"He Meets His Match, The Grisly Ghoul" is the 16th episode of the '' Batman'' television series, first airing on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

March 3, 1966 and repeated on August 11 in its first season. It guest starred

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

the Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

Plot synopsis

Picking up from the last episode,

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

suffers a massive

power outage A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...

just as the slot machine spins the third lemon.

The Joker The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...

and his henchmen beat a harried retreat, just as the cops arrive just in time to cut Batman and Robin out from the electric chairs before the power comes back on. After replaying the

audiotape An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its presen ...

Batman secretly made while in the van, they were able to make out Susie as one of the members of the Joker's crime family, much to Robin's shock and dismay as he had romantic feelings for her. So Robin, in the guise of his true identity, Dick Grayson, an undercover agent, tries to trick Susie into leading him into the "Bad Pennies" and

himself. His henchman Nick catches immediately on and sends Dick on his way, but not before tipping him off on an impending robbery at a local bar. Batman and Robin enter the bar, trigger the gimmicked jukebox which reveals a double-barrel shotgun, deflect its bullets with a Batshield, and use a bomb to destroy the armed machine. They then realize that Susie is in danger and rush to her aid, just as

, realizing that Batman is on to Susie, gives her some "imported" Canadian

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

(called "Une Nuit Sans Fin" (One Endless Night)"), which he instructs her to use only after she has planted answers to some important nationwide pre-college exam papers she stole inside one of the rigged machines, not telling her that the perfume has been poisoned. In the gym, Batman and Robin confront Susie and warn her of impending danger, but she refuses to listen and slumps unconsciously when she applies the perfume. It is later revealed that Batman and Robin saved her life by using the "Universal Antidote" pills in their utility belts, and she repaid them by revealing the whole criminal scheme. Meanwhile, Joker, Nick, and Two-Bits arrive at the school in time to snap an incriminating picture of the Woodrow Roosevelt High School basketball team clutching the exam papers complete with written-in answers, which the team received from a rigged milk machine.

then reaches a new low in crime: he plans to use the picture to disqualify and suspend the otherwise innocent team members for cheating, and stop them from playing Disko Tech in the night's big game, for he bet his cash on the opposite team and with the home players out of the game, the opposing team, Disko Tech would win from default. The Joker's exact wager was $50,000 on Disko Tech, with the odds set at 20 to 1 on Woodrow Roosevelt High, so this would bring him $1 million. Batman and Robin suddenly announce themselves from the rafters to inform the students that the exam papers were counterfeit which they planted, rendering the Joker's picture useless. Batman and Robin then attack, putting the Joker and his henchmen out of circulation. Susie, meanwhile, is sent to the Wayne Foundation Institute for Delinquent Girls.

Notes

* The exact same electric chairs to which Batman and Robin are strapped inside the moving van are used again in a season-2 episode #9707-Pt. 2, "Ma Parker". The truck is reused in the season-2 debut, episode #9705-Pt. 1, " Shoot a Crooked Arrow". *

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

bookie is named Pete The Swede, an obvious

lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', a noted humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), a defunct offshoot of ''Harvard Lampoon'' ***National Lampoon, Incorporated, a 20 ...

Jimmy The Greek James George Snyder Sr. (born Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos Roberto Kurtz, September 9, 1918 – April 21, 1996), better known as Jimmy the Greek, was an American sports commentator and Las Vegas bookmaker. A regular contributor to the CBS prog ...

. * Kip King later provided the cartoon voices of Shecky on Hanna-Barbera's 1983-84

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Saturday morning series called ''

The Biskitts ''The Biskitts'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1983 to 1984 and aired on CBS. The series lasted for only one season; only 13 episodes were produced. '' Shirt Tales'' replaced the show in its ...

''. * Not for the first time, one wonders exactly where Batman keeps his Batshield. It folds into quarters, which still leaves with a piece of flat plastic about a foot square. Conveniently Adam West vaguely tucks it back behind his back and then the camera cuts away. * When Dick Grayson goes undercover to gain information on The Joker, inside the candy shop that doubles as The Joker's lair, there is a West Virginia University banner seen on the wall. * When conversing loudly in the bistro, Batman and Robin provide several clues as to Robin's true identity, to which the nearby diners somehow remain completely oblivious. * In 1981, Brazilian friends Antônio Camano and Fernando Pettinati decided to redub this episode with indecent and profane lines. The video, nicknamed " Bátima: Feira da Fruta" ("Batman: Fruit Fair"), after the song that plays in the video's background, became one of the most popular Internet memes for Brazilian audiences since it was released online in 2003. "Feira da Fruta" even earned a webcomic adaptation in 2012, and a 2014 book where the friends recalled how the dub came to be.

References

External links

* {{Batman (TV series) 1966 American television episodes Batman (TV series) episodes Joker (character) in other media