Batman (1966) Episode 5&6

Episode 5&6

The Joker is wild/Batman is Riled 

led

Plot:TheJoker makes his own utility belt to use against Batman

Guest Stars:First appearance of Cesar Romero as Joker, who I still maintain set a standard for the character for all that came after have followed.

Nitpick:While origins for these villains would have been cool I kind of like the idea that Batman has been around and dealing with these villains long before we tuned in.

Trivia:Based on an actual comic book story

Bat Silliness:First official bat climb

Bat Gadget:hyper spectrographic analyzer

Bat Trap:Joker threatens to reveal Batman’s identity on live TV. Yep, not much thought went into these cliffhangers early on no doubt.

Final Thoughts:Joker’s escape from prison is perfect Joker, using a huge spring to shoot himself out! When it looks as if the episode is gonna be a real quick one, Joker gets the idea to make his own utility belt. At least the setup actually pays off unlike that ridiculous lawsuit nonsense in the pilot. The episode is better since it stays focused on the Joker with no crazy filler plots. Cesar Romero sells every scene. For those who dismiss this show and this Joker, there are several things in this that would be homaged later in other movies. Joker robbing a museum, wearing a clown disguise very similar to the mask he wears at the start of Dark Knight , andgiving a TV message to the city. Not to mention that fantastic laugh.

 

Grade:B, is it me or is the pacing slow in these early shows? At least we don’t get pointless filler in this one.

 

 

 

As you can tell I decided not to list all of the “Holy” lines Robin used. He said several per episode and it’s listed elsewhere. I don’t know where that came from but it was one of those things that no other version can do quite the same. Ward owned those lines. Kind of like Kirk screaming “Khan!”, you can have other actors do it but it’s just not the same. If you’re interested in the final tally, he uses it 352 times. Holy Mathematics! Earlier this year, Burt Ward appeared briefly on Crisis on Infinite Earth’s giving one more “Holy” line. And just recently he got his own star on the walk of fame. You gotta give the guy credit he really put his all into a character that comic fans never took very seriously.