Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) tangle with the villainous King Tut (Victor Buono) in The Curse of Tut. Written by Robert C. Dennis and Earl Barret, this episode first aired on 13 April, 1966. This villain was the first created for the series, and he’s a fun addition to the Rogues’ Gallery.

Tut is a former academic who believes that he embodies the reborn form of the Egyptian ruler, and he’s going to start reclaiming power in Gotham City, using a collection of antiquities at the Gotham City Museum and a large statue in Gotham Park to do it.

With his loyal baddies at his side, the criminal lays out a plan that even Batman and Robin aren’t ready for, the kidnapping of the city’s foremost millionaire, Bruce Wayne!!

Tut rises from a sarcophagus in the museum, and Bruce is stunned to discover that the body is in perfect shape, almost as if he were still alive (I think he suspects the truth of the situation) but he ends up being gassed and grabbed by Tut’s minions, and tucked into an ambulance.

Tut announces the kidnapping, and ransom to the people of Gotham while Robin tries to figure out what to do next.

Will he have time? Bruce’s rolling stretcher spills out the back of the ambulance and races right towards a cliff, delivering the episode a literal cliffhanger ending!

It’s fun, goofy, and for the first time in a bit, it seems Bruce is given more to do than his alter-ego, and there’s a fun fight sequence set outside at a park that is delightfully goofy!

The conclusion to the story aired the following night on 14 April, 1966 and was also penned by Dennis and Barret.

Bruce escapes his fate by getting his hands free just in time!

As usual, the baddies are shocked but ready to escalate their plans, and take on Batman, but, of course, the femme fatale of the group, Nefertiti (Ziva Rodann) thinks Batman is the bees’ knees, and of course, she makes some untoward comments about Tut’s previous life when he was a Hale professor.

Batman rejoins Robin and he comes up with a plan, to allow himself, as Bruce Wayne or rather a dummy Bruce Wayne, to be kidnapped again, getting our hero inside Tut’s hideout and working to foil the arch-criminal once and for all (at least until next time).

Batman and Nefertiti are tortured with pebbles falling on their head while Robin and Alfred (Alan Napier) take the Batmobile and race to the rescue of their comrade, who lays out a Batdance and some fisticuffs before a big car chase culminating in a win for the heroes!

The story ends with Tut, perhaps, recovering his lost memory of being an academic, or is it just a con until his next appearance?

Let’s see what happens next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel!