Batman (1966) Episode 7&8

Episodes 7&8
Instant Freeze/Rats Like Cheese

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Plot:-Mr.Freeze is seeking revenge on Batman who spilled a freeze solution on him causing him to live in -50 degree conditions.

Batman (1966) Episode 5&6

Episode 5&6

The Joker is wild/Batman is Riled 

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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.

Batman (1966) Episode 3&4

Episodes 3&4
Fine Feathered Finks/The Penguins a Jinx

Plot:Penguin tricks Batman into planning crimes for him

Batman (1966)-Season 1, Episode 1 & 2

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).

The Sitcom Summer Burn Off

When a sitcom that has been really popular, even a fixture in a certain time slot, starts to lose its audience funny things happen. What was a hit show suddenly vanishes from the schedule, as if the network is suddenly ashamed of it. But since the final episodes were filmed and recorded, when do you air them? Sometimes in the middle of the season, I remember My Two Dads quietly going away around March. Alf was quietly shuffled away in the spring also. But another idea is to wait until the worst time of year to put something on-the middle of summer!

I am not sure if it’s done anymore but in the old days when the network wanted to air unaired episodes of a series they put the show on in June or August and basicallt burned off the episodes. With as little fanfare as possible. They did this with unsold pilots or series that were cancelled so fast maybe two whole episodes aired. But those are failed shows, it makes sense to do that. When it’s a series that has been on for years and has been good for the network this kind of discarding is kind of mean.

 

Here are five shows that had this happen

 

TAXI

A great subject for another article is when a sitcom is cancelled by one network only to be bought and aired on another. Why haven’t I done that one yet? This is alays a little odd, to see your favorite show on a different network. However, this usually fails because it was cancelled originally for a reason. And the new network is just trying to cash in to the zeitgeist. This is what happened when Taxi moved from ABC to NBC. Pairing it wuth Cheers should have been a no brainer. It didn;t work that away and the final episode, which wasn’t even a finale, quietly aired in June.

 

Ten Favorite Members of Legion of SuperHeroes

I’ve talked a lot about superheroes, specifically DC, but there is one team that I haven’t said very much about.

And that is basically because I was never much of a Legion fan. I read there book here and there, but most of my exposure comes from their appearances in other people’s books. I do have a trade of “The Great Darkness Saga”. Based 1000 years in the future it’s a collection of super powered young people from all over the galaxy. The team was created in a Superboy story way back when, and as I mentioned before became so popular they actually took over Superboy’s book and became the main feature. In the 90’s the team was hurt by reboots and retcon’s that took all likeability from the team. But have recovered since then.

This roster was massive, so I decided to look at my ten favorite. Leaving off members not specifcally created for Legion like Superboy, Supergirl and Jimmy Olsen. And forgive my if my info on these characters is a tad dated.

 

 

Brainiac 5

One of the more complex characters, it’s no wonder the live shows tend to bring him and keep him around. Originally he was the son of villain Brianiac, but as that character got retconned so did Brainiac 5. Being a clone version for time and more recently Brainiac’s adopted son. The character would also become more unlikable as the years went on. His powers are an amazing intellect which grants him superhuman calculation skills, amazing memory and exceptional technical knowledge.

 

Five Heroes With Triple Identities

Ok after the last couple articles I think it’s time to get back into something just for fun. We all know that superhero’s have a dual identity. Their hero monicker and of course the person they are in real life. But once in awhile a character will take on a third identity for a time. And I don’t mean because they are mind controlled or turned evil or something, circumstances simply force them to don a third identity. Like how former Batgirl Barbara Gordon became The Oracle after being shot, or Hank Pym had several identities from Ant Man including Goliath and Yellow Jacket.

 

 

Here are five examples of what I mean. And these aren’t heroes becoming villains, that’s a different list entirely.