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>>You don't want to mess with Gorshin's Riddler.<<

Yep, the Riddler as played by Gorshin had an impulsive nature (I think the psychiatric term would be "crazy") that made him a bit scary, much like his inspiration Tommy Udo (?) played by Richard Widmark in KISS OF DEATH.

Gorshin and Newmar appeared together as the villains in the BACK TO THE BATCAVE special not too long ago on CBS. That show was nice and nostalgic, but could have been a bit better, for example, if there had been some more surviving villains in it. Another disappointment was the flashback scenes were mainly (if not totally) from the 1966 movie instead of the TV show.

The good news is that Burgess Meredith did NOT do a nude scene in MCKENNA'S GOLD. However, he and a number of other good character actors (Raymond Massey and Lee J. Cobb among them) were rather unceremoniously bumped off in one or two massacre scenes.

My favorite is probably "Hizzoner the Penguin" where the feathered felon ran for Mayor of Gotham City. This two-parter poked great fun at the election process with Penguin declaring "I can use all my lowest, slurpiest tricks...but now they're legal." A trio of pollsters (two of which were familiar character actors Woodrow Parfrey and George Furth) and cameos at the convention center by announcer/personalities Don Wilson, Allen Ludden and Dennis James as Walter Clondike, Chet Chumly and David Dooley added to the fun. The election plot was lifted (minus the fun) for the movie BATMAN RETURNS.

Another lifted plotline was used in the 1989 BATMAN movie. The parody of the pop art craze was much better handled in the episode "Pop Goes the Joker" another favorite two-parter.

I also enjoyed "True or False Face" a fast-paced chase from Season One.

As for the Egghead music, that's a good question. Maybe the music was a Looney Tune piece, but then again it could be from a square dance or a movie musical. Could be a question for the Street's King of Jazz.

While Anne Baxter as Olga was the more colorful villainess, Zelda the Great had her moments, though Jack Kruschen as Eivol Ekdal turned out to be the real villain of the piece. Unlike Zelda, Eivol was in the COMIC book as well in "Batman's Inescapable Doom Trap" published in Detective Comics. Eivol returned a year or so later, and I think he was actually bumped off by the mob.