Kato versus Robin

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

Finally got the complete Batman TV series DVD for Christmas. If you have one you will know it's an absolute gold mine of joy. When you become excited by the idea of pausing and rewinding an Adam West episode you'll know two things: 1) you might just be a very sad individual and 2) it's been far too long for this thing to become available for home video consumption.

I decided to get the full series for quite an expensive purchase. But it was worth every penny. I hear some people are buying seasons individually? How they are doing this I've no clue because in my city I haven't seen the series at all on shop shelves. I only got mine by asking a guy who went in back and fished it out of his stock in HMV. I think the staff are secretly buying them up or something. What a surprise the damn thing would be hard to obtain. I'm so relieved I acted as quickly as I chose.

Of course I instantly went to my favorite episodes and what could be more exciting than the Green Hornet crossover?! In the documentaries Adam West tells a brilliant and hilarious story regarding the relationship between Bruce Lee (Kato) and Burt Ward. Here is some interesting, fun info on it:

"This episode was written to try to save the Green Hornet TV series and to answer the pressure being given by the fans to face Bruce Lee off against Robin. Burt claimed he was a martial arts expert and Bruce was Bruce. They were going to have the face off on the Hornet show but since no one was watching the show and this was an attempt to garner an audience, it was decided to do it here. Charles Hoffman the story editor and Oscar Rudolph the resident director were given the assignment. According to Dozier, it was decided to end the episode in a draw so not to damage either heroes reputation, besides, Bruce would have wiped the floor with Batman and Robin and still had time to take down Colonel Gumm by himself, while the Hornet chased down his fallen fedora".

Two supporting characters may be recognizable to some. Alex Rocco plays a Col. Gumm thug and famously went on to appear as the famous Moe "shot through the eye" Green in "The Godfather Part One". And I only just spotted Seymour Cassel too who later went on to appear in things like "Indecent Proposal", but he is perhaps much more memorable for playing Sam Catchem in Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy" (a great movie that owes a few million debts to the Batman TV show):

"Gumm's gang consisted of Seymour Cassel who has since gone on to become a popular character actor, at the time he played small parts on various tv shows. Rico Cattani another bit player actor who also doubled as a production manager on serveral films. Then we have Alex Rocco who has since gone on to become a star in his own right in tv and movies. Back then he was a struggling actor who moonlighted as a bartender to pay the bills. Years ago he spoke about his role on Batman. He said he was working in a bar when a call came in for another actor (he didn't mention who) who used to hang out in the bar. Rocco needing the money, told the caller the actor wasn't there but he would take the part. It was that of Block (he called him Blockhead), and he claimed it was like two days work and he was paid $250.00".

"As long as both shows were so popular among the viewers, a Kato-Robin confrontation was unavoidable. The young public was clamoring for one. 'The director decided we should participate in the Batman series instead of ours,' Bruce Lee said. He had no idea what the director had in mind, but after reading the script, he grinned and whispered to himself, 'This is great. Kato finally gets to fight Robin.' "Bruce was a great kidder. He relished playing jokes. Especially on someone he did not care for. On the day Kato was to fight Robin, Bruce put on his most solemn face. He walked around as though carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. He hardly said anything and did not kid around with the crew in his usual manner. He was not the same Bruce Lee everyone knew. "On the Batman set Bruce continued his pretense. He stood in a fighting stance, teeth clenched and eyes squinted behind Kato's mask. Meanwhile, Ward as Robin, stood a good distance away from him and attempted to calm him with irrelevant comments which Bruce just ignored. Finally, the director ordered them to proceed and the camera began to roll. Bruce held his deadpan expression and inched his way toward his opponent. Ward kept his distance and yelled, 'Bruce, remember this is not for real. It's just a show!' "Bruce later related the incident. 'I had a hard time keeping a straight face,' he said. 'I started to crowd Burt and he began to flap his elbows and jump around me. I was really keeping him scared and I hear someone in the back whisper, 'The black panther and the yellow chicken.' At that point, I burst out laughing. I just couldn't keep a straight face anymore".

The fight scene between Bruce Lee and Robin is unlike anything seen in the Batman show. At one point he does one amazing flying kick. Lee summed it up with his usual great humor:

"The director didn't want to upset any fans so he cleverly let the heroes fight to a draw. Bruce viewed the whole event with amusement. 'Lucky for Robin that it was not for real; otherwise he would have been one dead bird'".