RIP Adam West

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm glad he held out as long as he did. We're finally at a point where it seems most of the Bat-universe is finally giving that series the respect it deserves. Even those who hate the camp realize that the character would not be nearly as popular without the West series.

I did get to meet Adam shortly in 2014 for a photo op with Burt Ward. Glad I did.

Great photo, riddler. 

Los Angeles City Hall paid tribute to Adam West at night, which featured family members, Burt Ward and Lee Meriweather in front of a large group of fans, before lighting up the Batsignal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzzgD_zAqzc

Reminds me of an indirect homage to The Dark Knight Returns.

[riddler]

I'm glad he held out as long as he did. We're finally at a point where it seems most of the Bat-universe is finally giving that series the respect it deserves. Even those who hate the camp realize that the character would not be nearly as popular without the West series.

I did get to meet Adam shortly in 2014 for a photo op with Burt Ward. Glad I did.

That's awesome.  They look friendly.  How was your brief encounter with the Caped Crusaders?

I'll apologize in advance because what I'm about to write may not shed our caped crusaders in the best light. I have been in the same room as Adam West and Burt Ward three times

1) their panel in Toronto in 2012 was sadly not well received. The overall consensus is that they were cold, arrogant and distant from the fans and seemed to only talk about things they wanted to discuss. From my personal perspective, the reviews weren't totally off base but I found the arrogance to be more from Burt Ward than West. They were not invited back in 2013.
2) Their panel in Toronto in 2014. I attended this one with the same friend I did two years prior and we noticed a significant improvement. They told interesting stories, gave honest answers to the fan questions they were asked, and West especially showed off his excellent sense of humour. Even Burt Ward had some fun quips. He said for the first season and the movie he had to do most of his own stunts because his stunt man didn't look like him. He said when a stunt would be upcoming, he'd ask where his stuntman was and the typical response would be "he's having coffee with Adam". He stated that  at one point he remarked "this is the fifth time I'm being taken to the hospital this week and it's only Wednesday". The catillac was modified to be more of a stunt car than a safety car so a good portion of his trips were due to the car. Filming the common sequence of the Batmobile speeding out of the batcave and around the corner was a trek because he was often flung from the vehicle. While they do make a point of showing Batman and Robin always buckle up in the Batmobile, the stunt car did not have seatbelts. He also recounted in the movie portion where Robin's side buddy detaches from the Bat-copter landed him in the hospital a few times because once it detached there was nobody driving the buggy so the momentum would be the driver and Ward claims he was driven off the docs into the pier at least twice.
West in 2014 kind of reminded me of a classier version of Hugh Heffner. He could turn on the charm especially to the ladies, Both praise the modern age bat films although sadly both seem to favour the Nolan films to the earlier ones (though they wouldn't say anything bad about the 90's films). I found it interesting that Burt Ward was asked how he felt about the films mostly abandoning the character he popularized. He pointed out that in the dark Gotham cities being portrayed on film, Robin didn't fit the tone as well as  he did in the 60's. He said he did enjoy Chris O'Donnels portrayal
Without sounding rude, Burt Ward looks almost nothing like his younger self from the 60's but his voice was spot on. I have the DVD of the 1966 movie and Burt Ward narrates the menus, I actually thought initially he may have recorded the dialogue in the 60's until I heard him saying things like "holy special features Batman". Honestly he speaks the same way as he did back then. It would be interesting if he voiced Robin again now and I honestly think he still could.
The only negative this time around is that they were late by well over an hour without any explanation or apology but they were worth the wait
3) the photo op in the same day in 2014. Honestly there isn't much noteworthy. I was dressed up like all four avengers; Cap's mask, Hulks hand, Thor's hammer, and Iron Man's arc reactor. It might have been because they were so far behind schedule but the photo ops were rushed. You got to stand there, do your pose and then move on. They were polite, said their hello's, please's and thank yous but it wasn't nearly as interactive as some other celebrities I've met for photo ops. Guys like Stan Lee, Christopher Lloyd, and Ben MacKenzie got involve with their poses. For instance I went down on one knee to marvel Stan Lee, had one photo op with Lloyd where I stared at my watch and he did as well and a second one in which we were shaking hands. I met Mackenzie dressed up like the riddler and he was more than happy to grab my collar with one hand and raise his other fist towards me in a threatening manner. Even though the Batmobile was present, West and Ward weren't much more interactive beyond smiling.

On a side note in 2016 I dressed up as the riddler for the first time (Paul has seen the pictures of this on my facebook) and got to have 5-10 minutes with the Batmobile with a charitable donation. I could definitely see what Burt Ward was talking about, from the inside it was definitely resembling a stunt car, it was very closed in with many small obstacles including the Bat phone and the doors opened extremely easily especially the passenger door. This vehicle couldn't possibly be legal or safe to drive on the road. No wonder Burt Ward got injured so many times in this thing. And yes I can confirm the Bat phone is still in it!

[The Dark Knight]

Thanks for that insight riddler. I don't see your comments as disrespectful to West's memory because it either happened or it didn't. Everyone has bad days because we're human. I'm particularly understanding with someone like Adam West given he lived with this show and the same old questions surrounding it for so long. I wouldn't be always upbeat about it either. What I love about Batman is how Adam West could easily be my favorite Batman, just as Michael Keaton or Ben Affleck could be. They're all great. It just depends on my mood at the time.

One of my favorite scenes with West is actually his last scene with Newmar's Catwoman.

You can see it from 0.53 until the end of the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWkbJ__U19U

It's amazing because we see Bruce's emotions on display. You can see he's visibly upset about how everything turned out between them, and still holds out hope for her rehabilitation. He puts it all on the line to say "I'd like to be your friend", only to be rebuffed with "you're nice, but my heart belongs to Batman." With that dialogue, the bittersweet music and the closeup of West's upset face, there's something rather poignant about it all.

[riddler]

Thanks for that insight riddler. I don't see your comments as disrespectful to West's memory because it either happened or it didn't. Everyone has bad days because we're human. I'm particularly understanding with someone like Adam West given he lived with this show and the same old questions surrounding it for so long. I wouldn't be always upbeat about it either. What I love about Batman is how Adam West could easily be my favorite Batman, just as Michael Keaton or Ben Affleck could be. They're all great. It just depends on my mood at the time.

One of my favorite scenes with West is actually his last scene with Newmar's Catwoman.

You can see it from 0.53 until the end of the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWkbJ__U19U

It's amazing because we see Bruce's emotions on display. You can see he's visibly upset about how everything turned out between them, and still holds out hope for her rehabilitation. He puts it all on the line to say "I'd like to be your friend", only to be rebuffed with "you're nice, but my heart belongs to Batman." With that dialogue, the bittersweet music and the closeup of West's upset face, there's something rather poignant about it all.

It should be noted that West has stated several times his favourite villain was Catwoman but he couldn't choose whether he preferred Merriewether or Newmar.

[The Dark Knight]

Burt Ward believes Adam West had no idea he was going to die so soon.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2017/06/22/batmans-burt-ward-believes-adam-west-had-no-idea-was-going-to-die-was-making-plans-for-future.html
After reading this article, I agree with him.

[Silver Nemesis]

It should be noted that West has stated several times his favourite villain was Catwoman but he couldn't choose whether he preferred Merriewether or Newmar.

I struggle choosing between them myself. They were both awesome. I've had a special bias towards Meriwether ever since she retweeted a link to my Batman: The Movie comic analysis back in 2011. But bias aside, I thought she was a legitimately great Catwoman in the 1966 film. And she was the first actress to portray the character's alter ego in a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne.

For me, it's pretty much a tie between Newmar, Meriwether and Pfeiffer.

[The Dark Knight]

The first thing I ever saw from the B66 universe was the movie. And so I saw Meriwether first. I thought she was great, and she remains great. However after seeing the TV series I ended up preferring Newmar. I liked how her Catwoman was more of a villain, but still had charm and beauty in doses. Deep down she loved Batman, but she just couldn't give up her bad ways, and couldn't imagine sharing Batman with Robin.

[thecolorsblend]

Apart from the fact that Newmar was banging hot, I love her voice as Catwoman. A lot of actresses (Pfieffer, Barbeau and probably others) did a sultry, throaty, phone sex type of voice for their Catwomen.

Newmar had... I don't even know what. Not a sing-songy voice exactly. But her pitch suggested a woman perfectly comfortable in her own skin. She's everything she's ever wanted to be, right now. She can't commit to being a good guy. But she's not all bad either. Burton would play that to the nines in BR but the suggestion of it was exemplified with Newmar.

As to being banging hot... I first laid eyes on Newmar's Catwoman when I was eight years old. Not to gross anybody out but when I was eight years old, I was attracted to eight year old girls. Julie Newmar was the first time I ever saw a grown up woman and thought she was banging hot. Even though she was at least three times my age... oh boy!

I'll go out on a limb and suggest that I wasn't the first or the last boy whom Newmar turned into a man.

[GoNerdYourself]

Newmar was definitely a knock-out!

MEANWHILE, AT THE STATELY WAYNE MANOR, WHERE WE FIND MILLIONAIRE BRUCE WAYNE ---

Reliving this series again for the first time since I was a kid (outside of the 1966 movie, of course, I am finding West's performance to be almost genius in terms of the material. He has the perfect tone for the campiness, not overly winking at the audience, but just the right amount of smirk. The humor of the series is great too. There were times I found myself in stitches.

[The Dark Knight]

Reliving this series again for the first time since I was a kid (outside of the 1966 movie, of course, I am finding West's performance to be almost genius in terms of the material. He has the perfect tone for the campiness, not overly winking at the audience, but just the right amount of smirk. The humor of the series is great too. There were times I found myself in stitches.

West is awesome as Batman because he played the absurd situations seriously. He had a real sincerity that I connect with, be it his relationship with Robin, Alfred, Gordon or just his desire to be a good man.

But away from the camera, I was recently reflecting how Adam is something of a tragic figure. Think about it. Years after the show ended he was still dressing up in the costume and making appearances at various events as an older man. I don't think he did this out of desire...but for the simple fact it was his career now. He became a performing flea trapped in a prison of sorts. Kinda sad when you think about it.