On yesterday’s news that Donal Logue is playing Harvey Bullock in FOX’s Gotham TV show, I found myself revisiting an old idea of mine.

A live-action Batman show.

Now, this was some time last year, way before FOX announced that they were doing an early-career Commissioner Gordon TV show that has now morphed into something that sounds much more akin to Smallville for Batman. My idea also came before I heard the wonderful podcast between Kevin Smith and Paul Dini talk about their so-wonderful-it-hurts Shadow of the Bat idea, about Bruce Wayne in boarding school.



Back in the ’90s, when I was much younger, I loved Lois and Clark. And that, for all its now-apparent flaws, was a great Superman show, a great take on Superman, that suffered only from a tiny budget and some campy writing. But for me, that was Superman. To this day, Dean Cain is my favorite Superman, and I’m even unable to separate in my mind Dean Cain’s looks from Dan Jurgens’ version of Superman, even though to an outside party, they probably look nothing alike.

But we’ve never had a live-action, true BATMAN show. So I made one up.

Like a ton of other kids who came of age in the ’90s, Batman: The Animated Series was it. That was our Batman. He got all the cool action scenes. He was, gasp, a detective. He went undercover in disguise. Aside from the comics, that was our Batman. And so, to head up my fictional Batman show, of course I wanted Paul Dini to be the showrunner. Now, again, this was before his awesome Shadow of the Bat pitch with Kevin Smith on the Fatman on Batman podcast.

Dini knows the Batman inside and out, and he’s a fantastic writer. I’d love to see what he could do to make the character real for us in a live-action setting, while also celebrating the comic book roots that, say, Christopher Nolan didn’t. And don’t get me wrong, I love the Nolan Batman trilogy as much as anyone, but when I see a full-grown man in a bat costume beating up bad guys, my first inclination isn’t to say, “Yeah, but how can we make that real?”

And if we’re doing a Batman show, we’re gonna need music for it. Ever since Danny Elfman’s truly beautiful Batman score from the ’89 film, if you’re doing a Batman show, you need great music. And Shirley Walker did a tremendous job with her work on Batman: The Animated Series. The Nolan movies have great music, but truth be told, I was a little disappointed in the score for The Dark Knight Rises.

To bring a true, instant-classic musical feel to a Batman show, who else but Michael Giacchino could do it? The man jumps in and out of TV and movies, but all his music is great. LOST. The Incredibles. Fringe. Speed Racer. Star Trek (2009). Give those a whirl and listen to some fantastic pieces of music.

Giacchino would bring some gravitas to a Batman series that could use the help, as some would probably already be quick to criticize a TV show, when the movies are so grandiose. Giacchino would bring heart, tone, and suspense to a TV series, and we would reap the benefits.

And at this point, I must confess my own ignorance. For this is the part that Batman fans truly crave, and it’s the part that I just don’t know too much about in regards to who to credit. We all love to watch Batman just beat the hell out of bad guys who really, really deserve it. And while it’s difficult on a TV budget and schedule to properly plan out and choreograph those fights, there is one show in recent memory that actually had some stellar fights for a TV show. And that show was Human Target. Here, watch this. That’s just for a TV show. And we got two seasons of fights like that. Intense, brutal, and extended. I’m used to TV fights scenes from Smallville, which is a punch or two, and then someone gets thrown into something, aaaaaaand we’re done.

Now, recently, Arrow has been delivering some excellent action and fight scenes as well. But I hadn’t seen Arrow when I had thought up this show, and Arrow certainly wasn’t as good when it first came on as it is now. For the TV show it is now, Arrow simply delivers the best fight scenes on TV. And every episode, it’s a different variety.

So, yes, please, for a live-action Batman show, recruit whoever the hell is in charge of the stunts and fights from Human Target and Arrow.

And that takes care of the behind the scenes portion of the show. Now, since I’m not a casting director, and most of these shows don’t cast people that readily come to mind, I’ll abstain from giving my thoughts on a cast. Really, I’d be terrible at it. So what follows is essentially a breakdown of the series as it would be. This would differ dramatically depending on what channel picked it up. If it went HBO/Showtime/FX, it’d probably be ten to thirteen, tightly condensed, plot-driven, amazing episodes a year. If it went to a FOX, NBC, or CBS (probably not ABC, since that’s owned by Disney, and Disney owns, well, Marvel), we’re more likely to be in store for twenty to twenty-two episodes, in which case we’d be treated to more of an elongated Batman tale, with standalone episodes featuring Batman doing his detective work, master-of-disguise routine, and the ability for rogues to return in something that wasn’t a major story arc. While I normally prefer the shortened, tighter season for a show, for this, I believe it’d be better served with more episodes, allowing the inclusion along the way of more of Batman’s characters, like Huntress and Lady Shiva.

Season 1:

Batman is already an established character. He’s probably been on the scene for about a year or two. Harvey Dent, Bruce’s closest friend aside from Alfred, is a series regular. We structure it like the first season of Justified, with a few one-off episodes all weaving into an overall seasonal arc. We can showcase Batman’s detective skills with Hannibal and Law & Order-type episodes. Penguin is a recurring role as a crime lord at the Iceberg Lounge. Arkham Asylum is a recurring fixture, along with one of its lead psychiatrists, Dr. Harlene Quinzel. It’s a very street-level opening season. We can feature Dent’s gradual psychological breakdown as the season goes on. End the season with a cliffhanger, his scarring.



Season 2:

For the sophomore season, we get the rise of Two-Face amid the criminal underworld. He easily defeats Penguin with his ruthlessness and his overall knowledge of pretty much every secret all of the big-time criminals have. He knows who has done what, who has snitched on who secretly, who is working with who behind someone’s back. Everything. We also are introduced to more of the rogues gallery in Catwoman, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy.

Batman/Bruce must deal with his guilt over his inability to save Harvey. Try as he might, he’s unable to turn his friend back to the side of the angels. As the season ends with Two-Face captured and sent to Arkham, Bruce accepts that, just as he chose his path after his tragedy (the death of his parents), Harvey chose his own path after his tragedy.

Season 3:

After a tremendous amount of bad publicity after a rash of brutal escapes, Dr. Harleen Quinzel makes it a priority to secure/examine/cure the Joker. She falls deep into it, becoming obsessive, without ever realizing she’s falling right into the Joker’s trap. During this season, we can have an episode entitled “The Killing Joke,” examining Joker’s past and his origins much like Fringe did with the episode “Peter.”

Meanwhile, we can also introduce Dick Grayson after the tragedy of his own parents’ death. Focusing on the investigation into the Graysons’ death, without realizing it’s become a cypher for his own parents’ death, Batman becomes much darker and crueler during his investigations. Needing the help for the layout of the personnel of the circus, Batman enlists Grayson in his investigation, eventually revealing himself to be Bruce. At the conclusion of the investigation arc, Batman has his Robin, evening out the darker and crueler tendencies Batman had been developing.

Going back to the Quinzel/Joker storyline, Quinzel has fallen in love with the Joker, snaps, and becomes Harley Quinn, escaping Arkham with the Joker. After a brutal and homicidal bout of freedom, Batman and Robin manage to capture both of them, sending them back to Arkham.

In dealing with the fall of yet another ally in Quinzel, Bruce ends the season struggling with the fear that he will eventually succumb to the madness, while at the same time agonizing over the decision to have introduced the much younger, more impressionable Dick Grayson to his insane world.

Season 4:

Knightfall. Everyone comes back. We’re introduced to Bane, who intends to take over the criminal world of Gotham, and will demonstrate his prowess by breaking the Bat. He blows up Arkham, allowing the inmates to escape. A slew of episodes are dedicated to Batman hunting down the escapees, never resting, and tiring himself out. Throughout the season, Bane tries to discover who Batman is. Robin confides in Alfred that he’s scared Bruce is overdoing it. What happens then? What happens when there’s no Batman? Bruce is determined that there will always be a Batman. Dick says he can’t take up the mantle, as he’s far too young. Bruce brings up the possibility of Jean-Paul Valley, aka Azrael, someone who has been featured in a couple of the series’ previous one-off episodes. The season ends with Bane finally making good on his threat, and breaking an exhausted Batman for all of Gotham to see.

Season 5 (final season?):

KnightsEnd/Battle for the Cowl. Bruce hands the cowl over to Valley so he can recuperate. Valley slowly descends into his own madness, consumed by his violent upbringing and by the insanity that Batman must face on a nightly basis. The criminal underworld doesn’t know what to make of “Batman’s” new tendencies toward torture and murder.

The criminal underworld, as well as Valley, Robin, Alfred, and Bruce are also surprised by the appearance of another costumed vigilante, calling herself Batgirl. Valley and Robin have several encounters with her, and while Valley is unable to deduce her identity, using the detective skills he’s learned from Bruce and Alfred, Robin is able to deduce Barbara Gordon’s identity.

Meanwhile, Gordon is growing frustrated with this new Batman. He knows it’s not the original Batman and is upset that he’s not being trusted with the details of what happened after the Bane fight.

The latter half of the season is that of a healed Bruce who fights to regain his mantle back from Valley, with help from Robin and Batgirl. The real Batman reappears to Gordon to apologize for keeping him in the dark. Gordon goes off on him and turns away from him. Knowing the only thing he can to do win back Gordon’s trust, Bruce pulls down the cowl to reveal his identity to Gordon. Gordon refuses to look and tells him to put it back on. He accepts the apology.

The season/series ends with Batman back over Gotham City, renewed and better than ever, with his partners Robin and Batgirl.

Possible Season 6:

I really feel that most shows should be able to wrap it up in about five seasons, but seeing as how I haven’t figured Ra’s al-Ghul, Talia, or the League of Assassins to the series whatsoever, I figure a final season of stopping the destruction of the human race might be a good plot to include as a potential final and sixth season.

As with the rest of the series, we can adapt it from the comics, and have Ra’s appear in the Batcave, tell Bruce he knows everything, and offer him a deal to become his heir and take Talia’s hand in marriage. Of course, Batman refuses. Ra’s counters with a threat to disseminate Bruce’s identity to the world if he doesn’t come along with him. At a severe disadvantage, Bruce has no choice but to travel back to Ra’s’ home with him.

During this, we learn about the League of Assassins, it’s history, the Lazarus pit, and Talia, who is in love with Bruce. During his absence from Gotham, knowing that he can’t take up the mantle himself yet, Dick dons another identity, that of Nightwing, to protect the city in Batman’s place. He struggles with the insecurity of replacing Bruce, lacking the confidence and the sheer omnipotence and omniscience that Bruce possesses. Eventually he learns that he can’t be Bruce, because he’s not Bruce, but must learn to do this the Dick Grayson way.

Once indoctrinated into the League of Assassins, Bruce challenges Ra’s for leadership. Ra’s is defeated, Bruce destroys the League’s infrastructure, is spurned by Talia, and returns home.

He greets a nervous Nightwing with open arms, proud of the man Dick has become. Alfred enters the Batcave with dinner and the day’s paper. An alert comes across the Batcomputer before Bruce can eat or read the paper (Headline: FLYING MAN SAVES LEXCORP SPACE SHUTTLE).

The Batmobile zooms out of the Batcave, as we fade to black, and end the series.

*****

Now, that’s an awful lot there, and a lot of it is of course taken straight from the comics. Some of it is changed here and there. Clearly, we’re missing a couple of Robins, but I feel the continuity of a single Robin across the entire series serves the audience and story best.

And, again, this is all done with love of the characters and the stories that have already been told. This could be the Batman for another generation, the way Batman: The Animated Series was. No doubt, FOX is hoping that their Gotham will serve that purpose, and while I’m actively anticipating the show, my concern is that with the series ending just as Bruce becomes Batman, how will the show deal with the villains it’s creating? One of the main purposes of the Batman is that he fights the evil that the police force either can’t or won’t. If we get an entire series where the police force has already been battling that evil, is the Batman really that necessary?

@kent_graham