THE BATMAN TV SERIES SEASON TWO(2004):
Again, these episodes are NOT in airing order!!
This stars, well, no one anyone ever heard of!! LOL!!! Anyway,
while the main actors are nobodies, this does have some pretty
good actors in it: the original Batman - Adam West, Ron Perlman
(Hellboy), Robert Englund(Freddy in the Nightmare On Elm Street
movies), Frank Gorshin(The original Riddler), Louis Gossett Jr.
(Lucius Fox), Jerry O'Connell(Sliders), Kevin Conroy(The original
animated voice of Batman!), Mark Hamill(Star Wars) & Brooke
Shields(Pretty Baby)!!
Gone are Robin, Batgirl & Commissioner Gordon!! And I'm not
impressed by the two cops that hound Batman/Bruce Wayne,
one being a friend of Bruce's, and the other with an apparent
ax to grind!! At least they kept Alfred, although I'm not real
impressed with they way they are representing him here!!
Batman has a device that tells him when there's trouble in
Gotham, but no explanation of who's sending him the
messages!!
I also don't care for the types of enemies he faces here, as
they are more of the type you would see taking on Superman!!
One more thing, I'm not really crazy with the artwork in this!!
It almost looks like it was made for really young children, but
the stories and the violence are not really for the young!!
However, with all the drawbacks, this is a pretty good series,
and definitely worth the watch!!
DISC 1:
EPISODE 1: THE CAT, THE BAT AND THE VERY UGLY(May 14, 2005):
Catwoman is back, along with The Penguin!! And when they
both go after the same treasure, they form a partnership and
go after another item that Penguin wants more!!
This is the first time that Batman and Detective Yin work
together!! A
EPISODE 2: RIDDLED(May 21, 2005):
The Riddler's debut in this series, and he's doing what the
Riddler always does, leave riddles telling the police, & Batman,
where he's going to strike next!!
Guest starring Robert Englund(Nightmare On Elm Street 1
through 76849[lol])! Englund has NOTHING on Frank Gorshin
as the Riddler!!! B+
EPISODE 3: JTV(July 9, 2005):
Joker's back again!! And he's out after the Mayor!! And Yin
has a new partner!! And he's over zealous with trying to
catch not only bad guys, but Batman as well!!
As a nod to the original Batman TV series, there's a fight
and while they're hitting each other we see "POW", "BIF"
and "SPLAT"!!
Guest starring Adam West again as Mayor Grange!! Also here is
Patrick Warburton(Rules Of Engagement, Seinfeld, Men In
Black II)! B+
EPISODE 4: SWAMPED(June 11, 2005):
Killer Croc makes his debut here!! And he's taking over the
area and increasing the crime in it!! Batman puts two and
two together and gets all wet!!
This is another of the villains in this series that lessens the
"humanness" of Batman!!! I don't have any problem with
these kind of foes in Superman, Green Lantern, or even
Flash!! But Batman is a different kind of hero, one who uses
only his brains, brawn and physical prowess to tackle his
foes!!
One of the good points of this show is that it guest stars the
great Ron Perlman(best known for Hellboy, also stars in
the TV series Sons Of Anarchy)! B+
EPISODE 5: PETS(June 18, 2005):
Everyone's got pets!! But this guy has taken training pets to
a whole new level!! He's invented a device that controls
whatever bird that he desires, and this bring out the beast
in - - - The Penguin!!! And he unwittingly re-activates The Man-Bat!! A
EPISODE 6: MELTDOWN(June 25, 2005):
The Joker is out of Arkham, but not of his making!! Clayface
has infiltrated the asylum and broken him out, not cause he's
such a friend, but because he blames The Joker for making him
what he is today!! After Batman pulls a quick maneuver on him,
Clayface goes back to being Bennett, goes to trial, and gets released
to Bruce Wayne who gives him a job!! But things don't go very well
because Joker escapes and Bennett runs into him one too many
times!!
This guest stars the great Frank Gorshin(The original Riddler
in the original Batman TV series!!)!! B+
EPISODE 7: THE BUTLER DID IT(Aug. 20, 2005):
Alfred turning to a life of crime?? Welp, only in his dreams!! Or
is it?? It appears that this is an epidemic, as other butlers are
also having the same thing happening to them!! This is all tied
to a new dude in town, Spellbinder!
This may well be the weakest of all the episodes of this series!! B
EPISODE 8: FIRE AND ICE(May 28, 2005):
This one has both Firefly and Captain Cold, who are teamed up
to try to take over Gotham!!! And you just know that sooner or
later sparks are going to fly between the two!! B+
DISC 2:
EPISODE 9: RAGDOLLS TO RICHES(July 16, 2005):
Catwoman here, and she runs into a dude calling himself "Ragdoll"!!
Another absurd villain for Baman!! Anyway, the two team up and
try to out do each other in the thievery department!! B+
EPISODE 10: STRANGE MINDS(Sept. 3, 2005):
The Joker's back and he's kidnapped Detective Yin!! While Batman
captures The Joker, he refuses to tell them all where she is!! So
Batman chooses to go to Dr. Hugo Strange for help! Strange has
a new device that allows Batman to go into Joker's mind to find
out where Yin is!!
As an aside here, we get a slight glimpse at what Dr. Strange is
really all about!!
Returning here as Dr. Strange is Frank Gorshin!!!! A
EPISODE 11: GRUNDY'S NIGHT(Aug. 27, 2005):
It's Halloween and Solomon Grundy is here!! A couple of old ladies,
sisters in fact, tell a couple of Trick-Or-Treaters about the legend of
Solomon Grundy and how he devastated their family 150 years ago!
Wouldn't you know it, he shows up just like it says in the legend!! I
won't spoil it for you, but this brings back a recurring character! B
I'd swear that as one of the voices in this I hear John Ratzenberger
(Cliff Clavin on Cheers), although I can find no reference to it!!
EPISODE 12: THE LAUGHING BAT(June 4, 2005):
Someone's running around dressed up like Batman and causing
quite a ruckus!! Turns out to be The Joker! And after a fight, he turns
Batman into "The Joker"!!
Guest starring a returning Adam West as the Mayor Grange! A-
EPISODE 13: NIGHT AND THE CITY(Sept. 10, 2005):
This has several of the biggies in it: The Joker, The Penguin &
The Riddler!! And they make a bet on who can get rid of Batman
first and unmask him!! The winner gets the control of the West
side of Gotham!!
And this has the first appearance of Commissioner Gordon, who
is already on the side of Batman!! And Yin gets busted contacting
Batman by Police Chief Rojas and gets fired!!
I really don't like the representation of The Riddler in this series!!
Way too dark!! Though Robert Englund has a good voice for this
one!
This also has the debut of the Bat Signal!!
Possibly the best of the episodes in this run!! A-
SPECIALS:
DISC 2:
CATCHING UP WITH THE BATMAN:
This appears to be a long commercial for the series with
video from the first two seasons!
From an IMDb.com customer
This is one of my all time favorite cartoon shows.
The two elements that made up the show had plenty
of action and just enough violence to keep you
interested. And even though it was violent, I still
turned out to be a normal adult and not a psychotic
killer. Too bad that parents groups thought that it
was too violent, or my generation would have been
spared such shows as Shazam, Isis and Super
Friends. - Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net