Why didn't Julie appear in season 3?

[AndyFish]

You're right-- in the Cassandra episode it's Julie's stunt double not Eartha's. I've always thought Eartha was just a fill in for the real Catwoman who was off doing dastardly things. While I've nothing against her, I just found her take boring and place her after Julie and Lee.

Taking it further still-- it's a shame they didn't bring in Lee for Season Three. I know she was doing THE TIME TUNNEL nearby but honestly I think she's as good as Julie was. I prefer the dark hair which matches the comics too. She was a bit more menacing and better than Julie was in her Season 2 episodes-- likely no fault of hers, more blame falls to the writers.

[AndyFish]

The official line at the time, at least according to VARIETY which initially announced in April 1966 that Julie was signed for the movie, was that a back injury would have her sitting out the film and causing them to recast last minute with Lee. The movie was already filming around the Catwoman scenes. Lee was literally hired and then costumed and put in front of the cameras in a matter of days, according to Lee.

[dell]

Poor Eartha Kitt. She gets no respect for her brilliant stand in as Catwoman in the third season. Her performance was absolutely purrrrrfect!

As a kid I didn't like Eartha as Catwoman mainly because she wasn't Julie. As an adult I appreciate her performance because she wasn't the lovesick Catwoman that we saw in several season 2 episodes. Eartha plays the nasty, cruel Catwoman as well as Julie did in season 1. Hampered with season 3 scripts and budgets, Eatha's episodes aren't as good as Julie's season 1 episodes, but there is nothing lacking in Eartha's performance. Well done Ms. Kitt, well done!

[Aussie Batfan]

And I've always wondered if they couldn't get Julie (for whatever reason...), why the producers didn't get Lee to reprise the role...
Terry

[chetchumley]

to this day I still would have loved to see JULIE in the "66" movie !! nothing against lee ,,,just prefer the originals !!

[Pengy]

I would have loved to have seen Julie along side Burgess, Cesar, and Frank. She never got to work with any of them in the show.

[Yellow Oval]

Regarding season 3, maybe Julie and Lee had advance access to some of the scripts? I wouldn't blame them if they both said something like "Oh, I have to wash my hair, Mr. Dozier, and it'll take all of next season!"

[Aussie Batfan]

Here's another thought about Julie doing the movie...
Wouldn't she have towered over Cesar, Burgess and Frank height-wise??
Next to her, Burgess wouuld definitely have looked like the Penguin!
Terry
PS Sorry Andy, regarding my previous post about Lee's involvement for Season 3, I read your explanation that she was filming The Time Tunnel at the time. My Bad!!

[Aussie Batfan]

And one last observation.... (so he says!)
I believe Lee got the best opportunity to show the most depth of character as Catwoman, compared to Julie and Eartha. The onscreen time in the movie gave her plenty of range to work with - particularly playing the ater ego as well as the villain.
Cheers,
Terry

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Taking it further still-- it's a shame they didn't bring in Lee for Season Three. I know she was doing THE TIME TUNNEL nearby but honestly I think she's as good as Julie was. I prefer the dark hair which matches the comics too. She was a bit more menacing and better than Julie was in her Season 2 episodes-- likely no fault of hers, more blame falls to the writers.

Lee had already appeared in the very late S2 Tut episodes, "King Tut's Coup" / Batman's Waterloo" as Lisa Carson, so she was probably too fresh to audiences to turn around and play Catwoman again. Then, there's the belief (in some circles) that Lee's movie Catwoman was not so well received--especially in the wake of Julie's best CW performance / debut happening only a few months earlier. If that was true, it would not be a surprise Dozier and Co. would never ask Lee back for CW.

[Progress Pigment]

Here's another thought about Julie doing the movie...
Wouldn't she have towered over Cesar, Burgess and Frank height-wise??

Another thought? Not a great thought. Everyone towered over Frank height-wise! Except Burgess & Burt Ward. Cesar Romero?! Are you kidding? He was one of the tallest leading men of his era! The man is listed at 6'2" at the time of his death as a man in his 80's. And probably more like 6'3" or 6'4" at the time of Batman! He appeared to be a couple of inches taller than Adam West in their scenes. See the height chart in "The Joker Goes to School". In that he's just under 6′ 6″! Adam West was a solid 6'2", but Julie looked him eye to eye, in her Catwoman heels. She is listed online at 5′ 11″. My height! Very tall for a woman in 1966, but I don't see her "towering" over Cesar Romero.. By today's standards, she would be just above average. But she was and probably still is, very erect. That helped. She was certainly an original.

[AndyFish]

Cesar was a very tall man. He stood toe to toe with a good friend of mine who is 6'5" and they were equal.
I met Frank and he was considerably shorter than me (5'10"). I never met Burgess but he looked to be Frank's height.

I don't think Lee's Catwoman was poorly received but that could certainly explain it. I think it's more likely they wanted someone who was a closer match to Yvonne who was also not very tall, which ushers in Eartha.

Regardless, Julie at her best can't be touched as Catwoman, in some of the lesser episodes I'd say Lee eclipses her performance and Eartha did her own thing. Three very different Catwomen, much the same way we have Three very different Mister Freeze's.

I think Dozier should have just changed out the villain if the actor wasn't available. So many great Batman villains that never appeared on the show-- Hugo Strange, Clayface I and II, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Catman-- so many opportunities, much like the reworked Riddler script into a Puzzler script.

[Larry A.]

I hate to "Monday Morning Quarterback" but I have to say that I greatly agree with You Andy. It would have given a number of the comic book villains a chance, although I don't quite see Hugo Strange fit in with the slightly zaniness the show showed occasionally. I tend to see him as more of a proper fit with the newer version of Batman. Two Face on the other hand......3 words....Tommy Lee Jones.....a perfect fit in terms of characterization. I admit to being disappointed in Maurice Evans(?) A The Puzzler. Even as a kid, He just didn't seem to have what it took to be a menace, unlike the late Great Frank who could scare the Yell out of me even as a mid teen with his laugh. Imagine Frank in "The Shining"..."Herrrrre's Johnny!!!' ( maniacal laugh).

[elmrgraham]

Eartha Kitt was Purrfect as the third Catwoman.

[Dr. Shimel]

I don't think Lee's Catwoman was poorly received but that could certainly explain it. I think it's more likely they wanted someone who was a closer match to Yvonne who was also not very tall, which ushers in Eartha.

In her last role before Batman, Eartha had played a contributor to the Mission Impossible team whose small size allows her to sneak through the ventilation system of a Communist embassy to steal top-secret plans.

Regarding why Lee wasn't considered: It also might be the case that the movie only did "good" box office as opposed to being a massive blockbuster, which might have (wrongly) reflected on Lee's performance.

Finally, Eartha had to take the character in a different direction, since we're talking about 1967-68. There's no way ABC would have allowed the "shocking" interplay for Eartha and Adam that Adam and Julie had enjoyed, especially considering the show was fading. By that point, Dozier's only concern was getting enough episodes for syndication, so he was happy to toe the line--especially since this was a guy born in 1908.