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Twilight Man

By Twilight Man
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Twilight Man

Twilight Man

"Batman's rich history allows him to be interpreted in a multitude of ways. To be sure, this is a lighter incarnation, but it's certainly no less valid and true to the character's roots than the tortured avenger crying out for mommy and daddy."

Many younger internet users don't care for the "old school" adventures of the Caped Crusader, be it cartoon or live-action, but for me, nothing is better than Adam West dancing the Bat-Tusi while trying not to "attract too much attention".

A great show, with a whole slew of guest stars. Today's TV shows would kill to have as many Hollywood stars and legends on their show.

Warner Brothers (with a whole lot of help from Conan O'Brien) has recently announced that Batman is finally coming to DVD.

Holy Hallelujah!!  (Sorry, couldn't resist)

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jellysalmon

jellysalmon

I wasn't around for the Adam West days of Batman, but I grew up with Batman: The Animated Series and I think it's the best aging cartoon of that era. I've gone back and watched some of my other afternoon favorites only to realize my nostalgia goggles had blinded me to their mediocrity. 

BTAS though? Still enjoyable.

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Wordsworth

Wordsworth

For those who want more of the 60s Batman, there's a great comic book out called "Batman '66" that is a straight up hilarious love letter to the old show.  The likenesses are great (except in cases where there might be a legal snafu), the lines are as ironically cool as they were then and the stories are quite palatable.

 

I've met Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar, fortunately.  I was born after the series was over, but grew up watching it in reruns.  It was the only Batman I knew, outside of the "Superfriends" on Saturday mornings.  

 

I'm so glad that the series is finally coming to DVD.  I really hope that there aren't alterations to music, etc, because of rights issues.

 

 

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ramble

ramble

DVD? Yea! I grew up watching Batman reruns in the afternoons. I was so into the show I would record it on cassette tapes to listen to again. Looking back now I'm so glad that my parents, who restricted quite a lot of tv, let me have that experience.

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CletusMusashi

CletusMusashi

One thing that never ceases to impress me when I rewatch the old show is that The Joker, unique among the show's villains, is absolutely never funny. Everybody else gets to say some good jokes, even if they're just angrily muttered at a henchman, but they made absolutely certain that every line ever uttered by The Joker was a complete and utter dud. Now don't get me wrong. I quite enjoyed Heath Ledger and I loved Mark Hamilll, but on a show where all of the villains are funny anyway, what do you do with the official self-designated "funny guy." Answer: You make him suck! Apparently the psychosis of Cesar Romero's version stems almost entirely from the fact that he wants to be laughed at but is just completely unbelievable incapable of inspiring it.

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darkestboy

darkestboy

I remember watching reruns of this and also The Animated Series as a kid and they were both my introduction to the Batman lore and were equally enjoyable to watch, despite the huge contrasts with them.

 

I have most of Batman: TAS on DVD and I definitely intend to get the 1966 series as well too.

 

I might have to look into the comics as well.

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Ananayel

Ananayel

If you get IFC, there are July 4 weekend marathons, starting Friday at 6:00am Eastern (all day until 5:15), some blocks on Saturday, and a Sunday morning run. After that, it look like daily blocks in the morning and in the afternoon.

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Chip

Chip

Any 1960's casting choices for characters that came later in the Batman mythos?

 

Harley Quinn?

Poison Ivy?

Bane?

 

 


I could see Goldie Hawn being a good Harley Quinn:

 

YvA2vQK.png

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magicdog

magicdog

Bane would likely have had to have been portrayed by a Mr. Universe type.   Mickey Hargitay perhaps?   He would have been about 40 at the time and still in shape.

 

Perhaps Poison Ivy would have been a bit older and portrayed as a scientist rather than super powered.  I'm thinking June Lockhart.

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magicdog

magicdog

I've been catching eps here and there on IFC - they're still a hoot.  My teenaged niece however was a bit puzzled until I explained things to her.   It piques her interest if nothing else. 

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Fabricationary

Fabricationary

I remember watching Batman reruns as a kid (in the late 90s), and I've also been watching some of the IFC reruns at the gym (although if I see one more commercial for that new IFC show featuring a tall blond woman and short brunette woman who both look like they keep a plastic surgeon's office in business, I will scream).  As a kid, I thought the show was cool.  Now I think it's hilariously corny.  And the Burt Ward method of fist-pounding-in-opposite-hand acting is getting old very quickly.

 

Some of you may have seen this website, but it was new to me - http://tothebatpoles.blogspot.com/ .  They recap and provide "scholarly" notes about each episode in the three season run (i.e. what became of the bit players from each episode, casting tidbits, etc.)

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prican58

prican58

Wild Sow, I saw the Eli Wallach ep today on IFC. I really do not remember seeing it before. I was a viewer of the original airings and also watched reruns during the 70's and only remember Preminger and George Sanders. But EW was great. If anyone ever had doubts about his acting abilities, this perf should dispell them. He had the right amount of camp in his portrayal. I mean he was still a very active actor at the time and shows no contempt for the "lowly" TV gig.

I also noticed just how good and well Neil Hamilton understood the camp as well. Here was a guy who had been in Hollywood since the early 30's (maybe some silents?) he could have easily felt it was beneath his talent... and maybe he did. But hey, a steady paycheck and your face in front of millions each week was nothing to sneeze at. But he did a great job.

 

This is one of my all time favorite shows ever and I would love to buy the dvd. I also think the show was the very start of my love for classic movies because of all the talented guest stars. I had no idea they were famous actors at the start of the series and when I saw some of those names in the cast of certain movies I just had to tune in to see what Vincent, Burgess and Cesar really looked like.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

A new trailer for the Blu-Ray boxed set has been released:

 

It really looks gorgeous IMHO.  Also, according to batman-news.com, Adam West will be at NYCC to promote it!

 

Holy Bat Panels!

 

Fans will get all the details on the most anticipated home entertainment release in fanboy history when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment puts Adam West center-stage for a Bat-tastic look at “Batman: The Complete TV Series” during a special Thursday, October 9 panel at New York Comic Con.

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millennium

millennium

I never was very fond of the Batgirl eps. She was clearly added b/c the show had begun to run its course by that time and they were attempting to boost the ratings.

 

What I call "The Cousin Oliver Effect" (inspired by the addition of Cousin Oliver to the Brady Bunch, although this happened years after Batman).

 

Still, I liked how she sassed the Dynamic Duo from time but always in a ladylike way, not to mention you couldn't take your eyes off her when she was onscreen.

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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

I saw the movie a bunch of times on TV when I was a kid before I even aware there was a show. It was my first intro to Batman and the other characters. I usually hate when there are too many villains in a superhero movie but this time it was a delight. The scene where Batman tries to get rid of the bomb is even funnier now. Also while I think Julie Newmar was the sexier Catwoman, Lee Meriwether is really hot in her guise as "Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisoff, or Kitka. Reporter for the Moscow Bugle".

Edited by VCRTracking
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millennium

millennium

(edited)

I saw the movie a bunch of times on TV when I was a kid before I even aware there was a show. It was my first intro to Batman and the other characters. I usually hate when there are too many villains in a superhero movie but this time it was a delight. The scene where Batman tries to get rid of the bomb is even funnier now. Also while I think Julie Newmar was the sexier Catwoman, Lee Meriwether is really hot in her guise as "Kitayna Ireyna Tatanya Kerenska Alisoff, or Kitka. Reporter for the Moscow Bugle".

 

 

You make a good point about the cavalcade of criminals the later Batman movies have foisted on the public.   I wonder if the original movie was used as a model for the later films, even unconsciously.   The four criminals did work well in the 1966 film, no competition or overshadowing, each did his/her own thing.  

 

I also agree about Julie Newmar.   A crying shame she was unavailable for the movie.  And yet, in an odd way, her absence somehow makes the movie a distinctly separate work from the TV series.    You never confuse them because Lee Meriwether appeared in the movie only.    The bit with Bruce and Kitka in the horse-drawn carriage is hilarious, "Tell me about this dream ..." and what Bruce describes is just one big extended metaphor for sex.    I must have seen the movie a dozen times but it wasn't until I was an adult that I picked up on what was really happening in the carriage scene. 

 

I was too young to see the movie in the theater but I keenly remember when it hit TV for the first time in the early 1970s.   It was like a CBS Movie of the Week or something like that.  It was the talk of the entire playground in the days leading up to it.   This was back when staying up to watch TV past nine o'clock required advance permission from our parents. 

Edited by millennium
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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

 

It was like a CBS Movie of the Week or something like that.  It was the talk of the entire playground in the days leading up to it.   This was back when staying up to watch TV past nine o'clock required advance permission from our parents.

 

In the 80s ABC would air a James Bond movie every couple of weeks on Sunday night and I was too young to stay up past the first hour!

 

The scene where Batman runs around the pier trying to get rid of that cartoon bomb is a classic.

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prican58

prican58

I watched the one where the Joker and Batman compete against each other in a surfing contest. Hi-lar-i-ous! I thought at one point that Cesar Romero must have had a blast doing that role. It was a known fact within Hollywood circles that he was a gay man and he escorted many of the female stars to events and such.

I think the Joker allowed him to let his freak fly because he could be as flamboyant as possible underneath that green wig and eggplant colored suit he wore and totally get away with it. I'm not saying he was a flamboyant personality in his personal life, just that he was able to go over the top with the Joker and just run with it. I bet Gorshin felt the same way. Any actor probably would.

 

I love Cesar Romero. Handsome and a great dancer.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

When I go back and watch these 60's shows from my youth, Frank Gorshin is one of the two that really impresses me with how funny they were.  The man could chew scenery the way African termites go through wood.

 

(The other of the two is Jim Backus on Gilligan's Island.)

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Twilight Man

Twilight Man

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Happy Golden Anniversary, Bat-Fans!!!!

Yes, on this day, 50 years ago, the very first episode (Hi Diddle Riddle) premiered on ABC.
Not very much hype and hoopla is being done about this incredible occurrence.
Apparently, DC is all “partied out” celebrating the recent anniversaries of several of their comic books.
Besides, most of the celebratory merchandise has already been available now for the past year or more.

 

So, I’m planning on celebrating by reading a couple of Batman ’66 comics --
Admiring (OK, playing with) my Batman ’66 action figures –

(if you look carefully, you can even see the make-up covered mustache on the Joker)
I even have my Batman ’66 Xmas ornaments that I still kept out this year due to the mounumentous occasion.
And, of course, the main course of this celebration – the special edition Blu-Ray complete collection –
I will be sitting down and watching several of the adventures, including “Hi Diddle Riddle” itself.

 

A television show that shattered the black and white world of TV and showed the world what "Bat-Color" was,

and then proceeded to have special guest stars every week, from TV personalities to movie stars and even a few musicians, decades ahead of "The Simpsons".

It was the pop culture show of its time, and it will forever be remembered.

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LillianJacks

LillianJacks

That reminds me, what's sad is even behind Batman's corrupt mind is that there is a very good motive behind it all. In popular culture, Batman doesn't touch guns and kill people because he believes once he does it once, he has crossed the line and becomes extremely hard to go back. He has become a criminal himself. In the movie, he willingly crosses the line in the hopes of stopping an apocalyptic future for humanity and planet Earth. He is willing to let go of his principles because he is pushed into doing something extreme in order to save innocent lives. This is a beautiful tragedy. There is also something that is very interesting. Batman says that he is a criminal and that he has always been a criminal. I assume that he has lost it and he failed in his quest for justice. People die, Good men turn bad and there's nothing he can do to stop it. People call this Batman a douchebag while I really feel bad that he gave up. He gave up that men are still good. Not this is the Batman I wanted to see, but it is a great perspective. I also loved that Batman has this arc and realizes he was WRONG. Just a brilliant movie if you look at it from a certain point of view.

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starri

starri

Yvonne Craig was a goddess.  They didn't have a female stunt double, so she did all her own fights and motorcycle-riding.  And a few years later, she got back into the costume to film a PSA on Equal Pay.  Batgirl won't free a tied up Batman until he agrees to pay her the same as Robin.  

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millennium

millennium

On 2/14/2017 at 8:38 PM, starri said:

Yvonne Craig was a goddess.  They didn't have a female stunt double, so she did all her own fights and motorcycle-riding.  And a few years later, she got back into the costume to film a PSA on Equal Pay.  Batgirl won't free a tied up Batman until he agrees to pay her the same as Robin.  

 

Holy time warp!   I remember seeing that when it aired.   Obviously that was Burt Ward as Robin (a bit pudgier).  And William Dozier as the announcer.   Batman looked like Adam West but didn't sound like Adam West.  I wonder if they dubbed over his original lines.

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starri

starri

1 hour ago, millennium said:

Batman looked like Adam West but didn't sound like Adam West.  I wonder if they dubbed over his original lines.

The actor's name is Dick Gautier.  He was a character actor who is probably best known for playing the robot on Get Smart.  West didn't want to be anywhere near Batman at the time, because he felt he'd been horribly typecast.  

He was right about that.  I hope the guy has made his peace with it in his twilight years.

He was willing (or desperate enough) to appear in a two episode fever dream called Legends of the Superheroes, that was half variety show, half live-action Super Friends in 1979.  He still looked respectable in the costume, but Burt Ward had absolutely no business still being in the Robin suit ten years later.

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millennium

millennium

24 minutes ago, starri said:

The actor's name is Dick Gautier.  He was a character actor who is probably best known for playing the robot on Get Smart.  West didn't want to be anywhere near Batman at the time, because he felt he'd been horribly typecast.  

He was right about that.  I hope the guy has made his peace with it in his twilight years.

He was willing (or desperate enough) to appear in a two episode fever dream called Legends of the Superheroes, that was half variety show, half live-action Super Friends in 1979.  He still looked respectable in the costume, but Burt Ward had absolutely no business still being in the Robin suit ten years later.

Hanging my nerd head in shame and admitting that I actually watched the Legends of the Superheroes in 1979.

I remember Gautier more vividly from When Things Were Rotten (not just food but also kings were rotten ..." as the theme song went), the Mel Brooks take on the Robin Hood legend.    Gautier was the kind of 1970s character actor seemingly born for The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

I saw Adam West speak at a sci-fi convention at Copley Plaza in Boston back in the early 80s.   He seemed pretty comfortable with the role and from what I can tell has apparently signed on for every opportunity to capitalize on Batman since then.  I saw some cringeworthy footage of West and Julie Newmar choppering in to a backwoods car show in East Bumfuck U.S.A on youtube.  They were the guest stars, along with the Batmobile.  The host of the event introduced Julie Newmar as "Julie Newland" or something like that.  It was a bit depressing.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

By the mid-70s, West was comfortable enough to provide his voice to the " New Adventures" series, alongside Ward. It's a shame he didn't get more parts,  because he is quite a good actor.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

Not quite Media, but last weeks episode of The Goldbergs focused on the premiere of the 1989 movie, and the grandfather trying to introduce the kids to the TV series in return. A nice look back at both, and the father gets to do a brutal Adam West imitation.

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millennium

millennium

This just came up in my youtube recommendations, no doubt because I watched that PSA the other day.   It's from 2002.   I never heard of it before.   It's pretty bad but if you're a Batfan, it's must-see.   Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin and Lee Meriwether.   I watched the whole thing and finished it with a stupid grin on my face.

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Twilight Man

Twilight Man

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(edited)
On ‎4‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 9:13 PM, starri said:

He was willing (or desperate enough) to appear in a two episode fever dream called Legends of the Superheroes, that was half variety show, half live-action Super Friends in 1979.  He still looked respectable in the costume, but Burt Ward had absolutely no business still being in the Robin suit ten years later.

millennium said:

Quote

Hanging my nerd head in shame and admitting that I actually watched the Legends of the Superheroes in 1979.

Ah yes, "Legends of The Superheroes".

I briefly mentioned this in the Batman thread a long time ago on the former forum that many of us used to frequent (Hello TWOP lurkers!).

A two episode fever dream is correct. Many people still disagree; was it merely two TV specials or a cancelled TV series.

Regardless; Adam West and Burt Ward return headlining a B-list Justice League.

They take on a Legion of Doom where several comedians portray the villains, so naturally, one of the specials (episodes??) was a

rip-off of the Celebrity Roasts that Dean Martin and friends used to have.

The jokes completely fall flat, despite the actual funny comedians that they managed to get like:

Jeff Altman (a funny comedian who tried desperately to get that turkey called "Pink Lady and Jeff" to fly),

Charlie Callas (who quite often appeared on said aforementioned roasts),

Howard Morris (Ernest T Bass from Mayberry),

and Ruth Buzzi (who also appeared on the roasts still doing her dowdy spinster routine).

A couple of years back, they actually put this trainwreck out on DVD.

Words really fail me.

Edited by Twilight Man
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starri

starri

5 minutes ago, Twilight Man said:

The jokes completely fall flat, despite the actual funny comedians that they managed to get like:

And Frank Gorshin, returning as the Riddler.  Whatever they paid him, it wasn't nearly enough.

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