Episode Title: The Bat’s Kow Tow
Original Airdate: December 15, 1966
When we last left Gotham City, Batman and Robin were about to have their eardrums turned to mush due to being trapped inside Catwoman’s giant echo chamber. They are mere seconds away from being driven completely mad! Let’s see what happens in this week’s conclusion, The Bat’s Kow Tow.
The slow drip of water being echoed millions upon millions of times is just about to do Batman and Robin in. However, Batman remembers that every room has it’s own sympathetic vibration…a pitch that can shatter glass. He determines that F sharp over high C will do the job, so our heroes start humming the pitch. Soon enough, the glass shatters and they are free from their trap. Before leaving Catwoman’s hideout, they find out from one of her lackeys (Joe Flynn repeating his role from the last episode) that she is off to steal the voices of British singers Chad and Jeremy.
Batman and Robin arrive at the performance just as Catwoman has stolen their voices. She then hits the lights and escapes, with the help of her cat-eye glasses. Rather than pursue, Batman determines that they need to stay and help keep the thousands of screaming teenage fans calm. The next morning, the Caped Crusaders appear with TV host Allen Stevens (played by Steve Allen) to assure everyone that Chad and Jeremy’s voices will be restored. Midway through the broadcast, however, Catwoman and her men come in to announce that they are holding Chad and Jeremy’s voices for ransom. They are demanding 8 million pounds (or $22,400,000 US) from the British government for the pop stars’ voices. After all, those two British mop tops pay so much in taxes that without their ability to make money Britain’s economy would collapse.
As Batman and Robin investigate, they find that Chief O’Hara has a recording of a phone call from Catwoman. They analyze the call and detect the sound of three hair dryers in the background. But with two thousand hair salons in Gotham there’s no way to find where Catwoman is. But then, Chad and Jeremy (who still have no voices) express that they wish to get their hair done at Mr. Oceanbrings Salon…which happens to have three hair dryers. Sure enough, that is Catwoman’s lair. Our heroes show up and fight with the baddies before Batman has to chase down Catwoman and the two exchange an intimate moment before she’s hauled off to the clink.
Last week’s episode was a lot of fun, but this one is a little bit of a letdown. It’s still got a lot of fun moments, but the story kind of hits a wall. Most of this episode seems like an excuse to string together a bunch of cameos before the obligatory final fight. And there are a lot of cameos in this episode. We have the return of Chad and Jeremy and this time we see them perform two songs, “Distant Shores” and “Teenage Failure.” Then we get an appearance by comedian, and former Tonight Show host, Steven Allen. His name here is Allen Stevens, which is a bit on the nose, but whatever. Allen’s part is short but it’s hard to resist his wisecracking when facing Catwoman’s armed goons. The strangest cameo, though, is this episode’s window cameo. In one sequence our heroes pay a visit to the British consulate and must exit out the window. On the way down, they are greeted by Hawaii’s favorite son Don Ho. What exactly he’s doing in the British embassy is never explained. I was just bummed that he didn’t get to sing “Tiny Bubbles.” The cameos are a kick, but the thin plotline of this episode gets a bit overshadowed by them.
Though the plot is weak this time, there is one element that was very nicely done…the ending. We get the standard fist fight between our heroes and the baddies, but as the fight is winding down Catwoman runs out. Batman chases her into an alley but quickly loses sight of her. She gets the jump on Batman and ends up with her sonic gun pointed at his head. However, she can’t bring herself to kill him. She sighs, “I can’t kill the only man I’ve…” Our imaginations are left to complete the sentence. But we don’t have to imagine that Batman and Catwoman nearly lock lips before Robin so rudely interrupts. This steamier aspect of the relationship between Batman and Catwoman was used quite nicely in these last two episodes.
And with that we’ve reached the midway point of Season 2. We kick off the second half of this massive season next time with an episode that was originally written for the Riddler, but when Frank Gorshin was not available to reprise his role, another DC villain was brought in to fill the gap. Maurice Evans…aka Planet of the Apes’ Dr. Zaius…appears as the Puzzler in The Puzzles are Coming. Next week…same bat time, same bat channel (superhero).
Bat Gadgets Used:
Bat Sound Analyzer
Anti Bat Sonic Device
Bat Rope
Holys:
Holy Resourcefulness
Holy Mush
