| 09-07/08-1966 | "Shoot a Crooked Arrow" |
Barbara Nichols...
Instead of demure Maid Marian, we get a truck-driving, chicken-eating Mama, "Maid Marilyn..."
Whereas Marilyn Monroe was conceived as a Bimbo Moll-Henchgirl in "Fine Finny Friends," here MM is re-conceived as an overweight, no-class piece of white trash...
She's always eating!
It's a test of Batman's super-human strength to pick up this fat pig...
Coincidentally (or not?), this was the episode that prompted a public discussion about whether Adam West was out-of-shape and he resorted to defending his work-out regimen & physique in the press... Critics may have been so disgusted about Maid Marilyn's porkiness they took it out on poor Adam... But certainly it wouldn't have hurt to see his Bat-Tailor for a better-fitting costume...
Thanks to Starman* for the vidcaps...
High
C writes: "When I first saw Barbara Nichols in this role, I wasn’t sure
if I was supposed to be turned on or intimidated. I’ve since discovered the
answer is c: Both of the above. Nichols, always a zaftig, well-endowed type,
had let herself go by then. One wonders if she actually did eat as much
fried chicken as her character during the shoot.
The dynamic here is unusual, as the henchgal looks as if she could beat up
B&R physically, rather than using her “feminine wiles” to get over on them.
Still, Nichols is effective in the role, although perhaps Wonder Woman would
be a better foe for Maid Marilyn. (By the way, the character name, while a
play on Maid Marian of Robin Hood, obviously had a dual meaning. The
producers and writers, like many men, seem to have had a “thing” for Marilyn
Monroe. As WOmWAm has mentioned, many of the henchgals/molls in the show are
Marilyn-esque in appearance and/or attitude.)"