Batman: The Animated Newsletter
Weeks of September 18 -
September 24, 2000
Volume 3,
Rated: PG for some "low-key coarse
language and occasional griping"
THIS ISSUE'S SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: "WELCOME TO THE BTAN SEASON
PREMIERE
SPECTACULAR."
____________________________________________________________________
WELCOME
BACK!!!
Well, it's another TV season, and to accomodate such, there
have been a number of changes here. First, we managed to snag
BTAS/STAS/BEYOND writer STAN BERKOWITZ for a quick interview! Next, you'll see that our TV schedules and accompanying articles have changed; be
sure to check on when each show airs! Third, you'll notice that our
trivia section has been buffed up to ten questions per issue. Lastly, if you
scroll down past the editorials, you'll notice that we've added a new
section entitled "No Man's Island", an interactive game (and, admittedly, a SURVIVOR parody) for all you subscribers to play, if you DARE. Scroll down
and have a look see!
-editor Tim "Two-Face" Leighton
(who hopes he won't be sued
by
CBS)
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EAGERLY
ANTICIPATING...
New episodes are on the horizon! Here's what we can expect in
the near future...
'KING'S RANSOM'
BATMAN BEYOND
Airdate: September 16,
2000
Episode #42
Synopsis: Paxton Powers hires the Royal Flush Gang to do
his bidding.
'UNTOUCHABLE'
BATMAN BEYOND
Airdate: September 23,
2000
Episode #39
Synopsis: Unavailable
'INQUELING'
BATMAN BEYOND
Airdate: September 30,
2000
Episode #46
Synopsis: An episode dedicated to Inque, which finally
reveals her origin and answers a lot of
questions about her
past.
'OUT OF THE PAST'
BATMAN BEYOND
Airdate: October 7,
2000
Episode #??
Synopsis: Straight from the mouth of Stan Berkowitz, this
episode will prominently feature Bruce
Wayne.
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KIDS
WB ANIMATION SCHEDULES:
(courtesy of Brian Cruz and/or the official BTAS/STAS
site)
Kids'WB! currently airs BATMAN BEYOND five or six times a
week. Batman airs on weekday afternoons Monday-Friday, as well occasionally
Friday morning before Pokemon. Remember, Kids'WB! is notorious for switching
schedules around at the very last minutes. Batman Beyond currently airs at
11am (ET) on Saturdays and 4:30pm (ET) on weekdays.
Check out these links if
our schedule is not 100% updated:
THIS WEEK:
Mon 09-18-00:
NONE
Tue 09-19-00: B-BEYOND #35 April Moon
Wed 09-20-00:
B-BEYOND #21 Hooked
Up
Thu 09-21-00: B-BEYOND #25 Babel
Fri 09-22-00: B-BEYOND #18 Bloodsport
Sat 09-23-00: B-BEYOND #39 Untouchable
<-------NEW!!!
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 09-25-00:
NONE
Tue 09-26-00: NONE
Wed 09-27-00:
NONE
Thu 09-28-00: NONE
Fri 09-29-00: B-BEYOND #09 Spellbound
Sat 09-30-00: B-BEYOND #46
Inqueling <-------NEW!!!
All episodes #86 and onward of BATMAN are considered THE NEW
BATMAN ADVENTURES while the original 85 are considered BATMAN: THE ANIMATED
SERIES (BTAS)
episodes.
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CANADIAN
EPISODE SCHEDULE
(BATMAN and BEYOND on YTV)
(courtesy of our friends at
YTV)
YTV currently has the rights to air all 109 episodes of
Batman, as well as the current 52 episodes of Batman Beyond. YTV usually
airs these episodes in either chronological order, or in the original order
they aired on Kids'WB! and FOX. Batman Beyond airs Saturday & Sunday at 2:30pm (ET). Batman now airs at 3:30am Monday - Friday. If our schedules are
not updated or are inaccurate, please use these links:
THIS WEEK:
Mon 09-18-00: BTAS #58 Blind
as a Bat
Tue 09-19-00: BTAS #43 Day of the
Samurai
Wed 09-20-00: BTAS #15 See No
Evil
Thu 09-21-00: BTAS #59 The Demon's Quest
(Pt. 1)
Fri 09-22-00: BTAS #63 The Demon's Quest
(Pt. 2)
Sat 09-23-00: BEYOND #28 Final Cut
Sun 09-24-00: BEYOND #29 The Last Resort
NEXT WEEK:
Mon 09-25-00: BTAS #64 Read My
Lips
Tue 09-26-00: BTAS #62 Fire From
Olympus
Wed 09-27-00: BTAS #57 Shadow of the Bat
(Pt. 1)
Thu 09-28-00: BTAS #61 Shadow of the Bat
(Pt. 2)
Fri 09-29-00: BTAS #52 Mudslide
Sat 09-30-00: BEYOND #30 Armory
Sun 10-01-00: BEYOND #31 Sneek
Peek
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THE
CARTOON NETWORK
Cartoon Network has the right to air all 109 Batman episodes,
as well as all 54 Superman episiodes. Come September, Cartoon Network will
begin airing these. Shows. Batman currently airs during the weekday Toonami
block at 6:30pm (ET). Superman will soon have a set airdate as well. Since
Cartoon Network is unpredictable with their schedules, we are unable to keep up with them. Please, use these links to find out the schedule information you
need:
http://www.geocities.com/worldsfinestpage/airdate.htm
http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/TOONAMI/lineup/batman.html
_____________________________________________________________________
EPISODE
REVIEW: (SPOILERS!)
(by Justin Chen and/or Zanna)
All of Tim "TWO-FACE" Leighton's reviews of the new-style BTAS
episodes and BATMAN BEYOND can be found via these links, which link to
"Two-Face's Tower of Tranquility and Terror":
The creative "team" for this column alternates between Zanna
and Justin Chen, two loyal subscribers and great friends of ours here.
Any other reviews printed here are written by editor Tim "TWO-FACE"
Leighton. Enjoy!
<BATMAN BEYOND>
ACE IN THE HOLE
Written by Hilary
J. Bader
Directed by James Tucker
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original
Air Date: August 19, 2000
Rating: ***1/2 of 5
DESCRIPTION: Ace the Bathound is kidnaped, and Terry's got to
get him back.
HIGHS: Pretty interesting plot considering a dog is the focus,
a good check into the relation between Bruce and Ace.
LOWS: Seemingly
childish premise might turn some people off, unoriginal end fight.
OVERALL: A
decent episode to break the summer reruns.
Contrary to some statements I've seen online, this is NOT the
start of the new season, just an unaired episode left from last year's
batch. Anyway, being used to sleeping past air time for months now, I
reluctantly dragged myself up to check this one out. I'll admit when I found out that the dog was the focus here I was ready to dismiss it as another one of
the less mature and more "cartoony" eps from last season's end. Fortunately
that's not entirely the case.
It starts with Bruce going to the chiropractor, and Terry is
left outside to watch Ace. Suddenly the dog gives chase to an odd man
nearby. Terry tries to restrain the beast, but the man pulls a gun and
fires. Terry drops low to avoid the shots, and Ace chases the stranger all the way to his car, and then runs off. Bruce thinks Ace may have somehow
recognized this man, and checks the computer files. The guy turns out to be
a major dog fight gambler in Gotham...a Mr. Boxer. Terry has to go out to
shut him down, while Ace is out wandering the streets. This sets up the main
plot of the episode...now I'll comment on a few points.
-Terry goes undercover to find out about this dog fighting
league. He wraps his arms with fake bandages and adopts a rough streets
accent-classic Batman tactic. Good to see Terry use his brains
here.
-This dog fighting organization is a cruel business. We see
scenes of the proprietor deliberately provoking the animals to make them
more aggressive. He shows no concern for the dogs, even when his assistants
mention the dangers here he just shrugs it off and says there's plenty more
where he came from. This isn't some kiddie theme...it's a real
problem.
-We see how Bruce first met Ace. Trained by Boxer to be a
fighting machine, Ace is about to risk death in the ring when the police
raid the match. The dog escapes during the confusion into the snowy streets.
Bruce is paying his annual visit to the site of his parents' death long ago.
It can be assumed that he would keep doing so up until now, but it's still great
to see confirmation that Bruce still remembers. As he lays flowers on that
spot, Ace saves the old man from a Jokerz gang member. Cool origin
story...my only complaint? The butler/chauffeur just looks kind of goofy. Oh
well...Alfred was one of a kind.
My biggest gripe about this episode however, is the end
battle. Terry tracks down the dog fighting mastermind, and must face...a
giant dog? This aspect is corny and ruins the dark feeling set by earlier
scenes. The creature is drawn rather poorly too...I wasn't scared by its appearance, rather the thing was laughable. This scene is almost exactly
like the TNBA episode "Cult of the Cat"...which isn't exactly a
compliment.
In my opinion, this was an alright ep, I found it satisfactory
for injecting some freshness into the boring rerun season, and pretty good
as an exploration into Bruce's companion. Personally I'd like to see more
gritty and hard-hitting stories like from BB's early run, but I'll accept
this one for now.
-J.Chen, aka The Overseer
overseer@pacificwest.com
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SPECIAL
IN THIS ISSUE
INTERVIEW WITH STAN BERKOWITZ
Stan Berkowitz (writer for BTAS, STAS, and BEYOND) was able to
take time out of his schedule to answer a few questions about Batman Beyond's
upcoming season, as well as the upcoming RETURN OF THE JOKER flick. Thanks
for agreeing to do this with us, Stan!
BTAN#1. Any informaiton on
the upcoming season of BATMAN BEYOND? Rumor has it that Max will play a
prominant role in a few episodes.
STAN#1. Season three is a bit of
a balancing act. We tie up lots of loose ends involving familiar
characters, but we also introduce several new enemies and allies. Max will
play a key role in a two-parter.
BTAN#2 What informaiton can
you give us on the upcoming JLU episode? Could you give us a rundown of the
JLU roster? Also, word has it that Tim Daly will not be reprising his role as the Man Of Steel. Is this true?
STAN#2. As you've seen
from the promos, Superman is considerably older than he was when he was in
his own series. So for that reason, I think, Tim was replaced by an actor with
an older sounding voice. Other members of the JL include an all-new
Green Lantern, a descendant of Aquaman, Big Barda and a couple of
never-before-seen heroes. At this point, no one is sure when the JL episodes
will air, so they might not be the season finale. Or they might
be.
BTAN#3. Will we finally get the full scoop on Inque and her
origin?
STAN#3. Inque has an episode all to herself,
"Inqueling." And yes, you'll finally learn her complete
origin.
BTAN#4. What villians can we expect to see this season on
Kids'WB!? Will we be getting new villians? Will we learn more of Terry's past?
Also, what is Kobra's deal, and will we see more of
him/them?
STAN#4. Technically, you won't see any villains
this summer, since our new season begins in the fall, September 16, to be
exact. Besides Inque, you'll see Paxton Powers, the Royal Flush Gang and
at least one notorious villain from Bruce Wayne's past. You'll also be
meeting a character from Terry's checkered past, Big Time. Kobra is a
reptile-worshipping sect, bent on world domination. They'll be appearing
in more than one episode.
BTAN#5. What are your opinions and thoughts on the upcoming
BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER movie.
STAN#5. I think fans will really get their money's worth
from "Return of the Joker." Great animation, great action and a highly
emotional story that answers a lot of questions in a very satisfying
way. Because its content is somewhat more adult than the series, there are currently no plans to air it on TV.
BTAN#6.And our final question, will we finally see more of
Bruce Wayne's past?
STAN#6. Yes, you'll see more of Bruce
Wayne, particularly in an episode called "Out of the Past," which is presently
scheduled to air on October 7.
Thanx goes out to Stan Berkowitz to
take tim eout of his busy scheudle to answer some of our fanboy
questions!
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