I may have mentioned - in passing, of course - a time or a million, that I'm stuck in '66 with both the live action Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward and the tie-in comic book(s). Right now I am enjoying Archie Meets Batman '66. It's a sequel, of sorts, to Batman: The Movie. It features the United Underworld: Catwoman, The Joker, The Penguin and The Riddler. The Penguin has added in Lorelei Circe, The Siren. Thrown in for good measure, The Bookworm has been trying to steal the very first iPad reader. He broke Poison Ivy out of Arkham Asylum as cover. The United Underworld was following Bookworm's path, and decided to conquer a different frontier: Riverdale! Riddler has taken on Reggie as a sidekick; Penguin has taken over Pop's as a base of operations; Joker is attempting to turn Jughead to his side; and Catwoman is the new Riverdale High teacher, Miss Kitka! It's a fun read. I recommend it.

I grew up on Batman reruns. I took the show seriously. It was never campy.

Legendary comedian Art Carney was born on this date. He was the deadly The Archer. He opened the second season of Batman. He was The Archer before he was Ed Norton from The Honeymooners. I think I've maybe seen five episodes of The Honeymooners. The Flintstones kinda ruined the whole concept of The Honeymooners for me (The Flintstones was the animated - kid-version of The Honeymooners... But, you probably already knew that.)

The Archer episode(s) were a riff on Robin Hood. His gang was made up of Maid Marilyn, Big John, Crier Tuck and Alan A. Dale. To this day, I'll never understand why The Archer never made another appearance. Like I said, I took the show seriously. I never knew until just a few years ago, Batman almost won an Emmy in the sitcom category!

It would have been cool to see him go all in, as the Robin Hood one-off, and take on Chief O'Hara and Commissioner Gordon.

Or, maybe have him partner with actor Van Johnson's The Minstrel and Cliff Robertson's Shame. Robertson did get to come back as Shame.

If licensing were no big deal, and the producers of the series were thinking more like Jeff Parker, the return of The Archer could have brought a team-up between Mr. West's Batman and Green Arrow. Kinda like the The Green Hornet and Kato team-up later on is season two. Green Arrow and Speedy could have helped out The Dynamic Duo with The Archer. Or, just made cameos in their true identities.

While it is a shame that characters like Clayface, The Scarecrow, Two-Face and Poison Ivy were considered "Not Ready For Prime Time" on Batman, it's a shame that characters like Zelda, Bookworm, The Minstrel, Clock King and The Archer never made more than one appearance on the series. I was kinda hoping that Parker or one of the other extraordinary writers on Batman '66 would use The Archer. Unfortunately, he only made a quick cameo, facing the giant Bat-Robot created by Professor Overbeck.

Maybe if Archie Meets Batman '66 is successful, there will be another crossover event, and The Archer will get his due...

I can dream, can't I?