The ME-TV BATMAN Episode Discussion Thread

[High C]

I thought the Minstrel episodes were quite strong. Van Johnson delivered one of the better one-shot villain performances, striking the right balance between cool evil and unhinged villainy. And in an odd way, as someone pointed out on a previous incarnation of the board, the notion of musician as electronics genius foreshadowed what would happen in the music industry years later, with techno-pop and such.

I liked, as others have noted, how Batman does genuine detective work here. I'll also note how he plants something prior to the deathtrap that helps him and Robin escape, which is nice. I also think Leslie Perkins as Octavia was an underrated moll.

What I didn't like was the climactic scene, which was reminiscent of the previous Bat-script of this writing pair, Francis and Marian Cockrell, who I think did an excellent job in the first 3/4 of their storylines but then fell a little flat at the end. Both this ep and 'The Joker Trumps an Ace' have the villain captured while in disguise, and it's not a great ending. Also, in both adventures, the moll disappears before the climactic scene.

However, I did like the 'Wait 'til the jailbreak, Batman' tag scene with Minstrel. Too bad he didn't come back.

[Dr. Shimel]

The only villains to make more than one appearance (outside of The Big Four) in S2 were King Tut, Marsha and Mr. Freeze. Tut reappeared in the Lee Meriwether guest episode after earlier making the Abu-rabu-simbu-tu, Marsha's return engagement came in tandem with Penguin, while Eli Wallach took over after Otto Preminger aggravated the entire cast and crew.

[High C]

The only villains to make more than one appearance (outside of The Big Four) in S2 were King Tut, Marsha and Mr. Freeze. Tut reappeared in the Lee Meriwether guest episode after earlier making the Abu-rabu-simbu-tu, Marsha's return engagement came in tandem with Penguin, while Eli Wallach took over after Otto Preminger aggravated the entire cast and crew.

Although, oddly enough Dozier still wanted Preminger to come back, per Joel Eisner, but Preminger was too busy. I guess Dozier didn't care, even though he should have, how many people Preminger had ticked off.

[Batfanman]

I always like Otto's Mr. Freeze best but I don't think he could/would have adapted to the campier scripts that followed.

[Dr. Shimel]

I always like Otto's Mr. Freeze best but I don't think he could/would have adapted to the campier scripts that followed.

Otto was likely busy getting ready to direct the absurd 1968 film, "Skidoo," which by all accounts ranks up there with "Plan 9 From Outer Space" as one of the worst films ever. Despite that, it has an all-star cast, not to mention the presence of Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero. I'm sure by the end of directing this, Otto more than got his fill of camp.

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

Good news: in 2 weeks, I see ME-TV will be airing the Black Widow episodes. I don't know if that means they're going back to showing them in order, but unfortunately, if they are, they've skipped Lee Meriwether's King Tut episode, which along with Black Widow are the only episodes I haven't seen yet. I came into the rotation right before Season 3 last year, so I've seen Pop Goes the Joker, and the last Mr Freeze ep, though will certainly watch them again and look forward to any episode discussions on here.

Since they just showed Season 3 in the summer, I'd personally like them to start showing Season 1 again after they finish Season 2, since the Season 1 eps were the ones that got me looking for info on the internet and led me here.

Well, whatever they do, it looks like we're still stuck with Nora Clavicle this coming weekend. NOT a favorite.

[Dr. Shimel]

When they went through the cycle the last time, they skipped certain late S2 episodes, so it looks like they're doing the same thing here. Of course, that begs the question why they did this month-long detour.

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

When they went through the cycle the last time, they skipped certain late S2 episodes, so it looks like they're doing the same thing here. Of course, that begs the question why they did this month-long detour.

Really? Wow. Any idea if it was the Lee Meriwether King Tut episode that was skipped last time? If so, I wonder why? I guess we'll just have to wait a few more weeks to see if they're really back to the normal schedule or still pulling random episode titles out of a hat. :/

[LittleLouisGroovy]

Could there be some sort of clearance issue with the Lee Meriwether King Tut episodes? With this show, one can never be sure...

[Dr. Shimel]

Could there be some sort of clearance issue with the Lee Meriwether King Tut episodes? With this show, one can never be sure...

I doubt it. The HUB always showed these episodes, but yet they were in full PC-mode by refusing the show S2 Egghead episodes and the S3 Shame eps because they supposedly were offensive to Native Americans.

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

I doubt it. The HUB always showed these episodes, but yet they were in full PC-mode by refusing the show S2 Egghead episodes and the S3 Shame eps because they supposedly were offensive to Native Americans.

Interesting. I don't have cable, so I don't know what the cable channels did with the show other than cutting it to pieces as seen in various youtube versions. I only found the show again after it showed up on free television on ME-TV.

And speaking of the S3 Shame eps, what was up with Adam in those epsisodes? He seemed ... monotone. Was he on medication? Had they just found out the show was cancelled? He just didn't seem terribly enthusiastic in a lot of that 2-parter.

[Dr. Shimel]

I doubt it. The HUB always showed these episodes, but yet they were in full PC-mode by refusing the show S2 Egghead episodes and the S3 Shame eps because they supposedly were offensive to Native Americans.

And speaking of the S3 Shame eps, what was up with Adam in those epsisodes? He seemed ... monotone. Was he on medication? Had they just found out the show was cancelled? He just didn't seem terribly enthusiastic in a lot of that 2-parter.

He had to know it didn't have long to go, since the episode filmed just prior to that was the absurd Dr. Cassandra one, with the $4 budget, idiotic plotline and phony hipster dialogue.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Speaking of $4 budget, "Nora Clavicle and the Ladies Crime Club" was on last night. If not for the lovely Barbara Rush, this incredibly painful exercise in Dozier politics would be one for the Bat-trash can.

If this series ever sees the Blue Ray light of day, I know which discs will remain in pristine condition....from staying in the case.

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

I didn't bother with ME-TV last night because of that episode, or the past couple of weeks, actually, since we'd just seen the Penguin/Marsha 3-parter recently. I probably should have, just to see what scene or scenes maybe have been added back that were cut from the youtube versions of 'Nora', but I just did not feel like sitting through that episode at all.

I will definitely be back to ME-TV next week (barring any unforseen circumstances) as it'll be one of the two episodes I have yet to see (the Black Widow eps).

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

A big YAY from me, as my listings show the Lee Meriwether episodes the week after the Black Widow episodes! Don't know if my complaining emails to them did anything, but at least they're back on track now, or at least they are for the next two weeks.

Before we have a new discussion on the Black Widow eps, I'd like to jump back to Batman Displays His Knowledge and post a link to an article I found about Julie Newmar, which talks about the 'seduction' scene near the end. When I first saw that scene on youtube (without seeing the whole episode; I waited for ME-TV to air it to actually see the whole episode,) I thought that scene was incredible. No point-of-view cutting back and forth. It was like a play, one whole scene (I think I timed it at about 3 minutes? I'll have to do it again to check) with no cuts whatsoever, and I was just amazed that they got through that whole thing without cracking up. I was thinking this must be like the 17th take or something because they had to be laughing, especially about bat-plugs <g>, but nope, Julie says they did it in one take and went home. I find that totally amazing. They were really professionals to pull that off with no flubbed lines, no screwups, no laughing. Wow.

Anyway, here's part of the article, with the link to the full article at the bottom:

RCM: Tell us about that famous totally hot scene where you seduce Batman…

JN: I actually choreographed that scene myself for the producers. I come down the stairs and slide down a railing and it was all choreographed like a piece of dance. I had compassion for the producers, because when you’re shooting at 8 o’clock at night, you’re in the “golden time” or something, you’re into time-and-a-half. It’s extensive and I wanted to save them money, so I shared my ideas with the director and he said, “Yeah, let’s do it!” So we shot the whole thing in one take, and everybody went home happy about it.

RCM: It’s doubtful that any Batman viewer can ever forget this scene – the way you combine power, naughtiness, and vulnerability.

JN: When I watch that scene now, I can see that in seducing the male character how I had to bend my knees and make myself a little shorter, a little more vulnerable. By doing this, it allowed Batman to be the aggressor, even though the truth is, I was. But maybe that reflects everything we do in life.

There were times also where I noticed that I was being extra girlish in that scene. I think that’s something we don’t look upon greatly these days, as girls today are more tough – they have muscles coming out of their shoulders. They wear sleeveless tank tops now.

We were soft and feminine back then. You didn’t have all these masculine traits. Nevertheless, they can change but we all know that for something to survive in history, it has to be awfully good if it’s going to still resonate with people, 10, 20, or 50 years from now. A television series like Batman gets under your skin and it touches hearts. That’s why it endures.

- See more at: http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/2013/ ... I9euB.dpuf