I love the Sci-Fi Channel; thanks to their odd scheduling of the newly acquired "Batman" series starring Adam West, they allow for the best times for me to put out a short review to make sure that Geocities doesn't can my site prematurely and to make sure that you, faithful reader, that I'm not giving up.
Which I'm not. Don't get me wrong.
Either way, I've found it's hard to really sink my teeth into reviews. While movie reviews (especially bad movie reviews) are easy, their TV counterparts are not that simple. More often than not, I've had to rehash the premise of each episode each and every single time I chose to write an article. After a while, it really blows all the fun out of it. So, for simplicity's sake, whenever I do a TV review from now on, I'm going to just assume (if it's the second article on a certain show) that you know what's going on. For simplicity's sake for you as well, I'm just going to place links to similar material at the top of the page (where Geocities places their ads) and let everyone do their own work. Or, if I was an overpaid teacher, give some nonsense about 'not insulting your intelligence' and continue on unabated.
Anyway, if you're here, you know that I'm talking about the Adam West 'Batman' series, none of those animated nightmares that air in syndication. In fact, the real reason I'm reviewing this one is because it features the Riddler, the very first criminal to be showcased in this particular TV series (with "Hey Diddle Riddle"). However, the kicker here is that this is not the adventures of Frank Gorshin, the man who made the Riddler his very own and who inspired Jim Carrey in the cinematic afterbirth we call "Batman Forever."
No, Gorshin was busy at this time, doing something important (I'm inclined to guess the Star Trek episode "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield") so the producers decided wrongly to replace him.....with John Astin, Gomez Addams himself.
The episode(s) begin with Batman and Robin being called by the Commissioner, only to find that it's a surprise party for the anniversary of Batman's...first appearance, I guess. Either way, this is interrupted by Gomez Riddler. While everyone is shocked and guessing that the Riddler is some sort of Time Lord, Gomez/Riddler takes off and the story begins. The cliffhanger is when Batman and Robin are fooled into posing atop a gigantic three-story cake (supposedly modeling for their very own 'birthday' cake) only to find that the cake is nothing but QUICKSAND! Will they drown? In a giant cake? IN THE MIDDLE OF A STUDIO LOT??
Well, does a Batman fight scene have a camera secured on the ground? Do Batman and Robin really climb buildings like they do in the series? They escape with one of their numerous deus ex machinas (in the form of rocket boots...sorry, bat-rocket boots) and finally put this Curate's Egg of an episode(s) to a close.
RATING: Well, what can you say about this episode(s)? With Gorshin, it would have been a mediocre episode. With Astin, it gains some respect as the one with Gomez Addams in it. It's not Astin's fault, he just has a very different screen presence than his predecessor does and as a result, that makes a poor episode a popular one. Still, it's a hard trek through it. Plus, why is the anniversary angle even relevant? This episode was within the first season, so it's not really Batman's anniversary......oh, well, I'm probably giving more thought to this than the writers did, bless their little campy hearts. Two stars out of Four.
--Zbu