Year: 1966

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Batman Season 1

The Pharaoh’s In A Rut

BatmanIn the wake of Bruce Wayne’s kidnapping, Batman appears on TV to report that he has “rescued” Wayne and will be taking a brief leave to conduct research. Enraged, King Tut orders his henchmen to kidnap Wayne again, this time mounting a raid on stately Wayne Manor…only this time, Batman is ready and waiting, “disguising” himself as Bruce Wayne so he can infiltrate Tut’s criminal operation. But Batman’s Trojan horse plan doesn’t go quite as he intended…

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barret
directed by Charles R. Rondeau
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Victor Buono (King Tut), Ziva Rodann (Nefertiti), Don Barry (The Grand Vizier), Frank Christi (The Scrivener), Olan Soule (Newscaster), Bill Boyett (Policeman)

BatmanNotes: Victor Buono (1938–1982) would go on to appear in Beneath The Planet Of The Apes, Night Gallery, Supertrain, and a recurring role in Man From Atlantis, but he enjoyed his association with Batman, identifying himself years after the series as “the Fat Man from Batman”.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Batman Season 1

The Bookworm Turns

BatmanAs Bruce and Dick watch in horror, Commissioner Gordon is apparently murdered on live TV at the opening of Gotham City’s new suspension bridge…and Dick spots the Bookworm milling about in the crowd. Batman and Robin arrive at City Hall to begin gathering information on the heinous crime…and both they and Chief O’Hara are stunned when Commissioner Gordon walks into the room, unaware of what has transpired. An attempted bombing of the Batmobile confirms that the Bookworm has plans to write the end of Batman’s story.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Rik Vollaerts
directed by Larry Peerce
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Roddy McDowall (The Bookworm), Francine York (Lydia Limpet), John Crawford (Printer’s Devil), Tony Aiello (Pressman), Jan Peters (Typesetter), Byron Keith (The Mayor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 1

While Gotham City Burns

BatmanWith Robin tied to the clapper of the biggest bell in Gotham City, time is literally running out for Batman to free him. With Chief O’Hara’s help, the Boy Wonder is rescued, but before anyone can catch their breath, the Bookworm has set another trap in the form of a giant cookbook blocking a major street in Gotham City. Though it’s almost certainly a trap, the Dynamic Duo opens the cover, only to find that they’re on the menu.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Rik Vollaerts
directed by Larry Peerce
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Roddy McDowall (The Bookworm), Francine York (Lydia Limpet), John Crawford (Printer’s Devil), Tony Aiello (Pressman), Jan Peters (Typesetter), Jim O’Hara (Police Sergeant)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 1

Death In Slow Motion

BatmanThe Riddler is at large across Gotham City, but this time he seems intent on a new avocation: causing a stir, waiting for Batman and Robin to arrive, and then filming them from a nearby hiding place. The Dynamic Duo keeps responding to sightings of the Riddler, only to arrive and find no one. When the Riddler grows tired of this game, he’s ready to leave the Dynamic Duo on the cutting room floor.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Dick Carr
directed by Charles R. Rondeau
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Sherry Jackson (Pauline), Francis X. Bushman (Mr. Van Jones), Richard Bakalayan (C.B.), Theo Marcuse (Van Bloheim), Burt Brandon (Wolf), Walter Woolf King (Theater Manager), Judy Pace (Theater Cashier)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Batman Season 1

The Riddler’s False Notion

BatmanRobin is missing, kidnapped by the Riddler and his goons. When Batman follows the latest clues left by the Riddler, however, they don’t lead to the Boy Wonder. With his closest ally in the hands of the Riddler, Batman must take bigger risks than usual, such as bringing Commissioner Gordon to the Batcave, to reel the movie-making criminals in.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Dick Carr
directed by Charles R. Rondeau
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Sherry Jackson (Pauline), Francis X. Bushman (Mr. Van Jones), Richard Bakalayan (C.B.), Theo Marcuse (Van Bloheim), Burt Brandon (Wolf)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Season 03

The Gunfighters

Doctor WhoHis tooth broken by a booby-trapped piece of candy leftover from his struggle with the Celestial Toymaker, the Doctor seeks dental help in the old west – from none other than Doc Holliday himself, in Tombstone Arizona. But when the Doctor, Steven and Dodo go to seek his help, the Doctor is mistaken for Holliday…and this may plunge the time travellers into the legendary, bloody shootout at the OK Corral, not as observers, but as participants.

written by Donald Cotton
directed by Rex Tucker
music by Tristram Cary / vocals by Lynda Baron

Doctor WhoGuest Cast: William Hurndell (Ike Clanton), Maurice Good (Phineas Clanton), David Cole (Billy Clanton), Sheena Marshe (Kae), Shane Rimmer (Seth Harper), David Graham (Charlie), John Alderson (Wyatt Earp), Anthony Jacobs (Doc Holliday), Richard Beale (Bat Masterson), Reed de Rouen (Pa Clanton), Laurence Payne (Johnny Ringo), Martyn Huntley (Warren Earp), Victor Carin (Virgil Earp)

Broadcast from April 30 through May 21, 1966

Notes: Actor Anthony Jacobs’ son Matthew, still a young boy, was in the studio watching his father film his scenes for this story. Almost exactly 30 years later, Matthew Jacobs would write the script for the one-off Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 1

Fine Finny Fiends

BatmanAlfred visits a fish market in Gotham City to gather the ingredients for an upcoming award banquet held for the city’s exclusive club of multi-millionaires, including one Bruce Wayne, only to be ensnared by the Penguin. Penguin brainwashes Alfred, forcing him to gather information from inside Wayne Manor, unaware that Alfred also has access to the Batcave. Betman and Robin notice Alfred’s odd behavior immediately, and spot the telltale signs of Alfred’s captor. But when they set out to capture the Penguin, they fall into a breathtaking trap…

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Sheldon Stark
directed by Tom Gries
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Burgess Meredith (The Penguin), Victor Lundin (Octopus), Bill Williams (Multimillionaire), Dal Jenkins (Shark), Howard Wendell (Millionaire), Julie Gregg (Finella)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 1

Batman Makes The Scenes

BatmanAlfred is still under the thrall of the Penguin, who is leaving Batman and Robin without much breathing room to air their grievances with the criminal mastermind. Quick thinking – and an emergency oxygen supply – allows Batman to free Robin and escape from the Penguin’s trap, and now he must use Alfred to lay a trap of his own for the Penguin. The bait: every millionaire in Gotham City. Will the Penguin fall for it hook, line, and sinker?

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Sheldon Stark
directed by Tom Gries
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Burgess Meredith (The Penguin), Victor Lundin (Octopus), Bill Williams (Multimillionaire), Dal Jenkins (Shark), Lisa Mitchell (Miss Natural Resources), Charles la Torre (Manager), Julie Gregg (Finella)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 03 Doctor Who

The Savages

Doctor WhoThe Doctor brings the TARDIS in for a landing on a world whose inhabitants have, according to him, achieved peace and balance. As the Doctor surveys the planet, Steven grows impatient and goes to look for him, but he and Dodo run into stone-age primitives – hardly an advanced civilization. The TARDIS travelers are saved by the Elders, who welcome them to their city and offer the Doctor a seat among their most revered leaders. The Doctor is honored, but continues to ask questions about his hosts. But the more questions he asks, it becomes clearer that there’s trouble in paradise. The Elders and their guards capture the “Savages” and drag them into the city, where they are subjected to a process that extracts their life energy and transfers that vitality to recipients in the city. When Dodo discovers the process, the time travelers are suddenly less welcome, and instead of a place of honor, the Doctor becomes the next in line to
have his life force drained.

Order this story on audio CDwritten by Ian Stuart Black
directed by Christopher Barry
music by Raymond Jones

Guest Cast: Ewen Solon (Chal), Patrick Godfrey (Tor), Peter Thomas (Edal), Geoffrey Frederick (Exorse), Frederick Jaeger (Jano), Robert Sidaway (Avon), Kay Patrick (Flower), Clare Jenkins (Nanina), Norman Henry (Senta), Edward Caddick (Wylda), Andrew Lodge, Christopher Denham, Tony Holland (Assistants), John Dillon, John Raven (Savages), Tim Goodman (Guard)

Notes: The master tapes of this episode were destroyed by the BBC in the early 1970’s, and no video copies exist.

Broadcast from May 28 through June 18, 1966

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Season 03 Doctor Who

The War Machines

Doctor WhoThe Doctor and Dodo arrive in 1966 London, finding that the city has undergone some changes since they were last there. The Post Office Tower has been completed, and something about it makes the Doctor suspicious. He and Dodo visit the Tower and find that an immense computer called WOTAN has been constructed, and its designers intend for it to take over functions that normally occupy the time of human beings. But WOTAN’s vast artificial intelligence has already decided that it can take over all of humanity’s functions – and those who refuse to follow its orders will be eliminated. But WOTAN also realizes that it requires the Doctor’s expertise – and so it takes control of Dodo and and a secretary named Polly to lure him into a trap.

written by Ian Stuart Black
directed by Michael Ferguson
music not credited

Guest Cast: Alan Curtis (Major Green), John Harvey (Professor Brett), Sandra Bryant (Kitty), Ewan Proctor (Flash), William Mervyn (Sir Charles Summer), John Cater (Professor Krimpton), Ric Felgate (American journalist), John Doye (Interviewer), Desmond Callum-Jones (Worker), Roy Godfrey (Tramp), Gerald Taylor (War Machine operator/voice of WOTAN), John Rolfe (Captain), John Boyd-Brent (Sergeant), Frank Jarvis (Corporal), Robin Dawson (Soldier), Kenneth Kendall (Himself), George Cross (Minister), Edward Colliver (Mechanic), John Slavid (Man in phone box), Dwight Whylie (Announcer), Carl Conway (U.S. Correspondent), Michael Rathbone (Taxi Driver), Eddie David (Worker)

Broadcast from June 25 through July 16, 1966

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Movies (Adam West)

Batman

BatmanThe disappearance of an eccentric admiral and his light-bending invention is reason enough for Commissioner Gordon to send up the Batsignal. Batman and Robin board the Batcopter to chase the admiral’s missing boat, only to watch it disappear from the water. One exploding shark later, clues begin piling up to an unholy alliance between Batman’s greatest foes: the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman are working together. Barely together, at any rate – their partnership is a fragile and fractious one, each one jockeying for the right to boast that he or she wiped out Batman. Catwoman’s plan is put into action: she will pose as Russian reporter Miss Kitka and catch the eye of millionaire Bruce Wayne, who will then be kidnapped by the villains and held hostage until Batman comes to his rescue. Bruce, of course, is all too aware that Batman won’t be saving him, and has to engineer his own escape. Unaware that Miss Kitka is Catwoman, Batman and Robin return to the scene of the crime to save her, only to find another trap. While the Dynamic Duo is kept busy by this double-cross, the quartet of criminal masterminds hatches a plan to capture the leading diplomats of the world’s most powerful nations, plunging the world into chaos and allowing them to seize control…unless, of course, Batman and Robin throw a dash of cold water on their scheme.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Lorenzo Semple Jr.
directed by Leslie H. Martinson
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Burt Ward (Robin / Dick Grayson), Lee Meriwether (Catwoman / Kitka), Cesar Romero (The Joker), Burgess Meredith (The Penguin), Frank Gorshin (The Riddler), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Aunt Harriet Cooper), Reginald Denny (Admiral Schmidlapp), Milton Frome (Vice Admiral Fangschliester), Gil Perkins (Bluebeard), Dick Crockett (Morgan), George Sawaya (Quetch)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 2

Shoot A Crooked Arrow

BatmanA felonious marksman known as the Archer fires an arrow into stately Wayne Manor, releasing a knock-out gas that renders Bruce Wayne and the other occupants of the mansion unconscious. The Archer and his cohorts steal Wayne’s millions from a hidden safe, handing them out to the poor of Gotham City. Now the problem for Batman and Commission Gordon becomes one of image: will the police and the Caped Crusaders find themselves up against public opinion trying to capture a villain who claims to be trying to help the poor?

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Stanley Ralph Ross
directed by Sherman Marks
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Art Carney (The Archer), Barbara Nichols (Maid Marilyn), Robert Cornthwaite (Allan A. Dale), Doodles Weaver (Crier Tuck), Loren Ewing (Big John), Archie Moore (Everett Bannister), Robert Adler (First Poor Person), Heidi Jensen (Second Poor Person), Kitty Kelly (Third Poor Person), Dick Clark (himself)

BatmanNotes: The skyrocketing popularity of Batman (and the success of its brief detour onto the big screen) led to the introduction of celebrity cameos, often in “climbing the Bat-rope” scenes; many of these involved stars of Batman’s stablemates on the ABC network, such as Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Batman Season 2

Walk The Straight And Narrow

BatmanNarrowly escaping the Archer’s trap, Batman and Robin set about laying a trap of their own, namely planting information that they’re certain will reach the Archer about a heist target he can’t resist. Even when he seems to be a step ahead of the police and the Dynamic Duo, Batman sets out to make sure the Archer’s plan won’t stay afloat.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Stanley Ralph Ross
directed by Sherman Marks
music by Nelson Riddle / Batman theme by Neal Hefti

BatmanCast: Adam West (Batman), Burt Ward (Robin), Alan Napier (Alfred), Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon), Stafford Repp (Chief O’Hara), Madge Blake (Mrs. Cooper), Art Carney (The Archer), Barbara Nichols (Maid Marilyn), Robert Cornthwaite (Allan A. Dale), Doodles Weaver (Crier Tuck), Loren Ewing (Big John), Vinton Hayworth (Marshall Roland), Steve Pendleton (1st Armored Car Driver), Lee Delano (2nd Armored Car Driver), James O’Hara (Policeman), Myrna Dell (Pedestrian)

Notes: Scenes of Batman and Robin climbing into the Bat-Boat and heading out to sea were lifted directly from the Batman feature film; this is also the case for all future appearances of the Bat-Boat and the Bat-Copter, as obtaining new footage of either in action was beyond the budget of the television series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Original Series Season 01 Star Trek

The Man Trap

Star Trek ClassicStardate 1531.1: Visiting Professor Crater and his wife (who, before marrying Crater, had a close relationship with McCoy), an Enterprise landing party starts to fall prey to an unknown assailant that seems to drain its victims of salt. Kirk is suspicious – and McCoy alarmed – when the Craters refuse, in spite of the threat, to evacuate their planet. The landing party returns to the Enterprise with an extra passenger – a shape shifter who can assume the shapes of Enterprise crewmembers and who has been living with Professor Crater in the guise of his late wife, whom the creature killed. The creature, in search of salt, sees the Enterprise as a promising hunting ground.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by George Clayton Johnson
directed by Marc Daniels
music by Alexander Courage

Cast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Jeanne Bal (Nancy Crater), Alfred Ryder (Professor Robert Crater), DeForest Star TrekKelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Janice Rand), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Bruce Watson (Green), Michael Zaslow (Darnell), Vince Howard (Crewman), Francine Pyne (Nancy III)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Green Hornet

The Silent Gun

The Green HornetAfter informing police that he knows something about his father’s death, a young man is murdered in plain sight before the eyes of 20 people, shot at point-blank range…and yet no one around him heard the shot fired or saw a muzzle flash. This catches the attention of Daily Sentinel publisher Britt Reid, who spends his off hours fighting crime in the guise of the Green Hornet, his faithful butler and martial arts expert Kato at his side. When another murder is committed, the Green Hornet and Kato begin closing in on likely suspects, including rival organized crime bosses. They both want a gun that can kill without being heard or seen…but only one of them has it. And they both have it in for the Green Hornet.

written by Ken Pettus
directed by Leslie H. Martinson
music by Billy May

Green HornetCast: Van Williams (The Green Hornet), Bruce Lee (Kato), Wende Wagner (Lenore Case), Lloyd Gough (Mike Axford), Walter Brooke (District Attorney Frank Scanlon), Lloyd Bochner (Dan Carley), Kelly Jean Peters (Jackie Cameron), Ed McCready (Detective Olson), Al McGranary (Minister), Breland Rice (Policeman), Charles Francisco (Al Trump)

Notes: Not so much a spinoff of Batman as a new show taking place in what may or may not be the same “universe”, The Green Hornet – based on a 1930s radio serial – was made by many of the same personnel as Batman, and was intended to be a bit more gritty and less campy than its superhero stablemate. If The Green Hornet is a spinoff of anything, it’s actually a spinoff of a fellow radio show, The Lone Ranger, as both were created by George W. Trendle, whose original radio scripts specified that Britt Reid is the son of Dan Reid, the Lone Ranger’s nephew.

Green HornetThis TV adaptation was also the western audience’s introduction to rising martial arts star Bruce Lee, who performed his own stunts (and, by many accounts, inadvertently but repeatedly injured stuntmen in fight scenes). By the end of the show’s single season on the air, the popularity of Lee and his character threatened to eclipse the show’s nominal star. Despite that popularity, since ABC scheduled it on Friday nights against the more established series The Wild Wild West, The Green Hornet was cancelled early in 1967.

LogBook entry by Earl Green