The Batcave Podcast

Adam West passed away on Friday, June 9th at the age of 88 after a brief battle with Leukemia. His passing came as a shock to many in the fan community and for John and his guests, it was something that hit them harder than they expected. John decided to bring 13th Dimension's Dan Greenfield, the Batman 66 message board's Ben Bentley, and Gotham City 14 Miles's Jim Beard together to talk about Adam, his life, his role in their lives, and their encounters with the man.

Aired October 19, 1968   It's a team-up extravaganza in our two episodes for this podcast.  First, Penguin and Riddler team-up to determine who Batman really is. There are some tropes one would recognize from the 66 series, including Alfred dressing up as Batman.  The is followed by the Penguin and Joker teaming up, but a pair of pesky penguins get in the way and Penguin refuses to get rid of them despite Joker's protests.

Reis O'Brien joins John and Dan Greenfield of 13th Dimension to talk about the upcoming release of the first wave of Batman 66 3.75 inch action figures. They discuss what was the thinking in the choices for the first wave releases and what might be seen in a second wave, plus a look at what the thinking is for action figures in general.

Aired October 12, 1968 Catwoman and Penguin are at odds over a priceless ruby and the Terrific Trio are caught in the middle in our two-part story review.  Next, Riddler is back in town and he's using disguises to thrown the Dynamic Duo off his trail even more so than his riddles.​

Aired October 5, 1968 The Catwoman makes her debut in the animated 68 series and there's a lot to like, a lot to dislike, and a lot to simply appreciate.  In the story, Catwoman traps the Dynamic Duo in a series of traps that appears to ultimately lead to her desire to learn Batman's identity.  And then it just gets more complicated.  Plus, there's also a Joker story that could have come right out of the third season, complete with Batgirl!

A trio of Korean War vets hatch a plan to bust their sergeant out of prison with a stolen tank.  Will the Hornet be able to stop them in time? John and Jim are back with an episode that they are once again decided on.  They both agree the episode has merit, but one of them is overly enthused by the premise.  Also, they discuss the influences of the Batman series on The Green Hornet and the music of Billy May. 

Aired September 27, 1968 Our series of reviews of the 1968 Filmation series continues as the Joker and Penguin return in solo stories for this episode.  First, the Joker is committing a series of petty thefts from technology firms.  It seems like a joke, but Batman suspects there's more to it than meets the eye.  Plus, the Penguin is committing crimes while still in his jail cell.  How does he do it?

"The Beat of the Bat" is a full-length documentary that tells the story of the music of the 1966 "Batman" Television Series and how composers Neal Hefti, Nelson Riddle & Billy May gave Batman his first real musical identity. The music was as important to the show as the bright colors, campy dialogue and tongue-in-cheek performances. Yet, strangely, the story of how it came to be has never been told... ​Until now. John is joined by director Pat Evans to discuss the importance of the project.

Aired September 20, 1968 We continue our look at the 1968 Filmation series with a review of a pair of stories.  First, we look at the premiere of Mr. Freeze on the cartoon as he plans to bring Gotham City to its knees with a frosty gamble that not only threatens the city, but the Wayne fortune as well.  Next, Robin is thinking he's losing his touch but we quickly learn, "The Joke's on Robin" thanks to the Joker.

There's an arsonist on the loose in the city and the Hornet takes the case.  But Mike Axford has a former police investigator with a specialty in arson that he'd like to bring in.  He quickly learns that the man has more to prove than just the case.  John and Jim are at odds over the merits of this episode.

Aired September 13, 1969 We take a look at the 1969 Filmation series that shows the influences of the 66 series on its film cells.  In the first episode of the series, we discuss "My Crime is Your Crime" in which the Joker and Penguin team up to confound Batman by switching their M.O. in order to commit their crimes.  Next is "A Bird Out of Hand" as the Penguin goes straight, but it's clearly a ruse.

We take a look at another William Dozier pilot for another comic related property.  This time, it's Dick Tracy - He's a Good Cop.  This time though, Dozier went all out with a full length half-hour episode featuring Victor Buono as the villain, Mr. Memory - which starts the batter of questions about where this show was going.  

We move into the post-review era with the first in a series of episodes looking at the Batman related works. First up, a look at William Dozier's attempt at adapting another DC property - Wonder Woman.  In this curious short, "Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?" we are only given a taste of the potential of the series.  Which begs the question, why wasn't a full pilot produced?  This question and possibly a few more will be asked by John and his guest, Chris Franklin of the Super Mates Podcast

District Attorney Scanlon is running for re-election and it looks like it's going to be a rough one as his life is threatened.  The Hornet has to step in to investigate, but how does he do it without connecting himself to the DA?  This is an interesting episode of the series as it addresses a number of questions, the least of which is why should one elect someone who has failed time and again to catch public enemy number one, The Green Hornet?

The Hornet and Mike Axford teaming up?  How is this possible?  When Britt orders Mike to work with the Hornet in order to bring down a construction racket, Mike has his own ideas that could threaten his life.  John and Jim are in agreement that this is a "Must Watch" episode, but they're not entirely sure why.  Is it the appearance of Jeffrey Hunter?  Is it the Black Beauty versus three bulldozers?  Is it the Hornet Mortars?  Is it the Hornet and Mike working together?