12 January 2018

Published January 10, 2018 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit. 

Out of consideration for your readers/fellow writers, please keep your stories to 100 words. Thank you and shalom. 

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

WEB OF THE ABSURD

            “It’s a great role, awesome potential,” said Fred. “Who knows? Could make you a star.”

            Apprehension flooded Adam. “I’m trying to have a serious career.”

            “You call spaghetti westerns and chocolate milk commercials serious? C’mon, kid, whaddya got to lose?”

            “All right, it can’t hurt to read the script.”

            Weeks later, Adam slid tights over his muscular legs. “No one’s going to buy this.”

            Securing the long cape, he flexed his toned pectorals and grinned at his reflection through his cowl’s eye openings. “Not bad.”

            As Adam West emerged from his dressing room, Burt Ward shouted, “Holy guano, it’s Batman!”

*

*

*

Here’s one of those commercials that led to the creation of an icon:

Toodle-loo, Mr. West. 

The Dynamic Duo: Burt Ward as Robin & Adam West as Batman

 

Hey!

140 comments on “12 January 2018”

  • I knew nothing of him before now. Thanks, Rochelle. I admire the novel themes in each of the 100 words.
    Wonderfully written, as always.
    Best wishes,
    Moon

    Like

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    • Dear Irene,

      Adam West passed away in June of last year. And what a career move it turned out to be. He said later that he was grateful despite the type casting he had to fight. And fight he did. Thank you for your kind comments.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

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    • Dear Varad,

      I remember watching those as a kid just to see what new words they’d invent for the fight scenes. It was all tongue in cheek. As Adam West himself called it, “Theater of the Absurd.” Thank you. 😀

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

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  • Adam West’s voice was just the best. The key to Batman is that whisper. What I loved best about him was his sense of fun. They were going for a Man From UNCLE vibe, which was the style at the time (Hogan’s Heroes came out the year before, so they knew what you could get away with). Love this piece.

    Liked by 1 person

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  • Yes, I must have watched and loved every episode as a kid and some of the finest actors in Hollywood had a blast camping it up on “Batman.” However, I remember West being somewhat chubby rather than toned.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Dear Iain,

      Adam West didn’t have too many positive things to say about the subsequent Batman movies saying that they were too dark. At any rate he left us with fond memories of a very tongue in cheek version of the comic book hero and he’ll always be super in my book. 😉 Thanks for flying by.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

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  • love the last line..Holy Guano! Does that mean that it’s been sanctified… Haha! I can imagine what the actor must have been thinking the first time he donned his costume… hilarious! We need to have good shows like this back on TV. Good, clean, fun, and without all the horror.

    Liked by 1 person

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  • Loved your story and the advert, perfect match. The ‘mickey taking’ of a James Bond hero done so perfectly by Adam West, with chocolate milk, instead of a martini shaken not stirred !
    My favourite sentence in you story is : ‘Adam slid tights over his muscular legs’. Good one Rochelle.

    Liked by 1 person

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  • Dear Rochelle,

    When I was a young teenager, I was in love with Adam West, and so your story brought about a small touch of nostalgia in me (and slight embarrassment — I mean, who wants to admit that they had teenage fantasies about a man dressed as a bat). But he did have nice legs and sexy eyes (green eyes, from what I can remember, but am not sure).

    A fun take on the prompt. And thanks again for using Mr Potter’s photo for the prompt. I think he was secretly pleased 🙂

    All best wishes,
    Sarah

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Dear Trent,

      Actually, the commercial is what got Mr. West noticed for the part of Batman. If you were to search, you’d find that he had many roles before attaining his icon status. But none of them were quite as memorable. Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  • The old TV Batman is criticised for being to jokey, too flippant, too camp where the comic book is dark and brooding. But I must say, I loved Adam West’s Caped Crusader as a kid – he was my introduction to Batman and there’s part of me that loves those daft touches (Kapow! Thunk! The ever faithful utility belt) and has a great fondness for them.
    I can see playing such a huge role can be a poisoned chalice for anyone trying to be a ‘serious’ actor, but I hope Adam West came to terms with it and realised how loved that version of the character was.
    A lovely vignette, Rochelle – Holy Guano!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Dear Lynn ,

      In an interview Adam West declared his gratitude to the role. By virtue of the fact that he never gave up and, in his own words, never stopped working, he rose above the type casting. At the same time he wasn’t above taking advantage of his icon status. 😉

      Holy Comic Con! Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

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    • Dear Dale,

      I guess my mind went to all those wall climbing scenes in the old Batman series and I connected it with web crawler. Oops. But I didn’t want Spidey to feel left out. 😉 Glad you enjoyed my Bat Story. Stay tuned next week. Same Friday Fictioneers channel. Same ditzy purple maven. Bam! Thank you, Citizen.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

    • Dear Eric,

      Adam West was in a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory and was hilarious. He capitalized on his Batman fame rather than whine about being type cast.
      Yeah, I loved Batman as a kid, too. Such tongue in cheek humor. Or as Mr. West referred to it “Theater of the Absurd.”

      Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

    • Dear Ali,

      One year for Halloween my seven year old son balked when I bought a pair of girl’s tights to go with his homemade superman costume. However, so pleased with that costume, he wore it and the blue tights out. And Adam West’s legs in his tights? Yowser! 😉 Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  • I love your alternative obits Rochelle; this is one of my favourites. It would be silly to compare Adam West’s Batman with the newer, darker version, but the strength of his superhero is that it can be watched and enjoyed by people of all ages. I’ve had a great time watching the TV shows and movie with my sister, my kids and my grandkids. Plus it was good to see Adam staying on our screens through Mayor West in Family Guy. Wherever he is now, I wonder if he’s still making use of the crazy items on his utility belt?

    Liked by 1 person

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  • Dear Carla Tortelli W(T)F,

    WTF indeed. You use a Spiderman photo prompt to write a tribute to Batman. What’s next? Take a photo of a tree and write a story about plastics. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to cut your tip in half on this one. Also a deduction for not using the word “purple” anywhere in the text. Tsk, tsk . . .

    Wilbur

    Liked by 2 people

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  • Thanks for bringing another interesting historical piece for FF Rochelle. 🙂

    Batman is my favourite but I didn’t know about Adam West. After reading this, I watched a few episodes online and boy those sets were really packed with colors and (harmless) fights and of course “The Batman”.

    Have a great weekend Rochelle. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  • Love your story! I realized, just now, that you also indicate a genre with each photo prompt. I’m not sure why I hadn’t noticed that before (oops). I’ll pay more attention to this moving forward. Thanks for hosting, I’m having so much fun! =)

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Dear Brenda,

      There’s a reason behind my posting my genre that no longer applies. It has become a habit for me, gut that has nothing to do with anyone else’s story. Your genre is your choice. No need to pay attention to anything but the word count and the prompt. 😉 I’m glad you’re having fun. I was hooked from my first story nearly 6 years ago when I started as one of the gang. Somehow I ended up being bus driver and cat herder of the bunch. Still love it! Still hooked. Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  • Querida Rochelle,
    WOW … a walk down memory lane. I didn’t watch the show very much. You wrote a fun story. Could there be some truth to it? Mmmm … !!! 😳 😂
    Pues aqui estoy. Todavia es viernes. Aunque pronto llega la hora de las ocho. No hay mucho tiempo en mi vida por la boda de mi hija en Abril.
    Espero que le guste mi cuento. Buen fin de semana, mi amiga.
    Abrazos y carino,
    Isadora 😎

    Like

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  • Again, well written dialogue. Not sure if he was the first to don tights and personify the Super heroes—I think that was Superman—but he definitely wasn’t the last. Interesting how your mind made the flying leap from Spiderman to Batman. 😉

    As long as you don’t reveal that his bulging muscles were part of the costume and he was a scrawny wimp without it. I’ve been pretty jaded ever since i learned that Lassie was actually Laddie and not a Lady at all. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • Dear Christine,

      You’re right. George Reeves donned the tights as Superman nearly two decades before Adam West. However, Mr. West’s costume was not padded. The muscles were all his own. He was no scrawny wimp as the later incarnations were. did know about Lassie. Good thing it was a collie where the…um…er jewels could be hidden. 😉 Thank you.

      Shalom,

      Rochelle

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

      • I read a write-up not so long ago, an interview with the fellow who trained collies to be “Lassie” in the old TV series. He said the collies were often unwilling to obey the command, “Nurse, Lassie” when the beloved pet was supposed to have had pups. The only way he could get pups to act like they were nursing was to put hone in the dog’s fur and the pups would suck it off. The Laddies did not appreciation these scenes.

        What Hollywood didn’t pull over on viewers! I was an adult before it crossed my mind to wonder why aliens all throughout the universe spoke such clear, unaccented American English. 😉

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓

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