"Myths" Surrounding The Show

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Commodore Schmidlapp
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Commodore Schmidlapp »

Dan E Kool wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:14 am
I'm surprised that stereotypes like this are still common. A bodybuilder can quote Shakespeare just as well as anyone else. Maybe spend some time in your local gym. I think you'll find that many of the most muscular guys and gals are often doctors and lawyers who aren't lacking in the brains department whatsoever.
In my gym, some of the most fit and athletic guys and gals can quote Shakespeare; but the most muscular are much more how Progress Pigment described them.

And it sounds very naive that you are surprised such stereotypes are still common. Why do people find humor making fun of so-called broscience? Because anyone that goes to a gym has experienced these knuckleheads multiple times.

Why do national gym chains enact guidelines to attract members that discourage typical gym-dude behavior? Because anyone that has been to a gym has been around them and the overwhelming majority don't like them.

If you want Batman to look like a cartoon character, that's fine. But my preference, and seemingly the directors', was that he looked more like a normal, fit man in his thirties.

Guys with 'show muscles' spend an inordinate amount of time maintaining their physiques, in addition to dehydrating and prepping days in advance of photo shoots and contests. Their peak aesthetics are not sustainable year round, so Bruce would just have to hope the Batphone doesn't ring when he's not in prime form.

And besides, many of the best athletes in the world are not the aesthetic physical specimens most men want comic book superheros to look like. The reigning AL MVP, Jose Altuve, is 5'6, 165 lbs. The best hockey player on the planet, Connor McDavid, is an ectomorph (6'1, 192 lbs.).

I would say a good modern day comparison to West's Batman is Tom Brady. 6/4, 225 lbs. and looks like this.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:18 pm
The Green Hornet[/i] was cancelled after the most dismal ratings ABC TV had ever seen?
Not even close to historically accurate. ABC was in last place among the networks for several years before 1966, with a number of series facing cancellation, whether they were on for one or more seasons, with TGH nowhere near your wild fantasy claim. I know you are very West-defensive, but posts like that in the quote just invalidate your arguments. Regarding fitness, visual evidence cannot be denied: Williams was in superior shape to West while both were Greenway employees (which was the point all along)--

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--and in the decades since, other actors who were cast Wayne/Batman were also in superior shape by a country mile--

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Argue all you want, but history and evidiece in plain sight will not be erased or altered to come up with a different result.
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chrisbcritter
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by chrisbcritter »

Progress Pigment wrote: Williams with Robert Wagner! :) At least Wagner isn't taking it seriously.
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Van looks amazingly like Jeffrey Hunter in that shot.
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Scott Sebring
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Scott Sebring »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:53 am whether they were on for one or more seasons, with TGH nowhere near your wild fantasy claim. I know you are very West-defensive, but posts like that in the quote just invalidate your arguments.
***Admin note***
This is NOT how we debate on the board. Debate about the topic itself but not how the person words their point or about the poster themselves. Try doing it without using forms of "you."
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Scott, I belived I avoided the insults such as PP's--
This is a stupid argument. But hey, I had it with fanboy fat guys in ponytails & army jackets in comic shops way back in 1989 when pipe-cleaner armed Michael Keaton WAS their Batman, and am just as happy to have it now with remnants of those same guys who have apparently reached portly, giggly middle-age. Do you boys own mirrors?
--and focused on the subject or the heart of the arguments. My apologies if I strayed from that.
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Dan E Kool
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Dan E Kool »

Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:27 pmThis is a stupid argument. But hey, I had it with fanboy fat guys in ponytails & army jackets in comic shops way back in 1989 when pipe-cleaner armed Michael Keaton WAS their Batman, and am just as happy to have it now with remnants of those same guys who have apparently reached portly, giggly middle-age. Do you boys own mirrors?
Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:52 pmMost muscular guys and gals are most often waiters or trainers. Gear-heads are largely idiots.
Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:18 pmCould Van "addicted to mashed potatoes" Williams, 5 yrs younger than West in 1979 pull it off any better? Did Van open a pie shop in his home after The Green Hornet was cancelled after the most dismal ratings ABC TV had ever seen? Did he get into speed eating competitions in the 70's/80's? Did he ingest more hotdogs than Takeru Kobayashi? His belly and his CHIN says yes
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Commodore Schmidlapp wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:37 pmIf you want Batman to look like a cartoon character, that's fine. But my preference, and seemingly the directors', was that he looked more like a normal, fit man in his thirties.

Guys with 'show muscles' spend an inordinate amount of time maintaining their physiques, in addition to dehydrating and prepping days in advance of photo shoots and contests. Their peak aesthetics are not sustainable year round, so Bruce would just have to hope the Batphone doesn't ring when he's not in prime form.
Looking through my previous comments, I really don't see why you're under the impression that I want a "cartoon character" as Batman. My only opinion was that Adam West was decidedly unmuscular (normal) and that a more muscular Batman would have worked on the show. Not that it was necessary or even that it would or wouldn't have made the show better, just that it would have worked.

An actor can keep a muscular physique without going through all the things that professional bodybuilders do for a contest. Again, Bruce Lee is an example of someone doing just that and he doesn't look out of place in the Green Hornet. I'm trying not to repeat myself, but somehow I feel like what I'm saying is being misunderstood. :?

Putting any bias against bodybuilders and weightlifters aside, I think we can agree that if a muscular millionaire playboy spends his nights fighting crime while wearing a cape and cowl, his physique is the least unusual thing about him... That's just how superheroes usually look.
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Keith Mayo
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Keith Mayo »

The Batphone said: "Well first, I really apologize if my post seemed rude or offensive....".

No worries, Batphone!

To your question about Burt's many injuries, all I can say is this:

1. I've read/seen a lot of interviews with cast members and production folks and pretty much all of them mention Burt's penchant for whining about just about anything. This is not that strange as he was very young and inexperienced at the time. We've all been there at some point in our lives.

2. If we judge Burt's forthrightness by the book he wrote, I'd say it's safe to say he tends to exaggerate. :-)


Ok...…………………….what's the next "myth" we're gonna bust wide open?
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Keith Mayo
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Keith Mayo »

Scott Sebring wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:21 am
BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:53 am Try doing it without using forms of "you."
I know you're being very serious, but now I can't get a scene from "An Officer and A Gentleman" out of my head. Gunny Foley's use of the time honored and well used "Did you just call me a ewe, boy?!?!?!?!", and of course the discussion of animal husbandry that naturally follows. :-)
"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
Jthree
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Jthree »

There was myth about an unproduced Stanley Ralph Ross CW script that has never been verified or denied

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vintagematt
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by vintagematt »

Keith Mayo wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:18 pm

To your question about Burt's many injuries, all I can say is this:

1. I've read/seen a lot of interviews with cast members and production folks and pretty much all of them mention Burt's penchant for whining about just about anything. This is not that strange as he was very young and inexperienced at the time. We've all been there at some point in our lives.

2. If we judge Burt's forthrightness by the book he wrote, I'd say it's safe to say he tends to exaggerate. :-)


Ok...…………………….what's the next "myth" we're gonna bust wide open?
Ok thanks for clearing things, and interesting about the remarks the fellow crew members made, I think they touched upon that in another documentary I watched on the show, although they didn't outright say he was whiny...I think it was one on the biography channel...
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Dan E Kool wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:58 am
Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:27 pmThis is a stupid argument. But hey, I had it with fanboy fat guys in ponytails & army jackets in comic shops way back in 1989 when pipe-cleaner armed Michael Keaton WAS their Batman, and am just as happy to have it now with remnants of those same guys who have apparently reached portly, giggly middle-age. Do you boys own mirrors?
Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 5:52 pmMost muscular guys and gals are most often waiters or trainers. Gear-heads are largely idiots.
Progress Pigment wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2018 10:18 pmCould Van "addicted to mashed potatoes" Williams, 5 yrs younger than West in 1979 pull it off any better? Did Van open a pie shop in his home after The Green Hornet was cancelled after the most dismal ratings ABC TV had ever seen? Did he get into speed eating competitions in the 70's/80's? Did he ingest more hotdogs than Takeru Kobayashi? His belly and his CHIN says yes
Dan E Kool wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:58 amImage
Agreed.
Looking through my previous comments, I really don't see why you're under the impression that I want a "cartoon character" as Batman. My only opinion was that Adam West was decidedly unmuscular (normal) and that a more muscular Batman would have worked on the show. Not that it was necessary or even that it would or wouldn't have made the show better, just that it would have worked.
You are correct. It would have worked because the comics established Bruce Wayne training his body beyond the average man, which means he will not look like a guy in moderately "ok" shape or soft to any degree.
An actor can keep a muscular physique without going through all the things that professional bodybuilders do for a contest. Again, Bruce Lee is an example of someone doing just that and he doesn't look out of place in the Green Hornet. I'm trying not to repeat myself, but somehow I feel like what I'm saying is being misunderstood. :?
That's i posted the Williams/Lee photos--any actor can achieve muscular build, even though they are not a professional bodybuilder. It was obviulsy possible in the 60s, and we see it in this modern age with Bale and Affleck as Bruce Wayne.
Putting any bias against bodybuilders and weightlifters aside, I think we can agree that if a muscular millionaire playboy spends his nights fighting crime while wearing a cape and cowl, his physique is the least unusual thing about him... That's just how superheroes usually look.
Yep. Its expected. No one would fear a guy looking no more fit than the average guy who might toss the ball around in the park on weekends.
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Dr. Shimel »

There's always the Julie didn't appear in S3 because of McKenna's Gold myth...

The "Batman is fat" was actually used as an early Joker insult: "Fatman and Boy Blunder"
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Keith Mayo
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Keith Mayo »

Dr. Shimel wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:02 pm There's always the Julie didn't appear in S3 because of McKenna's Gold myth...

The "Batman is fat" was actually used as an early Joker insult: "Fatman and Boy Blunder"

An earlier discussion of this subject: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=860
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Dr. Shimel wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:02 pm There's always the Julie didn't appear in S3 because of McKenna's Gold myth...

The "Batman is fat" was actually used as an early Joker insult: "Fatman and Boy Blunder"
Or, MAD magazine's "Bats-Man" satire, and common to MAD's brand of it, artists would accentuate traits or features that were already a part of the subject, such as Batman's gut, (or Chief O'Hara's nose), lending support to the idea that West having somewhat of a gut dates back to the ABC years of the show--

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Progress Pigment
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Re: "Myths" Surrounding The Show

Post by Progress Pigment »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:01 pm
Dr. Shimel wrote: Thu Aug 30, 2018 6:02 pm There's always the Julie didn't appear in S3 because of McKenna's Gold myth...

The "Batman is fat" was actually used as an early Joker insult: "Fatman and Boy Blunder"
Or, MAD magazine's "Bats-Man" satire, and common to MAD's brand of it, artists would accentuate traits or features that were already a part of the subject, such as Batman's gut, (or Chief O'Hara's nose), lending support to the idea that West having somewhat of a gut dates back to the ABC years of the show--
Nice try BWH. :) "Fatman" was used on the show because it obviously wasn't true. Would West have stood for it otherwise? No, because he was secure about his level of fitness. MAD made muscular & fit Burt Ward into a scrawny little twerp. Was that accurate? What's the word? Reaching? Has desperation set in? And to me that looks exactly like Stafford Repp. The man had a nose like a shoe! How was MAD's take on "The Green Hornet?" Oh wait, it was never an important enough series for MAD to do a parody of! How Would MAD have portrayed them? We'll never know. Because no one cared!
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