Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Batman '66 Bad Guys w/ Dana Gould and Barrett Leddy

Episode Date: July 22, 2025

Frank is joined by Emmy-winning writer-comedian DANA GOULD and this week's co-host, voice actor (and youthful ward) BARRETT LEDDY for a waaay too in-depth analysis of the rogues' gallery of arch-villains from the classic 1966-'68 "Batman" series. In this episode, Frank and the boys talk about bat-climbs, celebrity cameos and "non-canon" nemeses and share their favorite (and LEAST favorite) bat-baddies, while taking a nostalgic look back at an oft-repeated "rumor" from the "Amazing Colossal Podcast." PLUS: "Beneath the Planet of the Apes"! Dana dines with the Riddler! Frank hangs with Adam West! Barrett impersonates Eartha Kitt! And Dana remembers his friend, the late Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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And this is Fun for All Ages, the podcast for pop culture obsessives like you and like the two brilliant and wonderfully strange people who were foolhardy enough to join me for this. We're here at CityVox Studios in New York City with our very patient engineer, Don Hoffman. And our obsession this week is the 1966 Batman series, specifically the rogue's gallery of super villains from that series. Here to break it down are two super fans and my cohost this week, Barrett Letty,

a too talented for his own good voice actor, comedian, and occasional singer, is that right? Yes. He's appeared in films and series, such as Lego Disney Princess, The Castle Quest, Yu-Gi-Oh! Am I saying that right? Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! And Pokemon, 44 Cats and the Video Games, Cookie Run Kingdom, Cookie Run Kingdom, and

Storm Gate. He's also an Audi Award-winning audiobook narrator and has narrated titles for Audible, Penguin Audio, and Harper Audio. His vocal talents have been featured on Conan, The Howard Stern Show, and Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast, I've Heard of It. He also co-stars with Natasha Lyonne in Space 1969,

an Audible original written by Simpson's writer, Bill Oakley. And as a member of SEAL Team Six, he was instrumental in the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Wait a minute! That's my proudest achievement. And he also enjoyed a memorable three episode arc on Cleghorn. I didn't know that. Cleghorn. Our returning champion, Dana Gould, is a greatly admired stand-up comedian, actor, Emmy-winning writer, and voice artist, whose unique comedy stylings have been featured in numerous specials on HBO, Showtime, Comedy

Central, and his latest stand-up special, available everywhere, is called Perfectly Normal. As an actor, you've seen and heard this man, and everything from Seinfeld to MADtv to Family Guide to The Simpsons, he was also a staff writer for The Simpsons, as well as the much-loved Ben Stiller show, and let me tell you something, he was also a staff writer for The Simpsons, as well as the much-loved Ben Stiller show. And let me tell you something, he still does the most heartbreakingly beautiful Wilfred Brimley in the business. He created the IFC horror comedy series, Stand Against Evil.

He's the host of the terrific Dana Gould Hour podcast and the producer and co-creator of the Can't Miss online mini-series, Hanging with Dr. Z, which I do not want to oversell, but it's the greatest invention since the incandescent bulb. Welcome to the show, Old Chums. I'm not going to attempt an Adam West impersonation because I'm in the presence of two masters. Dana, thanks for making the time.

I'm afraid, having heard your Gilbert, I'm afraid. Let's hear your Adam. Quickly, Robin, to the Batmobile we haven't a moment to lose very good on february it's scary isn't it then what was the with the thing is uh... the greatest adam moment i ever had was he came into the voice on the simpsons

as batman uh... crusty was on, it was a flashback, and we got in all of his dialogue and we said, all right, Adam, we just need some, some, you know, Krusty as you tied up and you're struggling in vain, so we just need like some grunts and groans. And he went, okay.

Struggling in vain. Is that season 14 with clown face? Oh, that's the merry-go-round. The merry-go-round of death. It was fantastic. You pernicious, pernicious Pagliacci of perfidy. Very good, very good. And you worked with him, I think,

in the 90s on Super Adventure Team. Yeah, I worked with him on Super Adventure Team and on The Simpsons. He was, as you know, everything you wanted him to be. Yeah, we were talking before you jumped on too, and we had him on the old Gilbert show. Somebody, as Barrett pointed out- Hello, Gilbert, if I'm not mistaken,

you would be of the Jewish persuasion? I've got some clips from that show, including one of him paying Gilbert a compliment that he never forgot. But Barrett is right. He pointed out that he was a guy that never ever took himself seriously. Might be the king of that.

I can't even think of anyone. Shatner, a little bit. Maybe, but even so. Right. Yeah. I'm sure there was a time when he didn't, but he caught on quick. I was going to say the 70s is a period of Adam West

where I'm like, it's his last weekend when he was dating Mae Pang. That's right. And I just feel like there's no. I didn't know he dated May Pang. I'm learning. I'm learning so much. May Pang is a demon in the sack Let me tell you something right now. That was his his lost period where he was doing those those sort of bad autographed nostalgia shows. Cutting some tracks, Harry Nilsson. I did it. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, you go ahead. I was going to say that period, it's a dark period in his life where they were shooting him out of cannons at car shows and circuses.

The Happy Hooker was to Hollywood was the one that he did. I think so. Yeah. But even we asked him about that. You know the story of Lookwell. Yeah, sure. We love Lookwell. The legendary Lookwell, but when he was,

they fought hard to get him cast as Lookwell. And the network obviously, I don't think they, they needed some persuading. And by that, you immediately know, oh, you don't get it. You know, it's like, you know, that's the point. Yeah. I broke my heart that that thing didn't fly. Yeah.

They set everything and they went over Brandon Tartikoff and it's like, okay, Adam, you're gonna do it. And it's gonna be great. And we're gonna shoot it in May. And it's all set. And Adam's like, well, I will have to move the production. I can gonna do it and it's gonna be great and we're gonna shoot it in May. And it's all set and Adam's like, we'll have to move the production. I can't do it that weekend.

Because he had a car show. Unbelievable. And he had to explain like, these people have been buttering my bread for decades. Of course. Right. You know, I'm gonna go. I think they made a range. Of course.

And he wound up being right. That look well thing didn't take off, but he kept doing all the shows, kept doing all the conventions. I think look well, it is one of those things like what's episode eight? Can you sustain like even that is true. That's the problem with it. Even police squad when you watch the first season of police. Agreed.

At the end of that season, they're repeating jokes. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The, we, I worked with the, Adam, when Adam did the Simpsons, I had already worked with him. So I felt comfortable enough to kind of talk to him. And it was right when Back to the Batcave came out. Oh sure.

Yeah. And I said, so what did you think of Burt Ward's book? And he looked at me and he went, The Hubris. The Hubris, to write that book. My life in tights. My life in tights. Adam's book is actually good.

Yeah, because he's perfect. I remember meeting when I was 14 at a convention. I went and I met Yvonne Craig. As I grew up on the reruns of the show on TV land. And I asked her, why weren't you in return to the Batcave? And I mean, she was portrayed in it, but she didn't appear as herself. But she said she hated the way Adam was portrayed.

And she didn't like the whole that he was a chauvinistic pig and that he was a philanderer and a womanizer. And I don't know, she took exception to that. Maybe there were other reasons, like it not being great. Well, you hear so many mixed stories about the two of them at that time. Or money. Perhaps it was money, old chum.

I worked with Adam. It was the great money caper. The almighty dollar. I worked with him at FX with Jeff Probst, of all people. I was writing a late night talk show on FX that nobody saw. And Adam, and Back to the Batcave came out, and Adam was doing a book tour. And he came in and he was wonderful.

And we did a whole thing. We had him ring the doorbell, because we used to do that show in an actual apartment where they built downtown. They spent millions building this apartment. And he would say, it's the lady of the house home. And he was peddling. The premise was that he was peddling the book door to door.

Right. Another time. The lady of the house. So he was just everything. Like you said before, Barrett, everything you'd want him to be. I know. Yeah. Years earlier.

The missing link between man and Ascot. Yes. Years earlier, and it may have been one of his down periods, he appeared at Minyolo Long Island, where I went to high school. He appeared at a local comic book signing. And of course, the last person gets their autograph signed, and they're shutting, they're closing the comedy club,

the comedy club, they're closing the cartoon shop because it's at the comic book store at six o'clock. And the guys that are running it want to go home. And he's waiting for a ride that isn't there. And I know he's going to stand on the sidewalk by himself. And I don't want to leave, I don't want to leave Adam West standing now. On the sidewalk, I think, well, that's my opportunity to have a private audience with the man.

So I start talking him up, talking about the old show. And a guy I went to high school with is walking up Jericho Turnpike and spots me standing next to Adam West. And I said, oh, shit, here it comes. And he gets closer and he says, I can't believe this. Frank Santopadre. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Pure West. Pure West. That was Conan's. That was all Conan's. Oh yeah. Yeah, Conan loved him.

Abiding love. Deep abiding love of Adam West. Which is one of the reasons I love Conan so much was that he would have, I mean he would have everyone that maybe was not in vogue on his show. Like I, you know, I look back at he had Carol Channing. Oh yeah, a lot of Abe Vagoda. Abe Vagoda. I love the respect and the reverence. And Whitman Mayo. Like you, Whitman.

Like you, Conan's cultural landscape was forged by things on channels 56 and 38 in Massachusetts. I love it. I love it. It was all of that stuff that when, when we were kids and it is because of Conan that I, I had a bizarre dinner with Frank Gorshin. Oh, do tell please speaking of our rogues gallery. Yes. Um, Rob Cohen, who was my, uh, writing partner, uh, co-created hanging with Dr. Z and we go back to, we go back to the Ben Stiller show.

Um, w he's like, uh, this is back in the late nineties, I think early odds is like, Hey, we're going to have, uh, we're going to have, uh, dinner with, uh, Conan that, uh, Dan tennis he's in town. They're, they town. They were doing the show in LA. He was still on late night. And then we were gonna go have dinner with him after. He's like, oh great, it'll be good to see him. So we meet at Dan Tannis, the old steakhouse on Santa Monica Boulevard.

And we're just talking and then this guy comes in named Fred Westbrook. Oh yes comes in named Fred Westbrook. Oh, yes. I was familiar with Fred Westbrook. Wait, Fred Westbrook was the, the agent of the stars that were stars 20 years ago. He had Julie Newmar too as a Goliath. Julie Newmar, he had all the, he had the, he could have booked the content of this podcast and he and Conan knew him from Adam and everybody else. And, and, and, and Rob knew him also from Adam, cause we had dealt with

him on super adventure team. So, and Fred's, uh, having dinner with Frank Gorshin. So he says, well, join us, sit down and join us. This isn't it. We're just, we're just jaw jacking. So, so Fred and Frank Gorshin sit down with us. And it's me, Conan O'Brien, Rob Cohen, Fred Westbrook and Frank Gorshin. And we're talking and Frank has to get up every 20 minutes to smoke. Oh, he has to go outside and smoke.

Three pack, four pack a day smoker. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, and then we're just sitting there and then this guy, this old school guy walks up to us, old school producer looking dude, and he just juts to Santa goes, Conan Glenn Larson. Nice to meet you. And we say, sit down Glen. And so we said, I got, I got some, uh, I got some Battlestar Galactica questions for you, just don't bring up Jim Garner. I want to sleep tonight.

Like, fine. Sit down. And, uh, and, uh, and it was the most bizarre showbiz evening of our life. How strange. Glenn A. Larson. Glenn A. Larson. Yes. How strange. But the, the, at one point I said to Frank Gorshin, and you're gonna, I said, uh, you know, Frank, when I was a kid, the Riddler, you as the Riddler, you were the one villain that I thought was dangerous. Like I actually thought

you could kill that man. Kind of psycho. He just went, he looked at me and he went, well I'm an actor. He took the compliment well. He's the only Emmy nomination on that show. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. He created, I mean he was an impressionist, he had a career as an impressionist, but he always credited the show for turning him into a headliner in Vegas. Absolutely. It's funny you said that, Danny, because I wrote that down. He was always menacing and genuinely scary.

I'm an actor. Yeah. Ha ha ha. No. This is somewhat less menacing than Ethel Merman's Lola Lasagna. Are you kidding? That gave me such nightmares as a kid.

Hey kids, as promised, I want to personally thank all the loyal and generous listeners who are supporting us on Patreon. So, here goes nothing. A heartfelt, fun for all ages thank you to Peter Warden, Jim Chisholm, Kenneth, I hope I'm saying this one right, Shakinger or Shachinger. No, that can't be right. Let's go with Shakinger. David Warhoftig, Scott Neitz, Christopher Harris, Nick Gehring. Thank you. Doug Anderson, Brandon Taper. Thank you. Joe Krolikowski, Cecil or Cecil Blair. Thank you Adam Palmer. Eddie Wretch. Andrew Carden. Devlin Thompson. Devlin Thompson. I'm doing that one again. Marty Perdek. Thank you Marty. Julianne Maruzzi. Julianne Maruzzi or Maruzzi. No, it's Italian. It's Maruzzi. Thank you Julian. Adam St. Germain.

Gabriel Noll. Thank you. Thomas J. Rood. Thank you so much. Mike Drake, here's a good one. Zoran Samardzija, I hope that's right. Thank you Zoran or Zoran. Yvette, no name, no address, just Yvette. And Mike O'Shaughnessy, so that is the first 24. Many more to come in the following weeks. But thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. We appreciate it, more fun to come. I got a clip here I want to play.

Poor John Aston had to fill those tights. Yeah. And season two. I think there was a salary dispute of some kind, a money dispute, as Dana pointed out before. It's always about the money. I don't think Gorshin appeared

in the second season at all. No, he came back in the lame third season to- What are you kidding? The third season is the best. That's horrible. To, to fix a boxing match. That's the one with the young James Brolin and, uh, and I think Joan Collins, Joan Collins shows up as the siren. Well, yeah, that was, well, okay.

So that's, that's Fox 19 six shooting on Fox 1968. You bet. Fox, shooting on Fox, 1968. You bet. James Brolin is a contract player at Fox, which is why, here we go, me going into my one creel. He is in the test footage, for the makeup test footage for Planet of the Apes that they shot in 66.

Oh, I love that. With Edward G. Robinson playing Dr. Zayas in very primitive makeup, and Linda Harrison and James Brolin as Cornelius and Zira, but they really just had these kind of blank faces. They don't really have anything specific on, just these kind of weird, it looks like early stage

invasion of the body snatchers. But you can Google James Brolin, Planet of the Apes, and see it was him as a young dude. That also probably explains why Robinson shows up in one of the cameos in one of the Bat Climbs. Yes. Every, you know, Fox, they use, also, the computers in the Bat Cave, also,

the computers in the Seacave, also the computers in the Sea View, also the computers in Time Tunnel, also the computers in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. They just wheeled that computer back from set to set to set. For me, I was gonna ask you about third season, I got a card about it, but that awful, I think the low point was when Egghead hatches the dinosaur. Oh, gosh.

And that dinosaur looked familiar too. Like, I either saw that dinosaur on Time Tunnel, or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, or... Right, and then later on Land of the Lost, or something like that, yeah. Or something. Pretty much the jumping of the shark of Batman. Let me play this wonderful clip.

This is us talking to John Astin on the last show, Dana. And Gilbert asked him about the unenviable task of filling in for Gorshin. We have that, Mr. Don. A little trivia, by the way, about that major Barbara cast. And this is just for our listeners, that three of those actors Eli Wallach Burgess Meredith and yourself. What did they all have in common?

They all played villains on the Batman series Ah all three of you went on to do that series Which is a little fun piece of trivia. Did you face any opposition from fans when you took over the role of the Riddler? Well, I just did it for two one-hour shows. So I never had a chance to assess the reaction to it. I had a ball. I loved doing that show. It was a whole lot of fun. And...

You could chew the scenery. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I had always wanted to run around in my underwear in public, you know. And... And... And...

And... And... And... So, it... You know, I'm happy they gave me that opportunity. Isn't that sweet? That's very sweet. And it's just his, how old is he there? Oh, God, we interviewed him, I want to say in 2020. So he had to be, he had to be in his eighties then he's well into his nineties

now. And he's his, his grasp of the language, he's so erudite and he knows, you know, he, because my, I'm just comparing him to my father who's 94 and will, when I talk to him on the phone, also, usually he's hammered, but he'll I'm not lying, but he'll start, he'll just throw a word out and then just start to like find other words that go, Hey,

I'm just calling to tell you what my situation is here at the house. You didn't know where that was going when you started that sentence, did you? It's almost like a Jerry Stiller, how he used to just try to find the words as he was saying. Yeah, you're just... Silverdella collection? Yeah.

Yeah, you're building this bridge as you cross it. He's the only one left. It would have... By the way, John Astin. So, is Eli Wallach John Astin, and who was the third? Burgess Meredith. It would have been funny if you said, what do you all have in common?

And without blinking, you went, Elky Summer. Oh, that's perfect. We were talking about, excuse me, we were talking about how Astin and Julie Newmar and Joan Collins from that Riddler episode are the only three villains left with us. And we'll go through that list. Excluding Lee Merriweather.

Who? Lee Merriweather. From the movie. Yeah. Lee Merriweather we had on the old podcast and Gilbert, Gilbert was very naughty with her and she threatened to spank him. I think that was the, I like that was Gilbert's point. And I think John Astin is-

That was what Gilbert had planned. John Astin is the only, Adam's family planned. I think John Astin's the only Adams family cast member left, if I'm not mistaken, because I think... Lisa Loring passed away. Yeah, she passed away. Yeah, he's the last one. Wow. And Felix Silla died, who played Cousin It.

Yes. Right. And Tweaky on Buck Rogers. That is right. Checks signed by Glenn A. Larson. Excellent. Excellent. This is all coming full circle.

Gomez, great. Astin, great Gomez Excellent. This is all coming full circle. Gomez, great... Aston, great Gomez, not such a great Riddler. You know, yeah. It was impossible. It was hard. Was he filming Adam's family then, and that's why he couldn't shave the mustache? I think Adam's family was done, because I read somewhere that when Lurch, that was the other thing, that they would be shameless

about cross-promoting other shows. So Howard Duff appears in one of the window cameos in character for a show he was doing called Felony Squad. But all of a sudden, there's one where there's harpsichord music that are climbing up the side of a building and Lurch pops his head out of the building. Right, yes, yes, yes. Which is strange because I believe

Adam's family was already done. It was, so it was a strange, I don't know what they were trying to promote. So tell me, Barrett, about discovering the show on which channel now that Dana referenced? Well, I think it was on... I remember it being on TV land, but then they would also replay it in the summer on Nick at Night. So I grew up watching those. I mean, that was probably, and while those reruns

were being aired, the animated series was being run for the first time. Right, 90, 91, I think. Yeah, yeah. Somewhere in there. Yeah, so. 91, 92. 92, I think it starts, yeah.

So I was, I had like, there was so much Batman for me to watch growing up. And it was kind of cool to have that contrast. And Dana, you're a little younger than me. I mean, I remember, I was born in 61 and I remember it in first run. Yeah, see, that's the amazing thing about the Batman show. And it was a real realization that I had

because I watched it on daytime syndication. Yeah. And so that is you know, usually it was on like a three o'clock after school on I believe channel 56 or 38 whatever your UHF station was where you grew up and so people assumed it was a kid show because it was on for kids. But no, this is the generation prior to Police Squad. This was a prime time adult comedy that kids could enjoy. Not unlike The Simpsons in that regard. It was definitely on two levels. Good point. But it was, you know, this was not a kids show, not devised as a kids show.

It was a comedy for adults. And that was really quite, that's when I really started to appreciate how great Adam West was. Yes. They really must have just been dying. And many of those episodes written by my friend's father, Lorenzo Semple.

Oh, your Maria's friend. Oh yes. Yes, we share another mutual friend. You know, Lorenzo Semple and Stanley Ralph Ross, I mean, without the two of them, I mean, they wrote so many important episodes. Yeah.

And Semple, you know, as you well know, a screenwriter of some notoriety. He wrote Three Days of the Condor. Yeah. I would hasten to say all three days, he didn't farm out a day. No slacker heat. I would, I, I, I hasten to say all three days. He didn't farm out a day. No slacker heat. No, yeah, no. He, and he also wrote the John Gillerman King Kong.

That's right. In 1976. He wrote the Batman movie. He did, you know, he was. Did he write the parallax for you? Oh. He may have, I don't know. Am I right or am I barking up the wrong tree there?

But Maria, I'm going to go back to my only point of reference. Maria tells a story about when she was a kid, her dad took her to visit his friend, Kim Hunter, who was shooting a movie on the Fox lot. And they knocked on her trailer door and she opened it in full ape makeup. And Maria lost her crap because she was a little kid. on the Fox lot and they knocked on her trailer door and she opened it in full ape makeup and Maria lost her crap because she was a little kid and was not expecting it. It's very jarring for her.

Maria's a writer herself, isn't she? Yeah, she wrote the book, Where'd You Go Bernadette? She's a real writer. She's friends with my pal Michael Weber. I just had to have a sidebar real quick about the Batman movie, which you mentioned. And that is that for my 16th birthday, my friends all threw me a surprise party. And the evening culminated with a screening of the Batman movie. Now that's a party.

Now for me, it was a party. For everyone else, that third act, it starts to get a little long. If you're not into it from the beginning, it was, it was starting. And it was, it's hard. The other friends, I, by that point, I appreciated it for the comedy.

Uh-huh. Commodore Schmidlap. Yeah, I was like, hey, what? You don't want to hear what's gonna happen to Commodore Schmidlap? What? What? When I was a kid, I was like, hey, what? You don't want to hear what's going to happen to Commodore Schmidlab? What the? When I was a kid, when that show first aired in 66, as a child, as a five-year-old, as a six-year-old,

I'm stating the obvious. I had no concept of the comedy of the show. No, and you look at it now, and like the scene with the shark, my, I mean, those guys had to have been dying. Yes, I'm sure they were. So, I mean, as a comedy writer, it's beautiful. It is. I mean, it's beautiful.

Just the sound of him beating it is so funny. Yeah. Sure, the shark repellent? Yes. Yeah. Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb. Like a little, like a family of ducks, a bunch of nuns, like God, they must've been dying.

I know. My favorite line, I think, just the one that I find myself saying a lot is, there's an episode, it's a Riddler episode, and Commissioner Gordon is at some sort of a soiree and the Riddler's team or the Riddler's henchmen give them all lemonade and they pass out and Yeah, it's a silent film. Yes, the silent film. Yeah, and you know later Commissioner Gordon says Batman, you must forgive me and and

Adam, Adam West goes, in future, be careful from whom you accept free lemonade. That's hilarious. In, I like not the, in future. No, in future. Hey, everybody. Frank here. Remember the British invasion? You know you do.

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Lyle Wagner. George Hamilton too. I think so, I think so. And I know Dick Godier did the PSA when Adam wasn't available, but they could not have done any better. I mean, Dozier found the right person who could do both. Who could-

Yeah, no, that was one of those, just like the actor in the role. Absolutely. Connery and Bond to go back to the same era. Like you can't top this. They got the guy. Kirk, like Shatner and Kirk, I mean, it's the same deal. It's just perfect fit.

Since you mentioned Planet of the Apes, and we will bring Planet of the Apes. Did I? Linda Harrison, by the way, is in a Joker episode. You probably know that. She's a cheerleader. On Fox, contract player at Fox. Which brings me, I'm jumping around here, but brings me to the character, the Puzzler, played by somebody who I know is near and dear to your heart.

Was he the Puzzler or was it? He was the Puzzler, Morrie Sevins. Oh, Morrie Sevins was the Puzzler and Roddy McDowell was the bookworm. The bookworm. I want you to speak about each one of them. First of all, why Roddy McDowell, and you mentioned this on the old show, but it's worth bringing up again, why Roddy McDowell is important to your own life. My own debt portfolio. Yeah, well, we, when I first was getting my first wife, God, I'm such a cliche.

I always wanted to say my first wife. My first wife and I. Holy prenup. My first wife, Sepulveda. Sepulveda. She wouldn't stop calling me Mr. Dana. We were looking for houses to buy a house and we were living in a house, but we knew we were going to start a family and we were living right behind the Chateau Marmont

and above the Sunset Boulevard and right above the strip. And as I call the strip at the time, a billboard lined sluice gate of cultural diarrhea. And I didn't want my child to grow up with an earshot of it. So we were looking at houses, oddly found a house directly over the hill, exactly in the same spot on

the other side of the hill. We often wondered if you dug a tunnel through the hill, you would have come out of the, right in our other house. And we're in the house and it had been owned by, it had been flipped from the previous owner. And then we're walking around the house and it had been flipped from the previous owner and then we're walking around the house and they there's a law in LA that if somebody dies on the premises you have to divulge that

and that law was put into place because some realtors sold the house that Terry Melcher rented to Roman Polanski without telling them. And she was like, this beam, this support beam looks familiar to me. I don't like that writing on the door. Yeah, no, exactly. And that's why I was, so they had to say,

the previous, the owner passed away on premises very peacefully. He was in hospice care. He was an actor named Roddy McDowell. And I felt my wife's head swivel around like an owl and burn two holes into the back of my head. And I was like, well, we are, and in addition to it being my favorite movie,

it was her father's favorite movie too. So it was like, that was a foregone conclusion that we were gonna buy that house. But this story gets, you might wanna get some helmets on because the names are going to start dropping. Go for it. I say this because I can. Paul Rubens said you have to rebuild the bathroom because Roddy had a famous powder room that was right when you walk into the house on the left and I think it was famous because Robert Downey Jr. was removed

from it once by first responders. Wow. But he had the walls were lined with photos of celebrities that had been into the house because Roddy would have these famous, what we call salon, he would have, and he would mix and match people. He would be like, you know, Rock Hudson, Fred Grandy from the Love Boat, you both playback, Gammon, discuss.

All right? All right. And I've talked to many people that went to Roddy's house boat, you both play back gammon discuss. And I've talked to many people that went to Roddy's house, uh, in those times. And there's literally pictures of like a young Harrison Ford and an old Betty Davis sitting in my kitchen before it was my kitchen. Wow.

Arbor Stanwyck probably took a shit in there. On Danny Thomas. Beautiful. So thank you. So, but when Roddy passed, Paul and someone else preserved the bathroom. They literally called the Hollywood history museum and said, you have to preserve this room because the walls were lined with photos. On the back of the door was a framed letter to Rodney McDowell from 20th Century Fox apologizing for accidentally submitting him for best actor for Cleopatra, not best supporting actor for Cleopatra,

for which he certainly would have been nominated. And he had all of this stuff in this bathroom, so they preserved it. If you go to the Hollywood history museum at the Max Factor building in Hollywood, you can go into it. I, thanks to Paul, got to go in with a camera because I said, look, I own this house.

I need to rebuild this. I literally need to go in and take photos just so I can match the tile. So they let me do it. And one of the things that was in there on the handle was just a rock with the Batman logo painted on it. Because he was the bookworm. Bookworm, bookworm.

That is too cool. Yeah. Wasn't there a statue? Do I have this story right? There was the statue of the law of? Roddy's character from battle for the planet of the apes that was Caesar right his character and that was in the backyard and It was when he when he passed it was taken down it was

it was a mold was cast it was repaired and a fiber and a mold was cast, it was repaired, and a mold was cast, and a couple of copies were made. Greg Nicotero of The Walking Dead now owns those molds. And the statue, which has been refurbished, is now in the Screen Actors Guild retirement home, which is, which Roddy Mcdowell was a big contributor to and which his sister at the time lived. There's an area called Roddy's Rose Garden and you can go in and sit and there's the Caesar statue.

So we had a benefit for the Screen Actors Guild retirement home at the house because that's where the benefits used to be there when Roddy lived there. So we thought we would continue that tradition. Three funny things happened at this benefit. One, it was in 2010 and we had just taken our two children to see Pee Wee's Playhouse live at the Nokia Theater in LA, because it was when he made it live again and did it on Broadway, and this was before the Broadway run. So we took our children to see it,

and a testament to just what a beautiful human being Paul was. He knew we were coming backstage with our kids after, so he had the puppeteer with our kids after so he had the puppeteer stay in cherry after the show so when my kids sat in the chair cherry would wrap its arms around all out of nice yet and to them they were so i really unfaithful as cherry of course that was the day

so on a nice thing it's about to we are i can't say enough good about the man uh... to weeks later So, what a nice thing. It's about two, I can't say enough good about the man. Uh, two weeks later, uh, we're having this benefit and, uh, the front door opens and Paul walks into the house and my daughter is walking downstairs. She's about, well, she's seven. Uh, she's eight years old and she walks down and she sees him and she goes, Peewee, come on upstairs. I want to show you in my room.

This is real casual. Most kids don't have Peewee come over the house. Yeah. As if it was Santa Claus or it could have been any, you know. So we're out back. And at the time, my wife worked at HBO. So there was a lot of HBO talent coming to this thing. It's all for a good cause.

It's raising money for the Screen Actors Guild retirement home. I'm sitting there, and we got these tables out back, and I'm looking at Paul's table. It looks like Paul and the girls from the B-52s, you know the it's the party bus from eight and a half it's like that table that's where the that's where the action is Paul's telling stories there are women and beehive hairdos and cigarette holders laughing babe Paley is making an ambrosia salad like everything or the party bus from Stardust memories yeah that's thatust memories I'm on the other time on the other train as exemplified so I see that and like and I'm like, um, that's the table I'm gonna I'm gonna get at that table

I'm gonna get at that table as I start to Sit stand up from my seat and move to that table Bill Maher sits down next to me And I look at him and he looks at me and he goes, well, I just came from putting my dog down. Oh, God. And I'm like, and he's my friend. So I'm like, oh man, I'm so, and that was the night. Wow. They're born and they break your heart. And like I fell for him, but it was just like 20 seconds, 20 seconds sooner. Exactly. Timing is everything.

You would have been telling this story to my mother-in-law. And I watched the bus pull away. I watched Paul and the party tables. And then you were stuck on the John Voight bus. I was on the John Voight bus. It's nice that you had such wonderful interactions with Pee-wee, with Paul. Well, yeah.

Well, no. Yeah, I mean, I had many. And I was assuming you saw the doc. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm dying to. Did you ever cross? It's beautiful. Did you ever cross paths with Phil Hartman at all? Obviously he was a contributor.

Yeah, I knew Phil a little bit. About a week before he passed, I was at, this is so named, do you still have your helmets? Yes, still on them. Got my chin strapped, tightened. Yeah, I really am turning into like Dominic Dunn. Um, Skippy Lowy. Yeah. Um.

Dominic Dunn. I was at, uh, I was at Mike Myers birthday party and, uh, Phil and Brynn were singing Love Shack for karaoke. Oh boy. And about two weeks later, um, but, uh, yeah, no, there's a gnarly piece. There's a disappointing piece with Phil and that doc. I think he and Paul had a business dispute.

Yeah. That's what I hear. And thanks for bringing the room down, Barrett. Oh, you're welcome. By setting it. Yeah. You really are. You're, you're, you're taking Gilbert's, you're filling Gilbert's role.

Did you ever meet Vic Morrow? Oh God. You're taking Gilbert's, you're filling Gilbert's role. Did you ever meet Vic Morrow? Oh God. Just run, just run. I'll tell you a beautiful story about Paul. It's not really Batman oriented, but what the heck. Superhero oriented.

I'm in a little movie called Mystery Man. Remain seated, I'm just like you. No, well, I went well. And we were shooting in Orange, the city of Orange in the great Inland Empire of Southern California. And we, and Paul was there. And by this time, you know, and he was, this was not long after the fit had hit the Shan for him.

And he had told, he told me, uh, that he had tons bags of fan mail in his basement that he was afraid to open because he knew that there were, there was hate mail mixed in with it and he didn't want to expose himself to that vitriol, uh, which I could understand, but it was, it was heartbreaking. Word got out that he was there filming and every kid in a 20 mile radius, cause we were at the end of a cul-de-sac came cause they heard that Pee-wee Herman was there. And he went out and it was like a convention. They just lined up and they met him and they said hi

and they loved him. And I got to watch him experience that. And it was, I choke up talking about it. It was really beautiful to see. That's nice. And I'm also glad he got past Gilbert's joke about him at the American Comedy Awards. Yes.

He had a good sense of humor. Hard to believe Paul Rubin's had a good sense of humor. I'm sorry we lost him. I mean, he left us too soon, and he had a lot more to contribute to the culture. I watched that Christmas special every year. Let me, which by the way, I did not know this until I saw that documentary. One of the kids in that Christmas special, Natasha Lyonne.

There you go. Oh my goodness. That's weird. That's very weird. I believe it's her and a young Paul Giamatti. Is she the one smoking? Little kid. I don't know.

She's the one solving a mystery. Yes, yeah. I like mystery men, by the way. Me too, I already lazy in that. Yeah, it's fine. I like it. And I like Roddy's bookworm getting back to the topic at hand.

Dragging us back to the topic at hand. Hold on, I have more Phil Hartman questions. Let me play. Before Barrett brings the show down to a brawl. You think Bill wanted to get murdered? Ha ha ha. Let me talk a little bit about Romero's Joker, too, which is. George Romero?

Yeah, George Romero. As much as we're loving on Frank Gorshin, I mean, I watch Romero had never done anything like this in his career. So it's very strange. And he himself did not know why William Dozier and his wife Anne Rutherford thought he would be right for this part.

That's hilarious. I believe it was offered to José Ferrer first. That's what I hear. But when you watch him in that part, despite the annoying painting, the putting the grease paint a Ferrer first. That's what I hear. But when you watch him in that part, despite the annoying putting the grease paint over the mustache. I like how he would just, hey, we need you to shave the mustache. No, that's OK.

No. He's also wearing a black wristwatch in every episode, which he got as a gift from the president of Mexico and also refused to take it off. So it's weird, because the Joker's got, you know, the hand buzzers and you're like, why's he wearing a watch? Why's he got a watch on?

Joker wants to know what time it is. Very strange. Yeah, he's got stuff to do. He's the Joker. But as you both know, Gilbert made hay on the last show talking about the... I think the Romero estate would love, you know. I used to say, every time Gilbert brought up

the orange wedges, I would throw in allegedly, just in case it was gonna help, and just in case anybody from the Romero estate... Rumor has it. Rumor has it. But we have a clip, through the good graces of our engineer here, Don Hoffman, we have a clip of Gilbert asking Adam himself

about the rumors that I wanna share with you guys. My God, my God. My God. He never asked you to fling orange wedges at his ass, is what I wanna know. No. No? No, I think it's one of the most bizarre things

I've ever heard of. I think it's very funny. Welcome to the show, Adam. I think it's very funny. Welcome to the show, Adam. Well, it's wonderful fun. I had no idea when I answered this phone that I would be treated like it. No, that I would hear things like it. It's funny. It's funny. That's funny. I'm going to say that, oh, that sounds like wonderful.

He wouldn't take the bait. Is he referring to the show or having orange wedges? Orange wedges. At the top. Winged at his toe. That sounds like wonderful. He wouldn't take the bait. He went into a story. He immediately just went to the grease paint, the mustache, the wouldn't take the bait. He went into a story.

He immediately just went to the grease paint, the mustache over the grease paint over the mustache. He can't dignify it with an answer. But he couldn't, he also couldn't help but laugh. Of course, cause it's the strangest thing you ever heard. I also have a clip of him asking Julie the same question. No, I won't play it because I don't have it,

but her reaction, she was really nonplussed. What were you saying? I interviewed, I interviewed't play it because I don't have it. But her, her re she was really nonplussed. What were you saying? I interviewed, I interviewed Eartha Kitt Uh huh. Uh, on, uh, when I was on a morning, morning DJ sidekick on San Francisco's Live 105, uh, Modern Rock. And, uh, it was, she was plugging the film, the distinguished gentlemen, which was when Eddie Murphy

was trying to become like a man. I remember when I was in the distinguished gentlemen. Well, you can, you can, it's disturbing. You can quote her. I'll say the line. Cause I can't do a, uh, uh do an Eartha kid as well as you. Probably cause I'm all man. But.

Um. Um. Pure West. This one what she said. Pure, pure Gould. Pure Gould. It's all, all man. 100% Anglo-Saxon baby.

I said, so, uh, how did you like working with Eddie Murphy? Mr. Murphy has his friends. If you're not one of Mr. Murphy's friends, you don't talk to Mr. Murphy. Oh, God. That's fantastic. That was pretty good. Don't sugarcoat it. Right. Give it to a straight.

Yes. Eddie Murphy and Lady Bird Johnson, two people she didn't see eye to eye with. Did she not like Lady Bird Johnson? No, that's the famous, they were at like a. Yes, she dissed her. She dissed her. You send these men after war to die,

Miss Lady Bird Johnson. What kind of name is Lady Bird? Are you a lady or a bird? Yeah. The labor justice is like, I don't, I just don't know radio station. Why do you talk that way? I'm gonna do a spit take in a minute. I have some crazy stories about, this is...

Go ahead. I have some crazy stories about Lyndon Johnson. I really do. That's a tie to Rodney MacDowell in some way. I'm not expecting that. It's just like, here's what you need to do, everybody. You need to live your life. You need to get out of the house and do stuff because stuff leads to stuff. Yes.

And one day, your brain will be filled with worthless garbage like mine. I was on, I'll be very, I'll try to be brief. Go ahead. Stand against, I have a joke. We've mentioned it, a stand against evil. Yes, it's good. Shooting in, we shot for, in Atlanta, Georgia during the summer, which is the best time to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia, especially if you have a lot of

night shoots in swamps. But we're there and we had an explosives guy that, and this was back in the heyday of Atlanta production when this guy was booked round the clock. And he was this old guy named Bob and he had like his kids worked with him and they all revered him and he was just this, and I always talked to him, I had him, Bob,

and then one day like third season, I've been working with him for three years, I go, so him and he was just this, and I always talked to him, I had him and Bob and then one day like third season I've been working with for three years, I go, so how'd you get into this, how'd you get into this line of work, Bob? He's like, well, I was, I did ordinance in Vietnam after we, after we tagged out, we, you know, we left all this ordinance there, we couldn't leave it. So me and a friend of mine, we had have team, we just go around blowing it up. And, uh, and, and then he just starts unspooling these stories. He went, he left Vietnam, went back and did, was a bomb tracer on secret. He was Johnson and Nixon's secret service. He would go in ahead of time and scan for explosives.

And it was just, and he was clearly, he was like, the thing I hated the most, and you can tell he was not lying, just from the weird detail. Thing I hated the most was going under escalators, man. You had to go under, I'd go into an elevator shaft. I don't care. Going under escalators, oh, the pain in the ass. You know, there's always these crazy stories.

And he told this story about, they were at the Johnson ranch one night. And they heard gunfire. And so he's on the secret service team. So we all scrambled and, uh, turned out it was a, it was a cat meow and too loud. So the president just took a couple of shots at it. What a guy. Lyndon Johnson. Yeah.

And then, yeah, it was just, just. Lyndon, I'm gonna bring it back again. Lyndon Johnson shows up as a character in the Batman movie. Yes. Yes he does. Yes he does. From the back, right? Voiced by a Texan, Van Williams, the Green Hornet.

Oh wow. Really? That is correct. And it's from the back, right? Like kind of like Steinbrenner in Seinfeld. Yeah, like Steinbrenner in Seinfeld. Yeah. The way Adam West lurches to grab the powdered

remains of the UN security council. You know what I mean? And I'm so glad I get to say that sentence. It's just, it's like, oh no, he knew exactly what he was doing. I love that each of them has their own color powder. And what does that say about them? Each one of them has a colored powder.

Yeah. Like in the early going, each villain had their own little mini theme. Yes, that's true. Yeah, that Billy May or Neil Hefty or anybody came up with. Brick, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, god, where do I want to go here? Why were there so, how many, there were three Catwomen? Three Catwomen in all. Well, Lee Merriweather, who we had on the old podcast, was in the movie, because Julie Numau, I believe, was making a movie called McKenna's Gold. Oh, sure. That was the movie that was on every day you were homesick from school.

That's the one. And Eartha Kitt, I think same reason. Same reason. And there's conflicting stories that Julie Newmar had a back problem. There's something about that, but Eartha Kitt came into, was that a third, that was a third season? Third season, which I-

The legendary third season. I dismiss. OK,'re gonna try to actually defend the third season. Was the third season that... those are all the Batgirl episodes. Yeah it's also where the budget was cut to the bone. Well they went one night a week. Yes they got rid of the cliffhangers which hurt the show. And uh yeah that which hurt the show but is it noticeably that is it like Star Trek third season? Oh yes. Worse. If you know to look, you can see it. The Vildan's lairs were reduced to a spiral staircase

on a black, against a black curtain. Yeah, it was like in a back room or storage room or something. It always felt chic. That's what they did in Star Trek third season. And sometimes it really worked. Like, you know, necessity being the mother of invention. Oh, I agree. But like there were some things in Star Trek,

like the empath or specter of the gun, where the lack of budget is evident, but it plays into their favor. I also think that a show like that, like those shows specifically at that time, they were destined to burn hot and bright and brief. Yeah, kind of like Twin Peaks. I heard your essay about Twin Peaks on the new podcast

and you nailed that. Yeah, it was kind of the same thing. It's like, this can't go for 10 years. That's not what this is. Especially network television. I mean, the game has changed now with now with streaming. I mean, they might, you know, pump new life into the thing or they don't have the same stakes.

But it's a it's a miracle that the Twin Peaks ever got on network television to begin with. And the return the fact that the return got on television the way it did is truly gobsmacking. Here's another one of my gripes with third season, Barrett Letty. Not only did the sets disappear, the music got worse. Batgirl, and I work with Yvonne too, she was lovely. She was very sweet. And I liked her personally very, very much.

She also did some of the things when I was at FX. Oh, yeah, she was fantastic. But I don't think Batgirl brought anything to the table. And the villains got lamer. Louis the Lilac? Louis the Lilac stinks. He got two episodes, right? Yeah.

And the schemes got dumber. His scheme to corner the perfume market. Was it the third season with the human knot? Yeah, the human knot with Nora Clavicle. Barbara Rush, who just left us. And Lord Fogg, played by Rudy Valli, when they went to Londinium. And, uh, Gwyneth Johns.

You do get to see Monty Landis. Yeah, the... The say the show Jump the Shark would be putting it... It punched the shark. Putting it mildly, yeah. And as... I don't like Olga, the queen of the Cossacks, either. There was always stuff with Cossacks.

Do enjoy Vincent Price. Yeah. Was the third season 68 or 69? 68. They were gone by 69. And then there's the rumor that NBC was gonna pick up the show, but the sets had been destroyed. I don't even know if that's been verified. That's what the story that keeps getting if that's been verified. Why would suddenly somebody destroy all the sets? Hang on, hang on.

Someone's knocking on my door. Hang on one second. You edit this, right? Yeah, we'll make a cut. Oh, hang on. Hang on one second. It's Adam selling the book. It's my nurse.

Hang on. I don't even, I don't do Adam West. Dana, I'm here, back from the grave. I'm in your hotel room. Oh my God. Or it's the ghost of Gilbert, he's trying to get some soaps. It's Gilbert coming for the hotel soaps. Do you have any shampoos or shower caps? We're just gonna let this run.

I was gonna make an edit here. Is this Dana Gould's room? He was saving me some conditioner. Oh, God help me. You see people would stay in hotels. What are the odds that Dana comes back? I don't know. Oh, God.

But Lee, oh, Lee Merriweather, I did want to say she, and I was trying to find it, and I have the- You want to save it until he comes back? Oh, sure. Yes, you're right. And until then. Dana G- You can't decide on a Dana, on an Adam impression,

a Gilbert impression or old Groucho. I know. Oh, I got to get him to do his Vincent Price. We're going to do it right now. All right, we'll make a cut here. Oh, really? I thought that was, I thought, I don't know. That silence was pretty great.

You could do a like a, you know, one of those, a Batman spinning. A Batman spin? Yeah. I don't think I will. There's something in, oh, yeah. Would you say that dancing the Batusi was the pinnacle of the show?

Yes. Boy, I do like that first season. What does he, by the way, speaking of Cesar Romero, what does he order at the bar? Batman? It's gotta be a lemonade. Orange juice. Orange juice, look at you guys.

Speaking of Cesar Romero. He set me up on it, I didn't even get the segue. I have a large orange juice place flung at my asshole. What does it mean by fresh clenched? When they're gonna take squeeze? You know, I never asked Gilbert, he had the delightful ability to just kind of make shit up and then say he heard it somewhere.

He did. He made that up. Yeah. Sounds like wonderful fun. Yeah. Wonderful. Throwing oranges. Let me, let me.

So is that what he said, wonderful fun? Wonderful fun. Wonderful. That sounds like wonderful fun. Wonderful fun. Yeah. Gosh, damn. We asked him and that's-

Go ahead. I heard a great expression today. I'm here in Milwaukee. Look, I don't want to brag. Let me get my helmet back for those names you're dropping. I walked into like a, you know, when I go into, I go into a new town, I like to find the, like the old record store, comic book store neighborhood. I went into this old, like,

it was just dead people's sweatshirts. That's what this store neighborhood. I went into this old, like, it was just dead people's sweatshirts. That's what this store was. Just like brick-a-brack and dead people's clothes. There's an old woman working there and I go, hi, how you doing today? And she looks up and she goes, well, I'm still on the green side of the dirt. There you go.

Oh, I love that. Yeah, nice one. Yeah, that's how I booked the last show, by the way. Always look on the green side of the dirt. What did you guys hear about the Sinatra? Did you ever hear this, that Sinatra was angling to play the Joker? No.

They had already given the part to Romero. Had you heard that one before? No, that track's so- Burt Ward makes that claim. He makes a lot of claims. And also that Clint Eastwood- Yeah, I was gonna say, I believed it until you said that.

You've heard this one also that Clint Eastwood. Yeah, I was gonna say, I believed it until you said that. You've heard this one, that Clint Eastwood was slated to play Two-Face in a Harlan Ellison script. Have you heard this one before? Yeah, I don't. They did Two-Face with Shatner in the animation in 2017, which isn't bad actually. Right.

But the whole Harlan Ellison, like, you know, Harlan Ellison wrote a book about the indignity of having Gene Roddenberry rewrite a script he wrote for Gene Roddenberry's TV show. Yes. It's like, did you know Harlan? He was a fascinating, fascinating guy. It's like a scuba diver going, it's like a scuba diver going, so they hire me to scuba dive and then they think I'm going to get in the water? You guys want...

Do you know how TV works, Harlan? You guys want to comment on any of these other actors and characters? So some of these people were formidable actors, I'd like to point out. Absolutely. Ann Baxter, Shelley Winters, Cliff Robertson, George Sanders, and Art Carney all had Oscars. Yes. Yes, Cliff Robertson was shame.

Shame. And Victor Bono was a... And Victor Bono was nominated. Shame, shame, you're right, not shame. Yeah. I do remember, this is the line I remember from that episode. You're all right, Batman. Your mother wears army boots.

Yes, I recall she found them quite comfortable. That's the line. That's it. She found them quite comfortable. Nicely done. Also, Eli Wallach and Tallulah Bankhead and Burgess Meredith, no slouches among them. Maurice Evans, for God's sake, was classically trained. And I kind of like the offbeat cast.

And he gave the world Karl Reiner. That is correct. That is correct. Only you know that. That is correct. Only you and I know that. That came up in the Karl Reiner interview we did. And Karl Reiner cast him in The Jerk.

Right. Yeah. Yeah. I would like, what I need is someone who can go toe to toe with Mel Brooks. I can't help you, doctor. Man. So, so the, the, the puzzler episodes,

the Maurice Evans episode, which I believe was written as a Riddler episode, but again, there was a salary check. Yeah, sounds like it. And they suddenly changed it to The Puzzler. It is a puzzler. It is a puzzler. So there is an actor near and dear to your heart, Mr. Gould. Sure.

And also Victor Bono from, as King Tut is in. Famously as King Tut. Come back to your main point of reference. Yes, he's in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Beneath the Planet of the Apes, which stars two regular cast members of Barney Miller. Gregory Sierra and... Oh, Gregory, and James Gregory. James Gregory.

Right. Very good. The only good human is a dead human, Barney. Also, Roddy came back to the anim, we mentioned the animated series. Yes. Before Roddy was the Mad Hatter. Yep. Yes, he was. And I wanna bring up another friend of ours,

Mr. Paul Williams, who played the Penguin. Love him. In the animated series. Now, the man sitting next to me just had lunch with Paul a couple of weeks ago. He's a lovely guy. He's a lovely man. I just saw a fan of a lovely guy the nicest guy the nicest guy on earth. I just saw Fano with the Paradise for the first time Oh, really? I was nothing myself last night couldn't set things right with apologies a flower. Yeah, it's a

He's a scary mimic. Yes this man that man was the human personification of the Shag haircut. Oh, absolutely. Him and Robbie Wriste. Yes, exactly. Exactly. If he had been 10, if he had had his rise to fame like 10 years or earlier, he totally would have been on Batman.

Paul Williams? Absolutely. Oh yeah. Yeah, in a heartbeat. Oh yeah, for sure. I'm gonna tell a Paul Williams story, and since you know him, you can then decide whether or not you wanna leave it in. Okay.

Okay. I found a clip of you two online, by the way. Well, this is from that day. Thanks to Wayne Federman. Send me that clip, because I don't have that. Oh, it's great. I would love to see that. So, he walks backstage and sees me in the makeup,

and he is in the makeup. And he is completely unfazed. Like I'm waiting like, this is gonna knock his bum off. And he's just like, he didn't even break stride. I love it. But what he did say is he walked past me in the hall. He just looked up and he went, very hard to do cocaine in that and kept walking. I love that Victor Bueno, who by the way was very hard to do cocaine in that and kept walking. I love that Victor Bueno, who by the way was a character created for the series, King Todd

did not exist anywhere else. Right, it was not from the, it was not canon. No, but wonderful, I mean, such a contribution to that show. And again, this struck, I did a little research. He's bill billed as in beneath the planet of the apes simply as fat man. I Like that you described escape from the planet of the apes by the way is the biggest episode ever of love american style Yeah until the very end when it's like what's a good way to end this movie. Let's shoot a baby Very very dark film. Five times. Yeah. Oh, God.

Let me mention some other actors that we love that showed up on Batman. These were not necessarily people playing villains, but these are great names. Vito Scotti, Edward Everett Horton, Gary Owens, Harvey Lembeck, Sid Haig. There you go, Dana. Wow.

Doodles Weaver. I'm just as excited about Harvey Lembeck. Yeah, me too. Doodles Weaver, suicide. Yeah, suicide. Played one of the archers henchmen. Okay. Alicia Cook Jr., a favorite of Gilbert's, so Fritz Feld.

George Feneman. Wow. Henny Youngman, Arnold Stang, Joe Flynn. Joe Flynn. Arnold Stang played Wally Cox. I guess he did. Joe, Woody Strode, Joey Ross, and last but not least, Joe Besser.

Wow. All turned up. And Terry Gar. And a young Terry Gar. A young Terry Gar. And a young Terry Gar. And a young as we established before. Oh, and a young Rob Reiner.

Yes. And another murder, if we want to get back to murder. Oh, God. Jay Sebring. Yes, Jay Sebring is on Batman. Was he on Batman? Yeah, he plays Mr. Oceanbring. And I think it is it, which episode is that?

It's got to be third season. It's got to be a third season. Yeah. It would have been funny to just, I don't know how to do this, but like to play it totally straight if Batman and Robin were brought in on the Manson murders, just seeing them, seeing them walking around El Cielo Drive. This is ghastly Robin.

Wrote names in blood. Look at poor Stephen Parent. On the ground he was trying to sell his stupid radio. And now he's to look at Mr. Frikowski. Mrs. All the coffee in the world won't rouse Miss Folgers this morning, Robin. Oh, Lord, this is taking a strange... Holy helter-skelter, Batman! A strange... Holy counterculture rebellion!

Indeed, Robin, or they're just trying to frame the Black Panthers. Oh lord! This looks like the work of none other than Susan Atkins. Patricia Krenwinkel. It's so wrong. Do you guys know what each actor was paid to play a supervillain? It wasn't much.

On the show it was a flat fee, and they all got the same according to Dozier. It was low. Scale? 2,500 bucks. Yeah. No, no, no, it ain't scale. Yeah, I don't know if that was better money in 1966.

I wonder who got paid the most. No, but it was one of those things where everybody won. It was like being on Twin Peaks in 1990. It was such a, it was such a cache to get on the show. A cool, a cool thing to get on. So they probably took a cut of what they usually would. Oh my gosh, yeah. I'm sure.

What was the name? Okay, are you ready? You're the only guys that will know this. What was the name of the Indian chief played by Paul Lin in the villain starring Kirk Douglas and Harold Truthenegger. The Hal Needham movie. Yeah. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I gotta look it up cuz it's great. I know that, I know that that Don Rickles played bald eagle on F-Troop. Yes, yes.

How was Paul Lin never on Batman? Well he was the scout master, the Dan Castellaneta doing it. Yes. Paul Lin does this. Don't be afraid to use your nails, boys. Paul Lin was nervous elk. Nervous elk. I can't believe I'm nervous elk. That's fantastic.

And I'm trying to remember who Uncle Milt declaimed. And I don't believe he really was a Native American. No, no, probably not. No. Yeah. Yeah. A cultural appropriation. Like iron eyes Cody was not.

And uncle Milti was on, um, on F-Troop and I can't remember that he was a con man. And I can't remember what the character he played. It'll come to me. Don, let's, uh, let's do this last clip. Here's my. Go ahead. Hang on. Let me throw out this one in the air before he says Ron Paulin. me. Don, let's, uh, let's do this last clip. Here's my. Go ahead. Hang on.

Let me throw out this one in the air for you. Since Ron Paul in which Paul would appreciate Alice ghostly is to Paul in what Joanne Worley is to Charles Nelson Riley. I love it. I love, you could also make the, the, uh, you could also say what Joanne Worley was to Rip Taylor. True. Yeah.

Ho-ho. Oh. Oh. Oh. Ha-ha-ha. Our new engineer, Don, I think, is leaving the business tomorrow. Right.

Don, let's play that last Adam clip. This is Adam paying Gilbert a compliment. This is Adam paying Gilbert a compliment. By the way, you would have made a really good penguin. Oh, thank you. You have no idea what an honor it is to have Batman tell me I could have been the penguin. Well, I'm just stunned listening to you now because if you had a cigarette holder,

a long cigarette with the ash falling and they smoking under my cowl, I'd believe you. With your umbrella gas, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Don't forget the monocle. Oh, the monocle and the long pointed note. No, Gilbert, really, you could have played that role.

Oh, wow. Very flattering. This is a complete honor. Oh, man. You also would have made a disturbing Riddler, Gilbert. Yes. Okay. You know, Gilbert, if you were a guest of Sharon Tate's, you could have been a wonderful

victim of that crime. I guess since you're all dead, I can take some of the coffee and some of the mints from the... Let's go back to Spawn Ranch and have an orgy. I try to do a nice Batman episode and look what happens. He would be... Carl's Manson has scanned the counterculture for women you would not want to have an orgy with and is now making them available for your sexual delight.

And Gilbert would have been Shrekey Frome. He would have been, yes. Shrekey Frome. There's another actor from the Batman series, I might as well play along, named Dick Coleman. You can look him up. K-A-L-L-M-A-N. Okay, sure. Who was also murdered. Really?

There you go. By, but not by the Mansons? Not in the Mansons. He was murdered in, I believe, a holdup. Oh. Yes, but not by the Mansons. Not in the Mansons. No, no. He was murdered in, I believe, a holdup. Oh. Yes, you could Google that when- Dick Coleman. Coleman.

Yeah, Dick Coleman, K-A-L-L-M-A-N. Wow. Yeah, this is too much information. Oh my God, I'm exhausted. Okay, least favorite and favorite Batman villain. Oh, oh. Hmm. That's a tricky one. Hmm. I'm gonna, oh, hmm. That's a tricky one.

I'm gonna, well, I'll go last. Okay, Barrett, start us off. I think it's gotta be the Rudy Valley. The worst? Lord Fogg? Just cause it lasted three episodes. Worse than Lola Lasagna? I think so, I don't know,

cause I don't mind seeing Ethel Merman pop up. She's just kinda plays an Ethel Merman character. Uh-huh. But that it's so... Oh gosh, it's so like long. Those three episode... The Londinium slog. Yes, who decided that should be a three episode arc?

It's terrible. Yeah. And maybe the worst special effect in the history of television, the cloth bee that comes out on the wire to sting Burt Ward. Yes. I would say that that was a low point, for sure. OK. And best and favorite villain?

Favorite villain? Well, I want to point out that I really liked the Mad Hatter. Me too. A lot. I think he doesn't get his, I think, you know, Joker and King Tut and some of the other more colorful villains kind of take a lot of attention, but I always thought Mad Hatter was very solid, very, very fun. I like him too.

And I'm going to go with worst villain is a between Jajah Gabor's Minerva in the final episode and Nora Clavicle played by Barbara Rush, where they had just basically given up at that point. And my favorite villain, and this one will throw you for a loop, Malachi Throne, another guy who appeared on Star Trek, as False Face. False Trek, has false face. False face. Who was creepy. Yes.

Because his mouth didn't move. It was actually creepy the way Dana said that Gorshin was kind of creepy. Right. In season one, there was a little bit of menace to the man. And it was a little bit of menace to the footwork. Who holds up an infant and says, Malachi? He's a Malachi if I ever met one.

And they screwed him because if you remember, they build, and it's in Joel Eisen's book. He was griping about it for years, that they did special guest villain question mark in the credits instead of giving Malachi throne. I think he also hated the prosthetics or whatever they put on him. Yeah, but I thought he was interesting.

It was. And fun. Dana? Now, thought he was interesting. It was. And fun. Dana? Now, was that a comic character? No. I think there was another Master of Disguise character in the comics, but they changed the name. You've got to wonder about, sorry, Dana, to cut you off.

But you've got to wonder about the integrity of the comics. And did anyone on the DC Comics side ever say, OK, you're making the whole thing ridiculous? Well, the show was so popular that the comics briefly started to mimic the show a little bit. It started to soften the character a little bit and make him a little happier. And the Joel Schumacher movies were trying to do the show a little bit. It started to soften the character a little bit and make him a little happier.

And the Joel Schumacher movies were trying to do the show. Yes, badly. Yeah, yeah, but I'm not defending them. By the way, neither did Joel. Yes, to his eternal credit. So okay, so worst and best. Well, for me, these are the best. I'm gonna, it's, is, Lee is Julie Newmar as Catwoman.

Oh, for sure. Because to side quote Perry Mason, she helped me solve the case of the mysterious feelings. Did she give you curious stirrings? In your liard like she gave Adam? In the bathing suit area. Your life in tights. She spiritually touched me in the bathing suit area.

Miss Kitka. I never thought of like a girl that I like. I like her, but I want her to be angry with me. It was very strange. Yes, very strange. And a nod to Leslie Gore as Pussycat, by the way. Yes. Yes.

Who was the producer's niece. Right, yeah. No, and it's got to be Julie. Not Lee or not Eartha. It's got to be Julie with those cheekbones. I respect it. I respect the purity. The purity.

Yeah. And Louie the Lilac, based on my one of the worst, one of the worst days of my career was when I was like, Bud Friedman, God rest his soul, took me to lunch at the friars with Milton Berle and Beverly Hills. And it was just a pressure me to join the friars. And it was this, I'll never forget it. It was this, nevermind the album had just come out and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. And then I go into this giant windowless room and just watch Milton Berle blow cigar smoke at me,

never asked me a question, never looked me in the eye, but expected me to give him money every month. And I remember just driving home from that, like blasting Nirvana in my car with the windows down to like get the cigar off me and to like get the, I don't want to die, I want to live. Like. To demilty yourself.

Yeah, to demilify myself. It was so... I really remember that day very clearly. I don't want to do this. That's a good reason to hate Louis the Lilac as any. I can't stand Milton Berle. I remember seeing him on the roasts, on the clips of the roasts, and he would just I don't understand Milton Berle. Yeah. He has his detractors for sure. I remember seeing him on the roasts, on the clips of the roasts, and he would just, he'd get up to chime in and I'd be like, oh, sit down. I don't know. I met him once also at the L.A. Friars before they shut the doors of that place.

I was sitting at a bar and he was at the far end of the bar and there was no one there. And it was awkward and I didn't want to, I didn't really feel particularly like approaching Milton Earl. No. And he just looked at me and he said, do you use Viagra? And that's it. Not much of a story.

No. That's a good commercial. Did I hear you, Dana, on a podcast doing some kind of bit about Batman suddenly getting diarrhea? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Chasing the Joker down?

Yeah. Chasing the Joker up the... I just sent that to somebody the other day. Chasing the Joker up the Pacific Coast Highway in the Batmobile and suddenly he just breaks into a sweat. He goes, Robin, I have to pull over. But, Batman, we're so close. We've almost got the Joker on us now.

I'm sorry, Robin. Can't bear to stay in the way. Robin, I have to pull over. Bad men were so close. We've almost got the Joker on us now. I'm sorry, Robin. Can't bear to stay in the car. Inerts clenching cowl damp with sweat. And then he runs into like a sit go and runs into the bathroom and then you just leave him

and he's sitting on the toilet in the concrete men's room holding his cape up over his legs so it doesn't get dirty and he's just sitting there hunched over and he just goes note to self el pollo loco no esboina No. No. Es. Buena. That's a new bit for the act. I can visually, you painted such a wonderful picture. A new bit the kids will love. Yes.

Barrett, what's coming up? You know, you can, I'm at Barrett Letty on all platforms. I have, you know, many things coming up, some of which I can't say yet. Oh, okay. Very exciting. JC Briggs. Yeah, a lot of stuff happening. That's actor talk for nothing.

Got it. Dana, the new special, perfectly normal. Yes, it's available now on YouTube and the album is on iTunes. Wonderful. And that's doing really well. And yeah, and there's my podcast. Of course, the Dana Gould Hour, the unmissable Dana Gould Hour. And you're touring with our pal Bobcat right now?

I'm touring with your pal Robert Goldthwaite, and I have a, at home, I'll go home to a jaw-dropping stack of unproduced scripts. Fantastic. I sent you last night a Bill Fingeringers script from the original Batman series. Yes, I saw that. I saw that. Amazing. How would Bobcat sound talking about the Manson murder? Oh, God. That's another episode. We'll get Bobcat on to do it. It sounded like him during the murder.

Let me also plug the terrific graphic novel you wrote about your passion about Planet of the Apes Visionaries. Oh yeah Planet of the Apes Visionaries which was my adapt- adaptation? Adaptation? I think it's the same word. Of Rod Serling's first draft of the film which is drastically different from the movie. It's uh it's set in a modern-day city and it's very much a political thriller with apes. It has a lot more to do with seven days in May than what people now think of as Planet of the Apes. And when they offered it to me, I thought they told me that they were going to adapt it and they called me and I thought they were going to say, do you want to write a forward?

And they asked me if I wanted to do it and I was wow so happy to do it but then what I didn't realize is it's a 164 page script that every morning I would have to get up sit down on my computer and edit Rod Serling which is not something anybody wants to do. Be careful what you wish for. It's a great read by the way terrific read. Thank you. Angry chain smoking ghost. Why are you cutting that? It's cool. And there will be more hanging with Dr. Z, yes? There's more hanging with Dr. Z coming. And we have a new, you know,

we have a Vimeo channel that you can get to at danagool.com where we, with the live shows that we do, we post the videos for those. Wonderful, wonderful. I want to plug a couple of books that we used for research here, Joel Eisner's Indispensable Bat Book, which I guess is still available.

I don't know if he's still printing it. I got this on eBay. And there's a terrific coffee table that came out a couple of years ago by two guys, Bob Garcia and Joe Desris, called The Celebration of the Classic Series, which is really, really terrific. And I have to plug this podcast and website

that I stumbled on by two brothers named Tim and Paul Young, called the, it's called To The Bat Polls. And if you think my research is exhaustive, check out this, check out these guys who are doing a dive 10 times deeper than this dive. I love it. Which is truly disturbing, exhaustive to say the least. Thanks to everybody. Thanks to Candice Martellaro. Am I saying her name correctly?

Yes, yes, the indispensable Candice Martellaro. She's one of mine. Dana's indispensable assistant, Don Hoffman and Steven Tolle here at City Vox who put up with us and our crazy nonsense. And thank you both for being part of this very early episode, the season one episode.

You're one of the best in the biz, my friend. You're too kind. I love you guys both. Thank you for giving me your time and your funny. Of course. And I'll see you all next week. Same fun time, same fun channel. Hey. Fun for All Ages is produced by Frank Santopadre,

Genevieve Servins and Andrew Capone. Post-production supervisor Bobby Hutch. Social media director Josh Chambers. Music by MIBE and Pete Sabina. FFAA social media team. Michelle Mantinen, Dina Percivio and John Bradley Seals. Logo design by John Tesler. Support us on Patreon at Patreon backcom. I'm your announcer,

Josh Chambers.