Holy guest stars, it’s Cliff Robertson as this week’s villain! He seems to be leaning into the camp of the thing, as he dons a cowboy outfit and claims the name Shame just so that a child, Andy (Eric Shea) can later on deliver a riff on the iconic line from Shane.

This two-parter was written by Stanley Ralph Ross, and part one, Come Back, Shame was first broadcast on 30 November, 1966.

Shame is in Gotham, and seems to be focused on stealing exceptional cars. But he then removes specific parts, leaving the rest of the automobiles behind. Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) figure out that Shame is working on making a super-vehicle of some kind, so Batman as Bruce Wayne, plants a seed and lays a trap for Shame by announcing that his limo has been upgraded recently, making it the perfect target for Shame.

When Shame and his gang seize the limo, Batman and Robin are able to follow them, carefully tagged with some bat-dust, to Shame’s hideout, a standing western town set into which young Andy has wandered and offers commentary to the villains and the heroes throughout.

Unfortunately for Batman and Robin, we’re coming up on the end of the first episode which means they have to fall into a trap themselves and end up in a cliffhanger to carry viewers over to the next episode.

This time, Shame and his gang get the drop on them, and then stake them out in the middle of the western town about to be run down by a stampede!

It’s How You Play the Game features an interesting window cameo… Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer) from Hogan’s Heroes!

This episode debuted on 1 December, 1966 and once Batman and Robin escape the stampede, they struggle to find out what Shame’s plan is, and what kind of vehicle he’s creating. They come to the conclusion that it’s a super-truck, one that he will use to heist a number of valuable Black Angus cattle.

While Andy wanders around riffing on that iconic line, Batman and Robin work on tracking down Shame and his stolen cattle. Robin figures out that they’ve gone back to Western-Land, and the Dynamic Duo race to the conclusion of the episode, which turns out exactly the way we and Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton) knew it would.

This was a fun story, and it was great to see Cliff Robertson looking like he was having such a good time. There’s also a bit of commentary in the episode as at one point, Robin actually gets shot by Shame and his gang. Sure, it’s in his heel, and he seems to recover awfully damn quick but it seemed to be a bit of a remark on the ongoing Vietnam War and the cost on America’s youth.

It’s a fun romp, and I am loving this super lengthy season two, but can only imagine it wore down on cast and crew who probably wanted a bit of a break. I can’t wait to see what happens next time!