It's very odd that Burgess Meredith returns so quickly in this early part of the third season.  It's even more odd that they pair him up with Ethel Merman as Lola Lasagna in the first two-part story of the season.  And in many respects, it's a wasted opportunity as the two are used more as a Vaudville act more than anything Batman-related.  And yet, this look at Penguin trying to horn in on the horse racing world has more weight to it than Riddler's previous attempt to become the "King of the Ring."

Joining John to discuss what worked and what didn't work in this story that could have been a one part story is podcaster, The Hunnic Outcast.

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HunnicOutcasts offers a variety of podcasts.  Whether it's unscripted/off the cuff or an in depth discussion, regarding T.V. films, literature, and/or video games.  

We met her briefly in the last episode, but now The Siren takes the center stage as the villainess of the week.  Joan Collins is one of the better guests and gives one of the better performances in the third season.  In fact, there is much to be praised about this story which has more of the feel of a second season story and also has one of the better Robin/Batgirl team-ups.  

Joining John to discuss what many consider one of the better, if not one of the best, episodes of the third season is writer/editor Glenn Greenberg. 

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Glenn Greenberg is an award-winning editor and writer. He worked extensively for Marvel Comics and DC Comics on such properties as Spider-Man, the Hulk, Superman, Star Trek, Star-Lord, the Silver Surfer, Thor, Iron Man, and Dracula, as well as Web-based tie-in projects for the film Superman Returns and the weekly comic-book series 52. His work has also appeared in such publications as TIME Magazine For Kids, Scholastic News, Time Out New York, Back Issue, and Smoke. Glenn has also written several works of prose Star Trek fiction for Simon and Schuster, and is now making the jump to The X-Files for an upcoming fiction anthology that will be published by IDW. He avidly covers all aspects of popular culture on his blog, “Glenn Greenberg’s Grumblings” (http://glenngreenbergsgrumblings.blogspot.com), and welcomes anyone and everyone to check it out.  

It's the 50th review episode of the podcast!  And what a way to celebrate!  Frank Gorshin is back as The Riddler!  His latest scheme?  To become the king of the ring by taking over the boxing world in Gotham...

Yeah, for this they brought Frank Gorshin back?  As kids, John and his guest were just excited to see The Riddler, but they are not as loving of this episode now as adults.  What's wrong with it?  How has their view of it changed and how did it change from one of the earlier versions of the script?

Joining John to discuss this episode is Dan Greenfield, creator and author of the 13th Dimension website.

Dan Greenfield is the editor and co-creator of 13thDimension.com, a website devoted primarily to comics and pop culture, past and present. To him, the basic food groups are Batman, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek (the Original Series), James Bond, the Beatles and the Stones. But if he had to he'd be able to subsist on Batman alone. Channel 11 in New York was his favorite syndicated channel as a kid -- you can guess why -- followed closely by Channel 5. Channel 9 didn't really enter into it unless he was home sick and there wasn't much else on. He's married to his remarkably patient wife Wendy and his best sidekick is his son, Sam. They have two cats,Lex and Zod.

Links

13th Dimension Website

Facebook page

Twitter

The Penguin is back in Gotham City with a scheme that seems foolproof - marry Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara and then he wil lbe immune from prosecution.  Can Batman and Robin stop him from reaching the alter on time or will they need the help of Batgirl? Who's driving this plot and should it have gone as far as it did?

Joining John to discuss the first televised Batgirl episode and to ask the question, "Should this be a Joker episode?" is author Jay Smith.  

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Jay Smith is the creator and executive producer for the Parsec Award-winning audio drama series HG World.  Since 2009, Jay and his company of players and producers have been telling the story of survivors in the middle of a global zombie uprising.  Now in its third season, this "satellite" production has featured dozens of actors across four continents making it a production truly on a global scale.  Since its debut, episodes of HG World and its spin-off series, the Parsec finalist The Diary of Jill Woodbine and The Googies have been downloaded close to a million times.

Inspired by the golden age of radio, Hidden Harbor Mysteries presents a story inspired by stylish pulp era radio adventures like The Shadow, Sam Spade, The Green Hornet, and I Love a Mystery. Performed by a stellar cast, Hidden Harbor hopes to integrate classic radio storytelling with some modern twists.  Jay draws from the work of Orson Welles, Arch Obelor and looks to modern audio dramatists like Douglas Adams and Dirk Maggs as inspiration to create a rich, realistic world of survival horror laced with dark comedy and compelling human drama. 

Jay holds a BA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and is working on his Master of Fine Arts from Seton Hill University’s innovative Writing Popular Fiction program.  He attends and speaks at various science fiction and literary conventions about podcasting, writing, audio drama, and zombies.  HG World can be heard by subscribing through iTunes or visiting the show web site www.goodmorningsurvivors.com.

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No airedate.

Killer Moth has come to Gotham to kidnap a millionaire to hold for ransom and it looks like he has the Dynamic Duo well under wraps thanks to his cocoon gun.  Will he succeed or will the introduction of Batgirl help to save the day?  Yvonne Craig makes her debut as the Dominoed Daredoll in this brief network presentation.  

Joining John to discuss this never aired piece is author Jay Smith.  

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Mr. Freeze is back in Gotham City and he's not only changing his method of operations, but he's changing the way he looks once again.  This time, the late Eli Wallach takes on the role of the frosty fiend complete with a new makeup job and a wig and an iceberg base of operations to complete his reign of frigid terror on the good citizens of Gotham.

Joining John to talk about Mr. Freeze's final turn at bat on the series and the second season ending episode is comedian and podcaster, Ken Reid of TV Guidance Counselor.

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Called a "pop culture maven" by the Boston Globe, Boston native Ken Reid has been performing for over 10 years in various capacities. In 1995 he formed the seminal Boston Punk Rock group "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" at Boston's infamous "Rat" club.

In 2003 while living in London, Ken Reid decided to try his hand at stand up. After performing around the UK he returned to Boston in late 2003 and has been a staple on the comedy scene ever since.

Ken's unique and very personal story telling style has gained him a loyal fan base in the area. Using photos, video clips, and his own brand of storytelling Ken has written and performed four one man shows. His first show "Ken Reid's Cusack Attack" was a sold out affair at the Boston Center for the Arts. His second show "Very Special Episode: Portrait of a Pop Culture Victim" was also a sell out in March of 2008. “Music to My Years” from October 2009 was widely praised and was the featured pick on Boston.com. His most recent show was "Shirt Tales" from May 2012.

Ken has performed at the Riot LA Festival, theCharleston Comedy Festival, The AltCom Festival, and The Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival. In May 2012 he also performed as part of a special performance of John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders variety show at Brown University called the "Cabinet of Unspeakable Wonders"

He hosted and presented at the Boston Music Awards, was the Comic in Residence at The Comedy Studio in September 2006 and was a founding member of comedy troupe The Untrainables. With the Untrainables he hosted and co-produced the "Great and Secret Comedy Show" at Improv Boston from 2006 until 2009. He is also the creator of "Lafta Obscura" a unique comedy show at the Paradise Rock Club that ran during 2006

From August 2008 to December 2012 Ken was the regular Friday night host at the Comedy Studio in Cambridge, MA.

In January of 2013 Ken Started his new show "Ken Reid's Secret Menu" every Thursday night at the Comedy Studio.

Ken has toured as the opening act for Todd Barry during Barry’s “Substantial Tour of New England”, was chosen by Eugene Mirman as the opening act at Mirman’s record release show, opened for Patton Oswalt at the Wilbur Theater and Northeastern University, opened for Bob Saget during his 2011 New England Summer shows, and performed a series of “live talk show” appearances with Jonathan Katz. Ken was also nominated by the Boston Phoenix as Best Comedian in Boston 2010 and 2012.

Ken has a weekly podioplex where he helps guide you in choosing weekly TV listings of the past with a comedian of note on TV Guidance Counselor.

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The Joker's latest scheme is art themed, but what is more important to Joker, the aesthetics of the art or the art of crime?  There are a lot of sendups of pop art in this two-part episode loved by many and looked upon as the last real laugh of The Joker in the 66 series.

Joining John to talk about the Joker's last outing of the second season and what the show's stance on pop art is is author and podcaster, Kevin Lauderdale.

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Kevin Lauderdale has written essays and articles for the Los Angeles Times, The Dictionary of American Biography, Animato, mcsweeneys.net, and teevee.org; and his poetry has appeared in Andrei Codrescu's The Exquisite Corpse.  He has published fiction in several of Pocket Books' Star Trek anthologies, including Constellations, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the original Star Trek.  His original fiction has appeared in Neo-opsis magazine and Cthulhu Unbound, the cross-genre Lovecraftian collection from Permuted Press.  He is a graduate of UCLA and a card-carrying member of SFWA.  In addition, Kevin is a host of his own podcast here on the network, It Has Come to My Attention and co-host of Mighty Movie: Temple of Bad.  Recently, Kevin took over as host of the old time radio podcast, Presenting the Transcription Feature.  Follow Kevin's exploits through his LiveJournal blog - http://kevinlauderdale.livejournal.com.

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Aired March 14/16, 1967

Hollywood legend Tallulah Bankhead gives her final performance as the menacing Black Widow.  Her plot is so simple, even the Batcomputer can't work it out - robbing banks in Gotham in alphabetical order.  As simple as the plot may seem, there is something very endearing about the episode, one that has remained a favorite of John's to this very day.  He's joined in this discussion by Batman at 45 author Chris Gould.

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Aired March 8/9, 1967

King Tut returns to lay claim to Gotham City and to get his revenge on Batman.  But he has a new wrinkle in his scheming.  He is looking for his Cleopatra and he thinks he's found her in the form of Lisa Carson (Lee Meriwether).  John and his guests have not been kind to Tut in the past.  Will the third time be the charm for Monarch of Crime as John discusses the episode with longtime Batman 66 fan, Robert Long?

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Robert Long is a full time grapgic designer and independent filmmaker.  As a first generation Batman syndication kid, he manages the 1966-68 Batman Television Series Group on Facebook.  He has had the pleasure to meet and work with Adam West and Julie Newmar with various projects in the past.  Visit Robert's production company - Smash or Trash Independent Filmmakingto learn more about it.

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Aired March 1/2, 1967

The Green Hornet arrives in Gotham City and looks like he's gunning for a piece of the action.  But to Batman, muscling in on the trading stamp racket seems low-key for such a high profile gangster.  And what does the foreman of the Pink Chip Stamp Company have to do with it?  Is the Hornet the real evil in this plot or is it the unusual Colonel Gumm with his penchant for alphabet soup?  Van Williams and Bruce Lee guest star in this episode as their respective characters, The Green Hornet and Kato, from their own ABC series in this crossover as an attempt to generate better ratings for the fledgling show.

Joining John to discuss this episode and the most important character who doesn't get enough recognition is Justin Michael of Batman The Animated Podcast.

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Justin Michael is an actor, writer / director and LA native. He's one half of the sketch comedy group Tremendosaur, a member of the Harold team Winslow, co-host of the podcast Before You Were Funny at UCB Sunset, and host of Batman the Animated Podcast. His UCB credits also include: Wilhelm (the improvised movie), Tournament of Nerds, The It SUCKed! Awards, UCB Thanksgiving Day Parade, Urban Legends, Tremendosaur Sells Out, UCB Summer Blockbuster, CDR Sketch, Tremendosaur's Big Hollywood-ish Sketch Show, Sketch Cram, Let's Do This!, UCBWCW, Cagematch, The Passover Show, Mookie & Dave: It's a Guy Thing, Matt Besser's Prop 19 Show, and Not Too Shabby. He is the co-creator of Friendship All-Stars of Friendship, a stop-motion animated series he wrote, directed, voiced, and produced for L Studio and Stoopid Buddy. He has written/directed/acted for Comedy Central, Funny or Die, Above Average, Nickelodeon and Adult Swim. He was a staff writer on Matt Besser's Comedy Central special, "This Show Will Get You High." He's performed at San Francisco Sketch Fest, Austin's Out of Bounds Festival, The Del Close Marathon, and toured various colleges across the country. If you'd like to continue your relationship beyond this bio follow @heyjustin on Twitter.