Throwback Thursday takes us back to the 1966 Batman TV-series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. The Penguin‘s (Burgess Meredith) men kidnap Alfred (Alan Napier) to brainwash the butler in cluing them into the time and location of a multi-millionaires dinner. After releasing the brainwashed butler back into the wild, Penguin leaves a clue to lure Batman and a Robin into one of the series’ weirder traps on the Gotham Pier involving pop-up umbrellas and exploding balloons. The episode also works in the woman (Julie Gregg) of Penguin’s crew as part of the larger plot to take the place of a beauty pageant winner and offer the distraction to rob the millionaires.
Batman and Robin beat the vacuum chamber with an emergency tank of Bat-Oxygen and later fake their feinting to the Penguin’s gas with their Anti-Penguin-Gas Pills (never leave the cave without it!), showing up in the Penguin’s lair to catch the villains red handed as the Dynamic Duo use Alfred’s brainwashing to their advantage. Speaking of Alfred, in “Fine Finny Fiends” the butler is unable to properly identify various hoodlums two of which turn out to be pictures of series producers William Dozier and Howie Horwitz. The two-part episode marks the end of Batman‘s First Season on television. But not to fret, Bat-Fans, he’ll be back for two more seasons. Same Bat-Time! Same Bat-Channel!
