Batman and the Man from Alphabet
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Batman and the Man from Alphabet was a live-action comedy from Sesame Street that featured an appearance by an animated Batman, being voiced by Olan Soule, who originally provided the voice of the Caped Crusader in The Batman/Superman Hour and would later go on to do the same in the Superfriends.
This marked the Dark Knight's first appearance in the Sesame Street series, where he meets the Muppet characters Bert and Ernie. It was originally aired on July 21, 1969, on a PBS affiliate station in Philadelphia.
Characters[]
Featured Characters[]
Supporting Characters[]
- The Chief
- H.B.
Antagonists[]
- Digby Dropout
- Dunce
Other Characters[]
- ABC Guy
- Pirate
- Dog
- Man from Alphabet's Brother (Mentioned Only)
- Rosebud
Locations[]
- Earth-72169
- Sesame Street
- Man from Alphabet's Office
- Dropout's Secret Hideout
- Drug Store
- Dog Store
Items[]
- Newspapers
- Briefcase
- Batsuit
Vehicles[]
- Dropout's Pickup Truck
Cast[]
- Jim Henson as Ernie
- Olan Soule as Batman
- Gary Owens as Man from Alphabet
- Bob Arbogast as The Chief (Teacher)
- Jim Thurman as Dunce
- David Ketchum as Pirate
Story[]
In Bert and Ernie's apartment on Sesame Street, the two are having an argument about what to watch on TV. Batman is visible on the TV screen as Ernie tells Bert he wants to watch that very TV show. But Bert tells him he wants to watch The Man from Alphabet. Ernie tells him that he always wants to watch that. As the argument escalates, Batman, on the TV screen, breaks the fourth wall and asks them what TV show they watched yesterday, and the both admitted it was Batman. Batman then told them that it was only fair to watch The Man from Alphabet. He was educating them on the importance of taking turns, reminding Ernie that they can watch Batman tomorrow. Ernie agrees, and then walks up to the TV to change the channel.
Just then, the Man from Alphabet's very own show appeared on the TV screen. As the theme song began playing, Bert dances to the music. A man on the screen places the letters of the alphabet on the glass window of the door. The Man from Alphabet then crashes through the glass, breaking through to the other side. We next see another man attempting to pin something on the Man from Alphabet's trenchcoat, but he ends up pricking him apparently. We next see the Man from Alphabet escorting two criminals down a street on the sidewalk. The next shot shows the Man from Alphabet knock over a bookshelf. We again see a quick shot of the man at the glass door admiring his work with the letters on it, after he apparently fixed it. And that was the end of the theme song.
As the episode begins, we see the office of the Man from Alphabet's boss, whom he called "teacher" and "chief." He was busily engaged in paperwork. Just then, the Man from Alphabet bursts into his office. And this startles the chief, and he asks him if he ever knocks. He then tells him he does, and he walks over to the door and knocks on it. The voice of a female that one might assume was the chief's secretary could be heard saying "yes?", the Chief then tells him to get back over to his desk and sit down. The Man from Alphabet then pulls up a chair and sits in it. He then explains to him how someone has stolen all of the world's newspapers. The Man from Alphabet immediately was able to deduce that Digby Dropout and Dunce were behind the crime.
Meanwhile, at a drug store, a young boy selling newspapers gets his papers stolen, while elsewhere, a man in a pirate's hat gets his newspaper stolen, and is knocked over the head with the rolled up newspaper. He then breaks the fourth wall and says: "I honestly think I should talk to someone about this!" Elsewhere, a newspaper is stolen from a dog who fetched the paper, bringing it to the porch of the house.
Later, Dropout's pickup truck is full of newspapers and driving down the street. The back the truck up to what appears to be a warehouse and load the warehouse with the newspapers. Dropout tells Dunce that once now that they've stolen all of the newspapers, everyone in the world won't know what's going on in the world, and they can take over.
Back at the drug store, the kid tells the Man from Alphabet that all of his newspapers were stolen. They decide to pull The Alphabet Book out and look up "bloodhound," so that they might find a dog that can sniff out the stolen papers. The Man from Alphabet immediately goes to a dog store and buys a bloodhound-dog. It leads him directly to the men who stole the newspapers. He tells them that they have to return every paper they stole, otherwise he'll have his bloodhound bite them right "in the sports section!"
It was at this moment that the Man from Alphabet realized that his dog could talk, which was something he found quite odd, and he told him to knock it off, because talking dogs don't exist. He then chases them with the dog, forcing them to run up and down every street, tossing the papers to each house. A short while later, the Man from Alphabet returns to the young newspaper dealer and tells him that he probably heard how he was a hero and how he saved all of the newspapers and stopped the bad guys. The boy knew that he was more of an incompetent fool than he was a hero, but he still just let him think he knew what he was talking about. (remember it was the kid's idea to begin with) The Man from Alphabet told him if he sticks with him he'll learn a lot. The kid roles his eyes and lets out a loud sigh and says: "Whatever you say, man." And that's how the show ended.
Notes[]
- References: alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z) arch-criminal; assistant; baby; bed; bird; bloodhound; car; cartoon; comics; garbage; groceries; Home Magazine; Life Magazine; newspaper; newspaper dealers; radio; robbery; sale; Sesame Street; Spring Peace Festival; store; teacher; West Magazine; U.S. Mail