Lorenzo Semple, Jr. The Man. Maybe not particularly to you, but to some, The Man. Unfortunately, The Man has died at the age of 91. It is a sad day in Batman history, folks.
Semple, Jr is the man behind most of the reasons we enjoyed the 1966 Batman television series. He wrote the 'bible' for the show. He wrote the first four episodes of the series. He's the reason why 'Pow! Zap! and Wam!' are so synonomous with the culture we're so obssessed with. The balloon graphics appearing on the show were his ideas. Without him, we would not have Robin's "Holy (Fill in the Blank), Batman!". That was him. He made sure the comedy was met straight faced. Most of the reasons that series is lovable in appearance was because of Mr. Semple, Jr. Not only did he do that, but he also wrote the screenplay for the film, which he wrote within a two week period.
Beyond Batman, he did seem to have a successful screenwriting career. Writing such films as the 1976 remake of King Kong, Flash Gordon (1980) and Never Say Never Again (1983) the only Non-Eon produced Sean Connery Bond Film. However, of his entire career, he said he was most proud of his work on Batman.
The screenwriter passed away friday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles.
The reason I am posting this is because I saw no article on this subject today, and Mr. Semple, Jr. gave much entertainment to my childhood and my father's childhood as well. Whatever your feelings of the '66 Batman tv show, Lorenzo helped add to the legacy that we call Batman for generations to come.