My all-time favorite Batgirl-in-peril episode is a true groundbreaker, The
Entrancing Dr. Cassandra. Like the previous analyst, I'm a huge fan of the Alvino Ray Gun peril, but there are certain points that weren’t touched upon before. I'd like to overview them now.
In essence, the three heroes are transformed into "living standees," cardboard cut-outs of themselves in their patented posed stances. This adds a mocking humiliation to their defeat. Curiously, in the original syndication kit synopsis of this episode, the heroes are zapped after Cassandra throws stolen jewels at their feet, causing them to slip and fall. At some point, someone decided it would be funnier (and less awkward to stage) if the Terrific Trio would be flattened standing in their familiar heroic poses. For Batgirl, of course, that means the adorable fists-on-hips power stance she instinctively slips into at every opportunity. I'd love to check out the original shooting script on this point [if anyone has one, please let me (and twof! ;>) know!] Perhaps it was the episode's director, Sam Strangis, who made the switch during filming.
Deliberate camp or just an accident? As many of us maintain, there were at least two different costumes worn by Yvonne at this stage of the show's production. Amusingly, she's wearing the more purple, shorter-eared version when she is pre-zapped, and the more blueish, longer-eared version AFTER her Alvino-ization! Since she's standing in the same position (almost; her legs are farther apart after the flattening), the difference between these costumes is noticeable. Yvonne was probably photographed "as a standee" on a different day of shooting, and no one thought to match the outfits . . . or, for that matter, the way Batgirl's hair falls (behind her shoulders in pre-zapped mode; in front after the transformation.) Unless, of course, this was done for deliberate camp value. Either way, Yvonne never looked more scrumptious . . . especially since the actress added just the right look of wide-eyed surprise to her patented power stance.
Batgirl gets punched-out?! It was against TV rules at the time for a female to be punched by a male – an open-handed slap was the limit.* Everything apparently changed, however, if the woman's opponent was invisible, and actual contact wasn't depicted. That's how Batgirl was able to get slugged in the face a couple of times during the climax of this episode. Yvonne [and her stunt double (Was one used in this scene? - twof)] simply threw their heads back as they were "hit," then fell onto the floor. This was the only time in the series that Batgirl was ever punched, and probably by a male opponent (Catwoman's part of this pummeling party, but she's more of a scratcher than a puncher). Was it the Joker who walloped Batgirl? Or Egghead? Maybe King Tut? The mind boggles . . .
*I'm not counting Jim West's weekly walloping of a lady assassin in The Wild, Wild West opening credits - that was animated and played strictly for laughs.
Back to the original Alvino Ray Gun analysis
Back to the Chronological List of Batgirl Bat-Traps