BATMAN ’66 WEEK: What made the Boy Wonder so wonderful… — Welcome to BATMAN ’66 WEEK, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the beloved TV show starring Adam West! All week, we’ll be presenting daily tributes and features, leading up to Jan. 12 — the premiere date itself — when we’ll roll out a brand-new TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODE COUNTDOWN, voted upon by a panel of the most knowledgeable Bat-experts around. Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX. — Dan — UPDATED 1/8/26: It may be BATMAN ’66 WEEK, but Robin deserves his share of the credit too! Perfect time to reprint this piece from his birthday — July 6 — in 2015. Dig it. — Dan — I’ve said before that Burt Ward’s portrayal of Robin is the platonic ideal for the character in any media. So today, on the ever-youthful sidekick’s 70th birthday — I give you 13 examples of his best, brightest and funniest moments. Happy birthday, old chum! — 1. Jill St. John’s Molly takes over as Robin — and Burt Ward really sells it. Look, nobody is going to confuse Jill St. John and Burt Ward but when Molly disguises herself as Robin in the series debut, I actually do forget that it’s Burt there — except when he hilariously minces away from the camera just after “she” puts on the outfit. Holy gender bending! — 2. Dick Grayson, Juvenile Delinquent. Hands down, Burt Ward’s best scene in the whole series — when he throws on a leather jacket and tries to get in good with Susie the Crooked Head Cheerleader and the Joker’s gang in The Joker Goes to School/He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul. — 3. “Holy almost!” 4. Dick Grayson, Dancer. Robin go-goes with it as they enter a rock club where “The Twins” are playing while pursuing the Joker in The Zodiac Crimes. It’s not the Batusi, but it swings, baby! 5. This: — 6. Robin and Pussycat: The Great Romance That Never Was. After Robin is drugged in That Darn Catwoman/Scat, Darn Catwoman he gets grossly handsy with Catwoman’s sidekick Pussycat (Lesley Gore) — all guttural growls and lascivious leers. It’s an epically funny bit made even more hilarious by decades of hindsight subtext. 7. “Holy mush!” He said it twice — but the best time is when Batman escorts Catwoman to the police after their near kiss at...
A Birthday Celebration… — UPDATED 1/5/26: The late George Reeves was born Jan. 5, 1914. Perfect time to reprint this hilarious piece from his birthday in 2023. Dig it! — Dan — By WALT GROGAN “Faster than a speeding bullet…” Whenever I’d hear those words, no matter where I was in my parents’ apartment, I would sprint toward the television because it was time for the Adventures of Superman! “Yes, Superman — strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men!” As a child in the early 1960s, I wasn’t aware of who played the dual role of Clark Kent and Superman — all I knew was that he was a nice guy and someone who would protect you and that you could feel safe around — whether he was a “mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper” or the Man of Steel. And later, I would learn that Superman’s benevolent charm came down to the acting ability and natural charisma of the late George Reeves, who was born 112 years ago on Jan. 5, 1914. Even when he was playing Clark Kent, Reeves couldn’t bury it. Sure, he was supposed to be mild-mannered but that aspect was played down — except when he had to slip away to change into Superman! Reeves’ Kent was nearly as popular to me as his Superman. Because the Adventures of Superman episodes had to follow a strict format to get through a lot of plot in a scant 26 minutes, there were certain things that kids could count on in each of those episodes: Boys and girls marveled as Clark Kent ducked into a storeroom to change into Superman. And it seemed mandatory for him to leap out of a window to take flight — often to save cub reporter and photographer, Jimmy Olsen, or ace reporter, Lois Lane. But those stock flying scenes were no match for Superman crashing through walls — office walls, cave walls, cabin walls, home walls — you name it, Superman crashed through them! And who was the stuntman who demolished all of these partitions? Why it was George Reeves himself. Often covered with soot, dust, or the residue from crumbling plaster of Paris in the aftermath, Reeves took it all in stride — sometimes breathing in...
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