When comparing the campy Batman TV show vs the Batman Movies it’s interesting that (IMO) the TV show villain actors actually had a better take on several of the villains than the big budget movies.
As an example I think Frank Gorshin was a much better Riddler than Jim Carrey.
In Jack Nicholson vs Cesar Romero I’m not quite so sure.
What do you think?
Julie Newmar’s Catwoman blew Michell Pfeiffer’s out of the water.
Ditto Burgess Merideth’s Penguin, verses Danny DiVito’s.
I agree with you on Gorshin and Carey, although I’ll give it to Carey over John Astin (who did at least one rather lethargic turn as Riddler, in season 2, while Gorshil was off the show).
Neither Nicholson or Romero were very good Jokers, IMO. I have hope for Ledger, though.
Mark Hamill. 
I’d take Romero over Nicholson - the characters were written very differently, but I’ve seen the Burton Batman more recently and just couldn’t stomach Nicholson’s version.
It’s hard to make that comparison, as Romero was playing the Clown Prince of Crime Joker from the 1950s-60s and Nicolson was playing the Psychotic Killer Joker from before and after that period.
Nicholson’s Joker was better; he made the movie. I also agree that Gorshin was better than Carey.
Eartha Kitt was the best Catwoman.
We’re not exactly talking a put-a-man-on-the-moon level of accomplishment, here. Stealing the show from Kim Bassinger and a restrained-to-the-point-of-comatose Michael Keaton can’t have been hard. I thought Jack Palance conveyed more menace than Nicholson’s relentless mugging.
Julie Newmar’s Catwoman. No question.
I’m not too keen on Otto Preminger or Eli Wallach, but George Sanders’ Mr. Freeze easily trumps Ah-nuld’s version.
Who was a better Harvey Dent, though - Billy Dee Williams or Tommy Lee Jones?
I had really hoped Billy Dee was going to Play Two face in the second movie
Really I don’t get how Both Movie Franchises missed teh oppurtunity to use the sequel as Two Face’s…I mena 2nd film… second major villain.
The marketing and posters would have been a cinch! Picture teh poster with the Bat symbol divided into a pristine and tattered version.
I think that Lee Meriwether was the best Catwoman, personally.
No way, Newmar was tall and lanky and slinky with just the right sense of humour.
Merriwether was just filler for the suit… (nice filler though)
I disagree. I thought that Lee Meriwether had just the right feline mannerisms… and frankly, I thought she was a much nicer face, too.
I’ll second this. He captures the Joker’s mood swings better than anyone else. If you insist on live versions, I’ll take Nicholson over Romero. Romero’s Joker was just a goofball. Nicholson’s (and Hamill’s) are evil.
I’ll still go with Eartha Kitt. Much sexier than either, for a start.
Eartha Kitt? Sexier?
No way. Heck, Mark Hamill would make a better Catwoman than her.
Batman: TAS had the absolute best Harvey Dent/ Two-Face. I couldnt believe an animated kids show could be so dark. The scene where Harvey becomes Two-Face sticks in my mind to this day… “Theres only one problem… You’re talking to the wrong guy…”.
:eek:
As for the Joker, I’m not sure there’s been a VERY good version just yet, it’ll be interesting to see how Heath Ledger holds up. People tell me there’s NO WAY Heath Ledger can play the Joker, and they are right: There’s no way he can play Caeser Romero, or even Jack Nicholson, without appearing foolish. If he plays The Joker as a Hannibal Lektor style psychopath, with a bad jokes, well, then that would be something. Heath Ledger could DEFINATLEY play Hannibal Lektor.
Third.
And Gorshin over Carrey without even breaking a sweat.
B:TAS trumps every other version of Batman to date, IMO. Now if only I can scrape together the pennies to build the rest of my DVD collection…
But he’s SUPPOSED to be a goofball. He’s from the COMICS. You know, those COMICAL things that provide the world with laughs through COMEDY.
I couldn’t stand the movie version of The Penguin. Burgess Meredith,however, was brilliant.
As I noted earlier in the thread, they reflect the two distinct characterizations found in the comics – at the time the TV series was created, the Joker in the comics was a goofball (the return of the psycho killer Joker, in “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge” was in 1973).
Here’s another one: TAS’ Mr. Freeze was infinitely better than Arnie’s version. I actually felt sorry for the animated Mr. Freeze. You really got the impression that life screwed him over. Arnie’s version was just a jerk. Also, Arnie was miscast. Freeze should have been lankier. Someone like Richard Moll.
I guess I just don’t like those older, campier villains. Watching an episode of The Super Friends is a painful experience for me 
:rolleyes: But that definition has been outdated for decades in the type of comics we’re discussing.
