Beware The Spaceman

Tag: Retro TV

  • Batman 1966 The Penguin

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours


    Hizzonner the Penguin / Dizzoner the Penguin

    We have a slight change here. Penguin is the first on this list where I’ve chosen episodes that are not the villain’s debut. These ones come from season 2.

    Yes, season 2 — where the phrase “If you’ve seen one episode of Batman, you’ve seen them all” really comes into play.

    Being quite into my old TV (as you can probably tell), I’d love to defend season 2. But even I must concede we get formulaic here. We also get some different villain choices. Some are great, and some are clearly stand‑ins (sorry, Puzzler).

    Many of these villains have since disappeared: foes like False Face, Colonel Gumm, The Archer, The Sandman, and Chandell.

    Some of the new characters I liked, though. I remember enjoying Ma Parker’s story, and I thought The Bookworm made a decent villain too.

    I digress — our main villains return here, apart from the Frank Gorshin Riddler. Riddler is recast as John Astin (known for playing Gomez Addams). Good as Astin is, the role doesn’t quite gel with him.

    By this point in the series, we’ve seen Burgess Meredith play the Penguin before. The twist this time is that Penguin stops a robbery in the introduction. Naturally, it’s all part of a scheme. Penguin has aspirations of becoming the Mayor of Gotham City.

    If that plot sounds familiar, it should. The 1992 Batman Returns film pays homage to the series by using this storyline. Reportedly, Burton wanted Meredith to return to the franchise to play Penguin’s father. By then, Meredith had to pull out due to ill health — a real shame, because I would have loved that callback. We did get the role filled by Paul Reubens, though (someone who will no doubt appear here in a reaction in the future).

    As with the other villains, the broad strokes of what we recognise as the Penguin are all here: the crooked businessman. Later adaptations (after Returns) would tone down the gimmicked umbrellas. Returns redesigned the character, but the waddle, nose, and love of those gimmick umbrellas were all in Meredith’s Penguin — all of it dating back to the comic itself (around 1941).

    This series was not only closer to the comic than a lot would like to admit — it was a vital building block in the making of the Dark Knight as he is today.

  • Batman 1966 The Catwoman

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours


    The Purr‑fect Crime / Better Luck Next Time

    We’re picking an episode here from later in series one. Episodes 19 and 20 introduce us to the iconic villain Catwoman, played here purr‑fectly by Julie Newmar.

    Considering how iconic Catwoman would become as a character, it’s a tad surprising she appears so late in the season. She doesn’t actually have the honour of being the first female villain in the series — that goes to Zelda the Great. That episode was an adaptation of Detective Comics #346, Batman’s Inescapable Death Trap. A gentle reminder that Batman ’66 is truer to its comic roots than people give it credit for.

    Much as we saw with the Riddler in the opener, most of what we know as Catwoman is already here. The look Newmar uses would be replicated in the comics, and later paid heavy homage in The Dark Knight Rises. It’s far from the only time we see Batman ’66 leave fingerprints on the more modern Dark Knight incarnation. Even the catsuit itself originated here.

    There are a lot more cat puns in these episodes — most of which went over my head as a child. There’s a line from Catwoman to her henchman… I’m not going to spoil it, but take a look at the episode. It’s another one of those two‑level jokes that fly past kids but raise a smile with adults.

    This story also breaks with the traditional Batman ’66 narrative. It has a cliffhanger fake‑out — the wall with spikes. It’s not the first episode to do this; another tier‑A villain we’ll look at later uses a similar pattern.

    Have I convinced you of this series’ legacy yet? What if I told you that the next story featured was originally written for the ’66 TV series, then adapted in 1992 as part of the Batman movie often voted the best of the entire franchise.

  • Batman 1966 The Riddler

    Retro Reaction in ZX Spectrum colours


    High Diddle Riddle / Smack in the Middle

    In the early 1990s, Batmania swept the country. I was desperate to see the Keaton film. But I had one issue: the BBFC had classified it a 15. You could argue kids today see much worse on YouTube, but it turned out the Batman 89 was simply too dark for me… just yet.

    But that was okay. Because we had Batman most mornings. I’ve looked at old listings and I still can’t remember if it was ITV, Channel 4, or satellite channel Trouble TV. More likely a mix of these (and usually the same episodes repeated). We had Batman 1966. It brought the heroes and villains to life in half‑hour episodes, and it was brilliant.

    Batman starts with a couple of episodes that tell you everything you need to know about the series. If you enjoy the opening hour, you’ll enjoy the whole thing. This is the episode where Batman walks into a bar in full costume. Offered a seat, he deadpans: “I’ll stand at the bar — I shouldn’t wish to attract attention.” The line is deadpan, it’s played straight, and somehow that makes it even funnier. This is also the episode where Batman gets spiked in the bar, dances the Batusi, and has his keys taken off him by Gotham’s finest while drunkenly shouting, “I have to save Robin!”

    As a kid, you only see the action adventure played out in front of you. As an adult, you see the humour.

    The villain for these two episodes is the Riddler. This is before Paul Dano and Jim Carrey. This was Frank Gorshin’s Riddler — and if ever there was a poster villain for this series, Gorshin’s version was it. His performance even earned him an Emmy nomination.

    Here he tries to frame the Dynamic Duo, drugs Batman, kidnaps Robin, and disguises his henchwoman Molly as the Boy Wonder. It’s far from the darker tone we know Batman for, but the story elements are there. There’s even a mention of Bruce Wayne’s parents’ murder — dropped casually into one of Bruce’s early scenes. And this is also the only episode with a body count: Molly falls into the atomic pile inside the Batcave (she got in using that disguise we mentioned earlier).

    It’s not the Dark Knight. But does it represent those more light‑hearted Batman stories of the ’50s and ’60s? Absolutely.

  • Why Doesn’t Batman Dance Any More?

    To long‑term readers, it should come as no surprise that my favourite Batman would appear here on Retro Reaction eventually. I am unapologetic in my love for this series. It still tickles me today. This show works on more than one level, decades before The Simpsons nailed that. There are jokes in there that went completely over my head as a kid.

    I’m talking about the Adam West version of Batman from 1966. The version that, for most of us older guys, introduced us not only to the Batman character but to so many of the colourful villains who would go on to become pop‑culture icons. Years before Heath Ledger won an Oscar for his take on the clown prince of crime, Cesar Romero was stealing the show on weekly TV.

    In the years after Batman ‘66, many Bat‑fans grew to hate the series. It was too “campy” and too “colourful.” It didn’t treat the character seriously enough. Some fans even blame the show for the lack of Batman content between the series ending and the ’89 movie (which was great for different reasons).

    In the next few blogs, I’m going to defend Batman. We’re going to look at some of the villains’ best stories and how, despite popular opinion, the series was a whole lot closer to the comic book than many fans would have you believe.

    The series has had its redemption. With the show finally getting a DVD release in 2014 after being tied up with rights issues, and Adam West reprising his role in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders in 2016 and Batman vs. Two‑Face in 2017.

    These episodes are available now in HMV. I’m going to make the case that, as a Batman fan, they’re worth dusting off the DVD player for. Of course, there are going to be heavy parts of personal nostalgia here too.

    Have you got your utility belts ready? Have you packed the shark‑repellent bat‑spray? Then: atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed. It’s time to defend a legend.