Continuity and other series stuff

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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clavierankh
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Continuity and other series stuff

Post by clavierankh »

People began discussing continuity issues in the METV thread. It was rightly pointed out that that wasn't really the thread to discuss those issues in. I decided to go ahead and start one to discuss continuity and other series issues.

As I recall the comic books of the 60s and 70s were pretty good on continuity. Of course they have letters to the editors columns where fans can write in and point out goofs. For example, if you had the the situation in the comic books as you had in the series with Penguin and Alfred fans might write in and say something like this: How come in the last issue Penguin doesn't recognize Alfred. Earlier he kidnapped Alfred to find out the location of the millionaires dinner, and later recognized him when Batman tried to disguise him as a forger. The editors would probably do a Mea Culpa and make a note of the gaffe so it wasn't repeated.

Of course with the TV series there was no such form for the fan feed back. Of course the stars got letters but those are mostly fan letters asking for autographs. These things might've been mentioned, but Adam and Burt probably didn't care. They just did what the writers told them to do.

One can only wonder how different the series would be if there had been an Internet in 1966 for fans to write their opinions, likes, dislikes, praise, and complaints about the series. I've heard producers today monitor fan forums, or have someone who does it for them.

One problem with expecting good continuity is the ridiculousness of Batman and Robin facing the same villains so many times in a short period of time.

Take Catwoman. We have to believe that in September 1966 she was arrested for trying to steal million-dollar fiddles and trying to kill Batman and Robin.

Then in December 1966, despite these heinous crimes and the fact that she had never served time for the crimes he committed in The Purr-fect Crime, Sh is paroled with Commissioner Gordon as her parole officer. She steals the voices of Chad and Jeremy and others, tries to turn Batman and Robin's brains to mush, and extort millions from the British Empire before being captured by Batman and Robin. Two weeks later she's out of prison again. There is no reference that she broke jail, if she had you'd think Batman and Robin would've been immediately called in, rather than an undercover police woman sent in. Was she paroled already? She joined the Sandman in trying to kill Batman and Robin in her maze. They also tried to still a fortune of J. Pauline Spaghetti. Batman and Robin stopped her again

Barely a month later, she's back again. Again no mention of a prison break, and Batman and the Commissioner are surprised she's back. Was she paroled again?

This time she drugs Robin, attempts to drug Batman, pulls a series of daring robberies culminating in a break-in at the mint before her plan was foiled. This time she's apparently killed.

Within a month she's apparently found alive, captured, sent to prison and then paroled, with Bruce Wayne as her parole officer. She again tries to kill Batman and Robin, this time trying to steal rare opals for being captured.

If the producers expect us to believe that in a period of five months Woman to commit series of crimes multiple attempted murders and yet be paroled at least twice it's no wonder they wouldn't sweat continuity details.
Bob
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Bob »

Continuity just has no real place in the life of a costumed hero. Its pure escapism and with different writers scripting who don't know of past verkz
Gleeps, it's Batman
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Gleeps, it's Batman »

One can only wonder how different the series would be if there had been an Internet in 1966 for fans to write their opinions, likes, dislikes, praise, and complaints about the series. I've heard producers today monitor fan forums, or have someone who does it for them.
Even in the days of the internet (well, very early days, mid 90s) strange things happen. On Lois And Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, Lois's apartment number was 105 in season 1, 501 in season 2 with a sign saying 5th floor near the elevator, and in season 3 Superman asks her how many people come through her third story window. Plus there was one episode where it kind of looked like she was pushed out of a high rise building. Then there was the thing about her loving or hating bananas, depending on the episode.

I have a feeling back in the 60s they were so busy putting out as many episodes as they did that they didn't care too much about continuity. I read somewhere that they shot 3 episodes at once, and that Adam had a script person following him around with the 3 scripts.
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clavierankh
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by clavierankh »

Bob wrote:Continuity just has no real place in the life of a costumed hero. Its pure escapism and with different writers scripting who don't know of past verkz
I agree, that was sort of my point with the ridiculous Catwoman timline.
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Gernot
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Gernot »

As long as Bruce Wayne is Batman, Dick Grayson is Robin, Commissioner Gordon is Batman's friend, and all try to jail the Joker and others, it's all good to me! :)
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Riddler Fan
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Riddler Fan »

You can quickly go crazy trying to apply logic to anything that happened on the show. Best to just kick back, relax and enjoy it.
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dell
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by dell »

Would you have been happier if they had thrown her in prison for 20 years after her first crime and we never saw her again? :D :D :D

I never read the comic books, but I have to assume that the same situation applied. They used the same criminals repeatedly so something similar must have happened unless they simply never got caught in the comics.

As others have said; I enjoy it for what it is.
dell
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clavierankh
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by clavierankh »

In the comics they would say she escaped.
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Gernot
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Gernot »

In the comics at the time of the TV show, the crooks RARELY escaped imprisonment and never died. :)
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dell
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by dell »

clavierankh wrote:In the comics they would say she escaped.
OK, that works once or twice, but after a few times you have to question the security of a prison that can't keep dangerous criminals locked up. If they are always escaping then you have a situation that is just as unrealistic as in the TV show.
dell
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John Mack
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by John Mack »

I know this thread is just to discuss things so don't take this the wrong way. Not dissing anyone and really like the topic.

It's called suspension of disbelief. It is a needed element that all fans of Science Fiction and Fantasy have to keep in their minds. That's why many people I've met over my 50 years on this planet don't like (or get) things like our series. But occassionally, things do go "over the top" and we ALL say.....WHOA!!!

John
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HappyDude
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by HappyDude »

dell wrote:
clavierankh wrote:In the comics they would say she escaped.
OK, that works once or twice, but after a few times you have to question the security of a prison that can't keep dangerous criminals locked up. If they are always escaping then you have a situation that is just as unrealistic as in the TV show.
If we wanted to take things like this seriously, then consider this: all those Batfights - can you say "police brutality"? And when B&R Batclimb up a wall, enter premises and have a look around - don't you need a search warrant for that? And at the end of the show when the baddies get taken away without ever having their rights read to them. Any defence lawyer worth his salt would have a field day with that.
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Dr. Shimel »

Gleeps, it's Batman wrote:
One can only wonder how different the series would be if there had been an Internet in 1966 for fans to write their opinions, likes, dislikes, praise, and complaints about the series. I've heard producers today monitor fan forums, or have someone who does it for them.
I have a feeling back in the 60s they were so busy putting out as many episodes as they did that they didn't care too much about continuity. I read somewhere that they shot 3 episodes at once, and that Adam had a script person following him around with the 3 scripts.
Considering they put out 94 half-hour shows AND a full-length movie out in the space of roughly 15 months, I'm guessing they didn't spend a lot of time concerning themselves with continuity. Given that pace, I can believe the three episodes at once anecdotes.

Regarding the reading of rights, during the show's first season, the Miranda case was still being argued in the Supreme Court, and the ruling wasn't issued until that June.
Mr.Freeze
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Mr.Freeze »

Yeah , Miranda sued Bruce Wayne...she didn't care for that record BW did :lol: :mrgreen:
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Mr. Deathtrap
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Re: Continuity and other series stuff

Post by Mr. Deathtrap »

Citizens,

i like Dr. Shimel's point: Considering they put out 94 half-hour shows AND a full-length movie out in the space of roughly 15 months, I'm guessing they didn't spend a lot of time concerning themselves with continuity.

The example that started this discussion, the Penguin's many dealings with Alfred, in which the butler is often unrecognized, but occasionally emperiled because of past history and who he is demonstrates the spottiness of the continuity in the show.

Scripts often did not concern themselves with the issue, but Catwoman's second appearance had a line about her apparent death at the end of the first and in his second story King Tut recalled having kidnapped Bruce Wayne in the first.

I am often critical of Script Editor Charles Hoffman, but given the pace of the work and that the idea was primarily to tell self-contained stories, I allow him more slack than I would if the show were being done in the style of today with more sweeping story arcs.

With adequate time, continuity can be handled with a few lines in a script, but the issue must matter to the creative team. I think when the matter is addressed, the quality of the product is better because good storytelling is at the heart of good television. Having been written on many levels simultaneously, BATMAN is excellent television at the end of the day because it can be enjoyed time and time again over a lifetime.

Mr. Deathtrap
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