TO THE BATPOLES #193: Batman - Star Trek ACT-OFF, pt. 1

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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bat-rss
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TO THE BATPOLES #193: Batman - Star Trek ACT-OFF, pt. 1

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Two of the most iconic American TV shows of the 1960s are BATMAN and STAR TREK. A surprising number of actors appeared on both shows, either as regulars, recurring characters, or one-shot roles. This sounds like an interesting topic, but how do we get it into our show? What we settled on was to put these actors in March Madness-type brackets and pit them against each other. On which show did a given actor give the better performance? And how does their performance stack up against one of the other actors’?

For part one of this exercise, we compare Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones on TREK, Captain Courageous on BATMAN) to Julie Newmar (Eleen on TREK, Catwoman on BATMAN), and Joan Collins (Edith Keeler on TREK, the Siren on BATMAN) to Yvonne Craig (Marta on TREK, Batgirl on BATMAN). We’re joined in this exercise by our childhood friend Kyle, who grew up a TREK fan.

PLUS: the Chuck Cirino version of the theme, Adam and Burt on the Merv Griffin Show in 1966, and we read your mail!

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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #193: Batman - Star Trek ACT-OFF, pt. 1

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Interesting format, guys, but I'm going to guess Star Trek will end up the big winner when all is said and done.

About Newmar appearing on Star Trek: I found her performance—going from dismissive and regal, to somber (and with an accent) to be Newmar eagerly meeting the challenge to portray anyone that bore no resemblance to Catwoman. As Tim mentioned, by the time “Friday’s Child” aired, Newmar was several months removed from her final Catwoman appearance, so its clear that in taking on a role on one of more serious prime-time dramas of that decade, she had moved on.

On a personal note, during the 70s, when I would see former Batman guest actors in other roles, I was never disappointed, as I simply did not have the expectation of a Newmar, Romero, Meredith, et al., channeling their Batman roles, nor did I want to see that. Batman was just one recurring guest star job for Newmar—not the template and/or guidepost for all that she would do post Spring 1967, so I only judged her post-Catwoman performances on how effective she was in the role, not how they were still playing variations of that one part over and over again.

Yvonne Craig: Well, you know I’m not really a fan of Batgirl, so by default any other performance is superior to Sass-Girl.

Kyle: you mentioned that Craig’s Marta was a “stereotyped sex symbol”--sort of suggesting that the director / producers were milking her dance scene, but you have to remember, the Marta character was an Orion slave girl, who were supposed to be highly sexual in nature (established in the series’ 1st pilot, “The Cage” and in that pilot’s footage used in the two-part “The Menagerie”), so her behavior and dancing were not played up as a hook for the viewers, but consistent with how the species behaved.

Joan Collins: She made the Siren her own, and the only 3rd season main villain of note, but her part as Edith Keeler is one of her best—if not the best role of her long career. More than being what would be just a tragic figure (as the story unfolded), there was so much to her, from her beliefs about human potential, her uncanny insight about how close Kirk and Spock were, to being a very magnetic presence. If anyone would have been a focal point in history, it was easy to see how Edith Keeler would have naturally fit that monumental role to time and fate.

Stanley Adams: Cyrano Jones. No contest. Easily wins it over the “fat, blowhard cop” stereotype from Batman. Adams would return to Star Trek as Jones in 1973 – lending his voice to the Star Trek – the animated series’ sequel episode, “More Tribbles, More Troubles”.
Beneath Wayne Manor
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