Na Na Na Na Batman Batman.

[Inspector Abberline]

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Not sure if it was done on purpose but the title of this episode sounds more like a euphemism for breaking wind. At the start of the episode Robin hides behind the bat shield when Batman tries to disarm a box, only for it to explode and a giant blow up genie inflates out of the box, at this point the boy wonder must of felt a right muppet, cowering behind his shield, anyhow this is another of the jokers elaborate clues to his next criminal shenanigans, although by now you would assume Batman must see every clue as a trap for him and the boy wonder, and of course it is exactly that. Shoved into a chimney stack and pumped full of deadly gas...non specific signage, it just says deadly gas...The plot as such as it is, involves the Joker kidnapping the Maharajah of Nimpah ,this involved a large van and a forklift as the Maharajah of Nimpah is a very large gentleman, although how they managed to get all this equipment out in the open with no one noticing is anybody's guess...It probably has not gone unnoticed that The Joker's modus operandi is pretty much identical to The Riddler, even down to there luv of green, so its just as well that Frank Gorshin and Cesar Romero manage to own there respected roles and make them very different even if they do share a lot of similarities and traits, and this episode is no different, Romero is always a joy to watch even if he is chomping his way through the scenery.

[Inspector Abberline]

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in a moment of what can only be called sanity, the Joker tells one of his henchmen to turn off the gas so no passer-by's are injured by the fumes, he doesn't share the same concerns about the dynamic duo who he at first thinks are now dead from the deadly non-specific gas attack. Batman has a moment of reflection before he decides to slide down a vent and into the midst of the gang, "This could be a mistake I suppose." you think, at least he is now getting the hang of how it works. Saying that it does not take long for the Batman to work out what the Jokers was up to taking a leaf out of False Faces book, the Joker has been disguising himself as the Maharajah of Nimpah, so he could con Gotham city out of the ransom and humiliate Batman by having him endorse the cheque. Its such a bizarre and contrived plot point, and such a lot of effort for such a nominal bit of villainy, especially considering he had previously tried to kill him by deadly gas, and follows that up by a paltry bit of social embarrassment, even if it was for 'Five hundred thousand dollars. I have to say it was kind of funny seeing Batman getting all riled up at the end as he exclaims "Cart this human trash away."....You tell em Bats..

[Inspector Abberline]

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When a sphinx abruptly appears in Gotham Park ,there can only be one person behind this, and that's King Tut ,not the actual Tut of course but a professor of Egyptology, who manages to get himself knocked out during a student riot, and comes round thinking himself the Egyptian king., Well a larger than life character, certainly needs a larger than life actor to play him, and you get that in spades with the rather excellent Victor Buono, and while the King Tut character is not as memorable as many of the more famous villains of Batman, Buono definitely gives one of the most humorous portrayal's in the show, Buono gives such a witty and gloriously over the top performance it makes up for the lack of story, its just another kidnap Bruce Wayne/Batman for ransom plot line, of course whenever Bruce Wayne has gone missing, Batman seemingly has disappeared as well, surely Commissioner Gordon would have cottoned on by now...There are some wonderful moments in this episode, King Tuts mobile golden palace, the unveiling of the Egyptian mummy at the museum, see's a rather fat mummy in one of the worst mummy costumes you have ever seen then there is the closing of the episode, with Bruce Wayne tied to a gurney careering down a hill to his certain death...

[Inspector Abberline]

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After being captured by King Tut, Batman is then subjected to the pebble torture, like water torture but with pebbles, this is where you are shoved into a massive vase like pot, then made to have a single pebble dropped on your head, one at a time, The up shot of all this ,is that you go raving mad, and in this case you end up doing the Batusi,I'm not sure who is being tortured the most ,Batman or the viewers watching this dance...There is quite a bit of action in these two episodes, every now and again there's the odd sword fight with King tuts henchmen, at one point Tut steals the bat mobile, and of course batman's dance moves as he cuts a rug with Ziva Rodann, as Nefertiti, who is pretty funny as one of Tuts harem. Amazingly the dynamic duo are quite sympathetic to Tut,as they see his villainy more as a symptom to the fact he was hit on the head, and not because he enjoys being a bad guy, Batman decides that king tut needs medical help and not just thrown in the slammer, its at this point he miracously comes round after being beaten unconscious by bats, and seems to be cured until the next time of course. Also look out for Bats singing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bat!" while feigning to have gone mental...

[Inspector Abberline]

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wow holy writers block, I had never seen these episodes before and had no idea that Roddy McDowall was the villain Bookworm, complete with reading lamp attachment on his hat...This show is also the start of the window climb cameos, and for the first appearance they have king of the un-funny men Jerry Lewis, who manages to make what should of been a rather cool appearance into a damp squib, well done Mr Lewis you have proved what I already knew, that you are shit...Still Roddy does a real fine job of playing this super nerd, so good in fact you could easily stick in the show Big Bang Theory and no one would be any the wiser. The episode starts like a Oliver Stone Kennedy assignation film, with Commissioner Gordon get offed by a sniper at the opening of a new bridge, but its all one big ruse, as the Bookworm has faked the death, although Gordon is more angry at the fact he got a parking ticket as opposed to getting his guts splattered by high velocity rifle...Its the usual riddles and conundrums, by a villain who would of been more suited to hosting Countdown than take on Gotham's dynamic duo...still coming up with new villains keeps the show more fresh and keeps the audience guessing what minor useless super power these idiots might poses...personally I would of made Lewis a villain just so Batman and Robin could give him a good kicking around the back of Gotham's pub car park.

[Inspector Abberline]

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FFS for a super hero, he certainty gets his car stolen a lot, does he never use the anti bat theft device installed in the bat mobile, speaking of gadgets, there are a litany of them in these episodes, bomb detector, radio controlled ejector button, parachute pickup service, bat-ray, magnet well you get the idea, just stick the word Batman in front of most of these, but none beat the mighty Bat zooka. Batman has a great way of remembering things he has been told, he stands there with his arms crossed doing some sort of self hypnotise, although even that does not stop Batman from snapping at Chief O'Hara from interrupting him in his trance like state. Also it is not very often you get a cook book big enough to flatten Jamie Oliver, and large enough steam boil Batman and Robin...For every situation they get stuck in, there seems to be some sort of gadget, specifically designed to get the duo out of there predicament, its a good job that Bruce Wayne is a multi-millionaire...Bookworm makes no pretence what so ever in hiding the fact he is basically a nerdy coward, when ordering his henchmen to fight Batman, Bookworm jumps into the first dustbin he can find, but first tells them to remove there spectacles...The episode is fun but mainly down to Roddy's performance, as he throws hissy fits whenever anyone dares to contradict or correct him...

[Nordicdusk]

You are eating this up Inspector i dont think i have watched 30 episodes since i bought the boxset when i first game out

This is great love reading these so the fact they are coming thick and fast is fantastic.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Nordicdusk

You are eating this up Inspector i dont think i have watched 30 episodes since i bought the boxset when i first game out

This is great love reading these so the fact they are coming thick and fast is fantastic.

That's how I roll.....

[Inspector Abberline]

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Frank Gorshin, proves yet again what a top actor he is, at the start we see Riddler impersonate Charlie Chaplin at a silent movie festival, and it has to be said he does a fine job, I think Gorshin was definitely one of the more accomplished actors on the show, not that the other's were not, its just you get the feeling Frank Gorshin was more versatile and could do anything...Again he looks very dapper in his green question marked suit, as he goes about committing his felonious deeds, all the while making a silent movie, in the hopes of making Batman and Robin look stupid in the process,(which in Robin's case will not be too difficult)…Although they both managed to get flattened by a giant book..(yes another giant book gag)….Speaking of gags, there's a great scene where the Riddler spikes the lemonade of a temperance meeting, which causes every one to be in bad temper, its great seeing Commissioner Gordon having a dig at Chief O'Hara, obviously there must be some deep seated resentment between the two, that rears its ugly head in such honest occasions, or when there drunk on temper tonic...Also a great ending, the boy wonder tied to a saw bench, that'll bound to put a ladder in his tights. Great start to a great story....

[Inspector Abberline]

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After Commissioner Gordon makes an ass of himself at the temperance party, he grovels to Batman, in such a demeaning manner, for Bats forgiveness, Of course its all down to the temper tonic that Riddler spiked the drinks with, but still, Gordon shows less backbone than something that hasn't one...Bats captures Riddler's Hench woman Pauline, he intends to take her to the bat cave to interrogate her, but obviously not wanting to get himself put on the list for Operation Yew tree, he takes Gordon with him to witness that no hanky panky goes on, Bats has to knock both Pauline and Gordon out,( just in case Gordon is ever tortured by criminals for the bat caves location, we should be so lucky ) with yes you guessed it bat-gas...What lets the episode down is the ending and capturing of Riddler, its just another pow thwack biff ,fight with the villains all being beaten unconscious of course...It finally ends with Batman and Robin swooping into Wayne Manor, to wish Aunt Harriet a happy birthday, you would think even this daffy old bat would recognise Bruce and Dick close up...A great highlight was the dummy of Robin strapped to a saw bench, just imagine if Jess Franco had directed this episode,(the mind boggles)….