TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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bat-rss
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TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by bat-rss »

Image

New TO THE BATPOLES podcast: If the Shame arc is cowboy-themed, why does it have so many references to drag racing and surf music? We also touch on the mysterious Roy Gleason, several ways that times have changed since this one was shot, the problem of the cowboy being a bad guy, and THE one and only Little Old Lady from Pasedena!

Also: Why watching Batman is educational!

http://tothebatpoles.libsyn.com/043-sha ... d-hot-rods
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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clavierankh
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by clavierankh »

I always assumed Grimaldi Smith was a play on Parnelli Jones, a famous race car driver and winner of the Indy 500 in the 60s.

For a long time I didn't get Alfred saying Bruce had an appointment with Mr. Red Ameche. I found out that in 1939 Don Ameche starred in "The Alexander Graham Bell Story" According to IMDB for a time after that The Ameche was a nickname for the telephone. So Alfred is saying Red Phone.
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bat-rss
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by bat-rss »

clavierankh wrote:I always assumed Grimaldi Smith was a play on Parnelli Jones, a famous race car driver and winner of the Indy 500 in the 60s.

For a long time I didn't get Alfred saying Bruce had an appointment with Mr. Red Ameche. I found out that in 1939 Don Ameche starred in "The Alexander Graham Bell Story" According to IMDB for a time after that The Ameche was a nickname for the telephone. So Alfred is saying Red Phone.
Parnelli Jones makes much more sense as the real-world counterpart of Grimaldi Smith! I've never really been into car racing, so wasn't aware of him.

And the "red" part of "Red Ameche" was pretty obvious, but I was baffled by the Ameche part. Totally makes sense. Thanks!
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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Mr. Deathtrap
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by Mr. Deathtrap »

Citizens and Podcasters,

I enjoyed your analysis of this oddball story that begins plumbing the Western genre. I missed many of the references with the exceptions of "Little Old Lady From Passadena" and "The Court Jester" and generally enjoyed this story.

BTW: Glynis Johns also appears in "The Court Jester".

Additionally, The Piano Guys do a number called "Batman Evolution" that starts with the Hefti theme, moves on the Danny Elfman's music and concludes with the theme used in the Nolan films.

I hope this is helpful.

Mr. Deathtrap
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by Dr. Shimel »

SHIM-el, not Shi-mel. :lol:
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Mr. Deathtrap
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by Mr. Deathtrap »

Citizens,

Here is a link to The Piano Guys "Batman Evolution"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpG58dKqI-o

Mr. Deathtrap
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bat-rss
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by bat-rss »

Mr. Deathtrap, Thanks!

Dr. SHIM-el, noted!
"I'm half-demented with whimsical outrage!"
-- The Joker, in a line cut from "The Joker's Epitaph"
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Ben Bentley
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by Ben Bentley »

bat-rss wrote: New TO THE BATPOLES podcast: If the Shame arc is cowboy-themed, why does it have so many references to drag racing and surf music?
Regarding the hot-rod theme to this story - My understanding had always been based on the lateral progression from the actual horses that cowboys of the old west would have ridden translating logically to "horse-power" in a contemporary context. Although by this point in the run of show, he would not have been the first arch-villain to have traversed Gotham City on horseback, but I do feel that we might have foreshadowed what would go on to be third season-esque levels of parody if Stanley Ralph Ross had gone down that route. Shame specifically makes reference to a previous encounter with the Dynamic Duo in which the Batmobile's formidable speed had assisted greatly in his down fall on that occasion. Factor in then the popularity and the degree to which LA's car culture throughout the 1950's and into the 1960's had permiated the zeitgeist and it doesn't feel like much of a leap to see how Ross gathered these components to try and create a cowboy story for not just a new arc but also a brand new villain that otherwise could have covered some seriously well-trodden territory of the TV western. All of this being said, it's then hard to justify what could be easily described as laziness in "prize cattle" being the final caper of this arc. I think your description of this two-parter's sitcom qualities hit the nail squarely on the head. The finesse of a Semple script (or even a script Semple had polished) is further and further in the rear-view mirror for the most-part during this swollen second season. Dialogue like "Maxwell Smart" exchange that you alluded to is indicative of the type of interactions that Charles Hoffman would let fly that simply would have been inconceivable on Lorenzo's watch during the first season.

Another interesting episode/discussion on the whole, I enjoy on a bizarre level when one of you enjoys an arc far more than the other for some reason.
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES podcast -- Shame: Blazing Guns and Hot Rods

Post by Golddragon71 »

Batman's misquote is particularly funny when you consider that he (as Bruce Wayne) corrects Bookworm in the end of that arc after Bookworm has already corrected Lydia on that "Best Laid Schemes" quote.
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