Rewatching the show-- characters reconsidered.

[AndyFish]

This year I finally jumped on a plan I'd been wanting to do for years-- re-watch the show as it aired albeit with some minor modifications (the dates don't match up and I watch it at 8pm instead of 730 because I'm at the gym from 630-730 nightly).

Yesterday's episode was the first of the two premiere Penguin episodes, and I'll watch the second tonight but it got me to realize that horrors of horrors I didn't like the Penguin as a kid and he's still on the bottom of the villain pile for me today. I'm not sure why-- I think Burgess Meredith is a terrific actor and I like him in everything I see-- I just don't find the Penguin all that great of a villain.

Which of course, lead me to think about the other members of the cast, how I felt about them as a kid, how I reacted to them when I got back into the show in 1988 and how I feel about them now. These results may change but as of right now....

Batman-- Love him. My favorite character in the show.
Robin-- As a kid I couldn't stand him. Go away Robin. I've gained an appreciation for him today.
Alfred-- he was a nothingburger as a kid but today I appreciate the subtle delivery of a lot of his lines.
Joker-- The best villain in the show as a kid, and still one of the top three for me today.
Riddler-- As a kid I found him annoying, today I think he's great, at least the Gorshin version, and probably the most dangerous of all the bad guys.
Catwoman-- As a kid I wasn't interested, today I'm a fan. I also love Lee's take on the character-- the jury is out on Eartha because I've not watched the third season in a while.
King Tut-- Biggest flip for me-- hated him as a kid, love him as an adult.
Shame-- Ditto
Mad Hatter-- I don't remember what I thought of him but he's in the top three now.
False Face-- I found him scary as a kid, I find him scary now-- I think he's GREAT.
Aunt Harriet-- Boy did I find her annoying as a kid-- today I'm a lot nicer to old ladies.
Bookworm-- I thought he was stupid as a kid, I think he rivals the Riddler for most demented villain. I wish he'd been in more episodes and that they didn't end his first appearance with a dopey trash can joke. Could have been a contender.
Mr Freeze-- I only liked Otto as a kid, today he's behind George who I think is a terrific villain. Eli I don't remember much but we'll get to his episodes, what, next year if I stick with the viewing order.
Ma Barker-- Hated her, I like her now, we'll see if she holds up.
Black Widow-- yikes-- I thought she was an awful villain and Batman sings Buttercup. When my friends would tell me Batman was stupid they would cite this episode. We'll see how she holds up.
Marsha-- Didn't like her then, don't like her now, but we'll see if things change.

As for the third season villains-- I've never liked any of them so we'll see sometime in 2020 if I feel the same way-- I'll be watching the episodes from space then! The Future!!

How about the rest of you? Any villains or heroes you couldn't stand then that you like now? Or vice versa?

[elmrgraham]

The Catwoman and The Siren.I liked them then.I still like them today.

[Dan E Kool]

Seems like your childhood self was tough to please, Andy

I don't remember things in much detail, but for my five year old self:

-The Joker was my favorite villain.
-The Penguin inspired me to jump off my bunk bed with an umbrella as a parachute.
-I loved Catwoman.
-And the car was the star of the show as far as I was concerned!

On the whole, I think I appreciate the first season episodes even more now than I did as a kid. Those jokes would have flown right over my head. Some of the later episodes, maybe not as much. One specific thing I do remember is that I used to love seeing Batgirl swing onto the screen in the third season opening credits. These days I think my enthusiasm for those episodes has been reduced by a smidgen. It's all still fun, though! (Just in different ways.)

[AndyFish]

I was a crochety kid and I'm a crochety adult, Dan.
Even if the villain was not to my liking, there was enough to the show to keep me tuned in each and every weekday at 430 in the late 70s. I have to say, after two weeks of doing this one episode on Tuesday and one on Wednesday-- the show really holds up and it's more enjoyable than binging. We'll see if this plan holds up as we continue through the year.

[Jackbtripper]

The riddler is my least favorite and the Penguin is my number one. Sometimes I go through the list and only watch the penguin episodes. He seemed the most realistic to me. Just a little fat guy that’s a real criminal and gangster.

I loved bookworm as a kid and now because I love Roddy.

I like Joan Collins because she is hot but they never gave her much to do.

Batgirl was hot and the main reason for me to watch the third season.

[SprangFan]

I'm very much on the same page with Andy, here. Loved the Joker as a kid (even though he could be scary, and I hate clowns) and still love him now.

"Annoying" is a good word for how I viewed Gorshin's Riddler: way too over the top. I remember being excited when they "recast" him with Astin (!). He's the one I've shifted the most on; indeed a full 180. Love him now. And while Astin's less dynamic, I still appreciate his approach and consider his turn the best written, if not necessarily the best acted, Riddler entry they did.

I wasn't a fan of the Penguin, either. It may have been because he had (to me) the least interesting costume and I thought the "mayoral election" episode was boring and stupid. But most of all because he seemed to be in every other episode: I still remember thinking, "Not another Penguin story!" I mean, a lot. I was so happy when that one episode started with a TV announcer doing an umbrella commercial and I thought , "Oh no.." But then it turned out to be a Catwoman show. Yay! On the other hand Burgess obviously did something right, because every time I saw him in something else (non-Batman), I said, "hey, it's the Penguin!" with great fondness (his murder in "Magic" remains one of the most harrowing movie scenes ever for me).

As for Catwoman, "The Purrfect Crime" is my favorite episode, and not just because they used it for the Viewmaster reels. It was a blend of great visuals, cool serial-style traps, moody night scenes, some genuine suspense and a dark turn at the end. Great stuff. That said, I was largely immune to Julie-mania and generally preferred Lee.

All the other villains were strictly B-list to me and I always wished for more comic book villains over the (to me inferior) made-for-TV versions. Hated Tut and haven't budged much: Buono in anything still makes me roll my eyes. I have no childhood memories of False Face so must have missed him somehow, but loved him when I finally saw him as an adult. Mad Hatter was cool if never a physical threat. Enjoyed Shame and remember being worried when Batman turned up for their showdown unarmed! I consider Vincent Price very much an acquired taste but have learned to like some of his horror work. Egghead however didn't do it for me and the "egg" jokes were already tiresome halfway through his first episode.

I agree Black Widow represented an absolute nadir and the "Buttercup" scene, along with the one where the duo are catapulted into the sky and a remote-controlled Batmobile comes to save them, were what finally made the young me say, "wait a minute! Is this show supposed to be a comedy?!?!" LOL. Mind you, the giant Clam I took 100% seriously.

[AndyFish]

This watching two episodes a week is really a lot of fun. I've realized I bumbled right out of the gate and I should be watching these on Wednesday and Thursday-- so I'll fix that next week.
The two initial Penguin episodes were great-- not being a fan of Pengy it's not a set I've seen a hundred times. Amazing the production values in the sets alone. Cliffhanger wise I wonder why Bruce didn't just roll off the conveyor belt without blowing up the furnace but maybe I was missing something.

Some interesting things of note with this pair;
1- Very shadowy film-making.
2- Gordon talks about why Batman where's the suit to the guests at Wayne Manor.
3- Penguin refers to Batman as "The Batman".
4- There was some straight comedy in this one--
"What was that?!"
"Sounded like a batzooka to me!"
5- The cliffhanger with the furnace was actually scary what with Bruce's shoes starting to smoke as he faced the heat of a 10,000 degree flame.
6- Had the Penguin thought to turn on the bugged Umbrella that he slipped to Batman a few minutes earlier he might have learned Batman's secret identity when he was talking to Alfred.
7- Lot's of night shots of Gotham City-- this is how I see Batman.
8- Feels VERY much like a 60s era comic book come to life.

Overall-- good episode and I loved the Penguin's goons.
Next week; The Joker!

[dell]

The Black Widow episode. I had forgotten about that one. It is right up there, or rather down there, with the Nora Clavicle/pied piper episode. Ugh. Tallulah Bankhead was about as menacing as warm Jell-O. OK, that was a bit harsh. How about lime green Jell-O.

I know she was a great actress, but she was clearly not up to the task. They shouldn't have done the episode as it comes across as embarrassing to a great lady.

[SprangFan]

I always loved the episodes where Bruce got to do something heroic in his "street clothes," like this Penguin ep ("Fine Feathered Finks"?) and the one where he falls out the back of the ambulance, strapped to a stretcher headed for a cliff! (Waiting for the resolution to that one was one of the longest 24 hour-periods of my life!).

I also LOVE the scene where Batman climbs up the handle of the giant umbrella. Given my screen name, you can probably guess why.

[Dan E Kool]

Cliffhanger wise I wonder why Bruce didn't just roll off the conveyor belt without blowing up the furnace but maybe I was missing something.

Well, even if he managed to roll off of the conveyer belt safely, Millionaire Bruce Wayne would still be tied up. Considering that the bad guys were watching his demise over closed-circuit TV, he wouldn't have made it very far before being caught. Clearly, a lighter-fueled explosion was the only option!

The idea of watching the episodes as originally aired is a really neat one. I'm just not sure I'd have the self control to wait 24 hours for the thrilling conclusions!

[robinboyblunderer]

I didn't like the Penguin as a kid and he's still on the bottom of the villain pile for me today. I'm not sure why-- I think Burgess Meredith is a terrific actor and I like him in everything I see-- I just don't find the Penguin all that great of a villain.

How about the rest of you? Any villains or heroes you couldn't stand then that you like now? Or vice versa?

Aside from the election story I don't really care for the Penguin episodes. But I think Burgess's interpretation of the character was perfect. And funny. He embodied the role much like Julie Newmar with Catwoman. And yet I just don't care for the stories involving the Penguin.

I think my take on the characters has stayed the same over the years, with perhaps more of a liking of John Astin's Riddler than before. I just accept that he's doing a completely different take and it's not bad.

Too bad they didn't just give Eartha Kitt a different character to play, I don't think anyone can fill Newmar's catsuit, not even Lee Merriweather though it was a nice try. Even with Kitt rolling her rrrr's she just wasn't good enough. Maybe another actress could've done it or they could've just not had Catwoman in the show and had S.R. Ross create a new villainess for her.

I wonder if there's a S.R. Ross proposal for the Catwoman Wedding episode on a steamboat out there somewhere.

cheers

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Hmm...

Batman: Always interesting, but even as kid, I did not like the move toward making him a finger-wagging bore (late season 2 / season 3) who is hopelessly out of touch.

Robin: Loved the character then and now. Being a comic book reader first, I loved the dynamic (pun not intended) between Batman and Robin, and Ward still delivered the most comic-accurate version of the character adapted in image and personality. The series would have never been the hit it was without Robin.

Alfred: I thought he was a cool associate / friend of the Caped Crusaders as a kid, and now. Like Ward's Robin, Napier created the best live action version of his character.

Mr. Freeze: As in childhood, I thought Sanders was THE Mr. Freeze. Otto and Eli seemed like caricatures of caricatures of German mad scientist types.

Joker: Romero was the comic come alive in season one for me, and he actually played like a real comic book villain, so he was a favorite, but as in the case of adulthood, his season two and three appearances left much to be desired. I remember thinking Filmation's 1968-69 Joker a more than suitable substitute for a "real" Joker when I was not watching Romero's season 2 &3 episodes.

Riddler: Thought he was great before, and that opinion has not changed. Gorshin probably fared better in that his last, full on contribution to the series (while in full form) was the movie, so his Riddler was not tarnished by the decline of the series (even after making his lone season three appearance).

Catwoman: Newmar was one of the few "perfect" villains adapted for the series, and I loved her interpretation from the start. Even when the crush-mode Catwoman took over in season two, she still had an evil edge that made Batman's troubled attraction to her interesting. It was one of the few relationships that was similar to the tone of the comics source.

False Face:I thought he was a great villain as kid, because he reminded me of the more mysterious. non-colorful/way-out Rogue's Gallery types I read in Golden Age Batman comics. Clearly, I still think he's one of the few great villains on the show.

Bookworm: Another 1st season villain that was instantly appealing to me as a kid. He was intelligent, but not insane, and I always wished he had (at least) a second appearance. That view has not changed.

King Tut: Aside from his first appearance (and a bit of his 2nd season return--both written by Robert C. Dennis), I've always found him annoying. No wonder, since Stanley Ralph Ross was so annoying as a writer, that even kids were turned away from the rest of Tut's appearances, where Buono was too over the top (far more than S1), so it seemed like a bizarre performance turned into a bad joke gone too far.

Shame: I enjoyed his 1st story, with a genuine serial-style cliffhanger, but his second story was just meh. Robertson was slurring and sleepwalking though that performance, so as a kid, I looked at S3 Shame as if he was a different character than the first version.

Mad Hatter: David Wayne was another actor who really gave the character that "right off the page" feel, and was more calculating than most villains on the series.

Aunt Harriet: Never had a problem with her.

Batgirl: Terribly mishandled character from every conceivable direction. After watching Batman and Robin jump right into fights against the worst of the worst, there was no way to believe someone performing slow-motion high kicks, pirouettes was an effective part of that Bat-fight tradition. That, and her throwback attitude made her annoying,

[High C]

Here's how I see it in terms of how my tastes and/or knowledge has changed as an adult. This is long, so I'll split it into two posts:

Riddler: The best of the Big 4 to me,both then and now. I guess I now pay more attention to his subtle and not-so-subtle flirting with his female assistants--he portrayed a quintessential 'bad boy' in so many different ways.

Penguin: I didn't like him as a youngster, but now I appreciate Burgess Meredith's performance much more than I did then. I still don't love the character, but I have a ton of respect for the actor.

Joker: I appreciate much more now how evil the character was in season 1, and how well Romero portrayed him. The difference between the often-menacing season 1 Joker and the subsequent silly Joker of the other two seasons really stands out to me now.

Mr. Freeze: I can't help it, I still enjoy Preminger's WAYYYY over the top Freeze, but now I appreciate Sanders' restrained take much more than I could at age 10. Wallach still strikes me as an excellent actor trying too hard to be campy in the role.

False Face: Scared me as a kid, but the plot holes in the script bother me as an adult. He comes off more as a shapeshifter than a master of disguise.

Catwoman (Julie Newmar): I enjoyed her pure evil interpretation of season 1 then and now. As an adult, I understand the season 2 Bat/Cat sexual tension in a way I couldn't at age 10, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it all that much. Don't get me wrong--if it had been written in a more mature fashion, instead of as a schoolgirl crush, I might buy in more.

Stanley Ralph Ross is more to blame than Newmar. He (and almost everyone else) wrote Bats as such a drip in season 2 that it's hard to understand why a hip, happening Sixties chick such as CW/Newmar would be even mildly interested in him, to borrow one of Batman's lines about the Queen of Diamonds. Oddly enough, Newmar's final aired scene as Catwoman hinted at how this whole storyline could have been better written, when she tells Bruce that he's no Batman. But it was too little, too late, IMO.

King Tut: Some of Victor Buono's scenery-chewing bothers me as an adult, although I will say this--NO guest villain could do a better job of going from hysterically funny to chillingly evil in a millisecond the way Buono could. He was tremendous at turning the mood of the scene around on a dime.

Finella: This is one moll I appreciate more as an adult. That's because I now am more familiar with the other guest-star roles of actress Julie Gregg, and I can see how she did not usually play bimbo airheads. She often portrayed much more complex characters in dramas, which makes me realize what a good job she did here.

[AndyFish]

Catwoman (Julie Newmar): I enjoyed her pure evil interpretation of season 1 then and now. As an adult, I understand the season 2 Bat/Cat sexual tension in a way I couldn't at age 10, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it all that much. Don't get me wrong--if it had been written in a more mature fashion, instead of as a schoolgirl crush, I might buy in more.

King Tut: Some of Victor Buono's scenery-chewing bothers me as an adult, although I will say this--NO guest villain could do a better job of going from hysterically funny to chillingly evil in a millisecond the way Buono could. He was tremendous at turning the mood of the scene around on a dime.

I agree with these 1000%! Catwoman started out with such promise in Season 1 but the way the crush was handled really made her an unpleasant character--which is why I jump to Lee's performance after Julie wraps S1 for how I see the character.

Ditto your thoughts on Tut.

[High C]

I agree with these 1000%! Catwoman started out with such promise in Season 1 but the way the crush was handled really made her an unpleasant character--which is why I jump to Lee's performance after Julie wraps S1 for how I see the character.

The 'reveal' scene near the end of the movie, when CW's mask falls off and Batman realizes Kitka is CW, is powerful. I wish Newmar's CW had been given some kind of alter ego--although the comics' Selina Kyle might have been a bit too mousy (no pun intended) for Julie's larger-than-life persona. Still, interaction between Bruce and a non-costumed Catwoman might have added some gravitas to the relationship, much like in the movie.