"HOLY FLASHBACK, BATMAN!"

Let's Go Bats All Over Again!

All right, let's get it out of our systems before we have a collective hernia:  "DA DA DA DA DA..BATMAN!"   Six days before my eighth birthday the BATMAN series captured the imaginations or every kid in America and the funny bone of most adults.  The original run was only two years, but to this day I dream of sliding down the Bat-poles and roaring off in the Batmobile in answer to the Commissioner's call for help.  "Hang on, Commissioner!  I'm on the way!"

If every episode had been as good as the first, the show would still be on the air.  Poor writing and making the comedy too obvious killed the show and my other favorite, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. as well.

The best scene in the movie temporarily became an anthem for Adam West's carreer.  ("Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!")  He may have lost out on his ambition to be regarded as a serious actor, but the "camp" era gave the home front much needed respite from news from Vietnam and over time West has become a well loved cultural icon.

Like Clayton Moore, Adam had a great and unique voice.  His straight forward delivery was so sincere that when he pontificated like Moore did, we who were but kids, did not realize he was making fun of guys like Clayton and Roy Rogers.

This picture appeared above the headline:  "HOLY CANCELLATION!" in Newsweek.

The show's most diabolical dilemma was not perpetrated by any of the fiends most foul pictured above, nor was the crime committed against the good citizens of Gotham City.  The true villians are the suits at Fox and Time Warner who can't or won't figure out a way for the series to be released on DVD.   The latest word is that due to monies allegedly owed the Dozier estate, the series may NEVER be legally available.  This is really tragic because it would probably be one of the highest grossing DVD releases ever.  This begs the question:  Is it ever justifiable to just give in and buy a bootleg copy when an authorized release is highly unlikely?  I accidentally purchased a bootleg of another show once and it just never felt completely right down inside.  So speaking only for myself, I guess we either believe in corny things like truth, justice and the American Way or we don't, even though thats a whole other show.  We need to pgrotect the interests of the studios even when they're not looking out after us.

For six months the topic at my school lunch table was "How do they change into costume during the commercial?"  Everyday we had a new theory,  When we built a new house in 1970 I campaigned for the addition of Bat-poles but I had to settle for practicing my Bat-slide on the support poles in the basement that held the house up.

Everyday when I get into my power wheelchair the first thing I say is:  "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."  The second thing I say is:  "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed!"

In the meantime, if you want to try something that has the same chemistry and flavor, you might want to check out Filmation's THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN.  Adam and Burt reprise their roles.  It's definitely not the same but it's better than nothing.  Check out my review on the Reviews page.

This is the photo Adam likes to sign at persnal appearances.  On mine his signature was pre-inscribed and he simply personalized it by signing MY name.  

This solid cast of second bananas helped bridge the gap between the real and the surreal.

Moving out...one last time.

Thankfully the feature film version is readily available to us.