Anyone Who You Think SHOULDN'T Have Been on the Show?

[epaddon]

Is there a reason why a post clearly meant for the "Did anyone ever notice" thread ended up in this one?

[Gorshin Romero]

I didn't care for John Astin as the Riddler either. The episode was funny, and John Astin is a talented performer, but I see Gomez Addams or Evil Roy Slade when I think of him; I DO NOT think of the Riddler since Frank Gorshin owned that character, in my opinion. IN fact, I'll say the same thing about Maurice Evans as the Puzzler.

I don't have the same negativity toward Miss Tallulah Bankhead as several other posters here do, but I do agree that either Barbara Stanwyck or Gale Sondergaard would have been more enjoyable in that role.

I've said before that I hated the Lord Pfogg and Lady Peasoup three-parter, so in my opinion that whole thing could have been scratched. That said, had Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and Stanley Ralph Ross wanted to do a British villain, then I prefer that they would have used Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, or Basil Rathbone (had he been able to do it before passing) in that role rather than Rudy Vallee.

I didn't mind Michael Rennie as the Sandman, but I still wish that at some point the original script that had been written with Robert Morley in mind would still have been filmed eventually.

Note: Some friends of mine had suggested that had the show continued running, that Ra's al Ghul should have been played by Christopher Lee, but they add the caveat that the show would have had to have taken a darker and more serious turn for that to happen. For that matter, I would have enjoyed seeing Peter Cushing play some type of mad scientist role, but alas, these are only fantasies.

[Progress Pigment]

Note: Some friends of mine had suggested that had the show continued running, that Ra's al Ghul should have been played by Christopher Lee, but they add the caveat that the show would have had to have taken a darker and more serious turn for that to happen. For that matter, I would have enjoyed seeing Peter Cushing play some type of mad scientist role, but alas, these are only fantasies.

That's fantastic! Makes me wonder if Neal Adams had him in mind when he drafted the character.



Oh, and Barbara Rush should never have been on the show. Nora Clavicle was another low point for the series. it might've worked if they'd made her just absolutely crazy (like she looks in the pic below), and Batman (for once in season 3) sane. With no human knot & no recorder playing.

[Gorshin Romero]

I actually thought the idea of women's libbers taking over the police department and relieving Commissioner Gordon & Chief O'Hara of their duties was a pretty funny idea. I liked the bank robbery where the female bank guard and the robbers were talking about recipes. That said, yeah, there certainly was more that could have been done with that episode, and Barbara Rush did not do it for me. Perhaps Jane Fonda could have done a better job in that role.

[Gorshin Romero]

Progress Pigment: Perhaps Christopher Lee was the inspiration for Ra's al Ghul; I don't know. Great photo you have of him! What's that from?

[Progress Pigment]

Progress Pigment: Perhaps Christopher Lee was the inspiration for Ra's al Ghul; I don't know. Great photo you have of him! What's that from?

It's from a film called The Devil Rides Out (1968). If I remember correctly it was almost like a precursor to "The Exorcist". Someone on a comics board posted the pic, commenting that Lee would've made a great Dr. Strange!



And someone else said Lee & Cushing would've been perfect as Magneto & Dr. Xavier! Now that's inspired casting! But back on topic. Either of these actors would've been fabulous in place of Maurice Evans! I'd 86 Maurice. They could've dropped the Shakespeare stuff and just made "The Puzzler" incredibly menacing. Maybe even having him make snide comments about The Riddler. Just imagine. That could've been great.

[epaddon]

Perhaps Jane Fonda could have done a better job in that role.

Actually, this being the BP (before Political) days of Jane, she would have been better cast IMO as Batgirl!

[WayneGrayson]

Shelley Winters as Ma Parker - stupid villain, stupid plot line - AARRRRGGHH. She was a great actress otherwise, but,,,,,,

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Minerva: horrible. Insulting the intelligence of the audience by thinking everyone was fascinated by a non-actress playing on her faux celebrity / "dahhling" schtick.

Louie: Berle's version of a gangster was only slightly more convincing than Riff Raff, the wolf-gangster from the Underdog cartoon.

Nora Clavicle: misogynistic writers trying to vent their hang-ups via a terrible misandrist character. The so-called plot made as much sense as that of Plan 9 From Outer Space..minus the laughs. A complete waste of the talented, lovely Barbara Rush.

Lola Lasagne: Just no. Once again, allowing performers to play their own "character" instead of one created for the series.

[Ricky]

I have never been a fan of Louie The Lilac. Especially his second caper. Was nothing exciting about him he basically could have been just a simple goon for me.

I wouldn't have minded Shame not appearing in the series. Personally never been interested in anything Cowboy/Wild West related and just found the character incredibly slow and irritating.

[Progress Pigment]

I wouldn't have minded Shame not appearing in the series. Personally never been interested in anything Cowboy/Wild West related and just found the character incredibly slow and irritating.

I think they almost had to have a cowboy character. There were still a ton of cowboys on TV in 1967, so it probably made sense at the time. Shame however, was not the cowboy the series needed. Better than Art Carney's take on Robin Hood, but not by much. That said, Cliff Robertson was the only major film star still in his prime in 1967, to appear on the series. Vincent Price and Roddy McDowell were both still ticket selling stars, but not of his stature. He was a brilliant actor, and apparently became fairly close friends with Adam West. The other thing I like, you can see a cowboy in the opening credits! And everything goes full circle.

[Dr. Shimel]

I wouldn't have minded Shame not appearing in the series. Personally never been interested in anything Cowboy/Wild West related and just found the character incredibly slow and irritating.

I think they almost had to have a cowboy character. There were still a ton of cowboys on TV in 1967, so it probably made sense at the time. Shame however, was not the cowboy the series needed. Better than Art Carney's take on Robin Hood, but not by much. That said, Cliff Robertson was the only major film star still in his prime in 1967, to appear on the series. Vincent Price and Roddy McDowell were both still ticket selling stars, but not of his stature. He was a brilliant actor, and apparently became fairly close friends with Adam West. The other thing I like, you can see a cowboy in the opening credits! And everything goes full circle.

Cliff won the Oscar for Best Actor ("Charly") in 1968--though it was awarded in April 1969.

[epaddon]

In all likelihood, if ABC hadn't debuted the series "Shane" in the 1966-67 season, the character of Shame probably never appears at all. Keep in mind how the casting of Eric Shea to do the parody line "Come back Shame" was a purposeful in-joke based on the fact his brother Christopher was playing the role in the TV series and uttering the original "Come back Shane!" line.

[Dr. Shimel]

In all likelihood, if ABC hadn't debuted the series "Shane" in the 1966-67 season, the character of Shame probably never appears at all. Keep in mind how the casting of Eric Shea to do the parody line "Come back Shame" was a purposeful in-joke based on the fact his brother Christopher was playing the role in the TV series and uttering the original "Come back Shane!" line.

ABC use their most popular show to hype one of their new shows? When did they ever do that?

*Milton Berle
*Howard Duff
*Van Williams & Bruce Lee

[Bat-Tiger]

Minerva: horrible. Insulting the intelligence of the audience by thinking everyone was fascinated by a non-actress playing on her faux celebrity / "dahhling" schtick.

Louie: Berle's version of a gangster was only slightly more convincing than Riff Raff, the wolf-gangster from the Underdog cartoon.

Nora Clavicle: misogynistic writers trying to vent their hang-ups via a terrible misandrist character. The so-called plot made as much sense as that of Plan 9 From Outer Space..minus the laughs. A complete waste of the talented, lovely Barbara Rush.

Lola Lasagne: Just no. Once again, allowing performers to play their own "character" instead of one created for the series.

Pretty much sums up the episodes I didn't like. I think Milton Berle's Louie could have been greatly improved by a better script.

I didn't much care for the Black Widow episodes either, how does everyone feel about Julie Christie as a replacement?