Lorenzo Semple Jr., the pilot writer of the Batman television show of the 1960's (and writer of such movies as Three Days of the Condor), has written an article for Variety sharing his opinion of the Batman movie franchise. In it, he discusses the origins of the Batman TV show.Semple has a very enjoyable, erudite writing style. Here's an example: "...I am often asked what I think of the string of Batman features which has followed. My answer disappoints. Truth is, I think only rarely about Warner's big-screen charades, for they are related to our antique effort in little beyond the eponymous title."
As one can guess, he doesn't really dig the new franchise. But Bob Kane, Batman's creator, didn't really understand Frank Miller's famous Batman comic book The Dark Knight Returns, so I guess it's a generational thing.
The article is also a good history lesson regarding how the business of television worked at the time. Recommended reading.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-12-2008 @ 11:03AM
Adam said...
Huh. And I thought I couldn't hate that show more.
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7-12-2008 @ 11:15AM
jeff said...
wow, and i thought i couldn't love that show any more then i already do. cool article.
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7-12-2008 @ 12:01PM
StillBash said...
Let me get this straight: a guy who wrote lines that ended with "Kapow" was asked to write about real cinema?
Great. What's next? Cookie Monster on the Atkins diet?
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7-12-2008 @ 12:14PM
mj said...
Well, speaking as someone who read comics in the 60's, I have to say, I liked them better. Ok, some of the storylines are good, but I still prefer the simpler comics of 'old.' Even the artwork today is too much. Oh well, you know how we geezers are.
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