TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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bat-rss
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TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by bat-rss »

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At the height of Batmania in the first half of 1966, nearly every press outlet found it necessary to do a feature story on the phenomenon. But many in the media were not terribly impressed by Batman, so these articles tend to look down their noses at the show. One such example is “Has TV Gone Batty?”, an article by John Skow in the May 7, 1966, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Aside from the snark, and misinformed discussion of camp, the article gives us some interesting insights into the shooting of the show and the thoughts of Adam West, William Dozier, Lorenzo Semple Jr, and others involved in making it. This time, we dig into this article.

PLUS: the Guy with an Amazing Hat version of the theme, more from Adam West’s July 24, 1997, appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and your mail responding to several of our recent episodes!

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"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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Scott Sebring
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by Scott Sebring »

Fun listen, guys. Pretty wild how many reporters/ journalists were quite dismissive of fun entertainment around that decade and the previous. I always thought the host of Telescope, Fletcher Markle that interviewed William Dozier was a bit of a pompous, blowhard snob that looked down his nose at theses type of shows but the more I've watched coverage by the "real journalism" media of the day and interviews with celebs, directors and writers, it becomes clear that there seemed to be a possible unspoken agreement that fun, silliness and comedy was for kids and low intellect and romance was just for girls and women because they're simple and frivolous that way ( insert groan here). Of course this also comes from the day and age when reporters were perceived and portrayed as the no nonsense story breakers getting to the heart of the truth to the human condition and heroic messengers. They liked those kinds of movies and TV shows. ;)
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Mr. Glee
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by Mr. Glee »

I haven't had a chance to listen to the show yet, but the subject made me think of this Hal Humphrey column in which Buck Henry weighed in on BATMAN:
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BiffPow
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by BiffPow »

I remember some critics were also snarky about “the Man from U.N.C.L.E.” when it first aired.
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bat-rss
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by bat-rss »

I didn't get around to mentioning it on the podcast, but it reminds me of how the press at the time regarded the Beatles, especially in the Beatlemania era. The Fab Four got a ton of snark sent their way.
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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Scott Sebring
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by Scott Sebring »

bat-rss wrote: Thu May 04, 2023 11:49 pm I didn't get around to mentioning it on the podcast, but it reminds me of how the press at the time regarded the Beatles, especially in the Beatlemania era. The Fab Four got a ton of snark sent their way.
Exactly.
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BiffPow
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by BiffPow »

Connery as Bond in “Goldfinger”:

“My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done, such as drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.”
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #203: “Has TV gone batty?” Snarky press coverage from 1966

Post by bat-rss »

I'm interested in Humphrey's characterization of "sophisticates." I would guess he considered himself one. Seems as though a lot of journalists of the time thought of themselves that way. Not an unknown quality in the field today, either, but seems to have been worse in the era when it was almost entirely white men doing the writing.
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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