UnNews:UnNews remembers Adam West
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
HOLLYWOOD, California (Or GOTHAM CITY, if you will) -- UnNews is... Ugh, I'm not gonna say it anymore. Another unpleasant thing happened that has made the news. Luckily, it has nothing to do with Donald Trump... at least that we know of. Adam West, TV's Batman, has died after "a short battle with leukemia." He was 88.
Holy unexpected celebrity death, Batman! This is a ZAP! POW! BANG! OOF! to our hearts, and our childhoods. Especially mine.
Adam West was my first Batman (and Batman, my first superhero, along with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), via reruns on my local Fox affiliate. Being a little kid, I thought it was the coolest thing ever! Then immediately afterwards came the Michael Keaton take on the character in Tim Burton's classic 1989 film. I eventually came to prefer the darker iteration, but I still love Adam West's campy adventures nonetheless. Come on, you had everyone in their mother from Classic Hollywood begging to be a villain! Cesar Romero as The Joker! Burgess Meredith as The Penguin! Frank Gorshin (and John Astin, himself Gomez Addams) as the Riddler! Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt as Catwoman (and Lee Meriwhether in the 1966 film)! Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams) played a villain. Liberace! Vincent Price as Egghead! Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac! Clint Eastwood almost got to be Two-Face!
There's just something inherently fun about the Adam West series. Robin's (Burt Ward) "Holy ____!" catchphrases. (Holy armadillo, Batman! Holy Bat trap! Holy In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, Batman!) Adam West and the late Neil Hamilton's Commissioner Gordon playing it straight. The puns and zingers. The bright colors. The theme song!
Adam West was also Little Pete's principal on The Adventures of Pete & Pete (season 3), Mayor Adam West on Family Guy, and Catman (yeah, I know) on The Fairly OddParents. He will be missed greatly.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Brian Lowry "Adam West, TV’s ‘Batman,’ Dies at 88" Variety, June 10, 2017