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Being just eight when this show debuted, it was my first exposure to the character of Batman, and I was quite surprised, years later, when I found out Batman had been penned in the comics as "The Dark Knight". There is absolutely nothing dark about Adam West's rendition of the character.
In this age of infomercials and reality TV, reruns have become a thing of the past, but I've really been enjoying revisiting the show via the newly released DVDs of this short-lived sensation. Looking back on this show nearly 50 years later, I just don't know how the players kept a straight face with their intentionally cheesy lines. Neil Hamilton, a film actor of some prominence from the silent era through the 1930's, is just great as the stone-faced Commissioner Gordon. I didn't even know his place in film history until years later when I got into classic films.
And as for Adam West, I've always admired his great positive attitude about his short lived fame. Through the years he's often parodied his role in commercials and you could tell he was really enjoying himself and poking fun at the character he once played. The DVDs have a long interview with Adam West and he really is a great guy. Now in his 80's, West just said he felt very fortunate to have had work as an actor throughout his career, to have good friends and a great family, and to have been part of such a big part of 60's TV culture, even if for a short time - what a class act who did not let fame go to his head.
Now for the show itself. Everybody wanted to be a guest star villain, and many did. As well as the original villains from the Batman comics such as the Riddler, The Penguin, and The Joker, there were some added that were unique to the series such as Victor Buono as King Tut. The odd thing about Tut was that the show actually showed the origin of Tut as a criminal - a respected Egyptologist who was hit on the head and became an arch criminal when not in his right mind. He was also one of the rare villains for which Batman seemed to have compassion. Nobody ever wondered why The Joker wandered around in loud suits and makeup or why The Penguin never got tired of smoking cigarettes ala FDR and wearing a tux.
Then there is Robin, who is actually Batman's young ward Dick Grayson. Dick is actually in high school, and at Wayne mansion Bruce Wayne is always lecturing Dick about the importance of good diet, exercise, education and seat belts. Yet, that doesn't prevent Bruce Wayne as Batman from putting someone not of legal age repeatedly in harm's way. And harm never seemed to mean mere gun play. Instead it was the danger of being eaten by giant clams or being sawed in half by a buzz saw. You couldn't say Gotham's criminals lacked imagination.
Finally an observation about Batman in relation to "Wild Wild West", both of which aired at about the same time in the 1960's. Wild Wild West had good ratings, but the show's producers decided to cancel because CBS said the show was too violent, when the fight scenes were no worse than Batman's fight scenes. Maybe they should have added some cartoon KAPOW!, OUCH! and POW!. Seriously, add those captions into the Wild Wild West fight scenes and you would have had the same thing.
So if you have some time and spare cash, get the Batman DVDs and watch one of the great fads of television that people still remember fondly 50 years later. And see if you notice the little jokey touches like Ma Barker's buxom daughter's prison number being "35-23-34" and the fact that Robin's bat pole was smaller than Batman's pole. Phallic humor for the ages. Highly recommended.
score 9/10
AlsExGal 14 March 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3201751/ |
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23-9-2020 03:04:07
