BAT BITS #23 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Advice to Bat-writers in 1965, pt 3
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
On the latest Bat Bits, we discuss Lorenzo Semple Jr’s guidelines regarding Batman’s arsenel: The Batmobile, the Batcave, and all his various devices. We discuss reasons to label everything in the Batcave and Batman’s general resourcefulness. Whatever he needs is always there when he needs it! Listen to Bat Bits and see the memo we’re discussing by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins Tim to examine individual Batman stories from the...
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BAT BITS #22 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Advice to Bat-writers in 1965, pt 3
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
Why Batman doesn’t carry a gun, and focuses on reforming crooks. How to write Bruce Wayne (square, not stupid!) Keeping the camp incidental to the show; he only goes to the disco because that’s where his crime investigation leads him. Our discussion of Lorenzo Semple’s 14-page “Batnotes” memo continues! Listen to Bat Bits and see the memo we’re discussing by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins Tim to examine individual Batman stories...
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BAT BITS #21 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Advice to Bat-writers in 1965, pt 2
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
Lorenzo Semple’s 14-page “Batnotes” memo to prospective Bat-writers lays out the basic things he wanted a writer to understand before attempting a Batman script. In our second episode digging into this memo, we discuss how the villian’s real goal often isn’t revealed until the end, some surprising revelations on how Semple imagined the GCPD and possible casualties among the henchmen, how murder isn’t an MO for Bat-Villains (except for their attempts to murder the Dynamic Duo), and more. Plus: how YOU can help Tim and Paul assemble a TO THE BATPOLES! episode on this topic! Listen...
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BAT BITS #20 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Advice to Bat-writers in 1965, pt 1
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
We had heard before that it existed, and we’ve finally found it: Lorenzo Semple’s 14-page “Batnotes” memo to prospective Bat-writers about “a few simple rules and concepts” about what should or should not happen in a Batman script. Tim and Paul want to dig through this carefully, so in this episode they discuss the first few pages, with more to come. In this episode: Qualities of Gotham City, why the show shouldn’t move on to other settings, the mystery of our heroes’ other identities, and qualities of the Bat-foes. Plus: how YOU can help Tim and Paul assemble a TO THE...
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BAT BITS #19 NOW LIVE on Patreon: TV GUIDE's take on Yvonne
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
In 1967, Yvonne Craig was added to the Batman cast as Batgirl, in an effort to boost the ratings. It wouldn’t fly today, but Batman’s producers and the media were pretty up-front, and a bit crude, about the effort to add sex appeal to keep the show afloat. This time on BAT BITS, we discuss a TV GUIDE article on Yvonne that serves as Exhibit A on that front, but also gives us some interesting glimpses of Yvonne’s personality. Listen to BAT BITS and see the article we’re discussing by subscribing to our Patreon for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly...
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BAT BITS #18 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Semple sets the Bat-template
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
Lorenzo Semple, Jr., is the writer entrusted by producer William Dozier with getting the writing side of Batman off the ground. This time, we take a look at a letter from Semple to Dozier, in which he discusses his plans for the script of “Zelda the Great”, a template for Bat-scripts, concerns about Adam West’s acting style, and more. Listen to Bat Bits and see the letter we’re discussing by for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins me to examine individual...
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BAT BITS #17 NOW LIVE on Patreon: "Fine Finny Fiends" final script pt 2: In tune on the Neptune
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
On the latest BAT BITS, we conclude our examination of Sheldon Stark’s final script for Fine Finny Fiends, including a scene setting relocated for lack of the right set, what Finella was supposed to be wearing in the final scene, the shifting explanations of who knows where the banquet will be held, and changes in the script to give the audience just enough information… Listen to BAT BITS and see the script we’re discussing by for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics as Paul or another in our stable of co-hosts joins Tim to...
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BAT BITS #16 NOW LIVE on Patreon: "Fine Finny Fiends" final script pt 1: Something Fishy
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
On the latest Bat Bits, we begin an examination of Sheldon Stark's final script for Fine Finny Fiends. Somewhat inexplicably, this arc’s theme is fish rather than birds. Maybe because penguins eat fish? Tim and Paul find some additional fish references that got cut, and some of them with good reason. Or maybe not? Also we find some gags that were added after this script, some puzzling stage directions, things that were changed to work better on television, and more. Listen to Bat Bits and follow along with a PDF of the script by for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you ALSO get...
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BAT BITS #15 now LIVE on Patreon: Letters from Bruce Lee
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
On the latest Bat Bits, we wander out into the wider Dozierverse to look at the correspondence between William Dozier, producer of Batman and The Green Hornet, and Bruce Lee, whom Dozier tried several times to find a vehicle for before landing on the role of Kato. We get some of Bruce’s feelings about his 1965 screen test, get some of Bruce’s comments about how “Gong Fu” should be portrayed on the show, and more. Listen to Bat Bits and see the Dozier and Lee letters by for at least $2 a month! For $4 a month, you also get our monthly discussion of silver age Batman comics...
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BAT BITS #14 NOW LIVE on Patreon: Bookworm final script: The Bullets Don't Fly
To The Batpoles! Batman 1966
While Rik Vollaerts’ early draft of The Bookworm Turns was very different from what was broadcast, surely the final script is exactly what we saw? But no, that’s never true; some changes always occur at the hands of the director, and perhaps the actors. A significant scene (and significant henchman) disappeared from this story as broadcast. Was it simply cut for time, or were there questions of taste? In the latest BAT BITS, Tim and Paul discuss the differences and what may account for them. Listen to Bat Bits and follow along with a PDF of the script by for at least $2 a...
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We all have our favorite characters and actors from Batman, but how many of us are fanboys for Executive Producer William Dozier? Well, for one, there's Oscar Lilley, proxy researcher at the American Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming. In the process of working with Dozier's papers, Oscar has grown intrigued with Dozier's backstory and impressed by how he did his job. In this episode, he tells us about his selflessness, his business sense, and how the trajectory of Dozier's 1965 series The Loner tracks with that of Batman. Also, more circumstantial evidence that seem to disprove the Fourth Season Myth!
Plus, the Amosdoll Music version of the theme, and your response to our discussion of the Funny Feline Felonies!
Semple to Dozier - Hi Diddle Riddle
Dozier to Adam West about Lyle Waggoner screen test
Semple to Dozier - Frank Gorshin etc
ABC's notes on Hi Diddle Riddle - caviar etc.
Semple notes Max Hodge's Mr. Freeze script
Semple to Dozier -- "Doom Trap" (which became "Zelda the Great")
More Semple reaction to Hodge script: "Worse than I thought"
Bob Kane writes to Dozier with suggestions
Docket from Dozier's 1943 trial
Dozier pardoned by Harry Truman
Dozier's "Glossary" of Hollywood stars