Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Like many who grew up in the '60s and '70s (and perhaps even '80s and later), Tim and Paul had the course of their lives changed by the 1966 Batman TV show, from the types of play they did growing up to their present-day interests.

In this series, they discuss the show's allure and its failures, the arc of the show from satire to sitcom, its influences (the '40s serials and the comic books themselves) and the things it, in turn, influenced.

SUPPORT "To the Batpoles!" and DeconstructingComics.com via Patreon!

Sep 1, 2022

Aunt Harriet serving tea

When talking about Batman, discussion tends to focus on Adam West, Burt Ward, and those who played villains who the Dynamic Duo brought to justice. But here we’ve done nearly 200 episodes and mostly missed someone whose name is in the opening credits for the first two seasons: Madge Blake. So this time we’ve dug in to see what we could learn about this woman who started acting late in life, charmed fellow actors but frustrated some directors, and worked with Jack Benny, Vincente Minnelli, Gene Kelly, and more.

We also take a look at her Batman character, Aunt Harriet: her origins in the comics, how the TV and comics versions differed, and what we can tell about the TV version based on her scenes; there’s more to know there than you might think!

ALSO: the Mr. Tabs guitar tutorial version of the Batman theme, Vincent Price and Adam watch themselves in a Batman clip on the Mike Douglas Show, Holy Deja Vu asks “Who was Milton Stark?”, and we once again visit the Bat Inbox.

Madge Blake articles in Today's Health Magazine from March 1960

Madge on the Jack Benny Show

;