Shoot a Crooked Arrow

Last updated
"Shoot a Crooked Arrow"
Batman episode
ShootACrookedArrow.JPG
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 35
Directed bySherman Marks
Written by Stanley Ralph Ross
Production code9705-Pt. 1
Original air dateSeptember 7, 1966 (1966-09-07)
Guest appearances
Dick Clark
Sam Jaffe
Myron Dell
Robert Cornthwaite
Robert Adler
Doodles Weaver
Barbara Nichols
Loren Ewing
Steve Pendleton
Lee Delano
Archie Moore
Special Guest Villain: Art Carney as The Archer
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Batman Makes the Scenes"
Next 
"Walk the Straight and Narrow"
List of episodes

"Shoot a Crooked Arrow" is the 35th episode of the Batman television series. It was the series' second season opener on ABC, originally airing on September 7, 1966 (with a repeat taking place on May 31, 1967), as well as the first to air first-run on ABC since the release of the 1966 Batman motion picture, and guest starred Art Carney as The Archer.

Contents

Plot

In Batman's first episode of the second season, The Archer, a villain modeled after Robin Hood, escapes from Police Headquarters in a moving van from the Trojan Hearse Company, driven by Maid Marilyn. Together, with his band of "merry malefactors" - Crier Tuck and Big John (a play on Friar Tuck and Little John, respectively) - he pays a surprise visit to Wayne Manor. The inhabitants are gassed and cash is stolen. Later, the crew attacks Police Headquarters. When they are giving out other stolen cash they are apprehended by Batman and Robin. The Gotham citizens enriched by the muggers save them from arrest.

Batman and Robin trace the Archer to his hideout at the Earl of Huntington Archery Range (Robin Hood was the alias of the Earl of Huntingdon) in Gotham's Green Forest section, where Alfred Pennyworth attempts to divert the antagonists long enough for Batman and Robin to inspect his lair. The two are trapped in a giant net.

The Archer threatens to behead Alfred if he does not get the location of the Batcave, so the crime computers can be destroyed. Knowing the guillotine is fake, Batman refuses and challenges Quigley to a fair duel. The Archer then sets up Batman and Robin to be skewered by lances.

Notes

Preceded by
Batman Makes the Scenes
(airdate May 5, 1966)
Batman (TV series) episodes
September 7, 1966
Succeeded by
Walk the Straight and Narrow
(airdate September 8, 1966)

Related Research Articles

<i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i> (TV series) British television series 1955–1959

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood, and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show followed the legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.

<i>Batman</i> (TV series) 1966 American action comedy television series

Batman is an American live-action television series based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin—two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. It is known for its camp style and upbeat theme music, as well as its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality aimed at its preteen audience. It was described by executive producer William Dozier at the time as "the only situation comedy on the air without a laugh track". The 120 episodes aired on the ABC network for three seasons from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked Batman as the 82nd greatest American television series of all time. A companion feature film was released in 1966 between the first and second seasons of the TV show.

<i>Super Friends</i> American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986

Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.

Deadshot is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by David Vern Reed and Lew Schwartz, based on a concept from Batman co-creator Bob Kane, the character made his first appearance in Batman #59. The introduction story features Deadshot using standard firearms while wearing a tuxedo, top hat, and simple domino mask. The character was not seen again until twenty-nine years later when writer Steve Englehart along with artists Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin retooled him in Detective Comics (vol.1) #474 (1979), now presenting him with customized wrist-mounted guns and a unique mask featuring a multi-use lens over his right eye. Since then, he has been a recurring character in Batman comics. Since 1986, Deadshot has also been frequently portrayed in comics books featuring the Suicide Squad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Todd</span> Fictional character in DC Comics

Jason Peter Todd is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in Batman #357 in March 1983, he was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin, Batman's partner and sidekick. He initially shared a similar origin to Grayson, being the son of circus acrobats who are killed by criminals in Gotham and adopted by Bruce Wayne/Batman as his son and protege. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths event and the rebooting of DC's main comics universe, Jason's origin was changed to being a pre-teen street urchin and petty thief who Bruce adopted and took under his wing after finding the boy attempting to steal the tires off of the Batmobile. This origin has since become the standard for subsequent iterations of the character.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefly (DC Comics)</span> Supervillain created by DC Comics

Firefly is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by France Herron and Dick Sprang, he made his debut in Detective Comics #184. Initially portrayed as a criminal who utilized lighting effects to commit robberies, Firefly was later reimagined as a sociopathic pyromaniac with an obsessive compulsion to start fires following Crisis on Infinite Earths' reboot of the DC Universe in the 1980s. This darker depiction of the character has since endured as one of the superhero Batman's most recurring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his central rogues gallery.

Alan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became a member of Robin's band of outlaws, the "Merry Men".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Hood</span> Various DC Comics characters, first 1951

The Red Hood is an alias used by multiple characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The identity was first used in the 1951 story line "The Man Behind the Red Hood!", which provides the earliest origin story for the Joker. The storyline depicts an unnamed criminal wearing a red dome-shaped hood who, after a chance encounter with Batman, is disfigured by chemicals and becomes insane, giving birth to his future Joker persona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electrocutioner</span> Comic book character

The Electrocutioner is an alias used by three fictional characters in the DC Universe, all minor enemies of the superhero Batman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merlyn (DC Comics)</span> Fictional character in the DC Comics Universe

Merlyn, also known as the Dark Archer, is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a deadly bow-wielding assassin and contract killer and the archnemesis of Green Arrow, though writers have developed him over the years as an adversary of other superheroes as well, such as Batman and Black Canary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batcycle</span> Fictional superhero vehicle

The Batcycle, Batblade, or Batpod is the fictional personal motorcycle of the DC Comics superhero Batman. In the comic book universe, Batman's personal Batcycle is a modified street-bike with a 786 cc liquid-cooled V-4 engine. It contains a computer-controlled carburetor and bulletproof wind-guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walk the Straight and Narrow</span> 36th episode of the 2nd season of Batman

"Walk the Straight and Narrow" is the 36th episode in the Batman television series' second season, originally airing on ABC on September 8, 1966 and repeated on June 1, 1967.

"He Meets His Match, The Grisly Ghoul" is the 16th episode of the Batman television series, first airing on ABC March 3, 1966 and repeated on August 11 in its first season. It guest starred Cesar Romero as the Joker.

Originally created in 1967, the fictional comic book character Barbara Gordon has been adapted into various other forms of media. The character has appeared in both live action and animated television series and films, as well as in video games in her alter-egos as both Batgirl and Oracle.

"Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin" is the first episode of Season 3 of the Batman television series, first aired on ABC September 14, 1967 as its ninety-fifth episode. It guest starred Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, and also was the first appearance of Yvonne Craig as Police Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl.

"A Death Worse Than Fate" is the tenth episode of the Batman television series in its first season. This episode was first broadcast on ABC February 10 and rerun on June 23, 1966, and continues and concludes the story of Zelda the Great, a magician whose fading career has led her to crime. The story began in "Zelda the Great".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flamingo (comics)</span> Comics character

Flamingo is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of Batman.