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DTH Omnibus Page 9
Thursday December 3, 1992
Holy men
Batman
voices of Adrienne Barbeau, Kevin Conroy,
Mark Hamill, Richard Moll, Paul Williams
Weekdays, 5:30 p.m.
WLFL, Fox 22
When 1 was growing up, I was
an absolute fanatic about
anything associated with
Batman. I bought the com
ics, religiously watched the campy TV
showand dreamed of the better life I
would lead within the confines of
Gotham City. Having this high level of
esteem for the Dark Knight Detective,
I was not overwhelmed by Michael
Keaton's portrayal in either of Tim
Burton'sfilms; he just never quite cut it.
But take heart Gothamites. There 's
a new Batman who embodies the grit
tier version of the comics and retains
the better qualities of the hero from the
movies. This is the Batman of Fox's
Batman: the Animated Series.
The best thing about Fox's updated
Batman is the quality of the animation.
Action in the series is so smooth it
actually seems better than that in the
movies.
Violence is prevalent in Gotham,
and the animators capture the action of
the city fluidly. Fox's more violent
Caped Crusader frequently swoops
down on villains, snaps their wrists and
sends them crashing into walls in his
search for justice. Not quite Adam West
fare, huh?
Not only is Batman more violent
this time around, he is also more vul
nerable. Viewers see Batman get floored,
get bloodied, and even get his ass kicked.
The ZAPs, BOOMs and POWs of the
'60s show are gone forever, and Fox has
replaced them with a grittier hero for
grittier times.
Viewers also get to see more of Bruce
Wayne, the man behind the mask. With
his square jaw and ever-present brown
Makin7 Whoopi with a different person
The Whoopi
Goldbers Show
Whoopi Goldberg
Weekdays 10:30 p.m.
WLFL, Fox 22
12
Remember that scene from the
The Fabulous Baker Boys when
Michelle Pfeiffer croons Mak
ing Whoopi on top of a sleek,
black grand piano while wearing a dress
so tight that she probably had to inhale
really hard to zip it up?
Yes. No. Maybe? Well, it doesn't
matter. Michelle Pfeiffer, her disgust-
BliSS It
watch it and rag on ft
use it as a study break
watcn K religiously
tape ft
in tight pants! It's a
3
JONJMCH
smokingjacket, Bruce snares equal time
on the screen with his caped counter
part, something I always thought the
films lacked.
Another intriguing aspect of the
show is the caliber of talent that voices
the series. Mark Hamill (yes, Luke
Skywalker himself) does Jack
Nicholson's Joker one better with his
effeminate Clown Prince of Crime.
Adrienne Barbeau gives Catwoman an
especially vivid touch, and Richard Moll
( Bull from Night Court) has played both
sides of the coin with his portrayal of
the psychotic Two-Face.
Kevin Conroy's voicing of Batman
and Bruce Wayne is impeccable. With
his gruff Dirty Harry-esque enuncia
tion, Conroy gives Batman the gritty
appeal the hero has always deserved.
Conroy's vocal talents also provide
Bruce Wayne his false preppie attitude,
something necessary for the square
jawed millionaire to hide his crime
fighting identity.
Batman also has revamped some of
the more obscure villains plaguing
Gotham in order to expand the scope of
the series. Not content to rely only on
the adversaries of Burton's films, such
foes as Mr. Freeze, Man-bat, the Scare
crow and the Mad Hatter have been
reworked into the show.
Of the renovations to the Batman
cast of characters, the addition of Robin
into the series is my favorite. But be
warned, this is not the "Holy hole in a
dough-nut, Batman!" Robin that an
noyed Adam West in the '60s TV show.
Fox's Robin is a boy wonder of the '90s
complete with spiked hair and a funkier
costume than his predecessor.
All in all, some of the plots are a
little cheesy (probably in order to sell
thousands of Batman T-shirts), but at
the same they are an engrossing way to
spend a half-hour.
LAURA SILVERMAN
ingly skinny body and her crooning
have nothing to do with The Whoopi
Golifcerg Show.
But there is a link between Whoopi
and piano. Whoopi has one on her
show. And let me tell you, I prefer some
classy tunes to carry me off to the dreaded
commercial breaks than some moussed
up dude blowing his sax like a wild
banshee.
And that's just the tip of the
dreadlock. If there was any justice in
the world, under "class" Webster would
have "see Whoopi." This woman fcnoujs
what is tasteful for optimal viewing
enjoyment.
No woofing audience, no new-age
band, no polyester curtains with twin
spotlights chasing each other like two
dogs in heat. Best of all, there are no
lame monologues on world events, the
kind that make Jay, Arsenio and Dave
look like Dan Rather on laughing gas.
Whoopi doesn't even have an an
nouncer shrieking "Heeeeeeee-
ViSfta : ll( 111 ;
Nii.i.i JJ ' V '
Bffo Jil few
Batman: Where are his eyes?
Anyone who wants to join the grow- day afternoon at 5 p.m. Gotham will be
ing legions of Bat-fans can do so by up for grabs there every day, same Bat
tuning toby tuning to Fox 22 any week- time, same Bat-channel..
rrrrreeee's Johnny" or Jay or Arsenio
or Dave, whatever. Her show opens up
with her guest talking. And notice that
1 said guest, singular. That's right. One
whole half-hour (minus the commer
cials, of course) dedicated to only one
person each night.
Whoopi's new show definitely casts
off all late night cliches. No sofas, no
coffee mugs with microscopic, cutesy
pictures turned towards the camera and
best of all, no naming a part of the
audience with a bizarre name like "car
nivorous chicken with an attitude."
Whoopi and her guest sit'in these enor
mous, comfy-looking armchairs that a
family of five could lounge on. The only
laughs you hear come either from her
and the guest, or from the crew.
And who are these guests? Stephen
King, Tom Metzger and John Travolta,
to name a few. If you did a double take
at Tom Metzger, 1 promise you I'm not
lying. Whoopi and the white supremist
from hell had a, shall I say, nice little
chat with each other. This goes to show
that Whoopi doesn't just seek out high
status, here-today-gone-tomorrow stars
on her show. She has the ovaries to
break the late night rock and movie
star barriers something the "big boys"
Bat - series!
every night
definitely lack.
I'm telling you that this lady has
come a long way from her mid '80s
HBO specials. Whoopi in the '90s is a
little more mellow, a little less schizoid
flamboyant and a little sadder around
the eyes. But her humor has skyrock
eted, reaching new peaks. Whoopi has
grown up. But don't worry. That l'm-on-my-back-with-my-knees-in-the-breeze-submerged-in-a-bathtub-of-milk-while-Annie-Lebovitz-snaps-my-picture-for-the-world-to-see
woman is
still lurking inside that dread-locked
head. That Whoopi is not always clam
oring for air time, but more content to
emerge on cue.
I'm just amazed that the women has
the energy to make five shows a week.
With Comic Relief Specials, movies and
frequent guest appearances on your fa
vorite show and mine. Star Trek: The
Next Generation, I would not be sur
prised to find out that Whoopi has to
stick a dread into a socket and juice up
every once in a while.
That's Whoopi for you.
Wonderwoman herself. I guess the
only thing she hasn't done yet is write a
book. But if she ever does, here's a great
title: Making Whoopi. Catchy or what?
60 Minutes, CBS
24.6 rating. 22.9 million homes
Roseanne.ABC
20.7 J9.3miliion homes ':V:
Deadly Matrimony, part 2,
NBC Monday Movie ;;
18.9, 17.6mil!ion homes 1 K':
Murder, She Wrote.CBS
18.8. 17.5 million homes
Home Improvement, ABC
1 8.6, 1 7.3 million hcxrtes
Bartjara Walters, ABC
18.2, 16.9 million homes :&
Coach, ABC
17.7, 165 million homes
Murphy Brown, CBS
17Z16.0million homes -Full
House, ABC
1 6.8. 1 5.6 million homes
Monday Right Football,
ABC
16.0, 1 4.9 million homes
1 ' listings tetude the week's ranking, with
fe-date ranking in parentheses, raftio, for the week, ant
tout Hones. An T In parentheses denotes one-time-only
presentation. A rating measures the percentage of
Ste nation's 90.4 mffiion TV tomes.
OMNIBUS
Endorsed by the
Catwoman
1. (2
2. (1)
3. (16)
4. (5)
5. (8)
6. (X)
7. (4)
8. (3)
9. (10)
10. (6)
Cafe S Bar
610 Wert FrlnHIn Strip! 'I
Chapel Hill, Rortti CaroBna