We picked up a copy last weekend of Billion Dollar Batman, the new book by Bruce Scivally, examining the origins and television and movie adaptations of Batman. Scivally was part of the crew that in the 1990s turned out documentaries about the making of James Bond films that are part of the DVD extras.
“Holy recycling, Batman!”
We were skimming the chapter about the making of the Adam West-Burt Ward 1966-68 television series and were reminded of how writer Stanley Ralph Ross (1935-2000) managed to get the same joke in a third-season episode of The Man Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Batman.
The joke first appeared on The Thor Affair on Oct. 28, 1966, scripted by Ross and Don Richman. Character actor Bernard Fox was the title character, Brutus Thor, who has made a fortune selling weapons. Thor hatches an elaborate plot to assassinate a Ghadhi-like character (Harry Davis) who has pressured major countries into a peace conference. At one point, Thor is interrupted by his butler. “Yes, Rhett, what is it?”
Flash forward to Dec. 15, 1966, and The Bat’s Kow Tow, the second half of a Catwoman story on Batman, scripted this time by Ross solo. The Catwoman (Julie Newmar) has “stolen” the voices of British sensations Chad and Jeremy (don’t ask). Batman and Robin, at one point, visit a British official in the U.S. to discuss the Catwoman’s ransom demands. They’re interrupted by, you guessed it, the official’s butler. “Yes, Rhett, what is it?” Moreover, the same actor plays the butler.
In 1997, Ross contacted The Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode guide by e-mail because its reviews of third-season episodes noted the joke in the U.N.C.L.E. episode and how it also appeared on Batman. Apparently because the writer was pleased that somebody spotted the joke (both times). Ross granted an interview via e-mail where he discussed his work on U.N.C.L.E. and Batman (he appeared as an actor on both as well as writing episodes) as well as other shows.
UPDATE: Oops. We should have provided this link before. To get more information on Billion Dollar Batman (including how to order), CLICK HERE to go to the author’s Web site.
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: Adam West, Batman, Batman TV show, Billion Dollar Batman, Bruce Scivally, Burt Ward, David McCallum, Robert Vaughn, Stanley Ralph Ross, The joke U.N.C.L.E. and Batman shared, The Man From U.N.C.L.E, The Other Spies |
The Spy Command 
[…] Stanford Sherman and Stanley Ralph Ross, were hired to contribute scripts. Ross even worked THE SAME JOKE into both […]
I don’t get the Rhett joke. What is it? I can’t believe they would reject a Harlan Ellison script given all the crappy scripts they used.
@James: Butler comes into a room. “Yes, Rhett, what is it?” The butler’s name is Rhett. Rhett, the Butler. That’s the joke, such as it is. The Harlan Ellison episode was rejected because an ABC executive named Adrian Samish had a feud with Ellison. Samish was on his way out the door, but one of the last things he did was veto the Ellison script, which would have featured Two-Face.
[…] The episode guide also generated a response from writer Stanley Ralph Ross, a frequent writer for the 1966-68 Batman show, who also penned some third-season U.N.C.L.E. episodes. He liked how the episode guide noted how the writer used the same joke in U.N.C.L.E. and Batman. […]
[…] The episode guide also generated a response from writer Stanley Ralph Ross, a frequent writer for the 1966-68 Batman show, who also penned some third-season U.N.C.L.E. episodes. He liked how the episode guide noted how the writer used the same joke in U.N.C.L.E. and Batman. […]
[…] Ralph Ross, would work on other U.N.C.L.E. scripts during the 1966-67 season. Ross even worked the same gag into Batman and U.N.C.L.E., involving a butler named […]