#157 Adam West as Catman; False Face; and a Camp Question

04/15/21 • 94 min

To The Batpoles! Batman 1966

Part of Adam West’s renaissance as a performer, once his fans were old enough to cast him in stuff, was voicing various versions of himself in cartoons. One of these was in Nickelodeon show The Fairly OddParents, in which “TV’s Adam West” was the famous actor who had played the hero “Catman” — but thought he really was Catman! This time we take a look at Adam’s appearances on the show.

Also:

The 7th issue of the Batman ’66 comic book, featuring False Face! Art by past Deconstructing Comics interviewee Christopher Jones.
One of the weirdest Batman theme versions we’ve found yet: Celio Balona's "Tema de Batman".
Get your tent and your Coleman stove; we’re going on another camping trip, this time exploring why the implausibilities of Batman ’66, and other shows of its time, may not fly with today's young-adult TV viewers;
We read your reaction to episode 154’s discussion of Batfink and Waldo Kitty;
And a few tidbits gleaned so far from our listener survey, which you can still submit here!

Also:

The 7th issue of the Batman ’66 comic book, featuring False Face! Art by past Deconstructing Comics interviewee Christopher Jones.
One of the weirdest Batman theme versions we’ve found yet: Celio Balona's "Tema de Batman".
Get your tent and your Coleman stove; we’re going on another camping trip, this time exploring why the implausibilities of Batman ’66, and other shows of its time, may not fly with today's young-adult TV viewers;
We read your reaction to episode 154’s discussion of Batfink and Waldo Kitty;
And a few tidbits gleaned so far from our listener survey, which you can still submit here!

Previous Episode

#156 Adam and Burt "Return to the Batcave"

In 2003, CBS broadcast the special Return to the Batcave, featuring Adam West and Burt Ward walking through a search for the stolen Batmobile as they reminisced about their time making Batman. The reminiscence was hampered a bit by the show still being tied up in rights issues; only clips from Batman: The Movie were included, not from the TV series itself. This time, we delve into the good and the bat-awful of this special.

Also: J-Flexx's Bat Rap, your response to our interview with Greg Patterson in Episode 153, and the announcement of our listener survey and of the next scripts we’re going to discuss!

Two-Face by Peter Rabe

The Joker's Last Laugh by Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Comment on these scripts on the '66 Batman message board!

Next Episode

#158 Peter Rabe’s “Two-Face”

Two-Face never quite made it to Batman ’66 (unless you count William Shatner’s animated turn in 2017, as pictured). But two known attempts were made in the ‘60s: the Harlan Ellison treatment (which later became the comic book Batman ’66: The Lost Episode), and Peter Rabe’s full two-part script, The Two-Faced Counterfeit and The Counterfeit Counterfoiled, which was adapted by Lorenzo Semple, Jr., into a Joker story (as we’ll see next time!). In this episode, we take a look at Rabe’s script. What are its strong and weak points? Why wasn’t it used? Was Two-Face simply too hard to do in live action in the ‘60s?

Also, we discuss highlights of our listener survey, read some of your mail (including about the script Batman Meets his Match), and present a version of the Batman theme from a nameless fourth-grade orchestra!

Martin Noreau's Batman Viewmaster...

... and Jeff Culligan's Cabala minifigure.