I came up with this idea when the quarantine started, but didn’t get to it. But I think it’s a fun idea and I decided to it. In the spirit of my Analytical Episode Guides, I give you a special treat:
The Summer of Batman. Ok, cool. So what are we looking at? The Nolan movies? The Burton movies? The amazing animated series?
No my friends we are going back to the beginning and looking at every episode of the Adam West TV show. While most grew up with the animated show I grew up with this one. However it has been years since I’ve really watched these, and I kind of want to go over them. We know they are campy and silly, but do they still hold up over fifty years later?
So starting tomorrow we will do one episode a day until the end of Summer. All 79 episodes, in order. And since most of the episodes where two parts I will discuss both parts at once. I hope you’ll come along for this journey and either relive some old memories, or discover the hidden gem this TV series really is. It gets forgotten in today’s world of the dark and gritty Batman that we may not have had Batman at all if not for the Adam West version. That show shot Batman into legend status, saved the fledgling comic book, and started something we all call Batmania. It was silly because of the time’s, reflecting the Silver Age of comics not to mention the 1960’s culture.
The Batman TV show was created by Willian Dozier. The series was supposed to be a blend of action and humor, but going by the Silver Age titles at the time Dozier realized the tone needed to campy comedy. The reason this works is because of writer Lorenzo Semple Jr who knew how to to pop camp and they hired the best straight man in the business at the time to play the lead. Adam West had been in other project using his dry style and creators knew that he would sell the role. Which he did, Airing two nights away (for the first two seasons anyway) the series was a massive hit attracting scores of celebrities to it for a guest shot.
We’ll discuss the actors and development more as we go, With 120 episodes (I misspoke yesterday guess I was thinking of Star Trek) we may as well dig in. I will cover the two (or three) parters in one article and yes there was a movie. I already discussed that I haven’t decided if I want to go into it again. Our first episodes….
Episode 1 & 2
Hi Diddle Diddle/Smack in the Middle
Plot:The Riddler with a plan to heist rare postage stamps (and some filler nonsense about suing Batman that goes nowhere).
Guest Stars:Frank Gorshin who I will talk more about as we go. Also, Jill St John as the only character to ever die on the show!
Nitpick:Why does Robin keep guessing the riddles? Batman is supposed to be the smart one! To be fair he messes up the last two but Batman figures it out, just in time.
Bat Silliness:The Battusi is introduced, and why more people don’t talk about the scene where Batman is tripping in the Batmobile I’ll never know.
Bat Gadget:The Batmobile shows off what it can do even putting out a fire in itself
Bat Trap:Robin trapped to a gurney. Pretty dull, possibly the most basic cliffhanger the show would have. The re-cap is also different (and stupid).
Final Thoughts:Clearly the first episode as we get no narration at the top. Also Commissioner Gordon is more grim, acting as if Batman is a loner no one knows anything about and he doesn’t fully trust. Even trying to trace the Bat Phone. I love how we see him conferring with other officers before calling Batman, something we will never see again. I gt the feeling they were going for a slightly more serious tome then what the series would end up giving. To bad they couldn’t decide on a plot. Riddler filing a lawsuit against Batman is lame (and goes nowhere). Then it becomes about Riddler’s hench women disguising as Robin to infiltrate the Batcave, It takes forever to finally get to the real scheme. The fact that Bruce’s parents were murdered is brought up albeit briefly.
Grade:C, Not a bad start but Frank Gorshin saves the episode with his charm, the rest of the episode is clearly trying to find the tone. We get a death scene followed by a lame joke by Batman, are we supposed to be sad or laughing? And it was such a bad joke the director thought it was a flubbed line. Riddler is presumed dead at the end, which happened in the comics but is out of place here. This episode drones on looking for the plot which hurts it.
Not the worst start, we have the usual things we get in every episode. The Commissioner calling Batman on the Bat Phone. The stock footage of Batman & Robin sliding down the poles and into the car, arriving at the Commissioner’s Office. The lame excuse Bruce and Dick use to get out of the house, to the bafflement of poor Aunt Harriett. And of course the final fight with the henchman and all the POW! and BAP! stuff that never made any sense to me.
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