Sonny and Cher

[A. Pennyworth]

Reading this Dozier letter, it states that Sonny and Cher DID a Batman cameo. Well as far as I know they never were on the show.

They did appear in the #1 Batmobile and had cars customized by George Barris.



Got me to thinking that in the episode, "The Zodiac Crimes", there is a singing duo called "The Twins" that look very similar to Sonny and Cher.

Is it possible that the real "The Twins" were played as a cameo by Sonny and Cher, the footage was shot, and for whatever reason the footage wasn't used? The episode continues with Venus and a henchman taking on their disguise to try to trap the Caped Crusaders.

The letter is dated October 26, 1966. "The Zodiac Crimes" airdate was January 11, 1967. Other Dozier letters showing shooting schedules of other episodes also show a 3 month gap between shooting dates to airdate so it is possible that it happened.

[Dr. Shimel]

Obviously, Der Bingle also never made it past the cutting room floor (if it was even filmed), with the replacement likely being either the Don Ho or Suzy Knickerbocker one.

[Ben Bentley]

...

The letter is dated October 26, 1966. "The Zodiac Crimes" airdate was January 11, 1967. Other Dozier letters showing shooting schedules of other episodes also show a 3 month gap between shooting dates to airdate so it is possible that it happened.

Interesting you mention this AP, i've not come across that letter before so far whilst delving through what I have from the "Dozier Files".

You might well be on the right track though with regards to the time-frame of the letter and the shooting schedule. Unfortunately I don't have a scan of the production schedule for the "The Zodiac Crimes", but I did find the one for "The Puzzles are Coming" which appears to have shot between Oct 20th - 27th, the same week that the letter in question was written.

Interestingly this takes us back full circle to a thread you started in 2007 on the old board which looked at a number of websites claiming Sonny and Cher had cameo'd in you guessed it... "The Puzzles Are Coming/The Duo is Slumming". (http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1170602438)

[Space Ghost]

That's cool info there! Would of loved seeing Sonny & Cher on the show!

[Dr. Shimel]

...

The letter is dated October 26, 1966. "The Zodiac Crimes" airdate was January 11, 1967. Other Dozier letters showing shooting schedules of other episodes also show a 3 month gap between shooting dates to airdate so it is possible that it happened.

Interestingly this takes us back full circle to a thread you started in 2007 on the old board which looked at a number of websites claiming Sonny and Cher had cameo'd in you guessed it... "The Puzzles Are Coming/The Duo is Slumming". (http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1170602438)

Of course, the window cameo they did use for the Puzzler wouldn't have been as effective in any other episode--since it was Santa Claus (aka Andy Devine) and the shows were the last ones before Christmas.

[Ben Bentley]

...

The letter is dated October 26, 1966. "The Zodiac Crimes" airdate was January 11, 1967. Other Dozier letters showing shooting schedules of other episodes also show a 3 month gap between shooting dates to airdate so it is possible that it happened.

Interestingly this takes us back full circle to a thread you started in 2007 on the old board which looked at a number of websites claiming Sonny and Cher had cameo'd in you guessed it... "The Puzzles Are Coming/The Duo is Slumming". (http://www.66batman.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Y ... 1170602438)

Of course, the window cameo they did use for the Puzzler wouldn't have been as effective in any other episode--since it was Santa Claus (aka Andy Devine) and the shows were the last ones before Christmas.

That is a very valid observation, Dr Shimel.

It's feasible in the context of the letter that a Sonny and Cher window cameo was shot but subsequently not used in favor of the Andy Devine/Santa cameo.

The part that I find odd is that if the cameo had been committed to celluloid (as Dozier's correspondence implies) it's a wonder as to why it wasn't re-purposed for another episode. The only tangible reason for not re-tooling it that I can think would be if the interaction at the window contained episode specific dialogue that simply wouldn't make sense elsewhere.

Also interesting to note, the "Cast Requirements" document for the Puzzler episodes does not list Santa nor Sonny and Cher.

[Dr. Shimel]

I may have discovered the reason for both the reason for S & C's would-be appearance and the reason they never made it onscreen:

*On 12/12/66, Monterey Park (CA) City Council banned them from riding in the city's float in the Rose Bowl parade, being replaced by Buck Owens. The reason? On December 10, they were photographed WATCHING a "teenage rebellion" on the Sunset Strip.

*Sonny and Cher had made a movie "Good Times" that was supposed to be released in "early 1967"--though it didn't come out until April. A 3/11/67 column in the San Diego Union-Tribune has this item:

"...was expected to be a 1966 summer release, now appears to be headed into theaters in April. Since the film took so long to be released, it was assumed that something was wrong with it. Perhaps the delay was due to executive in-fighting that brought a change in Paramount Studio management recently."

Interestingly, the movie had George Sanders in the big supporting role and also had former Joker henchman Norman Alden in it. Plus, it was the first directing job for William Friedkin, who went on to direct, "The French Connection."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Times_(film)

[Mr. Glee]

Several newspapers published on December 22, 1966 did mention that Sonny and Cher would be making an appearance on BATMAN that evening (these listings were presumably based on publicity material released weeks earlier.) The "Rose Bowl" controversy could well have been what prompted Dozier to replace the singing duo with Andy Devine's "Santa" bit.

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[Ben Bentley]

Several newspapers published on December 22, 1966 did mention that Sonny and Cher would be making an appearance on BATMAN that evening (these listings were presumably based on publicity material released weeks earlier.) The "Rose Bowl" controversy could well have been what prompted Dozier to replace the singing duo with Andy Devine's "Santa" bit.


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Great find Mr Glee! This is just the kind of additional evidence that we had been looking for when this topic was first discussed. Thank you so much for sharing!

[Bob Furmanek]

From Army Archerd's column in Daily Variety: January 5, 1967

[Mr. Glee]

Looks like the Sonny & Cher cameo was filmed during the shooting of the Puzzler episode:

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The date on this "Puzzler" cast list was 10/21/66.