Changes Twitter Should Make

Twitter made a few changes this week. For the most part these changes were cosmetic. They changed the icons (for instance, "reply" is now a word balloon). They changed some of the typography. Perhaps the biggest change was relocating one's settings. I don't know if these changes upset any Twitter users, but from my standpoint they were all so minor that I can't see how they would.

That having been said, I do think Twitter really should make some major changes. To me the Twitter interface has not been particularly user friendly since 2011. That is when they combined the tabs for retweets and mentions under a single "Notifications" tab. Recently Twitter somewhat improved this by placing a link under Notifications for only mentions. The problem is that still leaves likes and retweets mixed in with mentions under the All link. Personally I would like to see individual tabs for retweets, mentions, and likes. Twitter could still place these under the heading of Notifications. As it is right now it is difficult to sort likes and retweets from mentions. Indeed, this is why six years ago I switched to HootSuite for most of my tweeting.

As to Twitter's look, I really don't quite understand why they changed the icons. While I have no objections to the new icons, I didn't have any objections to the old icons either. What I do have an objection to is Twitter's colour scheme, which is among the absolute worst on the web. The Twitter bar at the top and the column containing tweet and the sidebars are all a blinding white. The background colour is an awful hospital blue. What I would like for Twitter to do is to give users back some customisation with regards to their Twitter experience. At one time we could have our own background images (I always used the Union Jack). I would like for them to bring back background images or, at least, let us choose our own colour schemes for Twitter. As it is, while I rarely use the Twitter platform itself (as I said above), for those times when I do I installed a userstyle that, well, paints everything black except for the text (which is white).

I won't even go into the changes I would like to see to profiles. Suffice it to say that I preferred them before Twitter ruined changed them in 2014. They would vastly improve things if they simply went back to the profiles as they were before May 2014. Ditch the cover image and bring back background images!

Of course, one major change Twitter made is that mentions no longer count towards the 140 character limit. While many people might like this change, I have to say that for me it was totally unnecessary. I never had any objections to mentions counting towards the 140 character limit. What I do object to are links counting towards the 140 character limit. Twitter is regarded by many as a news source, so that links to new stories are often tweeted. Unfortunately, due to the number of characters in links, it is often difficult to create a "headline" for any given link. If links are no longer counted towards the 140 character limit, that problem would be solved.

As to mentions no longer counting towards the 140 character limit, it did create one problem that I can see. Quite simply, in many cases when replying to a tweet, one does not want to reply to every single person mentioned in a tweet. A perfect example of this are "Follow Friday" tweets. I would like to be able to thank only the person who made the tweet. In the old days one simply deleted the mentions except for the individual who made the tweet. Now one has to click the reply icon, then place one's cursor in the tweet box that pops up, then click on the "Replying to" link, and finally uncheck the names in the box that pops up. This is a lot more steps, so many that I would actually be happy if they announced that mentions once more count towards the 140 character limit and returned to handling replies the way they once were!

Another change I would make is to give users the ability to hide inline images. At one time there was a way to hide inline images, although that was taken away sometime ago. I have a userstyle in place to hide inline images, although I would much rather be able to go into settings at Twitter and simply turn them off. 

There are two more changes I would make to Twitter and they are much of the reason I still don't use the Twitter platform. The first is that I would do away with the "While You Were Away" feature or, at least, give people  a way to permanently disable it. I find it more annoying than useful, as it disrupts my feed. The second is that I would do away with "Who to Follow" (which should be "Whom to Follow") within the feed. Having "Who to Follow" not only disrupts one's Twitter feed, it is also redundant given there is the "Who to Follow" sidebar on the right.


For the past few years Twitter has had trouble attracting new users. Over the past few years they have made quite a few changes in an attempt to attract new users. Personally, I suspect many of these changes not only drove any possible new users away, but may have driven old users away as well. In the end I think Twitter's best hope may be to go back the way it used to be, way back before 2011. I know that was the last time I regularly used Twitter's platform.

The 50th Anniversary of The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Arguably the Sixties was the Golden Age of the war film, with such movies as The Longest Day (1962), PT 109 (1963), The Train (1964), In Harm's Way (1965), and many others released during the decade. It was also the era of all-star extravaganzas--action films filled with big name movie and TV stars. Among these were The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Professionals (1966), and several others. Among the war films that were also all-star extravaganzas (as was often the case), was The Dirty Dozen (1967). It would prove to be a blockbuster at the box office, making $45,300,000 and ranking as the fourth highest grossing film of 1967. And while it was criticised for its violence, it did receive its share of positive reviews. Yesterday it was 50 years ago that The Dirty Dozen was released. It opened in theatres on June 15 1967 in the United States.

The Dirty Dozen was based on the novel of the same name by E. M. Nathanson. Even before the novel was published, director Robert Aldrich tried to buy its film rights. Ultimately it was MGM who bought the rights to The Dirty Dozen in May 1963, a full two years before the novel was published. Fortunately, Robert Aldrich would wind up directing the movie adaptation anyway. After MGM made many failed attempts at a screenplay, Mr. Aldrich was brought onto the project. He brought in screenwriter Lukas Heller, with whom he had worked on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962),  Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965), to rework the script written by Nunnally Johnson (who had written such films as The Grapes of Wrath, Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid, and How to Marry a Millionaire).

As to the novel The Dirty Dozen, upon its publication in 1965 it proved to be a bestseller. The novel was very loosely based on an actual group during World War II, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, of the United States Army, nicknamed "the Filthy Thirteen". Unlike the movie, the real-life Filthy Thirteen was not composed of convicts, criminals, and malcontents. They earned their nickname because they bathed and shaved only once a week, and never cleaned their uniforms. Instead they conserved their water to cook deer, rabbits, and fish that they had poached.

Given the era, it should come as no surprise that The Dirty Dozen would have an all-star cast. That having been said, that cast could have been very different. John Wayne was offered the role of Major Reisman that was ultimately played by Lee Marvin in the movie. Mr. Wayne turned the part down because of objections he had to a subplot in the original script in which Major Reisman was having an affair with a married Englishwoman. Jack Palance was offered the role of Maggott, but turned it down because of objections he had to the portrayal of the character's racism. Ultimately Telly Savalas was cast in the part. Several members of the cast were actual World War II veterans. Ernest Borgnine (United States Navy), Charles Bronson (United States Army Air Corps), Lee Marvin ( United States Marine Corps),  Robert Ryan (United States Marine Corps),  Telly Savalas (United States Army), Robert Webber (United States Marine Corps),  and Clint Walker (United States Merchant Marine) all served during the war.

While the novel The Dirty Dozen took its inspiration from the Filthy Thirteen, neither the novel nor the movie were based on a historic incident as many World War II movies were.  In fact, the movie The Dirty Dozen paid little heed to historical accuracy. For example, it seems as if the whole of the Dirty Dozen are armed with M3 submachine guns, also known as "Grease Guns". In truth, the Grease Gun saw very little use during World War II. It was also, contrary to its portrayal in the movie, notoriously inaccurate. Of course, The Dirty Dozen was never meant to be a documentary drama, but instead an escapist action film.

The Dirty Dozen also differed from many earlier World War II films in its anti-authoritarian tone. Not only do the Dirty Dozen themselves regularly defy their superiors, but, except for Major Reisman, those superiors are portrayed as detestable on the whole, and often stupid and downright deranged as well. This marked a dramatic shift from war movies as recent as The Great Escape in 1963, in which most Allied officers were portrayed as heroes and some level of patriotism was prominent throughout the film. Arguably The Dirty Dozen would spark a whole slough of anti-authoritarian protagonists in movies throughout the late Sixties, the Seventies, the Eighties, and up to this day. Frank Bullittt, Dirty Harry Callahan, Paul Kersey, and many other characters who regularly defy authority owe something to The Dirty Dozen.

Upon its release The Dirty Dozen received generally positive reviews. Alongside Bonnie and Clyde and other films it proved to be a source of controversy due to its violence. An article by Associated Press Movie-TV writer Bob Thomas (published in the August 31 1967 issue of The Lima News, among many other newspapers) addressed the violence in many recent films, including The Dirty Dozen, A Fistful of Dollars, and Beach Red. New York Times critic Bosley Crowther attacked The Dirty Dozen as "A raw and preposterous glorification of a group of criminal soldiers who are trained to kill and who then go about this brutal business with hot, sadistic zeal..."  He remained one of the film's most vocal detractors. While Pauline Kael had no objection to the use of violence in Bonnie and Clyde (which she strenuously defended against her fellow critics), she wrote that The Dirty Dozen "...offends me personally." Roger Ebert, then in his first year with The Chicago Sun-Times, also criticised The Dirty Dozen for its violence. While most reviews acknowledged that The Dirty Dozen was violent, the film did receive some positive reviews. Variety referred to it as an "...exciting Second World War pre-D-Day drama" and commended some of the performances in the film. In his review in the July 21 1967 issue of Life magazine, Richard Schickel commented of The Dirty Dozen, "Flawed as it is, however, it seems to me one of the most interesting films about the brutalizing effects of war that we have had from American film makes in the last decade."

The controversy over the violence in The Dirty Dozen was made even greater by the fact that 1967 saw the release of several films then considered extremely violent. The aforementioned Bonnie and Clyde, Beach Red, A Fistful of Dollars (released in Italy in 1964, but not in the U.S. until 1967), and Point Blank were also released that year. The growing violence in movies, as well as the growing sexual content in films (such as Blowup and Belle de Jour), led to the creation of the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system that took effect in late 1968.

The Dirty Dozen would inspire several films in a similar vein over the next several years. Play Dirty (1969) centred on a group of British convicts who were used as soldiers. The Inglorious Bastard (1977) could be considered an outright imitation of The Dirty Dozen. Starting in 1985 with The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission, there would be several TV movie sequels, including The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission (1987), and The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988). In 1988 Fox aired a short-lived TV series inspired by the original movie entitled The Dirty Dozen: The Series.

Despite being attacked by some critics for its violence, The Dirty Dozen would prove to be a success upon its release in 1967. It would also prove to be influential. Not only did it inspire similar war films, but it was one of a group of films that escalated cinematic violence to new levels. Its anti-authoritarian tone would have a long lasting impact on American cinema that lasts to this day. For all the controversy it provoked upon its initial release, The Dirty Dozen remains one of the most memorable and influential films of the late Sixties.

Happy 10th Anniversary to Out of The Past: A Classic Film Blog

It was ten years ago today that Out of the Past: A Classic Film Blog was launched by Raquel Stecher. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Out of the Past, it is a wonderful blog dedicated to classic movies. Raquel writes on a wide variety of topics related to classic film, from movies set at New Year's to film noir. She also regularly reviews books on classic film, and she hosts the annual Summer Reading Challenge, in which participants read books on classic film and then review them on their blogs, Instagram, or Goodreads. Over the years Raquel has conducted several interviews, including ones with Kurt Norton (co-director and producer of the documentary These Amazing Shadows) and Sheena Ochoa (author of the Stella Adler biography Stella! Mother of Modern Acting).  Each year she also offers some of the best coverage of the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival one will find anywhere.

I am proud to say that I have read Out of the Past: A Classic Film Blog since its earliest days. While I had read other movie blogs before, it was the first blog dedicated exclusively to classic film I ever read. Raquel then became my first classic movie blogger friend. In fact, she was the first person I ever followed on Twitter. We do have a lot in common. We are both fans of Bobby Darin, Jack Klugman, Robert Mitchum, Norma Shearer, and the Charlie Chan movies. Raquel remains a dear friend to this day.

And I must say that I am very proud of her for 10 years of blogging! To give you an idea of why this is a major accomplishment, in the Naughts, Perseus Development Corporation did a study on the phenomenon of blogging. They discovered that 66% of all blogs had not been updated in over two months and many had apparently been abandoned. About a quarter of all blogs had only a single post, made on the day the blog was set up. In terms of the lifespans of most blogs then, a ten year old blog is positively ancient!

I urge all of you who have not yet done so to stop by Out of the Past: A Classic Film Blog. I guarantee that if you are a classic film buff you will enjoy it immensely. And I also want to wish Raquel a happy 10th blogiversary!

Lookwell

Sadly, last week I eulogised Adam West, best known as Batman on the Sixties series of the same name and Mayor West on the animated series Family Guy. In the course of my eulogy I mentioned a pilot in which Mr. West starred in the Nineties entitled Lookwell. It is regarded as one of the best pilots never to have been picked up by a network. Indeed, over the years it has developed a cult following.

Lookwell was created by Conan O'Brien (who would later gain fame as a late night talk show host) and Robert Smigel (who would later be the voice behind Triumph the Insult Dog and would write the screenplays for Hotel Transylvania) It starred Adam West as Ty Lookwell, a has-been TV star who had been honourably deputised at the height of his fame and now believes that he can actually solve crimes.

Brandon Tartikoff, then chairman of NBC, was enthusiastic about Lookwell. Unfortunately, the leadership at NBC changed; even Brandon Tartikoff left in 1991. The new regime at the network was not enthusiastic about Lookwell. They aired the pilot in July 1991. It received absolutely miserable Nielsen ratings, coming in 92nd out of 92 shows aired during the week of July 22-28.  Lookwell would then remain an unsold pilot, albeit one that would come to be loved by many.

For those of you who have never seen Lookwell, it is available on YouTube. I have embedded it below. This particular version is from a rebroadcast on the now defunct cable channel Trio.

Summertime by The Zombies

I have to admit that I have always loved the song "Summertime" by George Gershwin. The song originated in his musical Porgy and Bess in 1935. Ira Gershwin was credited as co-writer on the song by ASCAP, although its lyrics were actually written by DuBose Heyward, who wrote the novel Porgy (upon which the musical was based).

While I do love the song, that's not to say that I don't have some problems with it. As many of you know, summer is my absolute least favourite time of year. To me the livin' is definitely not easy in summertime, at least not summertime where I live. It's hot. It's muggy. It's absolutely unbearable. Regardless, I still enjoy the song, even if I think it is more descriptive of spring or autumn (times when the livin' can truly be said to be easy).

Over the years several artists have recorded the song, including Billie Holiday (who was the first artist to have a hit with the song), Sam Cooke, and Al Martino. British band The Zombies recorded their own version of their song for their debut album, Begin Here (which was released in 1965). It also appears on the American version of Begin Here, which was retitled The Zombies. Although never released as a single, it would appear on various "Greatest Hits" albums, including Time of The Zombies and Zombie Heaven.

Without further ado, here is Gershwin's "Summertime" performed by The Zombies.

Glenne Headly R.I.P.

Actress Glenne Headly died on June 8 2017 at the age of 62. The cause was a pulmonary embolism.

Glenne Headly was born on March 13 1955 in New London, Connecticut. She spent most of her childhood with her mother in Greenwich Village in New York City. She had decided to become an actress by the time she was in second grade. She graduated from both the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan and the American College of Switzerland.  After various stage roles she joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

Glenne Headly made her film debut in the short "Bowery Dawn" in 1972. She made her feature film debut in 1981 in Four Friends. In the Eighties she appeared in such films as Doctor Detroit (1983), Fandango (1985), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Making Mr. Right (1987), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), and Dick Tracy (1990). On television she appeared in the mini-series Lonesome Dove. She made her Broadway debut in Arms and the Man in 1985.

In the Nineties she played Dr. Abby Keaton on ER during the 1996-1997 season. She was also a regular on the short-lived TV show Encore! Encore!. She guest starred on the shows Fraiser, Hotel Room and The X-Files. She appeared in the films Mortal Thoughts (1991), Ordinary Magic (1993), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), Sgt. Bilko (1996), Breakfast of Champions (1999), and Timecode (2000).

In the Naughts Miss Headly had a recurring role on the TV show Monk. She guest starred on the shows The Fugitive (2001), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Grey's Anatomy, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. She was a guest voice on Rugrats. She appeared in such films as Bartleby (2001), Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), The Amateurs (2005), Comeback Season (2006), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008), and The Joneses (2009).

In the Teens Glenne Headly guest starred on the show Psych, Parks and Recreation, and The League. She appeared in three episodes of The Night Of. She is set to appear in episodes of the Hulu series Future Man. She appeared on Broadway in Fish in the Dark. She appeared in the films Don Jon (2013), Dial a Prayer (2015), Merry Xmas (2015), Strange Weather (2016), and The Circle (2017).

Glenne Headly was certainly a talented actress. She could go from drama to comedy with ease (and on ER she often did). She had a gift for various accents, to the point that she could convincingly do a thick New York accent in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and then convincingly do an Arkansas accent in Lonesome Dove. Quite simply, Glenne Headly as a bit of a chameleon, able to play many different roles and play all of them well.

The Late Great Adam West

Over the years many actors have had a significant impact on my life, so many that I probably could not name all of them at once. Perhaps no actor had as large an impact on my life as Adam West did. He was not necessarily my favourite actor of all time (although he certainly numbered among them), but I cannot think of any other actor who had quite the same effect on my life. Quite simply, Batman was the first show of which I was ever a fan. It debuted when I was only three years old and, after a little over two years on the air, it aired in reruns across the nation throughout my childhood. As a fan of the TV show Batman I quite naturally started reading comic books as soon as I could read. In fact, I loved comic books so much I decided I wanted to write them. Eventually I would shift from wanting to write comic books to writing fiction and still later non-fiction. Ultimately, I think it is safe to say that it is because of Adam West as Batman that I became a writer. What is more, I know of other men my age who can tell the same story. Sadly, Adam West died yesterday at the age of 88 after a short battle with leukaemia.

Of course, Adam West was much more than just Batman. Fans of classic television will remember him from the many guest appearances he made on Warner Bros.' various shows in the late Fifties and early Sixties. He appeared on nearly all of them, from 77 Sunset Strip to Maverick. Older fans might remember him as Sgt. Steve Nelson on the TV show The Detectives. Younger fans might remember him as Mayor Adam West on the animated series Family Guy. While Mr. West will always be remembered best as the Caped Crusader, he actually did much more in his career.

Adam West was born William West Anderson on September 19 1928 in Walla Walla, Washington. His father was a wheat farmer, while his mother was a pianist and opera singer. He attended Walla Walla High School and then Lakeside School, a private school in Seattle. When he was a senior in high school he worked for a local radio station, where he handled everything from being a disc jockey to reading the news to Sunday morning religious shows. At the same time he appeared in plays at a local theatre. Mr.West attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in literature. He did postgraduate work in communications at Stanford University. While at Stanford University he worked at the university radio station.

In the early Fifties Adam West entered the United States Army and served in the Signal Corps. He helped set up TV stations at bases in San Luis Obispo, California, and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and he also served as an announcer on the Armed Forces Network. After his service in the Army, Adam West took a job at a radio station in Sacramento, California before moving to Hawaii. There he was the co-host of the children's TV show The El Kini Popo Show with a chimp named Peaches. Among the highlights of his time on the show was getting to interview actor William Holden.

After several years in Hawaii, Adam West moved to Hollywood. It was there that he chose the stage name "Adam West". He took the name "West" because it was a family name and he simply liked the sound of the name "Adam". Hollywood agent Lew Sherrell spotted Mr. West in a production of Picnic at a community theatre. He set up a screen test for Mr. West and as a result he was signed to a contract by Warner Bros.

Adam West made his network television debut in an episode of The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse in 1954 (curiously enough, it was titled "The Joker"). He made his film debut in an uncredited role in Voodoo Island in 1957. Signed to Warner Bros. in the late Fifties and early Sixties he appeared in several of their films and TV shows. He appeared in the film The Young Philadelphians (1959) alongside Robert Vaughn, who would eventually play Napoleon Solo on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He appeared on several of Warner Bros.' television shows, including Lawman, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, Bronco, Colt .45, 77 Sunset Strip, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye, and Bourbon Street Beat. He seemed to be Warner Bros.' choice for playing legendary gunfighter and dentist Doc Holliday, as he guest starred in the role on no less than three of their Westerns: Lawman, Sugarfoot, and Colt .45.

Adam West eventually left Warner Bros. after which he continued to make frequent guest appearances on such TV shows as Johnny Midnight, Overland Trail, Goodyear Theatre, and Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. He began the Sixties with guest appearances on such shows as Tales of Wells Fargo, Bonanza, Michael Shayne, and The Rifleman. In 1961 he received his first regular role on a television series, playing Sgt. Steve Nelson on the final season of The Detectives. Following The Detectives Mr. West guest starred on several shows, including such shows as Perry Mason, The Real McCoys, Laramie, Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, The Outer Limits, Bewitched, and The Virginian. He starred in the legendary TV pilot Alexander the Great opposite William Shatner. He also appeared in feature films, including Geronimo (1962), Tammy and the Doctor (1963), Soldier in the Rain (1963), Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), The Outlaws Is Coming (1965), and I 4 inesorabili (1965).

In addition to making frequent guest appearances on TV shows and appearing in feature films in the early to mid-Sixties, Adam West also appeared in television commercials. In 1964 he appeared as a father of a little girl in a commercial for Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes. More significant would be a commercial for Nestlé Quik in which he appeared in 1965. The commercial was a sly parody of James Bond with Adam West playing the dry-witted Captain Q. The advertisement attracted the attention of producer William Dozier, who was then in the process of putting together a TV show based on the long running comic book feature "Batman". After a screen test with newcomer Burt Ward as Robin, Adam West won the role of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman.

Batman proved to be the smash hit of the 1965-1966 season.  Airing twice a week, the debut episode on Wednesday, January 12 1966, received a phenomenal  27.3/49 rating in the Nielsens. The Thursday night episode performed even better, getting a  29.6/59 rating. The show was still doing phenomenally well a month after its debut. For the week ending February 13 1965 it received a  28.5 rating. To give one an idea of just how large the audience for Batman was, today's top rated drama, NCIS, only managed a still respectable rating of 21.34 during its peak in the 2012-2014 season.

Batman not only proved to be one of the biggest television successes of the Sixties, but it also became an outright fad. There was so much Batman merchandise on store shelves that both Sears and Montgomery Ward had to dedicate multiple pages of their catalogues to Bat-paraphernalia. An exclusive soundtrack album for the TV show was released, and "The Batman Theme" by the Neal Hefti Orchestra was released as a single. The theme was also covered by such diverse acts as The Marketts, The Standells, and The Who. Adam West also appeared as Batman on other ABC shows. He appeared as Batman on The Milton Berle Show. Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin hosted ABC's preview special for their 1966-1967 season as well. A feature film was even spun off from the series. Batman was released on July 30 1966.

Unfortunately Batman would not maintain such impressively high ratings for long. When it returned for the 1966-1967 season its ratings were still respectable, but not nearly as high as they were. It lost its time slot to The Virginian on NBC. Worse yet, its ratings would continue to slide throughout the season. In attempt to save the show, the producers introduced a new character, Batgirl (played by Yvonne Craig), even shooting a presentation film for her. ABC renewed Batman on the strength of that presentation film, although it was cut back to once a week. Sadly, even Batgirl could not save Batman. ABC cancelled the show in the wake of still falling ratings. Its last original episode aired on March 14 1968.

Following the cancellation of Batman, Adam West found himself typecast.  He guest starred on The Big Valley in 1968. In 1969 he appeared in the film The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969). Reportedly Mr. West was offered the role of James Bond in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), but turned it down because he thought Bond should be British.

The Seventies would not be a pleasant time for Adam West. He appeared in the films The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker (1971), Curse of the Moon Child (1972), Partizani (1974), The Specialist (1975), Hooper (1978), and The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood (1980). He also appeared in several TV movies, including The Eyes of Charles Sand (1972), Poor Devil (1973), and Nevada Smith (1975). He guest starred on such TV shows as Night Gallery, Alias Smith and Jones, Alice, Police Woman, Operation Petticoat, and The American Girls. He would return to the role of Batman during the decade was well. He provided the voice of the character in the Saturday morning cartoon The New Adventures of Batman and played the character in two TV specials titled Legends of the Superheroes. While Batman had proven to be a hit as a syndicated rerun, Adam West got little in the way of residuals. To make ends meet he often appeared in the Batman costume at county fairs, rodeos, and store openings. Perhaps the lowest point of his career came when he was shot out of a cannon in costume at the  Hadi Shrine Circus in Evansville, Indiana in November 1977.

To a degree the Eighties would be better for Adam West. During the 1985-1986 season he starred as Capt. Rick Wright in the short-lived sitcom The Last Precinct. He also starred in the title role of the unsold pilot Ace Diamond Private Eye. He voiced Batman on the "SuperFriends" Saturday morning cartoons SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians. He guest starred on the TV shows Laverne & Shirley; The Love Boat; Hart to Hart; Fantasy Island; Murder, She Wrote; Zorro; and The Flash.  He appeared in the films One Dark Night (1982), Hell Riders (1984), Yellow Pages (1995), Young Lady Chatterley II (1985), Zombie Nightmare (1987), Night of the Kickfighters (1988), Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988), Return Fire (1988), Mad About You (1989), and Omega Cop (1990).

The Nineties would see Adam West's career revitalised. He starred in the 1991 television pilot Lookwell, often counted among the best unsold pilots ever. In 2000 he began his long run on Family Guy as the voice of Mayor Adam West. He had a recurring role on the short lived comedy anthology Danger Theatre. He was a regular voice on the animated series The Secret Files of the SpyDogs. He was also a guest voice on Batman: The Animated Series, playing actor Simon Trent and the hero he had played on television, The Grey Ghost. He was also a guest voice on the animated shows Rugrats, The Critic, Johnny Bravo, Animaniacs, and Histeria!. Mr. West starred in the Comedy Central soap opera spoof The Clinic. He guest starred on such TV shows as Tales from the Crypt, The Good Life, Nurses, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Hope & Gloria, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Burke's Law, Pauly, The Wayan Brothers, Murphy Brown, Diagnosis Murder, NewsRadio, and Pacific Blue. He appeared in the films Maxim Xul (1991), The New Age (1994), Run for Cover (1995), The Size of Watermelons (1996), An American Vampire Story (1997), Joyride (1997), and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). He provided the voice of Leonard Fox in the animated short "Redux Riding Hood".

The Naughts may well have seen Adam West at his busiest since the Sixties. He continued as the voice of Mayor West on Family Guy. He had a recurring role as Breathtaker on the TV series Black Scorpion. He had a recurring role as the voice of Mayor George on the animated series The Batman. He was a recurring voice (as himself, no less) on the animated series The Fairly OddParents. He guest starred on the TV shows The Drew Carey Show, The Mullets, The King of Queens, George Lopez, and 30 Rock.  Alongside Burt Ward he starred in the TV movie Return to the Batcave. He was a guest voice on the animated shows The Simpsons, Kim Possible, The Boondocks, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He appeared in the films Seance (2001), "From Heaven to Hell" (2002), Baadasssss! (2003), Tales from Beyond (2004), Buckaroo: The Movie (2005), Angels with Angles (2005), Sexina (2007), and Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion (2009). He provided voices for the animated films Chicken Little (2005) and Meet the Robinsons (2007).

In the Teens Adam West continued on Family Guy. He guest starred on the shows The Big Bang Theory and Powerless. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. and Moonbeam City. He was the voice of Batman in the animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (2016). The film reunited him with Burt Ward. He also provided the voice of Batman in the upcoming film Batman vs. Two-Face (2017), which again reunited him with Burt Ward.

I think there can be no doubt that Adam West will always be identified with Batman. It has often been said that the Sixties were dominated by Three Bs: The Beatles, Bond, and Batman. The show was certainly one of the biggest fads of the decade. And while Batman only lasted a little over two years, it would have continued success in syndication. To this day it still airs on TV stations and cable channels around the world. Much of the show's success rests with Adam West's performance as the Caped Crusader. The show was meant to be high comedy for adults and high adventure for children. To that end Adam West played Bruce Wayne and his alter ego Batman completely straight. Viewers of the show might find its situations totally absurd, but Adam West as Batman took them entirely seriously. In this regard it was one of the most brilliant comedies of all time, and its lead played his role brilliantly.

Of course, Adam West was much more than the Caped Crusader. Before his stint on Batman he made numerous guest appearances on television. He even played villains from time to time. In the Laramie episode "The Betrayers" he played cold-hearted outlaw Kett Darby, about as far from Batman as one could get. The Big Valley episode "In Silent Battle", made after Adam West had donned the cape and cowl, was even further from the Caped Crusader. Mr. West played Major Jonathan Eliot, a Civil War veteran who is an outright psychopath. And while Adam West may forever be known as the extremely straight-laced Batman, he could be charming and debonair in other roles. After all, he played the very Bondish Captain Q in that famous commercial for Nestlé Quik. In the 77 Sunset Strip episode "Thanks for Tomorrow" he played gambler Lonnie Drew. On Petticoat Junction he guest starred as Dr. Depew's handsome assistant Dr. Clayton Harris.

 Arguably Adam West was at his best playing comedy. Indeed, what may be his two most famous roles were in comedies: the extremely square Batman in Batman and the eccentric, often corrupt Mayor West on Family Guy. Lookwell numbers among the funniest unsold pilots ever made, in a large part due to Mr. West. While it did not run long, The Last Precinct was also a very fine comedy. Adam West definitely had a gift for comedy. His delivery was often perfect and his timing impeccable. Even in interviews Mr. West could be a very funny man, delivering one-liners that would make many experienced comics envious.

In the end Adam West will always be known best as Batman. And it was largely that role that shaped his career after 1966. That having been said, over the years he played many more roles and he played them well. He may always be best known as Batman, but he did much more.