Retro Thing

'66 Batman Finally Released To Our Home Bat-Screens?

We've written about our intense desire to see the amazing 1966 Batman TV series enjoy a home release. It's hard to believe that the landmark series, which has been in constant syndication for nearly 50 years (currently airing in the US on MeTV on Saturdays), has never been released on home video (except the uneven feature film). Somehow the copyright being split between DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox botched any attempt to do anything besides keep the show locked in reruns on TV forever.

This week there was a hint at a breakthrough. Warner Brothers tweeted out via @WBHomeEnt saying that the series will see a "home entertainment release" sometime in 2014. Good timing since Batman is celebrating 75 years as a pop icon, and there is currently a comic book series based on the campy approach of the 60s series.

I'll go further and hope that the series gets the deluxe restoration and scrubbing up that the original Star Trek did a few years ago. I've said it before... I really want to see the colors and pop art touches exploding off the screen in HD.

Need more reminders of why the series was cool?

• As obsessed as I am with the sleek & speedy Batmobile, in reality it couldn't go over 45 mph.

• That strident narrator you hear in every episode? That's William Dozier the executive producer.

• Latin love idol Cesar Romero played The Joker. Refusing to shave off his signature moustache, they simply painted his garish makeup over it.

• Her 1968 episode was Tallulah Bankhead's final performance. She died shortly after her on-screen performance as The Black Widow.

• Robin sputtered out "holy..." 357 times over the course of the series.

• The Bat Cave is littered with lots of tongue-in-cheek signs enumerating the technological wonders therein - 47 of them!

• Liberace played a dual role (and rather well, too!) in "The Devil's FIngers" and "The Dead Ringers", netting the show the highest ratings of its original run.

• After ABC cancelled the show, NBC was interseted in continuing the adventure. The deal never happened because the $800,000 Batcave set had already been destroyed. Good thing in a way, the show had really begun to run out of steam in its last year.

Coke Introduces New Suicide Machine

On a recent visit to a burger joint, I spied a large touchscreen on the soda machine. The old dozen or so choices weren't enough. As more and more of these machines hit fast food establishments, the thirsty customer will be able to chose from over a hundred of different soft drink combos. You can get a Coke with a squirt of orange (a mix previously only available in Russia and Baltic countries), a confusing combo of Mello Yello and grape, etc.

When I was a thirsty kid and feeling nonconformist, I'd mix a "suicide".  This was rare because the soda fountains were seldom within reach. Remember, this is before limitless free self-serve refills. A suicide is when you take a little hit from each of the soda nozzles. You could end up with a mix of root beer, orange, Sprite, RC... All together in a mixture so volatile it might melt the bottom out of your wax paper cup.

For some reason, it was sort of a forbidden act. The lunch ladies at Ponderosa were convinced you were getting away with something when they spied you taking taking multiple hits off of the soda dispenser... and now Coke blatantly encourages this kind of behavior with what amounts to a jukebox for soda pop. Man... I used to be such a rebel.

The new machine is called Free Style, and they've been around since 2009. It's an impressive technical accomplishment. Instead of replacing only a few bags of syrup from time to time, there are dozens of little plug-in carts the vendor has to have on hand to snap in. To prevent this tragedy, there's a scary amount of carbonated thinking inside the machine. Not only does the machine notify the supplier when things are running low, but it also sends Coke data on trends of favorite drinks.

How long before the machine recognizes the fingerprints caressing its touchscreen, then automatically pours you a frosty cup of your fave suds? Your poor neighborhood bartender won't have a chance. I don't know if such a baffling variety of choices ultimately leads to more soda sales, all I can think about is that it must be hell for the clerks running the drive thru.

I'd say more, but I'm heading out to the patent office. I'm working on a machine that dispenses ten kinds of ice.

Ray Gun Of The Future With A Slightly Rude Name

In the gritty shadow of interplanetary conflict, there are several ways to wage war. There's physical warfare; tanks, superior firepower, etc. Then there's the theater of the psychological. Your enemies will cower with shame knowing that they've been gunned down by a weapon with the word "pissed" in it.

Okay, not exactly... But that sort of psychological warfare must be what the Lion factory had in mind when their armorers started to issue the "Sparkling Pist" to their young soldiers. Either that or it's just a careless typo from a factory in China pressing out very cheap tinplate sparking guns in the 60s.

The main spine of the gun is plastic, but both sides are metal. What look like misaligned stickers on the sides are actually graphics printed right onto the gun itself. There's a lion (more like a yawning kitten) on the butt of the gun. If the gun's ferocity diminishes, you can always give the gun new spark using the "flint inlet". Looking at the gun itself, it does say "pistol" right on there, so it looks more and more like the "pist" on the front of the box is merely a sad typographical error. Too bad. I really like the idea of holstering a Sparkling Pist on my next interplanetary adventure.

Care to join me? Unlike a lot of tin toys, this one is quite common and rather cheap. Some intergalactic suppliers on Ebay are trying to get a quick 50 dollars, but it's easy to find a boxed gun for around 15 space bucks. Just follow the link below, and join the Retro Thing Golden Pist Rangers. Wait a sec... that doesn't sound right...

thanks Sean!

link:

Help out Retro Thing when you arm yourself with a Sparkling Pist