Mar 16, 2017
On this week’s episode of “Bewitched”… wait,
this is “Batman”?? What has become of our beloved
played-serious-for-humor show? The tone now feels like a full-on
sitcom, and the Dynamic Duo have been reduced to
Penguin’s playthings, on the excuse that they have to “keep an eye
on him” but can’t arrest him JUST YET… Oh, and by the way,
there’s a hand puppet in this arc.
Still, there’s plenty of interest to talk about in the
Penguin-Marsha three-parter: Its reflexivity in
presenting the making of a film in a film; how the people on screen
can’t see anything we can’t see, even that film crew that’s just
ten feet away from them; the way this arc is simultaneously moving
ever more aggressively away from the normal formula, and giving us
things we haven’t seen since Hi Diddle Riddle!
We also get into the background of the Dance of Seven
Veils and the “Scene 12” milk bath, and
ask the question: if the show is becoming more like a sitcom, does
that mean it's MORE or LESS campy?
Plus, another overflowing Bat-Mailbag, and the Sam Chalpin version of the Batman
theme!
Shots of the film crews shown in this arc (click to enlarge)