"Shoot a Crooked Arrow" was chosen to open the second season, and its unimpressive villain and plot must have played a huge part in the show's dip in the ratings. Art Carney was an odd choice for The Archer, looking decidedly uncomfortable as a modern day Robin Hood, vowing to rob from the rich (Bruce Wayne) and give to the poor, to the extent that his $50,000 bail is paid in coins by the poor citizens of Gotham City. It's nice to see Doodles Weaver (brother of Pat, uncle of Sigourney) as accomplice Crier Tuck, with Dick Clark doing the Batclimb cameo, and former boxing champ Archie Moore as coin collecting Everett Bannister. Robert Cornthwaite turns in a typically slimy performance as Allan A. Dale, who confounds the Dynamic Duo by turning the wayward Archer into a hero in the eyes of the destitute. The finale finds Batman and Robin trussed up on the field of honor, as Archer and his men ride to the kill with lances in hand.
Review of Shoot a Crooked Arrow
