Batman Is Broke

Batman Garage Sale with Adam West from Adam West

Thanks to Funny Or Die

"Legends of the Superheroes" TV Special With Ed McMahon Roasts Super Heroes, And It Really Is "That Bad"

From the 70's comes this clip -- from an embarrassing train wreck of a tv show hosted by Ed McMahon -- called "Legends of the Superheroes." Adam West and Burt Ward reprise their roles as the caped crusaders, and they're joined by Aquaman, Shazam, and others -- all in an effort to honor a fictional character who goes by the unholy name of "Ghetto Man." This show was -- and still is -- so terrible and so humiliating you will not believe your eyes.

How far we have come, not only with regard to the live-action depiction of super heroes in general, but also with regard to how we no longer laugh at the "Hey, look! A black guy!" stereotype.

For the love of god. Please. Help us all.

A Very Strange Adam West Batman Meets Jerry Lawler

Okay, let's see here. Hmm. Oh hell, let's just let BoinBoing.net do the talkin':

"When Adam West appeared on a Memphis TV station to promote a local car show in 1977, he arrived slurring his speech and wearing what can only be described as "homeless Bat-chic." Jerry "The Evil King of Memphis" Lawler then stopped by, prompting West to inexplicably lecture him on superhero sartorialism and traffic safety..."

In any event, here's the tattered video clip:



Thanks to Boingboing.net

Lookwell: The Show That Could Have Been

Okay, here's some math:

Conan O'Brien + Robert Smigel + Adam West = Comedy Gold

Lookwell, a television pilot starring Adam West, aired in 1991 on NBC but never got the prime-time series green light. It's hard to figure out why... to me, the concept is quite hilarious. In the pilot, the former Batman star plays Ty Lookwell, a washed-up television action hero who attempts to solve crimes in real-life. West's delivery is flawlessly dry and ultra cheesey, and his character's "has-been" status  mirrors perfectly with his own!

Granted, this Lookwell episode is 22 minutes long,

but play the first four minutes and you'll be hooked

As a television show, Lookwell never had much of a chance. Even though the pilot is hilarious as far as I'm concerned (trust me, just watch the first four minutes), I'm not so sure the concept could have been stretched into an entire series. Sure, they did it with Police Squad! (be honest... every episode of that show was the same formula), but I think that by this time, TV execs were already trending away from this format. One odd nugget of info has it that the chairman of NBC actually loved the Lookwell pilot. But as we all know, love alone cannot pay the bills.

Click the video above and give Lookwell a chance; it really is comedy gold!