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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.

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  2. #159 The Joker Laughs on Two-Face's Behalf

#159 The Joker Laughs on Two-Face's Behalf

May 13, 2021

The Joker's Last Laugh

For whatever reason, Batman’s producers decided that they would not do Peter Rabe’s Two-Face script (see last episode) as it was written. Instead, Lorenzo Semple Jr. adapted it into The Joker’s Last Laugh, keeping just enough of the story that Rabe got a “story” credit. This time we look at Semple’s first draft of that episode, which retains some aspects of Rabe that didn’t make it to the broadcast version, and a few other things that we kind of wish had made the final.

Also, the William Cheung piano version of the theme, William Dozier on casting the villains, and your comments on the two scripts we just discussed, as well as our discussion of “Return to the Batcave” in episode 156!