Surf's Up Episode

[Gernot]

I have a question SOMEWHAT related to this discussion. Why DID they get rid of the cliffhangers in Season 3? Everyone knows they still had two-parters and even a three-parter, but why'd they get rid of the death-trap cliffhangers altogether?

[clavierankh]

I heard it was because they didn't viewers would remember from one week to the next. Kind of silly if you ask me.

[Gernot]

Boy! I agree with THAT being a silly reason! It took a reason away to WATCH the show! The death-traps were one of the most exciting parts of the prior two seasons!

[Dr. Shimel]

I wonder if this episode would have worked better as a two-parter, (part 1 "Surf's Up"/part 2, "Joker's Under") with the human surfboards part as the cliffhanger? Watching it now, it seems pretty chopped up, and the page on the Batgirl link shows that a lot was cut from the script... Also with the surfboard goo and the salt-water immersion, they probably wrote off two more Batsuits .

I would agree and add that many third-season eps could've worked better as 2-parters. They consistently jammed too much into a half-hour in S3.

One regular scene that was whittled to virtually nothing (for the most part) in S3 was the Wayne Manor opening, where Alfred informs Bruce of the BatPhone. Part of that was due to no longer using that set, but also the absence of Madge Blake.

[HerryGrail]

I have a special fondness for this episode...even though it was over 35 years ago, I absolutely remember it like yesterday: the last day of the school year, 6th grade, and all of us were dispersing to several junior highs around the city. It was a very sad day, but they brought in a film projector and this episode to show us.

The other day I heard a memory expert say that you have to associate something you want to remember with a truly bizarre visual...Cookie Monster on a horse, that sort of thing. I didn't need to come up with one to help remember that day; Joker on a surfboard did just fine.

There is a blog I've been reading over the past few days that went through all the episodes a couple of years ago. I imagine it was very controversial here, as it started to make me hesitant to revisit fond memories like that one. But tonight I watched that whole episode on YouTube (as I have watched many others now), and I loved it just as much as I did when I was 12.

The merchandising must be bringing a lot of people like me back to the series. I absolutely loved it in the 70's. I love it again now.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Skip Ward almost had a more prestigious role. He was one of Bill Dozier's early choices to play the Green Hornet, but creator George W. Trendle thought that Ward looked too young to play an authoritative newspaper publisher.

Speaking of Skip Ward, a Bat-reunion of sorts occured in the 1969 chiller The Mad Room, where Skip Ward starred opposite Ma Parker herself Shelly Winters, and Tut henchman Lord Chancellor--AKA Lloyd Haynes.

[HerryGrail]

One of the things I liked about this episode was that Skip Ward seemed like a real-life surfing champion who was stunt-casted...I didn't realize he was really an actor.

[mastar]

Zero evidence? Obviously Johnny Green was on Batman. You're the embarrassment.

[Progress Pigment]

One of the things I liked about this episode was that Skip Ward seemed like a real-life surfing champion who was stunt-casted...I didn't realize he was really an actor.

Funny, I thought the same thing. That in the 60's Skip Ward was a famous surfer. Like Duke Kahanamoku! But actually he was an actor Dozier considered for 'The Green Hornet'! In casting Dozier seemed to gravitate toward the tan blonde Troy Donahue surfer types.