“Ring Around the Riddler”
Written by Charles Hoffman
Directed by Sam Strangis
Season 3, Episode 2
Production code 1707
Original air dates: September 21, 1967
The Bat-signal: The Riddler is hiding out in a little-used gymnasium (conveniently labelled “LITTLE USED GYMNASIUM”) and trying to get Kid Gulliver to throw a fight. He won’t do it, so Riddler tosses him in the steam room to convince him. His plan is to take over Gotham’s boxing industry.
Kid Gulliver takes a dive in the third round. Bruce, Dick, and Alfred are watching, and Bruce solemnly calls an emergency meeting of the Gotham Boxing Commission (of which he is the chair), as he’s SHOCKED! to learn that there are undesirable elements getting involved in boxing.
Riddler leaves a box covered in blinky lights at the Gotham Square Garden box office. Barbara shortly thereafter comes to the box office to buy tickets, and discovers the box. She changes to Batgirl and calls Gordon, who calls Batman. The blinky box is brought to Gordon’s office, where Batman manages to get it open, and there’s a note in amongst some metal filings. It, of course, has a riddle: “Who rules the ring? No king, prince, or rajah, look for a clue on the walls of Kafajah.”
Kid Gulliver has disappeared, kidnapped by the Riddler, having pumped him full of “riddle juice,” which keeps him amnesiac and dopey.
Batman and Robin bat-climb Barbara’s building to consult her (at Gordon’s suggestion) about Kafajah. She points out that the temple there was home to fisticuffs before boxing. They realize Riddler’s riddle was referring to a boxing ring. Gordon stops by to see his daughter and also tell Batman and Robin that Kid Gulliver was found outside Gotham Square Garden with no memory of the fight.
The Dynamic Duo hie to the Garden while the Gordons watch a sports talk show hosted by Riddler’s moll, Betsy Boldface, who interviews Riddler disguised as “Mushy Nebuchadnezzar,” southwest Asia’s finest boxer, dressed in a turban and the Riddler’s purple mask. (Don’t ask.)
At the Garden, O’Hara has been given the same riddle juice that Gulliver got, and Batman and Robin—after being tormented by the Riddler—get him off to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Barbara talks to her bird Charlie—since she has neither a partner nor a butler with whom to have expository dialogue. She doesn’t think Mushy is a real southwestern Asian based on his chin (the only thing she could see under the turban), so she goes to investigate the exotic food that Mushy claimed to be eating. Batgirl tracks Betsy (buying the food) to Riddler’s lair, where he has three boxing champs kidnapped. Riddler asks Siren (who showed up early for next week’s shoot) to stop her, but her powers only affect men. They put Batgirl in the steam room, and then bring the boxers—who are successfully put under Siren’s spell—and have them thrown into the steam room as well. However, Batgirl has successfully escaped the steam room. Because she’s just that awesome.
Gordon summons Batman and Robin, as well as Barbara. Riddler wants Batman to face Mushy in the ring, and he taunts Batman, calling him a coward (and broadcasting that taunt on the radio), until he agrees. This actually works.
Batman and Riddler face each other in the ring, and Batman does very well until Riddler hits Batman with a bunch of metal filings, and then suddenly he can’t move. Barbara excuses herself and changes to Batgirl and finds Betsy wielding a giant magnet under the boxing ring, which is keeping Batman in place. Batgirl takes care of both Betsy and magnet, and Batman can now move. Batman starts to win the fight again, so Riddler legs it to his hideout, where Batgirl and Betsy are waiting. Batman, Robin, and Alfred show up and fisticuffs ensue. Our heroes are quickly triumphant, though Riddler threatens to return.
Gordon gets buzzed by Bonnie, who says that Lorelei Circe is here to see him—but it’s actually Siren, and she ensorcells him with her singing…
Fetch the Bat-shark-repellant! The only bat-device used is the bat-stethoscope Batman uses on Riddler’s blinky box.
Holy #@!%$, Batman! When told that Kafajah was an early source of boxing, Robin cries, “Holy hieroglyphics!” After Riddler disappears from sight, Robin yells, “Holy blackout!” When Harriet shows up at the boxing match, Robin grumbles, “Holy missing relatives!” When Riddler hits Batman with magnetized bits, Robin screams, “Holy sudden incapacitation!”
Gotham City’s finest. Riddler gives O’Hara a dose of his riddle juice for no apparent plot reason whatsoever.
Special Guest Villain. After a one-year absence, and after the failed substitutes of Maurice Evans as the Puzzler and John Astin as the Riddler, Frank Gorshin at last returns to the role of the Riddler for the first time since the feature film. It’s his only appearance this season, and therefore his last appearance on the show, though he will reprise the role of the Riddler in one of the godawful Legends of the Superheroes specials from 1979 alongside Adam West and Burt Ward.
Na-na na-na na-na na-na na.
“Gentlemen, if we had our choice of laps to sit on, which would we choose?”
“Laps to sit on?”
“Kid Gulliver’s temporary lapse of memory.”
–Riddler and his henchman indulging in my favorite of Riddler’s pun-filled riddles in the episode. Hey, I laughed!
Trivial matters: This episode was discussed on The Batcave Podcast episode 50 by host John S. Drew with special guest chum, Dan Greenfield of the 13th Dimension.
Madge Blake makes one of only two appearances this season as Harriet, as Blake was ill and had basically retired from acting. She’ll be back in “The Bloody Tower.”
James Brolin makes his third appearance, and first in a non-Catwoman episode, this time as Kid Gulliver. He was also in “The Catwoman Goeth” and “The Cat and the Fiddle.”
In addition to appearing the tag to tease her appearance in the following episode, Joan Collins also appears as the Siren in the episode’s middle helping Riddler out, an additional tease.
Pow! Biff! Zowie! “When is a prize fight like a beautiful lady?” On the one hand, yay, Frank Gorshin’s back as the Riddler! Of all the problems the uneven second season had, the biggest was the lack of Gorshin’s Riddler. His manic energy, his superlative line deliveries, his laugh—all were very sorely missed last season.
And his riddles are actually a lot of fun this time. Some puns, some wordplay, some goofiness—a good, if not great, cross-section of his various riddling styles.
Unfortunately, it’s wrapped around a plot that is nonsensical even by the low standards of Batman ’66. Riddler taking over Gotham’s boxing matches sorta kinda makes sense in the abstract as a plot, as there’s money in them thar fights, but the way he goes about it is bizarre, to say the least, and why put himself in the ring to fight Batman?
It’s very rare that a TV show does a boxing episode and that episode winds up being good. There are occasional exceptions, but mostly it’s just painfully bad, and this is one of the most egregious examples ever. I mean, seriously, why did anyone think it was a good idea to do an episode featuring Batman boxing against the villain when the villain in question is the 5’8″ Gorshin? (Batman even remarked on it, commenting that Riddler is shorter than Robin, which is strictly speaking not true, Burt Ward is actually half an inch shorter than Gorshin, but we’ll let it go.)
I do like the fact that they use Barbara’s mad librarian skillz to consult on the case, and I love that Alfred is involved in the climactic fisticuffs (take that, Sean Pertwee!), and I like that the moll isn’t a traditional pretty young thang, but an older woman with a butch haircut who hosts a sports talk show.
And Frank Gorshin is back! Worth it just for that.
Bat-rating: 4
Keith R.A. DeCandido‘s latest fiction: three Super City Cops novellas about police in a city filled with costumed heroes and villains that will be published in December, January, and February by Bastei Entertainment. Full information, including covers, promo copy, and preorder links, can be found on Keith’s blog.
I haven’t religiously followed every review in this series, but I think this is the first time you were actually too easy on an episode, Keith.
I won’t call this the worst episode of the series (wait ’til we get to Nora Clavicle), but it’s definitely worth a dishonorable mention – the plot is all over the damn place, Riddler’s got teleportation (hologram?) powers for no reason whatsoever, and the Steam Room is an absolute embarrassment of a death-trap (do we even learn what it actually does?). Even Gorshin couldn’t save this one.
Babs is, admittedly, a bright spot, but even then I think this episode introduced the atrocity that is her theme song, so was it really worth it?
I have copies of the original ‘pitch’ outline and the first draft, so I can explain some things about the finished product, I hope.
I also should point out that Joan Collins as The Siren is my favorite Bat-baddie, so I am biased.
Despite that, I agree this episode is a jumbled mess. My first comment in that vein would be that, IMO, it’s part of a trend that began late in season 2 and really picked up steam in season 3. Scripts often were based on what I would call a set piece, something that would make an interesting scene visually but often didn’t make much sense from a plot standpoint.
The Batman-Riddler boxing match is, of course, the set piece here. It makes no sense in the broader scheme of things–besides making Batman look bad, how will it help Riddler achieve his objectives? (Whatever those objectives might actually be. More on that later.)
As for the moll being a sports talk-show host, that wasn’t the original plan. In the original script, there was no henchmoll per se. Betsy Boldface actually was Barney Boldface. Best guess is that Gorshin perhaps wanted a full-time moll for his character (Siren is more of an independent contractor) and thus they changed it. At least it wound up being somewhat progressive for 1967 with Gordon declaring that Betsy is as good at sports broadcasting as any man would be!
I can answer Chong Li’s comment on the ‘teleportation’ by Riddler. Yes, it makes no sense, and IMO, it’s very Lost in Space-ish. In the original script, we were supposed to hear Riddler’s disembodied voice. I suspect Gorshin didn’t want to be just a voice in that scene, he wanted to be seen on camera, and thus they changed it. It really didn’t work, obviously.
Another question is if Riddler already has brought in Siren to help out, why does he need the so-called ‘riddle juice’ as a knockout drug? The Siren is the ultimate knockout drug to men.
(Actually, a better plot would have been to have Siren give the boxers post-hypnotic suggestions to throw fights so Riddler could profit. The boxers wouldn’t even know they were taking dives.)
Batman deciding to fight Riddler after being taunted really doesn’t match up with his character, as established earlier in the series. But we gotta move the plot along with only 23 minutes or so to work with (eliminating credits). And to use my favorite krad-ism, it’s left as an exercise to the viewer to determine how Riddler/Mushy could get a boxing license when BRUCE WAYNE IS CHAIRMAN OF THE GOTHAM CITY BOXING COMMISSIONER!!
*Boxing Commission
Chong Li: Chalk it up to the power of Gorshin. And also remember that the rating at the end is the least important part of any rewatch entry. :)
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
Kind of odd for the Riddler to be interested in boxing, but then, he’s often had rather random interests (wax, silent films, etc.). I love it that he hides out at the Little Used Gymnasium, which is actually named that. Although the minimalist sets are frustrating, here and throughout the season.
Hey, Batgirl invented the disappearing trick that later became Batman’s trademark. He totally swiped it!
Also, this episode showcases how keenly observant Barbara/Batgirl is. She displays an ability here that nobody else in this show’s universe has ever possessed: The ability to recognize a disguised person by their chin. (Although she never seems to apply the same insight to Batman and Robin. Professional courtesy?)
Nice twist, revealing the Siren (Joan Collins) as Riddler’s partner midway through. And it’s a less random setup for the next episode than the usual tags. I think this may be the only season-3 cliffhanger teaser (outside of those within 2- or 3-parters) that genuinely works as a plausible and consistent setup for the next installment. Perhaps because these episodes actually were filmed back-to-back. But there’s a bit of an inconsistency, because Batgirl faces the Siren in the Riddler’s lair this week, but next week, when Barbara makes her deductive leap about Lorelei Circe, she doesn’t give any clear indication that she remembers facing the Siren.
I have a hard time believing that Batman would have the same “Don’t call me chicken” berserk button as Marty McFly. He’s far too humble and rational for that. And the Riddler’s plan — to put himself in a boxing ring with Batman — seems extremely ill-conceived even with the magnetic trap. Why not use the Siren on Batman? Still, Gorshin did some good physical comedy here.
The last time I watched this, I found I liked Billy May’s music for this season better than I have in the past (although I agree that that Batgirl theme song is pretty dire, especially the lyrics, which debut next week). I’ve generally found it quite a letdown from Nelson Riddle’s scores to the first two seasons and the movie. I realized this time around that May’s music isn’t bad at all — I just tend to get sick of it because it’s very repetitive, with the same limited number of cues getting tracked (reused) very heavily throughout the season.
I haven’t seen the “Legends of the Superheroes” specials you mention, though I had heard of them. Are they bad or bad-fun?
Any idea what you will be up to when this rewatch is over? More DC shows? (Maybe a “Wonder Woman” rewatch?) Go back to look at the Batman movie serials?
Joe: I’m nowhere near deciding what to do (if anything) after this run of TOS-Tuesday/Batman 66-Friday is over.
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
@7/krad: Well, you could follow the lead of your Trek rewatch and do Filmation’s New Adventures of Batman when this is over. It’s not quite a direct continuation, but it had West and Ward and drew on a number of this show’s tropes (e.g. the Batpoles, Batphone, and Robin’s “Holy” exclamations).
Way too harsh on this one. Sure, it’s all over the place – – what third season episode isn’t? – – but so many of the places it goes are a blast. The cliffhanger with the blinking box is genuinely scary. Riddler’s tantrum when he learns Batgirl has escaped is classic (and based on Gorshin’s own behavior on set when he would blow a line.) And his closing taunt to Batman about being a boomerang that will return acts as a nice coda to the villain’s tenure on the series: We won’t be seeing him again, but in the world these characters inhabit, he’s never going away.
But the thing I like most about this episode is how it nails Batman’s and Riddler’s personalities and how they intersect. In fact, I’m amazed that some of us here consider these elements to be among the installment’ s weakest. Of course Batman could be manipulated by accusing him of cowardice – – as we have established, cowardice is one of the traits he holds in the greatest disdain (remember how disgusted he became with Shame when the latter begged for mercy?), so the suggestion that he himself was a coward would likely send him over the edge into making decisions based on emotion instead of reason. Also, factor in Bruce’s presence at the murder of his parents, which although it isn’t explored in any detail in the series still provided considerable context for West’s performance. For most of his life, Bruce has been carrying around the guilt that he didn’t do anything to prevent that murder — that he was just too scared. Having a punk like the Riddler reinforce those feelings by accusing him of cowardice would be quite the emotional trip wire.
As for the Riddler, his appearance in the boxing ring is completely consistent and natural, as he positively lives to humiliate Batman in public, even if he has to cheat to do it. Sending someone else to do the dirty work would be absolutely pointless to him – – as devoid of fun as crime without riddles.
Oh, and as the cherry on the sundae, there’s Riddler’s witheringly minimalist rejoinder when Batman maintains he is not in fact a coward: “Oh? ( chuckle).” Sick burn, bro – – as sarcasm goes, it holds up as well as John Winger’s defiant “So?” in The Breakfast Club.
im a fan of Robin &batman
krad @7
Maybe a Babylon 5 rewatch?
@11 In the immortal words of Hades, “Two thumbs way up!”
What a missed opportunity to make it the Gotham Round Garden or the Matheson Square Garden.
Because doors are for simpletons.
I just want to say that this weekend I stood inside a boxing ring along with a Batman ’66 cosplayer, but no Riddler. This Batman cosplayer had a great costume and attitude, plus on Saturday he was carrying around the bomb from the film, and on Sunday, on the ring, he was wearing surfing shorts like in that Joker surf episode.
@14/MaGnUs: So it sounds like Sunday was one of those days when he could get rid of a bomb.
Hahah, apparently. I did speak to him on camera for the website I was working on Saturday, and I opened with something like “Sorry to bother you, Batman, I know that some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb…”. and he played along. I had a lot of fun speaking to cosplayers and working off of their characters to interact with them.
Oh, and I got to interview Peter David again, even though it was just 5 minutes this time instead of two hours as I did in 2010.
I actually wish that Gorshin hadn’t come back at all. Then he’d be the only recurring special guest villain with an unbroken streak of good episodes, instead of having this hot mess dragging down his batting average.
I just went back and re-read everything here, and I can’t believe no one commented on the fact that when Siren was leaving Riddler’s headquarters, Riddler totally looked around and checked out her ass, leering the entire time. Not that I blame him, of course….
As a follow-up to that last comment by David Peattie, what was icing on the cake to the Riddler’s leering antic was that as Siren was walking away, the Riddler’s “moll,” Betsy Boldface (with whom Riddler seemed to have a “thing” going, based on a previous suggestive exchange; this was the closest thing I had seen to a “sexual relationship” between a Batman supervillain and his henchwoman) stepped in with what may have been “jealousy” (although Betsy maintained a smile on her face), and blocked his view. That didn’t stop the Riddler! He simply shifted his gaze from his left side to his right side, continuing his stare.
During another moment, at the boxoffice scene, the Riddler was particularly rough with a pretty cashier, forcefully pulling her head back, by grasping her by the hair hair. Another oddly extreme example of such an ordinarily wholesome show.
Every time I see this episode I find myself questioning what on earth Betsy Boldface’s motivation is for being in cahoots with the Riddler. I could ask the same thing of Jack O’Shea with the Catwoman. Really, what’s in it for them? Both seem to have reasonably successful careers, so what do they gain by these associations, other than a criminal record? (O’Shea even goes as far as attempting murder by pushing Batman out the window.)