Season Three One-Shot Most Worthy of Another Episode

[LittleLouisGroovy]

You know the drill...

I've included Olga on this poll because, in spite of appearing in two separate adventures, those adventures were conceived and filmed as a single three-part production that was later split up for broadcast.

I've also made an allowance for The Siren, who is technically not a one-shot villain because she appeared in two separate productions.

However, I'm sure many of you will agree that this poll would be much less compelling without these two women!

As with the previous polls, I look forward to seeing how you vote and to reading your comments.

[elmrgraham]

The Siren.

[Edward Nigma]

Of the choices, Siren is the obvious pick.

Why didn't Calamity Jan get a nod in the poll? I would have liked to have seen her and the rest of the Shame gang (Frontier Fanny, Chief Standing Pat and, best of all, FRED) come back!!!

[Dr. Shimel]

It'll definitely be a rout in favor of Siren since all the others were victims of the horrible production values and writing of that final season.

[Riddlersgurl]

I picked Olga.

There was just something about her that appealed to me. Maybe it was because she started off as a dishwasher in a restaurant who decided to become a Queen (even if she did have to cheat to pull that sword out). She knew what she wanted, and decided to get it anyway that she could.

Okay, Siren did that too; but she always seemed so cold to me, with no real warmth to her character.

Olga was bossy, sure; she had Egghead wrapped around her finger clear up to her elbow, but she wasn't really mean about it. She was simply matter of fact in their relationship: She was the boss and that was that.

Her Cossacks were fiercely loyal to her (partly because she was Queen, and partly because they didn't really have anything else going for them at the time), and without using a trick singing voice.

[High C]

I picked Olga.

There was just something about her that appealed to me. Maybe it was because she started off as a dishwasher in a restaurant who decided to become a Queen (even if she did have to cheat to pull that sword out). She knew what she wanted, and decided to get it anyway that she could.

Okay, Siren did that too; but she always seemed so cold to me, with no real warmth to her character.

I saw no warmth in Olga. You and I obviously have a different reaction to her, but I found her to be a one-dimensional cartoonish caricature. And much like some people of Native American descent have a problem with the first Egghead ep, so too do I have a problem with Olga.

My mother's parents both immigrated to the US after the Russian Revolution in the 1910s, and because my mother is so proud of her heritage, I, quite frankly, find Olga to be an offensive Russian stereotype.

Her Cossacks were fiercely loyal to her (partly because she was Queen, and partly because they didn't really have anything else going for them at the time), and without using a trick singing voice.

I think Siren had other things going for her besides a so-called 'trick singing voice,' but again, we obviously are at polar opposites on that 'note.' (pun intended) Wielding a sword at all times enabled Olga to get people to do what she wanted, rather than it being due to the force of her cartoonish, stereotypical personality. Olga's sword=The Siren's note

The Cossacks were total zeroes, more mindless than any of Siren's dupes. Not one of them ever had a speaking line. They were loyal because the script told them to be. I found them to be even more offensive than Olga, a bunch of mindless, automaton brutes.

I apologize to the mods for getting defensive, but when somebody cheap-shots Siren, I can't help but react. The case for Olga could've been made without bad-mouthing Siren.

Again, I'm sorry, but I felt this needed to be said.

[elmrgraham]

I will say it again, The Siren.

[High C]

I voted for The Siren, of course, and I wanted to explain why I did and make the case of why I think she was a terrific original villainess and should have made multiple appearances.

I’ll admit, part of Siren’s appeal is that she is drop-dead gorgeous. But I think that definitely helped the character. By age 34, when she played Siren, Joan Collins was quite used to men falling at her feet. So, IMO, she brought a natural quality to the role that helped make Siren’s absurd abilities believable.

I also liked the fact that with her unique powers/abilities, Siren had kind of a comic-book feel, even though, of course, she never appeared in the comics. I think the Caped Crusaders faced too many mundane baddies in S3, and Siren certainly didn’t fit that mold.

Another factor that made the character a good fit for the show, and a good one for multiple appearances, is the fact that the 1960s were a much different world than we have now. And it was a world tailor-made for Siren’s hypnotic note. Consider the fact that not many women were in law enforcement in that less-enlightened era, and were virtually nonexistent in positions of security.

In other words, with men pretty much guarding everything, Siren could have a proverbial field day. There would be very few places she couldn’t infiltrate, meaning she could invade government and military installations almost at will, giving writers plenty of fodder for capers. Robbing the mint, taking over a military base, putting politicians, including world leaders, under her spell, etc. You name it, Siren could have done it.

Having Siren around for more episodes also would have helped make Batgirl more important, for obvious reasons.

[LittleLouisGroovy]

Another factor that made the character a good fit for the show, and a good one for multiple appearances, is the fact that the 1960s were a much different world than we have now. And it was a world tailor-made for Siren’s hypnotic note. Consider the fact that not many women were in law enforcement in that less-enlightened era, and were virtually nonexistent in positions of security.

In other words, with men pretty much guarding everything, Siren could have a proverbial field day. There would be very few places she couldn’t infiltrate, meaning she could invade government and military installations almost at will, giving writers plenty of fodder for capers. Robbing the mint, taking over a military base, putting politicians, including world leaders, under her spell, etc. You name it, Siren could have done it.

Interesting. When you think about it, the Nora Clavicle episode could have easily been reworked as a Siren episode.

[High C]

Another factor that made the character a good fit for the show, and a good one for multiple appearances, is the fact that the 1960s were a much different world than we have now. And it was a world tailor-made for Siren’s hypnotic note. Consider the fact that not many women were in law enforcement in that less-enlightened era, and were virtually nonexistent in positions of security.

In other words, with men pretty much guarding everything, Siren could have a proverbial field day. There would be very few places she couldn’t infiltrate, meaning she could invade government and military installations almost at will, giving writers plenty of fodder for capers. Robbing the mint, taking over a military base, putting politicians, including world leaders, under her spell, etc. You name it, Siren could have done it.

Interesting. When you think about it, the Nora Clavicle episode could have easily been reworked as a Siren episode.

Good point. The only difference would be that Siren would hypnotize Mayor Linseed instead of having his wife blackmail him.

And Angelina and Evelina certainly dressed as if they were Siren's assistants!

[High C]

I've already given my reasons for selecting Siren. As for the other S3 one-shots, here are my opinions:

Lola Lasagne doesn’t even count, IMO. Yes, she had villainess billing, but she served more as a henchmoll in terms of plot. Not a true villainess.

I’ve already given my opinion on Olga in a previous post.

As for Ffogg and Peasoup, I thought Ffogg was poorly cast and Peasoup was poorly written. Ffogg should have been played by an Englishman. The Batscholar, aka Joel Eisner, has said that James Mason was interested in appearing on the show, and he would’ve been a much better choice. Vallee’s fake accent was annoying and silly, considering he often did a Cockney accent, which is NOT what a member of the British upper class would sound like.

Peasoup was well-cast, but other than a couple of decent scenes in which she was allowed to be evil, Glynis Johns spent most of the three-parter spouting lines like, ‘Whatevah shall we do, Mahmaduke?’ Lady Prudence, played by Lyn Peters, was the most intersting baddie of the three. Too bad the eps didn’t feature her more.

I’ve said in much detail on the previous board how I think Nora Clavicle could have been improved. Had her backstory been made more clear, preferably making her a true-believer feminist who had gone a little weird (Barbara Rush’s scenery-chewing performance hinted at that), I think she could have been a decent villainess. Honestly.

Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft and hubby Cabala were aging, bickering hipsters. Definition of a one-shot.

Minerva wasn't much of a character, more simply a natural extension of Zsa Zsa's persona. Not meant for more than a one-shot.

[LittleLouisGroovy]

Torn between The Siren and Dr. Cassandra, I ended up voting for Dr. Cassandra because I think her gimmick of being an alchemist/scientist, and her references to the occult, would have allowed for a variety of plots. Also, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that The Siren would win and I wanted to acknowledge the underdog.

[High C]

Torn between The Siren and Dr. Cassandra, I ended up voting for Dr. Cassandra because I think her gimmick of being an alchemist/scientist, and her references to the occult, would have allowed for a variety of plots.

But probably not as many as Siren, as I pointed out earlier in the thread.

Also, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that The Siren would win and I wanted to acknowledge the underdog.

Interesting logic.

[Dr. Shimel]

Torn between The Siren and Dr. Cassandra, I ended up voting for Dr. Cassandra because I think her gimmick of being an alchemist/scientist, and her references to the occult, would have allowed for a variety of plots. Also, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that The Siren would win and I wanted to acknowledge the underdog.

In theory, Dr. Cassandra would have been the best choice, but the Stanley Ralph Ross' insistence on turning her into some pathetic hipster was too much to take for one episode, much less multiple ones.

[Mr. Deathtrap]

LittleLouisGroovey wrote of Doctor Cassandra:

I think her gimmick of being an alchemist/scientist, and her references to the occult, would have allowed for a variety of plots.


You may well be right. It's too bad she was introduced so close to the end of the series to tap that potential.

Cassandra was, in mythology, a Trojan mystic whose predictions were never believed. (She famously warned her people "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!" just before the Trojan Horse led to her city's defeat and destruction.

Had SSR tapped this mythical origin, we might have had the plot where Doctor Cassandra makes dire predictions which she arranges to have come true unless her victims pay to have curses lifted. (Admittedly King Tut had dome something similar a few episodes earlier.) The writer named the character after a girl who lived in his neighborhood.

Anyway, a potentially fantastical character might have taken the show into a different direction occasionally, had it continued.

Mr. Deathtrap