So, I was talking about BTAS with my girlfriend, and she got really curious about it, since she's never seen it, but then she got kinda overwhelmed when I told her how many episodes the series consists of.
So I was wondering if there are any reliable "skip/watch" guides out there for BTAS. I'd make one myself, but it's been a couple of years since I watched all of it, and I can't really remember a lot of stuff.
I honestly don't remember any truly bad episodes of this show. However, I suggest the ones with Mr. Freeze and Clayface, they're my favorites.
I don't know, I remember some of them being very... fillery. But I can't really recall which ones.
The first season is pure kino. You should be able to find it at Walmart or something.
I've finally watched The Heart of Ice and I honestly think this show is a bit overrated. It's pretty good, but not nearly as good as Sup Forums makes it out to be.
there arent really that many episodes if you ignore TNBA. it's the normal run of a classic show.
The episode to avoid is the one where some kids go "Home Alone" on the Penguin and his mooks. In terms of good episodes, I love the Grey Ghost and the 2 parter that brought in Ra's al Ghul
Yeah, but she's not used to watching classic cartoon like I am; 85 cartoon episodes with no over-arching plot is kind of a lot for someone not used to this kind of thing.
oh god yes 'I've Got Batman in My Basement' was cruddy.
The kids were actually pretty good, youd think they would be the source of the problem, but they were fine. downright appealing, actually.
i remember an awkward moment at a very small-scale fan convention once with kevin conroy doing an interview, and an audience member shouts out, as an example of some episodes that werent so great (when the discussion got to that) 'i've got batman in my basement' and kevin is just like what? what'd you say? and that's hard to clarify.. he didn't remember the episode, which isn't surprising since he was barely in it
I really like the show but that episode is really overrated. But that orgin story is probably one of the most remembered things about the series even for people who haven't seen it.
just break it up into chunks. let's watch 5 episodes this week, 5 the next, yknow.. for a few months. make it a regular thing.
alright alright you can skip night of the wer- no, you can't! that guy comes back in justice league, and he namedrops langstrom. dammit they're all good
i get bored by the one where the gangster had a childhood friend that we think died but it turns out he was merely crippled and he became a priest, that was a whole lot of nothing, but it was MEANINGFUL nothing. wasnt BATMAN exactly, but..
same goes for that one where he infiltrates the slave labor ring. that's totally a real thing in the south sometimes.
Batman in my Basement is the only necessary episode. the rest you can take or leave.
you have to enjoy it in context. we're all a lot more bored and OCD now, but think about it this way: as starved as we are for intelligent action animation now, they were WAY more starved for it back then
er, ADD
Just watch the best of the series. If she really enjoys it she'll watch more. Don't go into a new show to trying to see all of it or you'll be disappointed. Best case you'll naturally get through a good amount of it.
Exactly. Western cartoons had basically no narrative depth to them, they were toy commercials and that's about it. It was either that, or a comedy show for mature audiences.
An action show, for kids, with actual good writing, cinematic art direction and god tier voice acting? It blew everyone the fuck away, it was amazing.
I didn't mean it was bad, I still like it but it's not the best episode of the series like a lot of people claim it is.
Well I've been watching a lot of TAS lately so I can help you with that.
Heart Of Ice, Almost Got Im, Joker's Favor and Perchance to Dream are an easy start and practically mandatory. They are not my favorites but they are the ones I would use to introduce someone to TAS. If they like those, they'll probably like the others.
TAS has mostly consistent quality but there are a few bad episodes and not every episode is really that engaging. But as much as anons here like to pull the "nostalgiafag" argument for anything older than themselves, the show has aged remarkably well.
Maybe you can ask her what her favorite characters are and pick episodes centered around those.
what's sad is I'd love to get 80s toy commercials back. at LEAST they had solid action and engaging plots, because they had to inspire fun play.
I suppose not. Buuut you wouldnt say Heart of Clay is overrated, would you? I think that fucker lives up to its hype
On Leather Wings too. It's amazing they started right off the bat (heh) with that fucker. Of course we now know that airing order wasn't production order by a longshot, and they had a ton of them banked before airing (such that they recorded joker's first several appearances with tim curry)
the reason it's such a big deal is it took a silly joke character and turned him into a believable character and a tragic villain the viewer could relate to and understand. that's Mr. Freeze's backstory now. in hindsight it isn't as amazing, but that episode completely redefined Mr. Freeze as we know it and showed that the crew had a very deep understanding of what makes Batman great, and more importantly what makes his villains great too.
>at LEAST they had solid action and engaging plots
They... didn't, really. They were awesome back when we didn't know any better, but try going back and watching them now. Nostalgia aside, they're pretty lame.
The plots are more often than not very very preachy and repetitive, and the censoring butchers any hope of good action.
I think the oldest cartoon I can think of that has very good action nonetheless is Johnny Quest, but that one was made before they started censoring everything cartoon-related.
Okay so what do you think is the best episode of the series ?
>i get bored by the one where the gangster had a childhood friend that we think died but it turns out he was merely crippled and he became a priest, that was a whole lot of nothing, but it was MEANINGFUL nothing.
Eh, it's funny if you turn on the Spanish dub. It's like watching Batman in a Mexican soap opera, right down to the Catholic redemption in the end.
i mean, GI Joe shit, yeah. gay. lame. i never liked it back then
but there was a lot of awesome fun shit that still holds up.. here and there.
johnny quest is the definition of terrible, but I don't need to make the argument that everyone else has already made.
i guess i probably shouldn't have said 80s, but I meant things that the 80s established, which grew into the greats like Biker Mice from Mars and Beast Wars. that brief period between mindless shit like Thundercats and mindless shit like The Batman, when it looked like maybe things were looking up
intelligent shit like the DCAU is part of that, higher-budget cartoonery like the Disney Afternoon is another, but even the pure action shows could be great, if not very brilliant or deep. I mean Street Sharks doesn't hold up that well, but...
>transmitidio en espanol en SAP
ah, dexter's lab. your reruns became fresh and hilarious again.
EL LABORATORIO DEL DEXTER
not that guy, but probably Clayface
These are good, I'd add Harley's holiday and laughing fish.
I may or may not be biased to Hamill joker and original Harley.
Like I said it's one of my favorite shows of all time and it absolutely came out swinging.
>fillery
BTAS was episodic. It didn't have iron clad continuity between episodes.
Also Batman in my Basement was based.
You also have to consider how novel the Mr. Freeze origin was at the time. It's seems old and nothing special nowadays considering it's been in nearly all the movies and video games, but at the time it was amazing. Prior to that BTAS episode, Mr. Freeze was just a no-named thief with a cold theme.
>Older than themselves....
I was born three years before this show came out. Am I.... am I an oldfag?
...
>johnny quest is the definition of terrible, but I don't need to make the argument that everyone else has already made.
u wot
Who says JQ is shit?
I honestly don't think I could pick one. Like I said I would probably end up biased towards Joker/Harley episodes like Harley and Ivy, Jokers Favor, and Laughing Fish. I don't know why but when they show up as villains it just kind of works. Most of the other episodes mentioned here are good though.
Laughing Fish is good too, it's a good Joker episode to introduce people to the series (alongside The Last Laugh).
Harley's Holiday is okay. I think Birds Of A Feather pulled off the premise much better (I might be biased because Penguin is my favorite villain and I think most of his episodes are great)
Not to mention that, for the time, the idea of a villain in a cartoon having such a sympathetic backstory (especially a Batman villain) wasn't overutilized and was pretty unique. Batman Returns played with this a little but it was Heart Of Ice that popularized this idea.
And while I've grown quite sick of villains with sympathetic reasoning, TAS managed to find really great ways to make the Batman villains human without making them lesser villains or doing it in a cheap way.
I particularly love the mixture of futuristic scifi and oldfashioned drama. the very concept of a guy who works in a lab, not just because he works in a lab, but because he has important work to do.. real genuine research. he's not just some janitor who slipped into chemicals (and i LOVE Rudy the Parasite's origin). He invented a new kind of cryonics to preserve his dying wife, and a cruel as fuck guy who fucks him over to needlessly save a few bucks (instead of just making money off the patent) ends up setting off an accident that turns him into a freak
and then, one assumes, he fucking cobbles together a life-support system out of vaguely-similar cryonics technology.. then WEAPONIZES the same thing.
Heart of Ice showed everyone what the writing team was able to pull off, and that's why everyone was so impressed by it, but it wasn't the BEST.
While technically not an episode, Mask of The Phantasm is the highest quality BTAS story for me.
younger'n me.
like, everyone? all hanna-barbera productions are gunk. now granted the 60s is the best of it, but it's still cheap schlocky clichestorms, bordering on plagiarism, with about as much depth as the ridges on the edge of the quarter used to pay the animators
the major exception is the acting. the actors were absolute treasures of talent
joker and harley episodes are kinda like celebrity episodes on I Love Lucy
they arent exactly the most deep or original or believable, but they're so goddamn much fun
I mean I do say it made one of the most major continuity changes to DC. In context it's a great episode but trying to go back to it there is a little nostalgia involved. The series holds up but that episode gets overhyped.
You're only a year younger than me. So yes.
Some of my formative memories are of seeing BTAS.
Plagiarizing what, exactly?
There was nothing like JQ before it, and there aren't many like it that came after it, either.
You must be projecting really hard there, because it's very highly praised series on most cartoon fan communities, and definitely around here, too.
you guys are youngfags in my book. if you werent a kid in school with a subscription to Fox Kids magazine when BTAS and Spider-Man TAS came out, you weren't THERE, man. You weren't there for that amazing night in 1993(?) when power rangers and x-men both aired at dinnertime with amazing new world-changing premieres and we got to show our parents how fucking serious and cool our interests were
>they arent exactly the most deep or original or believable, but they're so goddamn much fun
I couldn't put it into words myself, but this really sums it up well.
oh god, you're way down that rabbit hole
Anyone wants to hear The Penguin sing ?
youtube.com
youtube.com
>not that Dexter's Lab episode
i love how he played an alien in star trek with no concept of music. that was inspired.
Well don't mind if I post more Paul Williams then
youtube.com
youtube.com
The thing is, if you're watching for any semblance of continuity, you kinda have to watch the lesser episodes too. They establish white-collar villains like Rupert Thorne or Roland Dagget as overarching threats.
yeah the gangster and corporate villains were the most boring but they were super legit.
They weren't all boring. Some of the gangster episodes were genuinely great. "It's Never Too Late" is one of the best episodes of the series.
and one of the most boooorrring. at least to a kid.
There's a ton of episodes that can be skipped. I never watch shows like that, because I'm a completionist, but they're not all necessary.
I don't know of any guides, but you could go by the ratings of the AB Club reviews. They were done before the site went to shit and I think they cover the over all quality pretty accurately.
oh god, that's why that Dexter's Lab episode was called Old-Fashioned Lab Song. awesome.
performing with a muppet of yourself is fucking awesome.
you know, in another timeline he could have played a fantastic Dr Langstrom. he already has kind of a bat nose. or he couldve totally given burgess a run for his penguin money if he had a fake nose put on
>that guy comes back in justice league, and he namedrops langstrom. dammit they're all good
Holy shit I just watched that season of JLU and I didn't realize that was him. Still that episode is hot garbage and you don't miss much by not knowing that connection.
yeah it wasnt the same voice. I didnt notice it either til I was doing an all-DCAU marathon binge.
they wanted Dr Strange but the bat-embargo prevented it, so they pulled in a BTAS-original they actually had the rights to. it actually makes a lot of sense that he would work for Cadmus
I showed my gf couple, and she thought they were good ( "Heart of Ice") but didn't love love
any of them until I showed her "Harley and Ivy"-- she was a casual harley fan, but she wound up saying-- " Maybe I Like Poison Ivy instead"-- I think the Harley and Ivy being friends episodes are going to make your GF appreciate BTAS somewhat-- I took my gfto see batman v superman though--- and now she's back on the "batman's a whiny faggot" train. I would also suggest showing your GF the movie " Batman: Mask of the Phantasm."
I have a vague memory of telling my dad that I didn't like the episode because it didn't have enough action.
Then he explained to me that it's not always about the action, but sometimes about the characters and their story. That's the first time I remember being introduced to that concept, so the episode is somewhat meaningful to me.
fuck Heart of Ice in favor of Clayface's origin.
> I took my gf to see batman v superman
>or he couldve totally given burgess a run for his penguin money if he had a fake nose put on
Have you watched Phantom Of The Paradise ? He plays almost the same character.
A pint-sized charismatic but vicious, manipulative, lecherous and slimy businessman obsessed with birds who runs an empire built on crime and acts as the enemy to a hero in a dark leathery costume modeled after a flying animal.
I refuse to believe that whoever cast Paul Williams as The Penguin was not at least acquainted with his role as Swan.
top quality dad, dude.
mine raised me on 60s batman and told me how he'd pretend he and his dad in the car were batman and robin in the batmobile, just like i would with him..
he also told me when he was a dumb little kid, the cliffhanger endings actually WORKED on him. He was genuinely concerned that the dynamic duo wouldn't make it out of the deathtrap okay, and spent 2 days worried about it til part 2 would air (i wanna say on thursdays) so.. that made me feel smarter at least.
he also thought the gilligan's island ending theme was threatening him, but that's something else entirelya
Birds of a feather is one of the best episodes, of the series, and for character development oof the penguin.
you know whom else he weirdly reminds me of? the childcatcher from chitty chitty bang bang
like obviously that guy was Penguinesque because of his fake nose, but something about his eyes and cheeks....
dude, the penguin wrote "Rainbow Connection"-- so many carpenters songs, was in the fucking planet of the apes-- and just recently recored a song with daft punk-- paul williams is a based motherfucker youtube.com
>Overwhelmed
Each ep is 22 minutes. what kind of pleb for a gf do you have
don't the first few electric guitar bits of this song sound a little like the opening of Danny Elfman Batman theme? I've always thought so youtube.com
>until I showed her "Harley
No surprised there.
To be fair it's a fucking fun episode. Harley and her pairing with Ivy hadn't become so cancerous yet.
Hm, that's a good tip.
My girlfriend's kind of... non standard though. Like, she's way more into action and punchy-shooty stuff than drama, so I think she might enjoy even the episodes without lots of character development going on.
Your dad is fucking legit.
The Catwoman episodes were boring as hell. They clearly had no idea what they wanted to do with her. "Almost Got'im" was her only good episode.
Also, the episodes with the preachy messages in general are good to avoid. That was when they had another story editor who tried to push stories like that before being replaced by Alan Burnett.
Also, skip "Moon of the Wolf". Hated it as a kid, hate it now still.
Them fucking up with Catwoman so bad is extremely frustrating to me because her and Batman are my main ship.
I really miss this Penguin. I dislike what they did to him in TNBA and how DC has practically retired the character by confining him to the Iceberg Lounge.
I can see that. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was pretty fun too.
Yeah Williams is based as fuck.
Now that you mention it, yeah, they really sound similar. Although in actuality it seems Elfman was more inspired by Levin's theme for Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.
youtube.com
But considering Phantom and Batman both pay extensive tribute to similar things (german expressionism, Art Deco/Nouevau, Phantom of the Opera, the films of Hitchcock, Welles, etc) I wouldn't be surprised if the team for Batman 89' took some inspiration for Phantom (especially since Phantom was influential in other works such as Star Wars)
>my main ship
>I honestly don't remember any truly bad episodes of this show.
Let me tell you about Moon of the Wolf, Shaggy.
uh werent shows 24 minutes back then?
i know they're down to 16 now but my memory isn't that bad
Heart of Ice is good, but using soup to defeat Mr. Freeze was pretty dumb.
>Also, skip "Moon of the Wolf". Hated it as a kid, hate it now still.
This.
holy shit, he's alive?
.. holy SHIT, he was only in his 30s in the 70s? christ, he aged terribly.
>skipping episodes
Why? It's not like it's a race to catch up or anything. Who cares how long it takes.
everything batman is overrated
Eh he's not that bad desu. He could be looking way worse.
Paul Williams always looked like a gremlin. Now he's a wrinkly gremlin.
oh it wasn't that bad.. it was just.. eh..
what the shit
he looked older than that in the 90s. now he just looks like alton brown. dude lost a LOT of weight, I didn't even realize he was fat before. I thought he just had that kinda face.
>gremlin
hehehe yeah. was he ever in any celebrated 80s fantasy movies? because holy shit he should be. some kind of dwarf bard.
He really didn't change much apart from getting that JUST haircut and growing a beard.
And he struggled with drugs for a while which I guess kind of explains it.
When I heard him in the Daft Punk album I was surprised to hear that his voice hadn't changed one bit
Legit skip any episode that seems like it's about animals.
>was he ever in any celebrated 80s fantasy movies?
Well he was in a Planet Of The Apes movie, but apart from that none that I know of.
Apart from Little Enos he usually managed to avoid comedic dwarf roles which is pretty rare for a guy who's barely over 5 ft tall.
yeah that's why that star trek episode he was in was neat. they were a race of wee aliens with an extremely idiosyncratic way of thinking, but they werent played for over the top comic relief
>Also, the episodes with the preachy messages in general are good to avoid. That was when they had another story editor who tried to push stories like that before being replaced by Alan Burnett.
>Hey, I'm watching Cat & The Claw
>pause credits
>Story Editor Sean Catherine Derek
>IMDB
>She is known for her work on The Smurfs (1981), Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990) and Batman: The Animated Series (1992).
Fuckin' Captain Planet..
>she's the writer of Foodfight!
Holy fucking shit
yeah though at least they generally made bruce pretty evenhanded about that shit
She also made the Netflix Kong cartoon with all the cheesy environmentalist messages.
Pic related was the show's one saving grace.
Just watch it at a steady pace. You'll get more enjoyment and the episode count won't kill you.
I wonder how she felt about Poison Ivy being characterized as batshit insane.
Jesus I hope not.
people like that never pick up on the little details like that
I was just thinking the other day about how BTAS kind of invented the idea of "Poison Ivy cares more about plants than people" - in the comics she was usually just in it for the money. Now I can't help but wonder if they weren't taking potshots at her.
I was also surprised how wet she was for Batman. You could fill a river with that.
>Now I can't help but wonder if they weren't taking potshots at her.
Probably, though no one's talked about it since then.
>rewatching See No Evil
>it's the source of this gif
>and the "guy eating sandwich" one
Every episode has something that makes it worth watching.
It's honestly easier to think of a 'must skip' list than a 'must watch' list.
Batman: The Animated Series
S1E13 - "I've Got Batman in My Basement"
>AKA: The one where a bunch of meddling kids defeat The Penguin.
S1E42 - "Tyger Tyger"
>AKA: The one where Catwoman is transformed into a furry.
S1E43 - "Moon of the Wolf"
>AKA: The one with the werewolf.
S2E6 - "The Terrible Trio"
>AKA: The one where a group of rich assholes become bad guys out of boredom.
The New Batman Adventures
S1E3 - "Cold Comfort"
>AKA: The one where they take a giant shit on Mr Freeze's happy ending from Sub-Zero and cut off his head.
S1E14 - "Critters"
>AKA: The one with the giant farm animals.
Only bother watching Cold Comfort if you plan to watch Batman Beyond. That's the only reason to subject yourself to that.