, man she’s still hot! The movie is made for fans of the show and if you are, you’ll like it. It’s a nice little nostalgic road trip to the past and a look behind the scenes of the show all wrapped in up in a silly little package.
As I worked my way through the series a few things came to mind. The first being this show is definitely more for kids, as I noticed a lot of silliness I missed when I watched it 35 years ago. That being said the charm in the show is just undeniable. The way the show is acted, even when it’s at its goofiest you can’t help but enjoy. One thing that I found weird, I can’t come up with a favorite episode. I kept wondering why that was. Then I watched a couple of episodes of Full House out of boredom. Full House is a show that I also really can’t come up with a favorite episode. I hardly even think about it and rarely watch it. However, when I do put it on suddenly I remember why I love it and I am loving it. And I guess that also described Batman. It’s not high art, it’s something light to put on and turn your mind off. You can see the effort put into this show and all that effort really paid off. I am so glad I did this because unlike some other shows (cough trek cough) I really hadn’t seen most of these in ages. I couldn't believe how much I had forgotten or remembered wrong. In spite of my snark and nitpicking it was just such fun to revisit this universe and spend time with these characters again. I wish there had been more episodes, yes even with the bad in season 3. But while the TV show ended, the universe is still kind of around. With comic books, graphic novels and two previously mentioned animated movies (both with Adam West and Burt Ward, and the first with Julie Newmar) set in the 1966 Batman universe. I checked out one of the comics, it was ok.
Holy Batmania! The show was a unique gem and there will never be anything like it. Not only did it kick start the Batman craze which continues to this day, but it has lived for over fifty years and will continue to do for many many more. Thanks for coming along on this Bat Journey and maybe we will do Summer of Batman again next year. For now, be good to yourselves fellow citizens! Holy Nostalgia Batman!!!
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