Batman (1966-1968) Stats & Trivia (Villains)

BATMAN (1966-1968)

TRICKY TREACHEROUS TRIVIA!

STICKY SLIPPERY STATS!

I am choosy about, well, everything I watch, but today it's specifically campy content. As a rule, camp is no more a deterrent than it is an incentive to watch something; it is just helpful to me to know going in when I am otherwise interested in whatever it is. The absolute key to selling camp to an audience is that there is no self-awareness among the characters. This is where the 1960s television series and theatrical film, Batman, excel, in my opinion. The entire cast, led by the late great Adam West as Bruce Wayne and titular character, act as though they were not in on the joke. So popular during its short run, it became a point of honor to be a guest villain, attracting the likes of Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Art Carney, Vincent Price, and even musicians such as Liberace and Eartha Kitt. Here are some statistics and trivia mostly regarding these appearances.

Please note: Batman followed a two-episode format regularly throughout the first two seasons. There were even a couple of instances of a triple episode during the second. For the third and final season, it went to one episode per week, and single episodes made up just over half the season. For the figures below, each individual episode is counted as one as is the film. Often during the third season, the special guest villain for the following week would be shown in the closing minutes. These closing appearances, along with an isolated cameo for Julie Newmar's The Catwoman during Season 2, are not part of the count. As is practical, rankings are top five. A handful did not get the "Special Guest Villain" billing, but should have in this viewer's opinion.

Full Series (120 episodes and Film):

• The five villains (any actor) with the most appearances are: The Joker and The Penguin, each with 20, The Catwoman (16), The Riddler (12), and King Tut (8). 
• The Joker, The Penguin, The Catwoman, and The Riddler appeared in all three seasons and the film. 
• King Tut appeared in all three seasons, but not the movie.
• The five villain guest stars with the most appearances, and also the top five villain/actor combinations, are: Burgess Meredith as The Penguin and Cesar Romero as The Joker in all 20 appearances of each of the characters, respectively, Julie Newmar as The Catwoman in 12 episodes (plus one cameo in the Season 2 episode "Ma Parker"), Frank Gorshin as The Riddler in 9 episodes of the series plus the film for a total of 10 appearances, and Victor Buono as King Tut in all 8 episodes featuring the character.
• Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero are the only two villain actors to appear in all three seasons and the film.
• Victor Buono appeared in all three seasons, but not the movie.
  
• Three villains were played by more than one actor throughout the series:
• Mr. Freeze was portrayed in 2 episodes each by George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach.
  
• The Catwoman was portrayed by Julie Newmar in 12 episodes across the first two seasons, Lee Meriwether in the movie, and Eartha Kitt in 4 episodes of Season 3.
• The Riddler was portrayed by Frank Gorshin in 9 episodes in Season 1 and 3 plus the film, and John Astin in 2 episodes of Season 2.
• Two actors each played two different villains:
• Anne Baxter played Zelda the Great in 2 episodes of Season 1 and Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, in 3 episodes of Season 3.
• Liberace played twin brothers Chandell and Harry in the same 2 episodes of Season 2.
• The 120 episodes are 48 two-parters, 3 three-parters, and 15 standalone episodes.
• The first season is made up of 17 two-parters.
• The second season consists of 27 two-parters and 2 three-parters.
• All 15 standalone episodes are in the third season along with 4 two-parters and 1 three-parter.
  

Season 1 (34 episodes):

• The three villains, actors, and thus villain/actor combinations with the most appearances in Season 1 are: Frank Gorshin as The Riddler (8), Burgess Meredith as The Penguin (6), and Cesar Romero as The Joker (6).
• Fittingly, the first six episodes, two by two, feature these three.
• The remaining fourteen episodes featured seven other villains, actors, and villain/actor combinations in only one two-part appearance each.
• Three villains' sole appearances are in Season 1: Zelda the Great, False Face, and The Bookworm.
• Similarly, three actors' sole appearances are in Season 1: George Sanders as Mr. Freeze, Malachi Throne as False Face, and Roddy McDowall as The Bookworm.

Batman, The Movie:

• While Lee Meriwether's appearance as The Catwoman in the film is her only one as a villain, she did have a guest spot on a pair of Season 2 episodes featuring King Tut.

Season 2 (60 episodes):

• The six villains (any actor) with the most appearances in Season 2 are: The Catwoman (10), The Penguin and The Joker, each with 9, Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (5), and King Tut and Mr. Freeze, each with 4.
• The six villain guest stars with the most appearances in Season 2 are: Julie Newmar (10), Burgess Meredith and Cesar Romero, each with 9, Carolyn Jones (5), Victor Buono and Liberace, each with 4. 
• Liberace's count doubles by playing both Chandell and his twin brother, Harry. 
• The five villain/actor combinations with the most appearances in Season 2 are: Julie Newmar's The Catwoman (10), Burgess Meredith's The Penguin and Cesar Romero's The Joker, each with 9, Carolyn Jones' Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (5) and Victor Buono's King Tut (4).
• Twelve villains' sole appearances are in Season 2: The Archer, The Minstrel, Ma Parker, The Clock King, Chandell, Harry, Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, The Puzzler, The Sandman, Pussycat, Colonel Gumm, and The Black Widow.
  
• Fourteen actors' sole appearances are in Season 2, including all twelve villains above: Art Carney as The Archer, Van Johnson as The Minstrel, Shelly Winters as Ma Parker, Walter Slezak as The Clock King, Liberace as Chandell and Harry, Otto Preminger as Mr. Freeze, Carolyn Jones as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, Maurice Evans as The Puzzler, Michael Rennie as The Sandman, Leslie Gore as Pussycat, John Astin as The Riddler, Roger C. Carmel as Colonel Gumm, Miss Tallulah Bankhead as The Black Widow, and Eli Wallach as Mr. Freeze.
  

Season 3 (26 episodes):

• The seven villains, actors, and thus villain/actor combinations with the most appearance in Season 3 are: Burgess Meredith as The Penguin and Cesar Romero as The Joker, each with 4, and Vincent Price as Egghead, Anne Baxter as Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, Rudy Valée as Lord Marmaduke Ffogg, Glynis Johns as Lady Penelope Peasoup, and Eartha Kitt as The Catwoman, each with 3.
• Twelve villains' sole appearances are in Season 3: The Siren, Lola Lasagna, Louie the Lilac, Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, Lord Marmaduke Ffogg, Lady Penelope Peasoup, Nora Clavicle, Calamity Jan, Verdigris, Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft, Cabala, and Minerva.
• Twelve actors' sole appearances are in Season 3, nearly overlapping the twelve villains above: Joan Collins as The Siren, Ethel Merman as Lola Lasagna, Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac, Rudy Valée as Lord Marmaduke Ffogg, Glynis Johns as Lady Penelope Peasoup, Eartha Kitt as The Catwoman, Barbara Rush as Nora Clavicle, Dina Merrill as Calamity Jan, Richard Bakalyan as Verdigris, Ida Lupino as Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft, Howard Duff as Cabala, and Zsa Zsa Gabor as Minerva.

Fun Facts:

• In what I call "Once DC, Always DC" (an actor portrays one DC character and likely to portray another):
• Adam West and Julie Newmar voiced Thomas & Martha Wayne on an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
  
• West also voiced Mayor Grange in seven episodes of the television series, The Batman (2004-2008).
• Frank Gorshin voiced Professor Hugo Strange in three episodes of The Batman before he sadly passed away.
  
• Adam West played Simon Trent on a 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Trent is an actor who played The Gray Ghost on a TV series that partially inspired Kevin Conroy's Bruce Wayne and his Batman persona.
• Roddy McDowall (The Bookworm) voiced Jervis Tetch / The Mad Hatter over six episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and its successor, The New Batman Adventures, plus a crossover episode with Superman: The Animated Series.
• The Puzzler's single two-episode appearance in Season 2 was due to Gorshin's absence, as was John Astin's version of The Riddler. Gorshin would make one last appearance in "Ring Around the Riddler," a Season 3 episode.
• Van Williams appeared as The Green Hornet and Bruce Lee appeared as Kato, billed as "Visiting Hero" and "Assistant Visiting Hero," respectively, on a Season 2 episode pair.
• The two were also a window cameo during a Bat-climb (complete list below) earlier in the season.
• Batman producer and narrator William Dozier also produced and narrated The Green Hornet series.
  
• Two sets of spouses appeared together:
• Cliff Robertson as Shame with Dina Merrill as Calamity Jan in the Season 3 pair, "The Great Escape" / "The Great Train Robbery". 
• Ida Lupino as Dr. Cassandra Spellcraft with Howard Duff as Cabala in "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra," also Season 3.
• Duff had previously made a window cameo during a Bat-climb.
  
•  Actor pairings in other media:
• Carolyn Jones and John Astin are most famous for playing Morticia and Gomez on The Addams Family (1964-1966).
• Ted Cassidy from this series was also a window cameo during a Bat-climb.
  
• Roddy McDowall and Maurice Evans played Cornelius and Dr. Zaius in the first Planet of the Apes film, released in 1968.
  
• Cesar Romero and Richard Bakalyan appeared in Disney's Dexter Riley trilogy together; Romero as main antagonist A.J. Arno and Bakalyan as his henchman, Chillie "Cookie" Walsh.
• They also appeared together in The Joker's last episode, "The Joker's Flying Saucer". Bakalyan did not receive "Special Guest Villain" billing, and this is an example of should have.
  
• Bakalyan had portrayed a henchman twice to different villains in each prior season.
  
• Another point of honor was the celebrity window cameo during Batman and Robin's wall climbs. They are Jerry Lewis, Dick Clark, Van Williams as The Green Hornet and Bruce Lee as Kato (The Green Hornet), Sammy Davis, Jr., Bill Dana as José Jiménez, Howard Duff as Sam Stone (Felony Squad), Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink (Hogan's Heroes), Ted Cassidy as Lurch (The Addams Family), Don Ho, Andy Devine as Santa Claus, Art Linkletter, Edward G. Robinson, Suzy Knickerbocker (real name Aileen Mehle), and Cyril Lord, the Carpet King.
• The last one was a "celebrity" local to Los Angeles and was more an advertising plug than fun cameo.
• They always seemed to have some alternate use for the Bat-rope.
• Finally, some points of interest about this series' long-standing influence, mostly in other Batman media of course:
• Showing the flame up of the rear rocket thruster of the Batmobile has occurred in various Batman films and TV shows including Batman (1989) and its sequel, Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) and its successors, The Batman (2004-2008), the Tumbler in Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), the DCEU, and The Batman (2021), to name several.
• 2017's The LEGO Batman Movie contains nods, albeit often humorous, to many previous iterations of Batman. The 60s series and film are naturally among them, including:
• "Who's the (Bat) Man" interpolates a remix of the Neil Hefti's iconic "Na na na na..." theme.
• The Batmobile's horn also plays the "Na na na na..." theme.
  
• Alfred says, "...that weird one in 1966," referring to phases (each a year of a Batman film release). Instead of the LEGO-ized visual that accompanies most of the others, it's a live action clip of Adam West doing the Batusi.
• Later, to illustrate Batman's length of service, Barbara Gordon plays a slideshow of past Batman moments, a still of the "Some days, you just can't get rid a bomb!" scene from the 1966 movie is displayed, LEGO-ized.
  
• Alfred dons the West costume as the climax begins, explaining, "I miss the sixties."
• Batgirl's costume is nearly identical to the one Yvonne Craig wore.
• Egghead, created for the 60s series, is among the villains helping the heroes in the final battle, as is King Tut, who had also been among The Joker's list of obscure villains near the beginning of the film.
  
• During the climax, Batman says, "Okay, Robin. Together we're gonna punch these guys so hard, words describing the impact are gonna spontaneously materialize out of thin air." (perhaps my favorite reference)
• Cesar Romero's The Joker wears a clown mask at one point in his first episode, "The Joker Is Wild"; the mask Heath Ledger's Joker wears in disguise during the opening scene of The Dark Knight (2008) is identical and a nod.
• The second theme for The Batman (2004-2008), introduced in the third season, while modernized and purely instrumental, is clearly heavily influenced by Hefti's theme.
• Batman & Robin (1997), love to hate it, starts to becomes enjoyable on its own merit and not ironically, if you think of it as a reflection of the 60s series. 
• The premise of the second season episode pair, "Hizzoner The Penguin" / "Dizzoner The Penguin" was borrowed for part of the plot of 1992's Batman Returns.
• Alan Napier, the actor who played Alfred, shares his surname with Jack Napier, Jack Nicholson's Joker's real name in Batman (1989).
• Jack Napier is also an alias Mark Hamill's The Joker is known to have used in The Animated Series (1992-1995).
• Prince's "Batdance" from the Batman (1989) soundtrack also has musical motifs from Neil Hefti's theme.
  
• John Travolta's dance in Pulp Fiction contains movements from the Batusi from the Season 1 episode "The Pharoah's in a Rut".

Next week... Retro (mini)Reviews on the 4 films of the Batman Anthology! 

Same Bat-Time! 

Same Bat-Blog...!