Episode 114: Holy Bat-Creep!: October 30, 2023

The Funny Feline Felonies
December 28, 1967
"The Joker, just released from prison, teams up with Catwoman. They follow the clues of an ancient riddle to retrieve a nightshirt and an antique crib, which together form a map to a hidden cache of gunpowder which they plan to use for their next crime. Batman and Robin, together with Batgirl, follow their trail, little knowing that they are about to walk right into an ambush."
43 minutes

RD: LEARNING THE BAT CREEP. Is that like the Batusi? He had returned from the South where he ate at the first Kentucky Fried Chicken, as shown by his Colonel Sanders cap. Both prefer the original Original Recipe.

Vince could never get malt vinegar with fish. RD has to hide his laughter, as did any other Listener suddenly finding themselves haunted by the Force Ghost of Sir Alec Heineken. 

RD then has to explain the old joke about vinegar douching to Vince.

Good Lord, lad. 

The Jungle Book was the #2 movie of the year, in between The Graduate and a re-released Gone With The Wind. Vince has to find his Baloo tattoo.

Narrator: "Morning at Gotham State Prison. And in the office of Warden Crichton, an old foe is saying his farewell." (:08)
The Joker is leaving in a grey suit after serving his long sentence of several..days months (according to the script). He shakes hands with the Warden and the chairman of the parole board, some millionaire named Bruce Wayne. You haven't heard of him.
Bruce: "I'm convinced that you've mended your former ways. And so in keeping with our liberal penological practices, we're releasing you considerably ahead of time."
Crichton then gives him the huge sum of 1 $10 dollar bill.
Joker: "I used to light my cigars with $10 bills. (pulling out a cigar) Oh, how about a cigar to celebrate the occasion?"
Bruce doesn't smoke "in any form" so Crichton takes the cigar to see if it will explode. It doesn't, but RD still doubts his competency at his job. Again. Vince was too distracted by the bad teeth on display.

Outside Joker meets Catwoman in her KittyCar, and as part of their plan she pretends to capture him at gunpoint.
Joker (loudly): "She's kidnapping me. Honest."
Bruce asks Crichton to try and "catch" the two, using the window to call Alfred to patch him through to the Gordons (since once again Barbara is visiting). In my opinion Bruce should have also called thes scriptwriter, since the last episode ended on Joker and Catwoman already riding around. Reagrdless, Barbara immediately disappears upon hearing the call. Cue titles as the Batmobile drives to the office.

Narrator: "And at the Sleazy Hotel, a sleazy hotel across the street from police headquarters..."
Joker puts on his regular suit as Catwoman observes Gordon's Office through her Catgun. Joker wants to kill the Duo but Catwoman knows how they operate, and she prefers to draw them out. So she just shoots a note through the Office window.

O'Hara: "Mother Machree, we're under attack!"
Batman crawls on his belly doing the Bat-Creep, which RD thinks can only be done with a skateboard with the way he is flowing around on the ground.
Batman (reading): ""This one was just a warning, Batman. The next one will be between your eyelids. Signed, a well-wisher.""
O'Hara: "Well, it seems like somebody's interested in your welfare."
Everyone gives him a well-deserved glare for his idiocy. 

Barbara enters in a lovely green dress: "Somebody lose a contact lens?" RD finds contact lenses were first used as far as the 16th century, though modern softer ones were first used from the 50s. 

Batman: "It must have come from the Hotel Sleazy across the street. Judging from the trajectory and the angle...and figuring the wind at six knots per hour, north by northeast...as per this morning's weather  report...X times six squared, over...Yes. (pointing) You see, it came from that room on that floor."

They go to the room finding Joker's prison suit left behind. (:20) Batman can smell Catwoman's trademark Cat Lily perfume, sensing they were in less than three minutes ago. Batgirl takes the opportunity to appear to assist. The men all say they can handle it on their own, so she does the lawful thing and takes a piece of paper from the crime scene.
Robin: "You think she's trying to double-cross us?"
Batman: "No, but she's a woman, Robin, with a woman's inborn desire to outsmart men."

Catwoman's lair is half cat half clown, and she asks her goons Giggler and Laughter to meet Joker. The Clown Prince managed to steal from the Library a poem "written by Garçon Maltese, the famous crook," who stole 1 million pounds of gunpowder during the French and Indian War to hide it within Gotham. Catwoman wants to use it to blow an entrance inside the federal depository building to loot it.
Joker: "Why don't we just heist a bunch of dynamite?"
Catwoman: "Far too simple, Joker. And not half as much fun as being devilishly clever. After all, we're  not common thieves. Now, our next move is to purloin and if possible permanently purge Batman,  Batgirl and Robin, the Boy Wonder. The missing corner of this parchment was intentionally left in that fleabag of a hotel room."

This Catwoman is definitely one to kill Batman rather than be attracted to him, a sad byproduct of racial conflict during the time. An African-American woman with a White man? On 60s television? That's just science fiction!

 

Literally!

 

Regardless, Vince always loved how well Romero used his eyes for his manic facial expressions. RD adds Victor Bueno as King Tut.  

Meanwhile Barbara quickly checks the Library to find the microfiche of the document before turning into Batgirl to call Batman from the Office.
Batgirl: "Meet me immediately at the apartment of Little Louie Groovy 27 Disc Drive."
Batman: "Little Louie Groovy, the teenage tycoon who's never missed producing a million-seller record?"
Dick (loudly): "Gosh, Bruce, I've always wanted to meet him!"
Despite his loudness, Barbara makes no mention of hearing it.

Narrator: "Shortly, in the big black warehouse groovy pad of Little Louie, the young tycoon of the recording business..." (:26)
Louie has suddenly discovered a group 20 minutes earlier called "Gotham Boulevard Off-Ramp" which may or may not be a reference to Chicago (Transit Authority). "Look, I gotta make my money fast. Another couple of years, I'll be in my mid-20s. Too old for the music business, over the hill."

He tries to go to bed just as the villains break in.
Louie: "Look, if you're here to rob me, I ought to warn you that I'm a karate expert and I can hurt you. So stay back! Hyah!
Catwoman (to goons): "Karate isn't effective unless accompanied by yelling. Let him howl until he  sprains a vocal cord, then get him."
They need only wait a few seconds to get their chance, and then take his nightgown, leaving him completely bare just as the Duo show up. The fight allows Joker's stunt double to once again make his presence while the bed in the middle spins around.
The Duo succeed in smashing up the place, but don't know why their enemies wanted a nightgown. 

Joker (improvising): "Well, it was all Catwoman's fault, fellas. If you recall, it was she who kidnapped  me. She told me that Louie Groovy was a hip cat and that it might be fun if we stole the cat's pajamas. Well, you know how I am about practical jokes. I couldn't resist it."
Batman: "You must have flipped your raspberry, Joker. How could you allow anyone to talk you into  something stupid?"
Joker: "Agreed. You're absolutely and positively right. Oh, I made a dreadful mistake. Oh, let bygones  be bygones. I'd like to shake hands with both of you. Can't we be friends?"

Despite Robin's protests they do, and of course the Duo fall prey to his Joker Buzzer, electrocuting them.  Thus incapacitated, the villains leave before Batgirl appears on the scene to check their pulse. "Three beats a minute, not too good." Fortunately she has her Batgirl antidote pills for such a situation.
Batman: "What took you so long, Batgirl?"
Batgirl: "Rush hour traffic. Plus all the lights were against me. You wouldn't want me to speed, would  you?"
Robin: "Your good driving habits almost cost us our lives."
Batman: "Rules are rules, Robin. ... But you do have a point."

With her copy of the poem Batgirl knows they stole the nightgown for their treasure hunt. Now they need a cradle "in the possession of Karnaby Katz, devil-may-care men's clothing designer from  Londinium."

Of course by the time they get to Katz's mansion he's already been robbed of his antique cradle mere seconds earlier. 
Robin: "Where could they have disappeared to so quickly?"

Narrator: "Closer than you think! Just outside waiting to ambush you! Will Joker and Catwoman make  good their perfidious plan to steal millions? For the answer to these and other cataclysmic questions, watch the next episode!"

Next episode is also Catwoman's final appearance. The Bros can't remember watching it before. 

Santa is still set to challenge all the naughty little girls and boys at the Arcade. 

RD found some really bad Halloween costumes.

 

  • Special Guest Villain: The Joker [10] (Cesar Romero) [10]
  • Extra Special Guest Villainess: Catwoman [9] (Eartha Kitt) [2]

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