TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

[bat-rss]

We're back!

In this episode we discuss the board's own Bob Furmanek's research on the show's ratings and the Fourth season Myth; discuss how a "prince getting weighed" brings on a "Holy Deja Vu!"; review the first issue of "Batman Meets Godzilla"; and read your mail about our season three wrapup episode (which came out a million years ago)!

http://tothebatpoles.libsyn.com/129-the ... g-godzilla

[Ben Bentley]

Great to have you guys back! Looking forward to listening to this episode.

[Mr. Glee]

About the conflicting quotes regarding the series budget per episode, none of the figures mentioned quite match the figures that used to be available on the late, lamented "Bat Documents" website.

In the show's paperwork, the "series budget" for the 2nd season is cited variously as "$183,500" (for 2 half-hour episodes) and "$184,232." For the 3rd season, the figure I've seen cited is "$105,803" for each half-hour episode.

I don't know what the distinction is between "series budget" and "episode budget" (maybe the former is a target, and the latter is the actual final budget?) but here some figures pertaining to a couple of the 3-parters:

The Penguin & Marsha 3-parter: "series budget" = $276,350, "episode budget" = $310,302
The Egghead & Olga 3-parter: "series budget" = $315,599, "episode budget" = $317,055

[Mr. Glee]

Some info on the cost of 1st season episodes:

[Mr. Glee]

Looking over some of the Season 3 budget sheets, I noticed that if you subtract the figures for "General Overhead" and "Contract Overhead," the "Total Direct Cost" for the single S3 episodes averages around $90,000...not far off from Dozier's quoted figure of $87,000 per half-hour show.

[High C]

About the conflicting quotes regarding the series budget per episode, none of the figures mentioned quite match the figures that used to be available on the late, lamented "Bat Documents" website.

GREAT NEWS! Board member epaddon found it on the Internet Wayback Machine. And the links work!

https://web.archive.org/web/20150324075 ... eries.com/

For instance, I just discovered that Julie was ill during the filming of the Catwoman voice eraser arc, and that they had to 'shoot around' her illness. It put them 15-plus hours and $7K-plus over budget, and they were filing an insurance claim to try to recoup most of the lost dough (zier). This was from scan 1010.

[Lord Death Man]

Tim and Paul, I think the $487,000 typo in the Bat-Book might have happened because the dollar sign and the numeral 4 both use the same typewriter key-easy to get one when you wanted the other, or even a double strike with the key combined with a shift.

Also, a word on the Dozier treatment for "Batman Meets Godzilla"-no one knows who actually wrote the treatment, it is highly unlikely Sekizawa Shinichi was involved, or that Toho ever saw the treatment at all. There's an unsourced rumor that Sekizawa wrote a separate treatment for Toho that was alleged to have been submitted in 1965 (BEFORE the series premiered), but no one's ever laid eyes on this and the book that claims it existed is known to have a lot of unreliable information (I have the book, Japanese language, translates to Godzilla: Toho Unpublished Works). It was written almost five decades after the fact and was the first book to mention it, and we know what that means from an academic standpoint. A Japanese fan looking into the matter concluded that they had looked at a Japanese doujinshi (a fan produced effort) that was outlining a fantasy script they wanted to see, something not uncommon in Japanese fandom. At any rate, Toho has not been able to produce it. I guess we'll never know for sure unless someone finds a contemporary 1960's source for it, or Toho produces the treatment/script. I'm a Toho Certified Godzilla Expert (yes, that really is a thing) and also being a 66 Batman fan I've spent a good amount of time researching this.

I don't think I've ever sent you guys the Dozier treatment, but if you'd like to see it, send me a PM.

Also, some Japanese fans did a doujinshi based on the Dzozier treatment as well. I posted a couple of sample pages for it on a thread elsewhere on the board:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7312

[Mr. Glee]

Years back, a poster at the Toho Kingdm boards posted a link to a Japanese website that *supposedly* features images of two pages from a Toho script or treatment called "Batman Meets Godzilla." That link (www.cyberkids1954.com/toho_script.html) doesn't work anymore, but using the Wayback Machine, I was able to retrieve what I think are the pages mentioned. Judging by Lord Death Man's comments above, I'm guessing the authenticity of these pages is questionable at best, but for the record, here's a snapshot:

[Mr. Glee]

Also for the record, TK commenter SuperMonsterZero, who posted the link back in 2015, had this to say in his post on the subject:

"...scroll down and you'll find the section on Batman vs. Godzilla (バットマン対ゴジラ), including that low res page I mentioned, as well as the second half, plus pages from two later Batman vs. Godzilla screenplays handwritten by Shinichi Sekizawa (関沢新一)."

[Lord Death Man]

Yes, these were from a fan produced project in a doujin made in the wake of the two lines in the 2010 book. There are certain tells, especially for the “handwritten” one (not matching Sekizawa’s writing). There’s also the matter of Batgirl being included, supposedly in 1965. While it’s possible it could be the earlier Betty Kane version (which was actually Bat-Girl) used a couple of times, it would have been strange to not see the Kathy Kane Batwoman too. Thanks for finding them, Mr. Glee, I ran across that post awhile back but the links were already dead. I wondered if it might have been something new.

Later on I’ll take a shot of the page in Toho Unproduced Works that mentions the scripts, it lists it as both Batman vs Godzilla and Godzilla vs Batman.

[Lord Death Man]

So much for that-Barbara Gordon was stated to be Batgirl, not something you would have seen in November of 1965.

[Lord Death Man]

So here's the book with the J-treatment of Godzilla Vs. Batman ("Godzilla: Toho Tokusatsu Unpublished Works"...tokusatsu basically means special effects). The two Bat-scripts are highlighted in blue, they're the third and fourth from the left. No dates for either but they're located between 1964 and 1966. The treatment for Godzilla Vs. Batman is said to be written by Sekizawa Shinichi, handwritten, 59 pages at 200 kanji a page. Batman Vs. Godzilla is also supposedly by Sekizawa, typed, 38 pages. That's it-nothing is sourced. Unlike many of the other scripts listed in the book, no images or transcriptions of the script (many of the scripts like Bride of Godzilla or Asuka Fortress are reproduced in total with dozens of pages).

[High C]

Tim and Paul, thanks for another terrific Bat-History lesson, with a big assist from Bob Furmanek, of course. What surprised me, as it did in one of those previous threads, was the fact that the first Catwoman arc of season 2 tanked in the ratings, as did Archer. Greenway could rationalize Archer as a mistake, but when Julie failed to move the ratings needle, that must have been alarming to Dozier and Horwitz.

As for the segment formerly known as the Bat-Mailbag, thanks for considering my comments about Yvonne. It was an interesting idea by Paul to perhaps make her a full-time rival of The Duo, as opposed to only part of the time. That could have tapped into Craig's impish, mischievous side as an actress, as seen in Batgirl's bizarre but strangely compelling decision to spray Louie with mildew in his first arc.

[clavierankh]

$800,000 seems excessive for the Batcave set. Using an inflation calculator that's 6.5 million today. Considering the Batcomputers were reused props from Lost in Space and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea that I cant believe they spent close to that amount.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Tim & Paul--love the behind the scenes stuff.

I wonder if Craig took up that 4th season myth (and tweaked it over time) as a means of ego-protection? The longstanding belief was that Batgirl not only failed to be the catalyst for a ratings boost, but that the character was one of the central reasons for Batman's cancellation. Perhaps she helped push the 4th season myth as a way of saying "if NBC wanted he series, it means season 3--and Batgirl--must have been appealing enough for another season, and she did not play a part in getting the series axed".

In any case, I am glad that myth has been put to rest, as it never made sense to continue spending money on a TV series that was no longer appealing to audiences, or the network. NBC was not going to gain anything by adding Batman to their schedule. That, and by 1968, TV cartoons were doing a better job with superhero content than the Dozier series.