The Extras - Bats of the Round Table and Other Bat Memories!

Episode Date: October 18, 2021

Part three of a multi-part series with filmmaker and DC expert Alex Gray and former Warner Bros Vice President of Special Features Bonnie Spence remembering their work with Adam West on the “Batman: The Complete Television Series” box set release. In “Bats of the Round Table”, we revisit working with Ralph Garman, actor Phil Morris, DC legend Jim Lee and director and actor Kevin Smith as they sat down for a very personal discussion with their boyhood idol Adam West.And we will review the terrific “Batmania Born! Building the World of Batman,” “Na Na Na Batman!,” “Bat Rarities! Straight from the Vault,” and the rest of the extras on the complete television series release.  www.linkedin.com/in/bonniespence/www.studiowestpictures.comThe Sitcom StudyWelcome to the Sitcom Study, where we contemplate the TV shows we grew up with and...Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Hi, I'm film historian and author John Fricke. I've written books about Judy Garland and the Wizard of Oz movie, and you're listening to The Extras. Hello and welcome to The Extras, where we take you behind the scenes of your favorite TV shows, movies, and animation, and their release on digital, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K, or your favorite streaming site. I'm Tim Millard, your host, and this is part of a multi-episode remembrance of Batman, Adam West. And to do that with me, I have two huge Batman fans, filmmaker Alex Gray and former Warner Brothers executive Bonnie Spence.

They share their stories and recollections of working with Adam West and his agent Fred Westbrook on the DVD and Blu-ray box set of Batman The Complete Television Series. In our previous episode 12, we discussed the extremely personal Adam West documentary, Hanging with Batman. If you haven't listened to that episode, I highly recommend you listen to it first as it sets the stage on working with Adam and Fred to develop the extras that allowed Adam to tell his side of the story of what it meant to be Batman. In episode 13, we discussed the unique place Batman 66 collectors have in the world of memorabilia. And we revisited the intimate Inventing Batman,

where Adam West was given his original first two scripts of the Batman series, and he shared his memories of filming those episodes while reviewing his notes written on the actual script pages. In this episode, we go behind the scenes on the celebrity guests who joined Adam for Bats of the Round Table and the excitement of meeting their childhood idol. We also review the rest of the excellent extras that make up the box set. How about now we talk about another fantastic piece on here, Bats of the Round Table. I thought this was a really unique take on putting Adam together directly with comic book and TV industry professionals who are also fans.

Bonnie, how did it come together? We wanted another piece that was interesting, but we didn't want to do a commentary per se, you know, and Fred and I talked about this, bringing Adam together with some of the key fans in Hollywood. And we looked around and we started getting names and we landed on everybody on the, on the page of Kevin Smith and Jim Lee and Phil Morris and Ralph for different reasons, but all who grew up on Batman and it's really affected their lives in different ways, but it has affected their lives and it's influenced everything they've done with their lives. So many of us that are in this career right now, it's because of Batman 66. I can definitely look back and know that that is very

true for me. And I think it's true for Alex and you, Tim, to some degree, too. So anyway, that was the start of it. And then we had to see if everyone's available, et cetera, and wrangle everybody. And then we chose to do it at the Smokehouse because it's old school. We just we love the charm of the place. And we thought it worked really, really well for what we were going to achieve. So I can see how Ralph immediately would want to be a part of this. Tell us a little bit more about how did you get Phil, Jim Lee, Kevin? I mean, did you reach out to them? You know,

how did that kind of come about? Phil Morris grew up in the business. His dad knew Adam and he actually went to set. So that was wonderful for him because it just brought back so many memories and he was a wonderful person for us to include. Jim Lee was obviously head of DC Comics and obviously we all know what Jim does for a living. So he was completely a natural to be adding to the conversation. And Kevin Smith has been involved with many things that we had been doing for a long time. So we really wanted Kevin to be joining us as well. And Ralph had just done the other pieces with us. So we wanted to invite him for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And seeing the fact that these grown gentlemen, these titans in their own capacities and in what they each do, you know, respectively in terms of their craft, suddenly become the youthful versions of themselves before our eyes. And that was just

so genuine. And I remember it like yesterday, Tim, watching them come into that area, the Smokehouse restaurant in Burbank, California, and seeing them enter this place and these huge smiles on their faces and getting their opportunity to be and these huge smiles on their faces and getting their opportunity to be able to sit there with Adam West and have a chat with him. Finding these guys, it was all basically the right people, the right place, the right time. And each of them added such a depth to that dialogue and a charm to it. The reality is, is that I could throw a stone and I'll hit 10, I'll hit 20 guys, 20 people that want to be in this piece.

They want to sit near Adam West and have this opportunity like that. But to find the right people, to find them, they, to Bonnie's point, they sort of found us in many respects. We've worked with Kevin in the past. He's a longtime collaborator. And so he, you know, he jumped at the chance. I mean, within seconds, this man responds to my email. Jim, I remember as well, you're right. He came to us when he had heard about this. And I think his team had suggested, hey, you should

consider Jim for this. And they had mentioned, of course, a story that I had discussed with Jim in the past. And I didn't know how far he wanted to go with that, but he had mentioned it. Of course, even on camera, the mere fact that he had actually made his own Batman 66 costume. That's the level of treatment that Jim Lee brings to things that a true attention to detail and that level of fan. And it was awesome to be able to hear this because it solidifies all of us. We all go with a sense of solidarity. Now, if Jim can do that, then it's, and then if it's cool enough for him, then it's cool enough for us to do that as well. So that was pretty neat. And Phil coming in, oh my God, Phil and coming in with this story when he first told us that story off camera and we're listening to this

story. And then he ultimately tells us that on camera, that was incredible, his connection. And I think you're right, Bonnie, in the past, you know, I've talked about that, that probably everybody else was pretty jealous of Phil Morris having a chance to be on the actual set and meeting Adam West as a youth, getting to be there on the 66 show, you know, and getting to visit. No, Kevin couldn't hold it back.

He just couldn't get over the fact that Phil was there. Kevin went on and on and on. Right. It was really, it was really adorable. Yeah, yeah yeah yeah well if you can't get on and meet adam west when you're a little kid he was obviously very excited to go to this you can just see that in the way he's sitting there kevin i'm talking about you know and his questions he just had such a gleeful demeanor he wasn't the only one though if you watch it, you know, when you have those aha moments, you can really see that twinkle in everybody's eye. Every single person was like

that, every single one. And it was so wonderful to see, you know, they were sitting there with their idol and I could not have been happier for each, for all of them, including us. I was happy to be there too. That day, everybody wanted to be on set. I mean, tell you, it was really quite funny. And that's true. They did. They all wanted to be on set. In fact, you know what? You reminded me, Kevin actually brought Jason Mews with him as well. And Jason is famous for playing Jay and Jay and Silent Bob, Clerks. I think Clerks 3 they're working on right now and what have you. It was cool. Everybody was just like, hey, let all hang out because why because adam's there right west is there and and man what a chance to be able to be there to be able to experience that and to know that you were there that was just the overriding sensibility

out of everyone that was there on our who was in our program and everyone was there as our guest as well they all felt the same way really neat Let's maybe talk a little bit about the filmmaking of the actual piece, but you had to limit it at some point, but why that number? And then tell us a little bit about how that impacted how you filmed this piece. So the list, I'll let Bonnie comment on this part

because what it was, it was interesting. Fred actually started this list with us because we had pitched this concept actually during those early pitches that we had early when i say like maybe like what two months before that or whatever this was when i started the project was go ahead bonnie talk about that the the the list that fred and and all of us were working on he started adding a bunch of names remember that so yeah he was adding in a ton of names. And the thing was, is Adam wanted to keep it really intimate. He didn't want a ton of people, but he did want people who grew up on the show. That was one of the things that Adam really wanted. The way it set up, we really couldn't accommodate more people. I just felt

that to keep it more intimate, that's why we picked the smokehouse. That's why we chose the location with the fireplace, just to keep it really informal, but still really, really nice looking. And that was basically it. We took a look at the cameras and we decided we really can't add more than five people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had to cap it. I mean, logistics become the thing, but I remember that list being just daunting. He had a lot of incredible stars on there. The who's who of Hollywood really at the, at the time. And, and we did reach out to the majority, but it was a lot of it became logistics. A lot of it became timing. And unfortunately that was one moment where I did feel the time crunch, that would have been one where I would have appreciated having more time to be able to really develop this out so we could send that list out early on and to secure whomever was going to be there. Maybe we could have actually made it a full circle, the full table. I don't know, but we were really rewarded with the best of the best. Ultimately,

we really were. And everything always works out the way it's supposed to be. And then when we really got to that location and we looked at it, it really made sense logistically in the filmmaking side of it for that, in that capacity, because we had to lay down track. Yeah. We had to lay down the, these, you know, little bits of, of track, either they're straight track is literally, you can imagine a straight piece of track. It looks like something that you'd see like a railroad, you know, type track or

curved pieces of track. Again, the same concept like that. And you make basically a half oval shape around that table and you lay down your cameras and you can, one of them goes onto that. The other ones went onto these Dana type dollies is what they're called. And it's really just a rail system where you can slide your camera back. Sl. And so we wanted to mix it up a touch. And then we had somebody there with a camera on sticks, as we call it, which is of course a tripod and really just shooting from one particular direction. The idea was to cover as much as we possibly could in a unique capacity so that we can give it a kinetic approach. You know, we want it to be living because the danger with panels and things like this is that if it becomes,

it could become stale. But luckily, you know, you're relying on a couple of things. You're relying upon making it interesting from a filmmaking standpoint, but you also have to be relying upon the fact that your talent, those that are on screen are going to be intriguing. We, we do cover our bases, even from the filmmaking side of it too, that we had, we had written some story beats and you remember these Bonnie too, we wrote some story beats as well and said, Hey, we need to get from point A to point B. And we told actually, we, we actually, we had, uh, Ralph kind of come into our fold in this capacity because we needed somebody that's going to be our, like our leader, our MC of it, you know, in some regard. And who's more or less informed of the approach. And so he was able to guide some of that conversation to get us through these various story beats.

It's not just putting your cameras in a room and hoping for the best. You need to, you need to control, control the narrative. Yeah. But as it turned out, Ralph didn't even have that opportunity. The elders dived in all the time. Anyway, it was a really, really great, um, conversation. Very, very lively with everybody. Yeah. It seemed like so much to ask, right. And just talk about it. And Adam was just so right with them the whole way. So it was fabulous. And it looked like Adam was really enjoying himself and having a good time. He was, you know what? I'm glad you brought that up.

That really truly was, it may sound cliche, but it was one of the big times of his life. It was one of those times of his life. That's a milestone. And I can just tell. And through this whole process, it really was. He enjoyed it tremendously. And you know what my test is on that? Is I always watch what happens afterwards while we're filming.

And if somebody sits there as a talent and they linger and they want to talk with us afterwards and maybe process everything and do that kind of thing that we do as people, we hang out afterwards. We talk about stuff instead of just bolting out of the room. And if they did that, then it would be a job. Yeah. This was not that. This is something that was intimate and awesome for each of them.

And they all lingered around afterwards. You know, I distinctly remember each of them, you know, kind of realizing like, wow, this was an awesome day for them. And it sure beat going to work. Yeah, exactly. Any stories that came out of that? Stay with us. We'll be right back. Hi, this is Tim Millard, host of The Extras Podcast. And I wanted to let you know that we have a new private Facebook group for fans of the Warner Archive and Warner Brothers Catalog physical media releases. So if that interests you,

you can find the link on our Facebook page or look for the link in the podcast show notes. You know, Adam really liked to punk people. He really did. He was into it. He was, he, he was definitely into the humor more than people actually know. And Ralph actually got the rest of the group because right before we were shooting this, actually the day before he called Alex and he said, Hey, at the end of this, let's tell Adam to get up and leave the table, you know, like he's got to go take a phone call or whatever. And Ralph told him, let's make sure that the bill comes to the table as if Adam left in advance. Right. And that was Ralph telling Alex this, that Adam wanted to do it.

It was hilarious. It's a fun little gag at the end. Yeah, right. So they had planned that whole thing. It was great. Yeah. Really, all that credit goes to Ralph and, you know, and his foresight. You know, he's a great comedian and writer himself.

So he did come up with some pretty cool bit there that everybody played into. So it was fun. I enjoyed the fact that you picked the Smokehouse restaurant. And for those fans who don't know, it's just located right outside the main gate to the Warner Brothers lot and has just a long history with people from Warner Brothers meeting there and deals being made and contracts and old movie stars. It just is a piece of Hollywood history. So that's really fun that you guys got to film there. Little note after you did that piece, I did, I did film there myself and kind of did a little copycat to that same style. Mine was for the lethal weapon TV series, but the staff there, Smokehouse, they were terrific. And

you guys had been there before. So it was pretty easy to then ask them to, to come back. Oh yeah. They were the best. Yeah. That's awesome. And of course, it doesn't hurt that they have the world's most amazing garlic cheese bread. Many a lunch we've had there. Oh, yeah.

You always have one garlic cheese bread basket brought to the table, but then you always have to ask them for one more to leave with because it's that good. It's that good. It's that good. If you're in L.A. and you haven't been there, you're going to go by Warner Brothers, maybe stop in there. Alex, I wanted to talk about one more featurette on here, Batmania Born, Building the World of Batman. Maybe you could give us a little background on this piece. We knew up front that we needed some sort of way to be able to introduce the neophyte person that's out there that's going to be able to experience Batman 66 because it had been out of the zeitgeist

for a long time. But we also knew that we wanted to be able to find something that the hardened collector, the person that has always wanted this to be out there in the world, the person that was watching it either from 66 or shortly thereafter. I was the guy that was shortly thereafter. I was watching it in the early to mid eighties. So we knew that we needed some sort of a way to be able to convey sort of like our, as we like to call sometimes Tim, you know, in our world of special feature, that's like our mythology piece. So we wanted to capture some of that part of the mythology of Batman 66 was recognizing, well, what are the components of the story? What do we need to be able to convey to that audience? What made it special? So we ran through our filter in that regard, which was, you know,

basically we needed to find out, well, what stood out for me as a fan and what got me into it, what still sticks out for me. And that and what got me into it, what still sticks out for me. And that started to get broken down into everything from the production design, to the actors, to the music, to various beats of story, to the vehicles, to the look of the show, to the Dutch camera angles, all of these aspects of the filmmaking that they were bringing to the show that under, you know, William Dozier and his crew were able to bring the executive producer showrunner. There is a visual language that is culturally relevant still to this day. Bonnie, you brought up earlier Lichtenstein and that of course is

Roy Lichtenstein, who is actually a very, very famous pop artist at that era and looking at his work and how they were able to work in that zeitgeist together and figure out a way to be able to say, hey, here's comic books that we have on some level, but we're going to make them hyper real. And how do you translate that to screen? Well, we wanted to show that we wanted to see those various beats on how do you achieve that? Why is it that also even in a fight sequence, why do you have these these phrases pop onto screen that occupy the entire space? As we as we, of course, have found out historically in the show, it's partly because it occupies that moment to make the fight a little bit easier to be able to convey some of these acrobatics, these these intense sequences that they were able to craft in terms of their choreography, in terms of fights. These guys did not have the level of time that we have to this day, nor the sophistication

to be able to do some of these things to that exact level. Filmmaking wise on a TV series, mind you, this is not a feature film where you would have that level of time. This is a television series where your time is truncated. As Adam once told me, they're working like they're basically shooting two episodes in the amount of time that they would shoot today's episodes. So the intensity of it to be able to figure this stuff out. So those words on screen did actually, of course, reference back to the comic book. I believe the words were called onomatopoeia, which is basically a way to convey a sound effect to a crack, boom, uh, splat.

These awesome oars or, or, or I saw one recently, ee-ow, which is a great one. Oh my God. It was so awesome. And if you really like you pause it, you actually, I think you see like this little, like tongue, like come out of the O like ee-ow, watch out, you know, like they're, they're getting smacked and hit on screen. Very cool little things like this. And to be able to capture that and how different this was and still is to this day, this is unique. I, you know, listen out executives out there. This is unique programming and what it means to be unique programming and taking a risk. We've talked about this in past, in a past episode about risk

and why that's so important. These guys did, Fox did at the time. They took that risk to make this thing happen. Dozier and team took the risk to make it happen in their direction. It was important for us to see that. Costume design wise too, we went out of our way to go over to Western Costume

and meet with Bobby Garland and who runs and curates their awesome and amazing collection of memorabilia that they have there. Albeit they are not necessarily Batman 66 related, but what she gave to us was she filled in a lot of the blanks. She was able to show us the process, everything that's involved, why it's important to take a look at in terms of that, why their costumes look like their own characters made them. Well, that plays into their own sensibility. They weren't like these finely manufactured costumes that, for example, like a TV show that was their competitor at the time, which is Star Trek, the original series with

with Shatner and Nimoy and company. It's not that those uniforms were finely, highly polished. These costumes look like they were handmade with intention behind it. So it's very cool. Each of the villains had their own handmade version of their costumes. Even millionaire, not billionaire yet, millionaire Bruce Wayne in the 60s. He did the same. He made his own costume, probably even made Robbins or maybe he made Robin make his own costume. I don't know. Nobody knows. Who knows? But it was it was a cool moment to be able to show this. And the best part about it, for me at least, were the people that we invited to be in this. Our talent, our quote unquote actors.

And this one was everyone from Bruce Timm to James Tucker to Alan Burnett, guys that I respect in the animation side of this business. And to see how these guys were bitten by the bug of Batman. Let me tell you again, a group of people that jumped at the chance to be able to be in this. I've known some of these fellows for a long time and I've never seen that level of how quickly their response to me was, you know, in writing text, whatever, or phone call. Yes, count me in. Absolutely. Whenever you want. They were like, they were all so generous in terms of the way that they gave us their impressions of the show and what it meant to them. And I think what's so charming about it is that there's a particular vulnerability to

that as well, because again, you're hearkening back to your youth. And mind you, these are all working professionals hearkening back to their youth. What inspired them and them sharing and recounting those stories for us? And I just absolutely was just so enchanted. And I know that each one of us could have just sat there and listened to them because they captured what we were all feeling. Bonnie, you mentioned this earlier,

but they are of the age where they were heavily influenced in their childhood by Batman 66 and the comics of that era. That's why they work at DC now. I mean, in so many ways, you're talking about, that's why many of us went into this industry, whether it was that show or the other shows of that era that we grew up with, that led us, that sparked the imagination that led us to where we are today. The other people that I think you have involved in that are Julie Newmar,

Burt Ward. Bonnie, tell us a little bit about working with those two. Oh, Bert and Julie were equally as wonderful as Adam. They were both really, really happy to be involved. It gave them an opportunity to come back and talk and reminisce with us about their finest moments as well. And Julie is just a hoot. Oh my gosh. She just makes you laugh.

Some of her lines are just classic. The way she delivers them. It's just so much personality. Spunk. Yeah. Still to this day, right? To this day. You don't have to pretend that you're sultry.

That's who you are. I love that line. She just keeps going on about, it's really cute. Yeah. And she was, I mean, even the day of when we, we shot her interview. I mean, that is something you never forget. Oh no. Her presence is, is big, is huge.

Not just because she is a, I don't know if people know this, but she's a statuesque woman. She is, uh, I think almost six feet tall. So with the, with the high heels and coming in, it's just a true presence that comes in a old Hollywood style presence. I mean, just so elegant and absolutely beautiful, stunning, stunning to this day. And we joked about how she really wanted pearls, right? And so I have to thank Mikimoto for giving us pearls for the day that we were able to use. And it was wonderful. She was so shocked and just so happy. And that's terrific. I did not know that. Now, did you by any chance pull your cat suit out of the closet that day? Very funny. Yeah, exactly.

Actually, I do have one. Mine's a little bit more like Eartha Kitts, but I would never do that around. That woman is so sexy. And she says, you know, that they probably look like she had chocolate poured on her. Absolutely. She absolutely does. Right. Even now, she's just so stunning. And Bert was just a hoot and a half to talk to.

He is very enjoyable and knows a lot of the material so well. And what's really interesting too about Adam and Bert, I don't think a lot of credit was given to Bert as it should have been on the show because he's over the top and yet he plays it so well and Adam plays off of him. And I'm not so sure it would have worked any other way, you know? And so we, we had sidebar conversations about that too. So, um, it was, it was a great day. Yeah, you're right, Bonnie. We, we would actually giving Bert the lion's share of the credit is very important too. And you really do see that in that bat rarity that we

had, which was the screen test. Um, the seeing what Bert brought to the character and the relationship that is so pivotal between Batman and Robin and what that could potentially mean. We take it for granted now, but those guys were inventing it. I mean, you look back on Golden Age, Silver Age comic books, you are not getting this level of treatment about exactly the way that these characters will be portrayed. These guys were bringing it to life. The writers of the show were bringing it to life and showing us that this is the possibility. There's actors combining their efforts, adding chemistry to them. How important was that? Because we saw some of the others that were on there, including Lyle Waggoner. And then of course, getting to see how Adam and Bert had interacted. It's really very poignant. You're right, Bonnie. It's fantastic. Truly Bert should receive a great, great credit.

Bonnie, you mentioned the bat rarities and where did you go to find those or who brought those to your attention so that you can include those on the box set? Well, I was talking to Fox quite a bit and trying to find different things that we couldn't find. And we knew Adam had been in a couple of commercials and it took us a while to find those pieces. That did not come from Fox, but we did locate it. It was great. The one that I was the proudest of locating was actually the James Blakesley piece because he was a key editor and he is the one that actually came up with the way to do those color graphics. And it's a, it's an interesting little piece if you haven't seen it. And he talks about how he knew he needed something to cut to. And so

he had just asked the graphic team to give him these three foot rolls that he could work with and just slide them in and use them in different places. And just didn't, you know, when that pow was supposed to come right on there when you hit, right. And then you just put that in there. And he was so happy with the way that came out. And obviously it made the show on so many levels because they were having a bit of a problem with how to edit that. And they were, the schedule was really tight for them. Like Alex was saying, Adam told us that many, many times they were just, you know, shooting and trying to turn over these episodes. So that really helped them out as well. It's an interesting little piece. And I was glad we found it because when I was a kid, I was constantly asking anybody I could talk to who liked the show, how did they do the graphics? And nobody could tell me, right? I'm like, well, they didn't paint them on. So, you know, but anyway, it's a cool piece. Were there any other bat rarities that you wanted to highlight? You know, it was a really, really fun one. And I'm really glad we were able to get it actually

was Batgirl. Everybody had been wondering what happened to this? Where did it go? So many people hadn't seen it. And at the last minute we did find it. So we were able to include it. Those are fun. One of the last ones that I wanted to mention was the feature at Na Na Na Batman. That's a really fun piece. It's a little lighter. And you mentioned earlier that I did have the ability to help you guys out with a little bit on that piece. And I was watching it and I had totally forgotten that when we did our interview with Kevin Bacon and James Pierfoy on the show, The Following, which is about a serial killer, we asked them about that song and what their memories were.

And they both were more than happy to give us responses, but they're in makeup with blood on their face. Yes, that's hilarious. But it didn't stop them. No, that was the great part about it. I remember that we were told that we were going to have to film the interviews with them. They couldn't take off the makeup, which was fine because for our purposes, it was, they were in, you know, kind of looked like they were in character. But for the not enough Batman, it is a very funny thing to see them in the makeup there. Tell us a little bit about how that came together, Alex, and how fun that was to put together. It was a blast. First of all, it was truly editorially. It was a

lot of fun. Did not get old because if anything, as we said at the top of this conversation, that was the piece of music, Neil Hefty score really, and hearing the, the, the vocals, which are very simple, obviously, and getting that again and again and again, as we're going through the edit, because it did get went through a few edits just to get the timings just right to kind of play off of each other. And maybe the piece was a little bit long, actually, at one point as well. We started trimming it down and what have you. But, man, that was a cool one.

And that's you know what? All credit on that goes to Bonnie. That was her brainchild on that. And a great way to be able to do this, to be able to include it and bookend it, you know, for all of us. So who doesn't know that? Right. Yeah. Doesn't matter how old you are. So. Who doesn't know that, right? Yeah. Doesn't matter how old you are. You can just say that you could say the dynamic duel. Everybody knows who that is. Right. So we had a lot of fun with it.

It's one of the most memorable pieces of TV show music. You know, you hear that and you immediately know. The other thing I associate is, is that sound effect. No, no, no. You know, the transition effect that they have yes in batman anytime you hear that you think of the show you do yeah so there's some terrific sound design and music uh in in that show you know who what i was just thinking off the top of my head here one of the shows that may have actually been inspired by those interstitial type of sound designs like that and then the spinning graphic you're reminded me about watching Super Friends. Yes. Super Friends would have that in the middle of their various scenes because they couldn't

figure out that you can just transition, maybe just the hard edit or whatnot. But it was cooler in retrospect by the mere fact that they had these stars kind of coming at you and they make that very particular sound design. So, you know, kids in the 80ies, like me, when we hear that one too, we know we're in the know. Yeah, exactly. Well, it's been terrific just talking about this release with you too. I literally, even though we worked together for 13 years, I don't think I've ever sat down and heard these stories and gotten to this depth. So this is a lot of fun. Bonnie, what are, what would, what would you say are some of your just favorite memories from this project? Gosh, the whole thing was a favorite memory. I've often told people that was my year, my, my highlight of my career, meaning living with him, you know,

in and out, just breathing everything. Batman 66 was just so great and reminded me of my childhood, you know, all those great memories and then sharing it with so many other people that you never know who felt the same way you did about it. Right. And so that was just fantastic. How about you, Alex? The memory for me that is, is the greatest out of this whole thing was the moment I met Adam West and watching him walk through the door over at Ralph Garman's house where we're shooting it. I just remember, cause I, I, you set it up in your mind, what to expect, what to anticipate. You're a little bit nervous. You're wondering when to meet somebody that is, is a distinct part of my past here and part of many respects,

the way that, you know, I think about Batman as a character and whatnot. Yeah, an icon as Bonnie was talking about it earlier. And for him to walk into that room, you know, all that feeling of that nervousness or that anticipation that we as people feel immediately just melted away. I mean, immediately. Seeing him,

my first impression was, this is like my grandfather that I didn't have. And here he is in front of me and I'm having this chat with him. And Adam just makes you feel like you're his best friend and the only person in the world that matters, you know? And I think it was genuine. It really was. He had a true gift of just dialogue and to be able to sit, stand across somebody and just automatically just start chatting and speaking with a witty banter back and forth like that was meaningful for me. And I just remember looking right at him going like, man, this is just so cool. But I felt like I knew him all my life. I've, I've broken, as we call the fourth wall in our business. And that means of course, where we do get to meet these people and

we lose that, that, that wall that television provides on a lot of levels for us because now we're in the real world. And when you're in the real world, you, you're either going to be continually enamored by the talent that you're interested in, or you're going to be immediately turned off. And it often happens, you know, it's like they're different than their characters. Right. But Adam is just, uh, he's like the Bruce Wayne that I hoped he would be, you know, on a lot of levels. So for me, that just still stands out at that moment, him just being so gracious and kind to us and wanting to do this. I will never forget that moment. Uh, there's a couple of other moments that we had like that together, and I'm going to leave those personal

to me, but they were just such a, such cool bits of history for myself that will stand with me always. So Adam, wherever you are, thank you. The other thing for me was at the end of the day, when we, we were speaking to Fred and we were asking him about all the work, What did he feel about all the work? Fred was beyond the moon. And he actually had said that, Adam, this was everything he had hoped it would be and more. And to me, that was the biggest compliment of all. And, you know, I owe it all to him and for all the fans that loved him so much to be able to accomplish all of this with, you know, Alex and the team and everyone else. So, you know,

thank you for that. It sounds like in working with Fred and Adam on this project, you guys gave them a really unique opportunity to tell their story. And with the nervousness that maybe went into that vulnerability that it required, but then at the end, they truly respected and appreciated your efforts. And what a great gift for the fans as well to be able to participate in that. So it's a terrific bonus disc of extras, but I love hearing the stories that you guys just gave today of the background of it. Cause that makes it even more meaningful to me to know how Adam responded and Fred just,

it's really makes it just that much more interesting as I, when I go back and rewatch these again, knowing that it's going to be really interesting and really special. That's cool. Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Tim. Thank you, Tim.

Well, Bonnie and Alex, it's been a real pleasure talking with you today. Thanks for coming on the show and sharing your stories with the fans. Tim, it's been a wonderful journey here today. And I just have to say that back in 2017 on Supernatural, we were talking about podcasts and it is just so wonderful to be sitting here with you today, seeing that you've made one of your best dreams come true. And you've really done it in spades. I'm like so thrilled for you to be moving forward and capturing everybody that you can. Well, thank you. It's, it's fun to sit down and talk about our, our favorite shows, movies, animation, comics, you know, whatever it

is. To hear these stories and to share them with the fans is a real pleasure. Yeah, us too. Thank you, Tim. Really appreciate this. All right. Until next time. And we will have you back. Thank you very much. For those of you interested in learning more about what was discussed in the show today, there will be detailed information on the website at www.theextras.tv. Also follow the show on Facebook or Twitter at The Extras TV or Instagram at TheExtras.tv to stay up to date on the latest episodes and for exclusive images and behind the scenes information about the episodes and upcoming guests. And if you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave us a review at iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast provider.

Until next time, you've been listening to The Extras with Tim Millard. Stay slightly obsessed. The Extras is a production of Otaku Media, producers of podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connects creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals at www.otakumedia.tv or look for the link in the show notes.