Batman’s become way more modern and hip since the 60’s, but many of us geeks remember the original television show quite fondly and even watch it from time to time.
Recently Comic Con did a reunion of the show with Adam West, Burt Ward and Julie Newmar, and I realized doing just one fun look back at Batman just wasn’t enough.
So here’s another round up of Batman TV show fun, same Bat-time, same Bat-website…
As previously mentioned on TG Daily, being a guest villain on Batman was the ’60’s equivalent of being a guest voice on The Simpsons.
Well known actors that played Batman villains included Zsa Zsa Gabor, Liberace (Chandell), The Day the Earth Stood Still’s Michael Rennie (The Sandman), Milton Berle (Louie the Lilac), director Otto Preminger (Mr. Freeze), Vincent Price (Egghead), along with the usual stable of Burgess Meredith as the Penquin, Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Caesar Romero as The Joker, etc.
There were also 14 “window cameos,” where famous people would open their windows as the dynamic duo were climbing up a wall including Jerry Lewis, Dick Clark, The Green Hornet and Kato (aka Van Williams and Bruce Lee), Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Dana (Jose Jimenez), Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes, Lurch from the Addams Family, Don Ho, Santa Claus, and more.
So the TV show isn’t officially available on DVD or Blu-Ray yet, (although you can get the 1966 feature film with Adam West and the gang), where do you go to find some good Robin “Holy!” lines, or Riddler riddles from the good old days? Holy YouTube Batman!
There’s of course several Robin “Holy!” compilations, and some of my favorites include, “Holy slipped disc!,” “Holy sudden incapacitation!,” “Holy fourth amendment!,” “Holy non sequitors!,” and “Holy razor’s edge, was that a close shave!”
As for the Riddler riddles, this one was pretty funny:
“When is a new car considered to be seedy?”
“Holy kindergarden! That’s almost too easy. A new car’s seedy when it’s a lemon!”
As for where the “Holys” came from, Batman writer Lorenzo Semple Jr. says it was based on the Tom Swift books, where the character Mr. Damon would say things like, “Bless my fire escape.” Semple also got a riddle book, and had much more fun with the really stupid ones.
As for the aforementioned Green Hornet, it was practically the same show as Batman because it had the same producer (William Dozier, who also did the show narrations: “Same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!), and Semple also wrote for it as well. It only lasted one season, “but it did discover Bruce Lee,” Semple says.
