Fourth Season Myth

[High C]

Bob, thanks again. As usual, you hit it out of the park with your research.

Besides, at that point, I don't think you could have offered Adam enough money to do another season.

This is very true. As I've mentioned, Joan Collins wrote in one of her memoirs that Adam seemed fed up with the show while she talked to him on set. And that was only the fifth of 19 shoots that season. He wanted to get to the finish line and move on.

And another problem with the fourth-season theory is who was going to produce it? Dozier obviously also had had his fill of the show, and I find the stories about the cancellation in Jan. 1968 interesting because the show had wrapped production in Dec. 1967. The Minerva ep was filmed in four days (not the usual three) the week before Christmas and of course, Dozier and Horwitz made gag cameos. Plus, they had actual sets, not black limbo ones, so it's obvious they were spending whatever dough (zier) they had left. In other words, they knew the ax was coming.

[Dr. Shimel]

I had mentioned before that Dozier basically allowed ABC to trash the budget for S3--since they were supposedly ready to cancel it without that move. No S3 would mean no syndication (even though they had 94 episodes--not the magic 100), which means that Dozier's wallet gets much lighter.

Speaking of Dozier, here's an interesting edict he supposedly had (from a 1/67 article):

Dozier.jpg (74.21 KiB) Viewed 5247 times

[Bob Furmanek]

And I see that someone has copied and shared that syndication ad on the page without acknowledging the source or sharing the relevant data. If fans realized it was being sold into syndication months before the last broadcast, it may open a few eyes.

[Dan E Kool]

Well, another mystery solved, I'd say! Well done, Bob Furmanek and thanks for sharing.

[Keith Mayo]

And I see that someone has copied and shared that syndication ad on the page without acknowledging the source or sharing the relevant data. If fans realized it was being sold into syndication months before the last broadcast, it may open a few eyes.

That was me who shared the ad. I did so because some folks like to collect such things.
I gave the same credit as you did when you posted it here.

[Bob Furmanek]

I didn't give any credit as I'm the one who found the ad and spent time cleaning it up in Photoshop!

It would have been appropriate to ask permission before sharing someone else's work. I had posted in that Facebook discussion but deleted the thread when the villagers stormed the castle.

[Keith Mayo]

I didn't give any credit as I'm the one who found the ad and spent time cleaning it up in Photoshop!

It would have been appropriate to ask permission before sharing someone else's work. I had posted in that Facebook discussion but deleted the thread when the villagers stormed the castle.

How were we to know that? It's not practical to expect me to know that without the information attached to the image. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings or break any rules.

[Bob Furmanek]

No hurt feelings but for me personally, I don't go on a message board, copy someone's image and share it elsewhere without asking first. It just seems a bit presumptuous?

[Keith Mayo]

I guess you created your avatar then.

[Bob Furmanek]

Created? No, but I found and scanned the original 35mm image and I own that scan. Now, if you can find another 35mm open-matte print with that French title overlay, you would have every right to copy and share it.

I wish you luck!

[Keith Mayo]

Thanks!

[Bob Furmanek]

My pleasure!

[robinboyblunderer]

Bob, thanks again. As usual, you hit it out of the park with your research.

Besides, at that point, I don't think you could have offered Adam enough money to do another season.

Plus, they had actual sets, not black limbo ones, so it's obvious they were spending whatever dough (zier) they had left. In other words, they knew the ax was coming.

Good point about the sets.

It makes the final episode even more disappointing, too bad they couldn't have a better script and some sense of a conclusion to the show in some way or another.

Maybe made a final two parter with the villains broken out of jail from the Cassandra episode and forget the invisible fight. Perhaps have them capture Robin and menace the city while Batman and Batgirl have to stop their crime wave, the Caped Crusader deduces Batgirl's identity but keeps it to himself out of respect for her, before a big finish and something more appropriate for "The End" instead of Gabor's posterior.

Oh well.

[elmrgraham]

I agree.

[Bob Furmanek]

For sure, Adam must have felt relieved with the cancellation of BATMAN. He made his feelings known publicly in Jim Bradford's syndicated column on December 31, 1967.

Batman Jim Bradford column 12.31.67.JPG (21.6 KiB) Viewed 5177 times

He spent the first half of 1968 dating his steady gal, Linda (High Chaparral) Cristel - there were rumors of marriage before splitting in May 1968; traveling to Uruguay and Venezuela for film festivals; skiing in Utah; boating on the West Wind and doing occasional TV work.

Cristel.JPG (54.63 KiB) Viewed 5177 times

He hosted a show called "Preview" on ABC which featured new trends in movies, music and fashion; appeared several times on the Hollywood Squares; fundraised with host Jerry Lewis on the Olympic Games Telethon and guested on the Joey Bishop and Pat Boone talk shows.

But the movie roles that he was eagerly anticipating were not developing too quickly. He finally accepted a stage role with a roadshow company of "Promises, Promises" and then landed the starring role in THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

Batman 5.14.68.JPG (34.55 KiB) Viewed 5177 times

In the meantime, the day after the final broadcast, William Dozier was looking forward to finally making some Bat-profits in syndication!