This one-time-only outing of The Bookworm is fundamentally a decent one. The suspense level is very good and Roddy McDowell is absolutely superb in his role as Batman's villain of the week. Not surprising, considering that he'd been in the entertainment industry for at least 25 year by the time of this performance.
What mars this is Adam West's performance. He is a good actor and has done well with the character of Batman. However, especially in this second part, his overacting, especially at the beginning of the episode, is annoying.
And the sad part is that this is a harbinger of things to come in the Second Season, when the show's quality began declining. It's too bad, because the first season of this series is clearly the best.
The episode deserves kudos for its literary references, and it is also fun to see henchmen dressed as pressmen. A rather rare breed today, they were more prevalent during the Sixties, a time LONG before tablets, IPods and other hand-held devices, as well as computers.
Had it not been for the overacting that began setting in, I would give this outing a higher rating. It is too bad, because I feel the late Mr. McDowell gave a memorable performance here, and should have had his character reprised for another episode. His weird, wormy ways work here!
What mars this is Adam West's performance. He is a good actor and has done well with the character of Batman. However, especially in this second part, his overacting, especially at the beginning of the episode, is annoying.
And the sad part is that this is a harbinger of things to come in the Second Season, when the show's quality began declining. It's too bad, because the first season of this series is clearly the best.
The episode deserves kudos for its literary references, and it is also fun to see henchmen dressed as pressmen. A rather rare breed today, they were more prevalent during the Sixties, a time LONG before tablets, IPods and other hand-held devices, as well as computers.
Had it not been for the overacting that began setting in, I would give this outing a higher rating. It is too bad, because I feel the late Mr. McDowell gave a memorable performance here, and should have had his character reprised for another episode. His weird, wormy ways work here!