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Stick around. @Franko's Thoughts On are always good. He even made Mr. Belvedere interesting and I fucking hated that show. Sometimes it's even more fun when @Franko hates a show, like Banacek, but usually it's done with love.
Me
Thanks so much! I was especially proud of those two shows, since I was coming in with absolutely no preconceived notions.
And man, did I want to punch George Peppard's corpse by the end of Banacek.
The marquee star is Carolyn Jones as Marsha, in a role originally intended for Zsa Zsa Gabor. I mention that up front because it's quite apparent that they only went so far in reshaping the script for Jones (those damn "Darling"s!). Some Morticia creeps into Marsha as well, largely in her interactions with Aunt Hilda, a frustrated witch (Estelle Winwood, who also made the rounds on Bewitched). The result: a character who comes off more as the fusion of types than an actual three-dimensional villain. Jones tries, and she's fun in fits and starts, but this episode's just okay.
On the plus side, we get another adorable-as-hell moment for Alan Napier and Madge Blake as Alfred and Harriet crash Batman's wedding to Marsha (she was blackmailing him). Alfred used the Batprinter, which no doubt got sold to Jim Rockford, to create the identity of a solicitor and his client, Batman's first wife! Marsha: "Why, you two-timing Batfink!"
Speaking of Alfred, we get a tease when Gordon & O'Hara recognize him as the Wayne butler, and come thisclose to realizing they've heard his voice on the red phone. Luckily, they're more concerned with coming up with cover stories for their wives. I mean, really, would your wife approve of your being kept in the cage of a notorious love goddess?
And on that note, "Don't try and fight it, darling. Relax and worship me. ... Worship me, I said! On your knees!" In retrospect, I must have committed this installment to memory as an impressionable tot. Note the somewhat tacky joke about one admirer trying to prove his love with a suicide attempt -- placing himself in a dryer and attempting death by tumbling.
Neil Hamilton pulls out some acting chops for his growl on "Never, O'Hara, she's mine!" It's unexpected and really, really funny.
Just who are all these people at Batman and Marsha's wedding ceremony? Friends? People off the street?
Funniest Moment: Batman resisting the love spell. God bless Adam West! The scene's both hilarious and in-character. Runner-up, Aunt Hilda taking a bubble bath in her cauldron. Let's only mention it once, everyone thinking B&R have been turned into toads.
Marsha: "(to a jeweler studying her body) No guided tours today, darling."
"The Cat's Meow"/"The Bat's Kow Tow"
This is another of those installments I must have internalized/committed to memory, and it's all thanks to Julie Newmar's delightful performance. She's turned up the camp about four notches, but manages not to wilt under it. And Stanley Ralph Ross is more than aware of her chemistry with Adam West, filling both episodes with banter alternating between risque and tender. My goodness, Catwoman intends to turn Batman into a Sex Idiot (by destroying his mind through the Chinese water torture)! And I got a kick out of her disguise as dance instructor Miss Klutz (which Julie said was a one-take scene, like most on Batman).
Funniest Moment: Batman resisting the love spell. God bless Adam West! The scene's both hilarious and in-character. Runner-up, Aunt Hilda taking a bubble bath in her cauldron. Let's only mention it once, everyone thinking B&R have been turned into toads.
Marsha: "(to a jeweler studying her body) No guided tours today, darling."
"The Cat's Meow"/"The Bat's Kow Tow"
This is another of those installments I must have internalized/committed to memory, and it's all thanks to Julie Newmar's delightful performance. She's turned up the camp about four notches, but manages not to wilt under it. And Stanley Ralph Ross is more than aware of her chemistry with Adam West, filling both episodes with banter alternating between risque and tender. My goodness, Catwoman intends to turn Batman into a Sex Idiot (by destroying his mind through the Chinese water torture)! And I got a kick out of her disguise as dance instructor Miss Klutz (which Julie said was a one-take scene, like most on Batman).
Seriously, it's astounding how much I enjoyed these episodes, even if the plot and dialogue are downright silly. Catwoman's able to steal voices with a device that stretches the vocal cords, and she's going after Chad & Jeremy, as they pay so much taxes, the British pound would be ruined without that cash flow. And if her ransom (eight million pounds/22 million dollars) isn't met, she's going to go after Gotham City, and eventually the world, more or less destroying the communications industry (ah, those decades before e-mail).
And as for silly dialogue:
The stage manager throwing to the midday movie, The Big Green Thing That Devoured Pittsburgh.
"Isn't it simply too delicious for words?"
Catwoman admitting she gets off hearing Batman's baritone as he tells her she's under arrest.
"That age, all they're interested in is baseball." -- Catwoman, rejecting pairing Robin with Eeenie.
Batman trying to calm a crowd: "Citizens ... citizens ... kids ..."
Straight-faced quoting "England Swings" and "Why Can't The English".
These shouldn't bug me as much as they do, but what is a city like Gotham (established as east of the Mississippi) doing with a TV station known as "KGC"? I don't know when the rules were placed, but it's WABC, etc. for stations in the eastern zones, and KABC, etc. for the west. See also, the establishing shot of Gotham City Town Hall clearly being the Plaza Hotel.
Another point for Catwoman, who was clever enough to burn the utility belts.
Fanservice Junction: Sharyn Wynters as Eenie, of Catwoman's Kittens. She's a perfectly attractive woman, but Catwoman makes it abundantly clear that she's top dog. Worth it to see the sass between both women.
I'm spoiled, since I watched their Dick Van Dyke appearance, but I had to laugh at the "shocker" of Chad & Jeremy being two well-adjusted boys next door, who actually prefer studying (in unison: "Don't be a dropout.") and plan to continue their medical and legal careers once the fame runs out. Oh well, they won over Aunt Harriet, and Commissioner Gordon, whose grandkids urged him to see the duo. "They're a bit on the groovy side, wouldn't you say?" C&J performed "Distant Shores" and "Teenage Failure".
Citizen at the Window: It's Don Ho, as an electric organ rendition of "Tiny Bubbles" plays. He's in Gotham to regain some land, and Batman admits they could stay and talk to him forever.
As if Chad & Jeremy weren't enough, we have Joe Flynn (McHale's Navy) as dance studio instructor Benton Belgoody, Steve Allen as Allan Stevens (as his show's held hostage, he tries to do a commercial: "And now back to you, Catwoman.") and Jay Sebring as stylist to the stars Mr. Oceanbring.
Jay S.
Yeah, Chad & Jeremy being regarded in any way as "bad boys" is hilarious, especially compared to punk-ish sitcom veterans such as The Standells (The Bing Crosby Show, The Munsters) or The Seeds (The Mothers-in-Law).
Me
I just had to laugh at the idea of the British pound and the entire international monetary system falling thanks to C&J's loss of income. Somewhere, Petula Clark, Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews and The Beatles were laughing.
And as for silly dialogue:
The stage manager throwing to the midday movie, The Big Green Thing That Devoured Pittsburgh.
"Isn't it simply too delicious for words?"
Catwoman admitting she gets off hearing Batman's baritone as he tells her she's under arrest.
"That age, all they're interested in is baseball." -- Catwoman, rejecting pairing Robin with Eeenie.
Batman trying to calm a crowd: "Citizens ... citizens ... kids ..."
Straight-faced quoting "England Swings" and "Why Can't The English".
These shouldn't bug me as much as they do, but what is a city like Gotham (established as east of the Mississippi) doing with a TV station known as "KGC"? I don't know when the rules were placed, but it's WABC, etc. for stations in the eastern zones, and KABC, etc. for the west. See also, the establishing shot of Gotham City Town Hall clearly being the Plaza Hotel.
Another point for Catwoman, who was clever enough to burn the utility belts.
Fanservice Junction: Sharyn Wynters as Eenie, of Catwoman's Kittens. She's a perfectly attractive woman, but Catwoman makes it abundantly clear that she's top dog. Worth it to see the sass between both women.
I'm spoiled, since I watched their Dick Van Dyke appearance, but I had to laugh at the "shocker" of Chad & Jeremy being two well-adjusted boys next door, who actually prefer studying (in unison: "Don't be a dropout.") and plan to continue their medical and legal careers once the fame runs out. Oh well, they won over Aunt Harriet, and Commissioner Gordon, whose grandkids urged him to see the duo. "They're a bit on the groovy side, wouldn't you say?" C&J performed "Distant Shores" and "Teenage Failure".
Citizen at the Window: It's Don Ho, as an electric organ rendition of "Tiny Bubbles" plays. He's in Gotham to regain some land, and Batman admits they could stay and talk to him forever.
As if Chad & Jeremy weren't enough, we have Joe Flynn (McHale's Navy) as dance studio instructor Benton Belgoody, Steve Allen as Allan Stevens (as his show's held hostage, he tries to do a commercial: "And now back to you, Catwoman.") and Jay Sebring as stylist to the stars Mr. Oceanbring.
Jay S.
Yeah, Chad & Jeremy being regarded in any way as "bad boys" is hilarious, especially compared to punk-ish sitcom veterans such as The Standells (The Bing Crosby Show, The Munsters) or The Seeds (The Mothers-in-Law).
Me
I just had to laugh at the idea of the British pound and the entire international monetary system falling thanks to C&J's loss of income. Somewhere, Petula Clark, Peter Sellers, Julie Andrews and The Beatles were laughing.
This wouldn’t have made a bad final episode for Julie Newmar, as she and Adam West get their meatiest scenes to date. Catwoman relies on drugs to turn Robin & Batman into amoral criminals. Later, it turns out Batman was faking. After a rooftop chase, she faces a 100 foot fall into the West River. Slightly surprisingly, Catwoman takes the opportunity to propose. But what to do about Robin? “Oh, I’ve got it. We’ll kill him.”
See also, this exchange, when Batman and Catwoman are outside the Gotham mint in the wee small hours: “I’m cold.” “Here, you want my cape around you?” “I’d prefer your arms around me.” *Henchman enters* “We’re ready when you are, Catwoman.” “Your timing is incredible!” Or their being alone together in the Batcave. “You and me, and our own private paradise. *extreme close-ups of West and Newmar* “Isn’t there something that you’d like to do, now that we’re alone, mask to mask?” You know, forget that I ever suggested Poison Ivy (as played by Ann-Margret). Can I have a cigarette?
As if all this wasn’t enough, we have Lesley Gore as Pussycat, the rock and roller turned criminal. In real life, Gore was the niece of producer Howie Horwitz. She gets to perform two songs, although IFC edits out “Maybe Now” from “Scat!” “California Nights” is a decent song, though not as memorable as, say, “She’s a Fool”. Anyway, Pussycat, a veteran of the Milkshake-a-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip, puts the moves on Robin, then demurs after his personality change.
The new, doped-up Robin not only back talks and shoves O’Hara, but manhandles Batman, which he calls a groovy experience. And if that weren’t enough, “Darn” concludes with Batman getting cattle-prodded, and threatened with bisection!
Okay, points for Gordon & O’Hara trying to finally trace the Batphone, even if Batman prevents that. Major league demerits for thinking inventor Pat Pending (J. Pat O’Malley) and his valet, Rudy (Steve Franken), have been B&R all along.
Besides the West River, we have continued references to Mayor Linseed and Governor Stonefellow (who, along with LBJ, call Gordon, concerned over Batman’s turn to the dark side), and a conclusion set in the neighboring state of New Guernsey.
We learn that Catwoman has been in jail 12 times before. Makes you wonder how often Joker, Penguin and Ridder have been.
This was another Stanley Ralph Ross script, and he used it for some censor-baiting (the sexual tension between the couples, “Sheik Ibn Kereb”, which is Arabic for “son of a bitch”) and revenge on Burt Ward (who had complained about the absurd dialogue; Robin has significantly less lines in this installment).
"Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend"/"Penguin Sets a Trend"/"Penguin's Dangerous End"
And along with Penguin, we have a second guest star, Carolyn Jones, making her final appearance as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds. She and Penguin team up, ostensibly to make a big-budget epic largely set in ancient Rome (in-joke about Fox's Cleopatra?), but really to create a solid gold tank.
I don't know about you all, but I think it would have been bold if Chief O'Hara's attempted blocking of the tank's path had resulted in his death. Naturally, he was able to escape getting crushed like a pancake thanks to a convenient (square-shaped) manhole.
Back to the moviemaking sequences: it's fun to see Batman try to sell Penguin on the idea that he really wants to act (complete with silent film-style pathos music). Although I can't help wishing Preminger's Mr. Freeze had been involved with this somehow. It might have given some extra kick or resonance to the plot twist of Aunt Harriet and her League of Decency band protesting the scene where Marsha takes a milk bath. Harriet asks if Penguin's thought of the children. He says he has, why, that milk's bursting with vitamin's and minerals! Harriet: "That milk's bursting with other things!"
Along with Jones, Estelle Winwood is back as Aunt Hilda, and this time, she's got a pet monster, Mortimer. You see, it's cutesy junk like that which makes this installment only half-work for me. On the other hand, I did smile at the cheesy fun of Batman & Robin flying through the Gotham atmosphere (they were catapulted by Penguin) and landing perfectly in the radio-controlled Batmobile. The Batmobile, like its owners, is honorable, stopping for children who drifted into the street.
Fanservice Junction: Marsha doing the dance of the seven veils to distract the guards. Carolyn Jones makes up for two episodes of shitty fashion (that "toad-catching" ensemble!) with this sequence.
Hey, It's 1967!: Robin insists that Batman's such a good actor, he could run for senator, or even governor.
Twink Wonder: My, doesn't Dick seem eager and insistent that after a day of kissing Marsha, Bruce will never want to kiss another woman again?
Castmember Connections: This is the first of two installments in a row featuring an Addams Family castmember (the next was John Astin's one-and-done as the Riddler). Bob Hastings, who played Major Beasley, and appeared in numerous '60s sitcoms, went on to voice Commissioner Gordon in TAS and beyond.
Jay S.
Fun fact: Bob Hastings was a huge hit as one of the actors they used to pay to hang around and talk to tourists on the Universal lot.
Me
And along with Penguin, we have a second guest star, Carolyn Jones, making her final appearance as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds. She and Penguin team up, ostensibly to make a big-budget epic largely set in ancient Rome (in-joke about Fox's Cleopatra?), but really to create a solid gold tank.
I don't know about you all, but I think it would have been bold if Chief O'Hara's attempted blocking of the tank's path had resulted in his death. Naturally, he was able to escape getting crushed like a pancake thanks to a convenient (square-shaped) manhole.
Back to the moviemaking sequences: it's fun to see Batman try to sell Penguin on the idea that he really wants to act (complete with silent film-style pathos music). Although I can't help wishing Preminger's Mr. Freeze had been involved with this somehow. It might have given some extra kick or resonance to the plot twist of Aunt Harriet and her League of Decency band protesting the scene where Marsha takes a milk bath. Harriet asks if Penguin's thought of the children. He says he has, why, that milk's bursting with vitamin's and minerals! Harriet: "That milk's bursting with other things!"
Along with Jones, Estelle Winwood is back as Aunt Hilda, and this time, she's got a pet monster, Mortimer. You see, it's cutesy junk like that which makes this installment only half-work for me. On the other hand, I did smile at the cheesy fun of Batman & Robin flying through the Gotham atmosphere (they were catapulted by Penguin) and landing perfectly in the radio-controlled Batmobile. The Batmobile, like its owners, is honorable, stopping for children who drifted into the street.
Fanservice Junction: Marsha doing the dance of the seven veils to distract the guards. Carolyn Jones makes up for two episodes of shitty fashion (that "toad-catching" ensemble!) with this sequence.
Hey, It's 1967!: Robin insists that Batman's such a good actor, he could run for senator, or even governor.
Twink Wonder: My, doesn't Dick seem eager and insistent that after a day of kissing Marsha, Bruce will never want to kiss another woman again?
Castmember Connections: This is the first of two installments in a row featuring an Addams Family castmember (the next was John Astin's one-and-done as the Riddler). Bob Hastings, who played Major Beasley, and appeared in numerous '60s sitcoms, went on to voice Commissioner Gordon in TAS and beyond.
Jay S.
Fun fact: Bob Hastings was a huge hit as one of the actors they used to pay to hang around and talk to tourists on the Universal lot.
Me
I can see that. Hastings seemed like a pretty fun-loving guy. I think I mentioned this, but when his General Hospital character was revealed to be a dirty cop, he received tons of disappointed letters.
Alan Napier wins the crown for this installment. When last we left Alfred, he helped Gordon & O'Hara realize that couldn't have been B&R robbing the bank, as the real Batman was sending out a distress signal from another location. In this one, his paintings are not only used to foil Joker, but he also gets to fence with the crown prince of crime, and torture him with use of the emergency Batpole elevator!
Speaking of which, Robin refers to how lucky they are that it was laundry day, and Joker didn't end up in a Batman costume. I'm obsessed with figuring out how the changing mechanism works. Okay, Bruce & Dick slide down the poles, and maybe jump off onto a landing with a rack of costumes? Because the other alternative is that their clothes get taken off as they're sliding, and I can't see how that'd work without ripping and tearing. Unless they're not sliding down the pole that fast, or could stop themselves in midair. And really, would it make much sense for Bruce & Dick to keep burning through their wardrobe, or Alfred having to mend everything?
I didn't care for the contest scene, where Joker takes on some of the finest artists (Jackson Potluck, Vincent Van Gauche) in creating Pop pieces. It's pretty much filler as we watch paint get thrown around. Joker wins, with his invisible portrait of Batman being tortured. Speaking of paint being thrown, Batpoles agrees with me that the infamous "Partyman" scene from Burton's Batman must be an homage to this installment's opener, where Joker attacks parodies of "American Gothic" and "Whistler's Mother".
Interestingly enough, Joker is mentioned as being from Gotham, and he gets a healthy amount of applause upon entering the art contest. Again, I have to wonder just how much notoriety these criminals have in Gotham. Does the man on the street read the paper and think, "Oh, that Joker ...!" Not a bad idea for Gotham, giving at least some of these criminals a small but devoted following on social media. Maybe? Anyone?
The cliffhanger is so-so -- Robin's to be cut to pieces by a knife-mobile that descends from the ceiling -- but I love that stark set he's on. Batman could do minimalist art direction pretty well when it wanted to.
(Little did I know that by Season Three, that was the only kind of art direction happening.)
Seriously, Gordon & O'Hara are sick puppies. Joker calls the police station to gloat about stealing from an art museum, unaware that Batman's calling from an early cell phone and is in the room with him. The resulting fight is hear by Gordon & O'Hara, who listen to it with a mix of pride, fascination and maybe a little arousal.
Fanservice Junction: Diana Ivarson as Baby Jane Towser, the heiress to a paperclip fortune. She's so happy to have an artist of her own to play with that she's willing to blackmail her fellow kidnap victims with social exile if they press charges against Joker. Bruce, although more socially secure than her, plays along. Also, I adore Baby Jane's grey suit in her breakfast scene: http://www.littlestuffedbul...
That's character actor Fritz Feld as Oliver Muzzy, who briefly enters a partnership with Joker. Note Feld's trademark, making a popping sound with his mouth.
Simon DelMonte
Baby Jane Towser is a spoof of Baby Jane Holzer, one of Andy Warhol's cast of actors.
And I agree about that Burton must have been referencing this episode, especially since the plot in Batman Returns is lifted from Batman '66 as well. It's funny that no matter how much we want to call the Burton films an "antidote" to the goofiness of this show, Burton was clearly tuned into them as much as he was The Dark Knight Returns and The Man Who Laughs.
Me
Excellent. I didn't know that about Holzer. What's cool is pretty much the entire Penguin plot in Returns comes from this show. Besides the mayor aspect, there's also the beauty queen in peril and smear campaign, which came from Otto Preminger's Mr. Freeze episodes.
Seriously, Gordon & O'Hara are sick puppies. Joker calls the police station to gloat about stealing from an art museum, unaware that Batman's calling from an early cell phone and is in the room with him. The resulting fight is hear by Gordon & O'Hara, who listen to it with a mix of pride, fascination and maybe a little arousal.
Fanservice Junction: Diana Ivarson as Baby Jane Towser, the heiress to a paperclip fortune. She's so happy to have an artist of her own to play with that she's willing to blackmail her fellow kidnap victims with social exile if they press charges against Joker. Bruce, although more socially secure than her, plays along. Also, I adore Baby Jane's grey suit in her breakfast scene: http://www.littlestuffedbul...
That's character actor Fritz Feld as Oliver Muzzy, who briefly enters a partnership with Joker. Note Feld's trademark, making a popping sound with his mouth.
Simon DelMonte
Baby Jane Towser is a spoof of Baby Jane Holzer, one of Andy Warhol's cast of actors.
And I agree about that Burton must have been referencing this episode, especially since the plot in Batman Returns is lifted from Batman '66 as well. It's funny that no matter how much we want to call the Burton films an "antidote" to the goofiness of this show, Burton was clearly tuned into them as much as he was The Dark Knight Returns and The Man Who Laughs.
Me
Excellent. I didn't know that about Holzer. What's cool is pretty much the entire Penguin plot in Returns comes from this show. Besides the mayor aspect, there's also the beauty queen in peril and smear campaign, which came from Otto Preminger's Mr. Freeze episodes.
"The Ogg and I"/"How to Hatch a Dinosaur"
Vincent Price and Anne Baxter are back, and this time she's playing Olga, Queen of the Cossacks. Unfortunately, the writing has declined sharply since either actor's last appearance, and we wind up with a truly embarrassing finale of Egghead, Olga and their Cossacks fleeing in terror from a finally-hatched and full-grown Neosaurus (actually Batman in a rubber suit). This installment was intended as a three-parter, with "Dinosaur" at the very end, but ultimately, "The Ogg Couple" was extracted and aired out of sequence.
I'm not blowing the lid off anything new, but Batman really lost so much of its identity when the cliffhangers were dropped (in Season Three). I mean, the novelty of "Hey, they're not in peril!" has worn off, and the episode endings have gotten downright rotten. "Ogg and I" ends with Egghead throwing tear gas eggs at the Dynamic Trio, resulting in West, Ward and Craig instantly going into a crying jag. Think how much funnier it'd have been with some buildup, like when B&R faced the laughing eggs in Egghead's last appearance.
Oh well, Anne Baxter gets to look fabulous as Olga, whose wardrobe she compared to a child playing dress up. Apparently, Baxter was insistent on wearing the most over-the-top red wig imaginable. It paid off. Price & Baxter are memorable villains in search of a better story.
Who knew? Commissioner Gordon was kidnapped (and carried away by hot air balloon) because he's worth a lot of ransom money. I guess most of Gotham's 1 percent did flee the city. Also of note, Gordon is rescued by Alfred, who he's confused to see out and about, at a criminal's lair.
Ha-Ha, Alan Hale Jr. shows up as Gilligan, the cook at O'Hara's favorite greasy spoon. Egghead forces O'Hara to eat a dozen scrambled eggs, and pay him $1.20. Runner-up (although the music's too much), Alfred relaying information to Batman and Batgirl on separate phones.
Fanservice Junction: The female scientist at the Gotham Radium Center, who's giving Joan Collins a run for her money in the short skirt department.
What's with Adam West's pose in "Dinosaur"'s scene at Gordon's office? His arms are crossed and resting on his chest, like he's gonna do sit ups.
"That was a slimy trick, you rotten egg."
The Ogg Couple
I actually enjoyed a lot of this episode. Anne Baxter really rose to the occasion, getting the best lines, like when Olga and the bank manager attempt to one-up each other with how clever they are, or her and Egghead's sexy banter. You can see why he'd want to marry her.
I'm not kidding about the dialogue:
"You are head man here?" "Yes, and you might as well turn right around and go back where you came from. There's no money in that vault." "But, we'll make look see anyway, no?" "Ha! Go ahead. We shipped all of our money upstate." "Ha-ha. Perhaps we're not coming for money." "Ha-ha-ha! There's nothing else in there." "Ha-ha-ha-ha. Perhaps you are forgetting the caviar?" "(gasp) Good heavens, the caviar." "Old Cossack saying. Do not make ha before eggs are safe, huh?"
I really friggin' love Anne Baxter.
Or how about: "(Egghead kisses her leg) ... You lovely evil woman. Not a drop of mercy." "(indecipherable), you are heartless, hairless man, I'm liking you more and more." "(as she's rubbing his head) Oh, and I you, Olga, I you! (he kisses her hands) Our meeting was destiny."
Musical Moment: Batgirl is forced to do the sabre dance with the Cossacks.
Today in Sexism: Okay, this one's just wishy-washy. After rescuing Batgirl from nearly drowning in the vat of caviar, which gives Olga, Egghead and the Cossacks time to escape, Batman comments that perhaps crime fighting is meant for men, but perhaps not. And, after all, Batgirl is no ordinary woman.
Oh, and they all get nabbed by O'Hara and company, who were right outside the lair. This is mentioned, but not seen, because "Ogg Couple" was supposed to be part two of the Egghead and Olga story, airing between "Ogg and I" and "Dinosaur". The opening scene tries to lampshade this, with Barbara's surprise over how quickly O&E are back on the streets.
“Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires”
Fanservice Junction: Atlas, Adonis, Apollo and the two random dudes, all henchmen of Minerva (Zsa Zsa Gabor) and all hunky as hell. We also get a little West chest when Bruce enjoys a rubdown by Adonis (William Smith). For everyone else, there’s Aphrodite (Yvonne Arnett), but she doesn’t get much to do.
William Dozier and Howie Horwitz cameo in this episode as two victims of Minerva’s eggplant jelly scalp massages/deepest secret extraction. I have to say, it’s a little surprising that two millionaires’ deepest secrets are where they hide their loot, and it’s certainly odd that more wasn’t made about Bruce possibly revealing his identity. Points, however, for West’s “I just shit myself” face once Bruce is under the extractor’s spell. And, ha-ha to Horwitz saying he became a successful TV producer because he never hired Method actors or paid attention to network notes.
After two years of trying, Zsa Zsa Gabor finally makes her Batman debut. She’s not awful here, but, well, sexy Batman villains have been done better (Julie Newmar, most of the molls). Ditto campy (Tallulah Bankhead, Anne Baxter, Carolyn Jones). Oh well, at least she looks like she’s having fun flirting with Bruce. He: “I feel like a new man.” “I feel like a new man, too, darling.” One can only imagine what Mae West (first choice for Minerva) would have done with this character.
Written by Charles Hoffman. I’ll give him credit for the subtle gag of O’Hara pacing Gordon’s office with a cane after a visit to Minerva’s. And it’s fun to hear Batgirl mock Minerva during one of her heart to hearts with Alfred.
According to Batpoles, by the time production on this episode started, everyone was quite positive the show would be cancelled. And frankly, West was ready for it to end, having grown tired of the pathetic writing and budget.
I had initially imagined what a season on NBC would have looked like, but it wouldn’t have made a difference if Twentieth Century Fox just wouldn’t pony up more money. I place most of the blame for Batman’s decline on the studio, although ABC’s overreaction to the ratings dip in the spring of ’67 didn’t help matters (it’s not like most of their programs were setting the world on fire).
Not much to say for Final Thoughts, except Batman was the victim of one of the most senseless cases of studio malpractice I have ever seen on a program, West & Ward ended up being two of TV’s best straight men, when the villains were great, they were great and I would kill to know just whose baby Batgirl was.
For the record, here's what I came up with for '68-'69, which would have reinstated cliffhangers:
Sonny & Cher as Connie & Snide
Mayor Baley (didn't have an actor in mind), who's corrupt, vs. the hippies
Ann-Margret as Poison Ivy
Bookworm writing Gotham's most popular soap opera and brainwashing viewers
Clint Eastwood as Two-Face, taking on a beautification league
Patty Duke as Baby Doll
Gorshin, Newmar, Romero and Meredith returning for at least one installment each
One more installment each for Mr. Freeze and King Tut
A tie-in installment with either Laugh-In, Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie or Star Trek
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