High C wrote:Well, we agree 100 percent on that. Lyn Peters was an underrated actress and had the eps been focused on her character, I think they would have been much better. Actually, the original outline by Elkan Allan, submitted in March 1967, had no Peasoup or Batgirl, for that matter. Ffogg and his daughter, called Prunella originally, were the villains.
Interesting! Could you post Elkan Allan's outline or, if it's already online, share a link, that would be great to read.
AndyFish wrote:The character never was all that interesting to me -- they should have just gone with Poison Ivy-- but Ralph Ross was clearly not interested in the source material.
I agree with Andy. Siren was never interesting to me while watching either as a schnick or watching now. It's funny as I really liked Joan Collins on Star Trek (City on the Edge of Forever is my favorite episode) and in a number of movies and TV shows, but I always found Siren came across (to me) as 'rush job, fill the void' character like Lola Lasagne, Louis the Lilac, Nora Clavicle, etc. Then again, Season 3 was loaded with those types as the show deviated severely from the Batman mythos just so friends could be squeezed into appearances.
The best thing about Season 3? Hands down Undine in Surf's Up! Joker's Under!
"Hmmm... I don't like the twist this joke is taking. Let us away! Let us away!"
I'm with Oval on that too-- I thought Collins was great in Star Trek, but the Batman episodes by that time were just not all that good. There were good things about them, hey it's Batman, but without the heart of the first few episodes the show just lagged.
Thinking about my original question further, I suppose that Eartha Kitt theoretically could have played the role. Certainly she was a talented singer with a sultry manner, but I didn't suggest her because I felt she was properly cast as Catwoman. I think that was the right role for Eartha and I enjoyed her interpretation very much, second only to Julie's CW.
In a similar vein, I wouldn't have wanted to see Joan Collins as Catwoman. Not the right part for her.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'
My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.
'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
I was thinking the same thing about Eartha, that she could've alternately played Siren as well. Joan Collins and Eartha Kitt and Victor Bouno were the only signs to 3rd season life, I thought Burgess, Romero and Gorshin fell very short of their talents in season 3.
Another thing I forgot to add, is that Collins was helped with a very good story, something that was rare in season 3. Although I agree that I can't see Joan Collins playing Catwoman, most of us agree, she played the roll as a season 1 character, a better switch around would have been to have had Joan play Zelda, and Anne Baxter(more like her Zelda character) play Siren, I could've easily done with out Baxter's(Olga) performance.
They should've had an Egghead episode with him on his own and if they really wanted, have Anne play a different character or fine, Olga, but I think she would've been more tolerable with her own episode, rather than diminish Egghead.
robinboyblunderer wrote:I could've really done without Olga.
They should've had an Egghead episode with him on his own and if they really wanted, have Anne play a different character or fine, Olga, but I think she would've been more tolerable with her own episode, rather than diminish Egghead.
I'm really mixed on this one, on one hand Baxter and Price did have really good chemistry. On the other hand, and I'm not sure if it was bad writing for Price, or Anne's over the top performance or both. It just seemed like Baxter out performed Price. The story started out just fine with the kidnapping of Gorden and the egg tax, typical Egghead. Where this story goes south, is believing that Egghead can be henpecked and the Kossacks chanting "Olga" got really annoying. Even Egghead told Olga they were scrambling his "fantastic" brain.
Olga completely dominated these episodes. True they had good chemistry but Egghead was such a unique villain from the second season, he deserved another battle of wits with the Caped Crusaders, not being henpecked.
The whole aftershave thing was terrible too.
Out of all three, the Neosauraus one is my favorite.
Jaws63 wrote:Another thing I forgot to add, is that Collins was helped with a very good story, something that was rare in season 3. Although I agree that I can't see Joan Collins playing Catwoman, most of us agree, she played the roll as a season 1 character, a better switch around would have been to have had Joan play Zelda, and Anne Baxter(more like her Zelda character) play Siren, I could've easily done with out Baxter's(Olga) performance.
I can't agree on that because Anne, while only 44, was by that point playing if you will to her actual age in contrast to those like Julie London (my first alternate for Siren) or Lee Grant (one of choices for Poison Ivy) who both could play a decade younger than they were at the time and be believable in a costume like that. The only time I've ever seen Anne Baxter in a leg-baring outfit are pinup publicity pix from the late 1940s.
Jaws63 wrote:Another thing I forgot to add, is that Collins was helped with a very good story, something that was rare in season 3. Although I agree that I can't see Joan Collins playing Catwoman, most of us agree, she played the roll as a season 1 character, a better switch around would have been to have had Joan play Zelda, and Anne Baxter(more like her Zelda character) play Siren, I could've easily done with out Baxter's(Olga) performance.
I can't agree on that because Anne, while only 44, was by that point playing if you will to her actual age in contrast to those like Julie London (my first alternate for Siren) or Lee Grant (one of choices for Poison Ivy) who both could play a decade younger than they were at the time and be believable in a costume like that. The only time I've ever seen Anne Baxter in a leg-baring outfit are pinup publicity pix from the late 1940s.
I agree with epaddon. I'd also say Joan Collins wouldn't have made a good Zelda because Joan, as a villainess, never let anyone else call the shots. Zelda basically was playing second banana, in terms of the plot, to Eivol Ekdal as the mastermind of the whole operation.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'
My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.
'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
Batguitarist wrote:I think Petula Clark who sang, "Downtown" would have been a great choice, but it was written for Joan.
True it was written for her, but sometimes shows first written for one performer don't turn out that way when last minute things happen. I'd like to think that if say Joan had been forced to back out at the last minute, then instead of going for a lookalike type like Dana Wynter, exploring the areas of singer/actresses would have been an interesting idea.
Clark definitely would be a good idea even though her number of acting spots was somewhat limited (Nancy Sinatra was doing guest shots in this period and not just variety specials).
