DC COMICS: Batman '66 (Batman s2 ep 33 & 34 Sandman & Catwoman)

Batman '66 in the Media

THE SANDMAN COMETH:
Batman and Robin are alerted when Mooney, a policewoman working undercover as a member of The Catwoman's mob, warn Gordon that Catwoman is planning to join forces with a European criminal known as The Sandman for committing a crime. Catwoman discovers her on the phone with Gordon. She snatches the receiver from her and sprays Mooney with knockout gas. Her henchmen bind and gag the disguised policewoman. They cover her head with a black nylon hood. She has them drag Mooney away to be dealt with later. Catwoman picks up Mooney's heels after they fall off her bound pantyhosed feet as she's dragged away. Later, Catwoman pretending to fall asleep on a mattress display in a store window is spirited away by one of Sandman's cronies and later turns up on a TV newscast, where she cleverly advertises the talents of a sleep expert names Dr. Somnambula, a.k.a. Sandman, in hopes of gaining the attention of J. Pauline Spaghetti, a rich insomniac.XXXSandman's scheme is a success, and he is summoned to Spaghetti's penthouse; there, while examining her eyes, he gasses her asleep. Working fast, he snaps photos of J. Pauline's financial ledger just as The Dynamic Duo arrive to rescue her from the man they--but not J. Pauline!--believe to be The Sandman. While Spaghetti proves to them that she wasn't in danger, Sandman escapes. The Caped Crusader and The Boy Wonder later trace The Sandman to his GHQ at the abandoned Morpheus Mattress Factory on Derwin Alley. Upon entering the deserted factory, they are quickly seized by Sandman and his henchmen Snooze and Nap. The Batman is bound to a mattress under a giant button stitcher, while Robin is ordered to push the button which activates the machine. The Sandman decides to give Robin to Catwoman as a present and splits.

THE CATWOMAN GOETH:
Though Batman escapes the Sandman's trap, Robin is left to wander in a deadly maze. A clue leads Batman to Catwoman's lair, where he informs her of Sandman's plans to elope with J. Pauline Spaghetti and keep her fortunes to himself. Enraged by the Sandman's trickery, Catwoman sets out after him. Batman, with the now-rescued Robin, also follows, and the group meet up at Spaghetti's old deserted pasta factory.

MONITOR'S NOTES:
According to co-writer Ellis St. Joseph, this and the episode which followed ("The Catwoman Goeth"), as originally planned, were to have Sandman as their only villain, and Robert Morley had agreed to play the part. Then, the producers decided to incorporate Catwoman into the story, and co-writer Charles Hoffman was brought in to make the necessary changes. St. Joseph was very much dissatisfied with the new direction the script was taking (although evidently not enough to have his name removed from the credits), as was Morley, who backed out of doing the part. David Tomlinson was then offered the part, and declined for the same reason. Michael Rennie, who was doing a lot of TV at the time, ultimately played the role.