The Best Episodes Written By Stanford Sherman

Batman, summoning all the strength he can muster, breaks his chains and frees Robin from the giant clam. The heroes arrange for the Joker's former confederate, Venus, to stay at an apartment while they figure out what to do next. Meanwhile, the Joker has freed the Penguin from Gotham State Prison to continue their crime wave. The Joker tricks Venus into asking Batman to take her to the Batcave. The Dynamic Duo take her to their base of operations (but only after making her fall asleep first). When they arrive, the Joker, Penguin and assorted thugs are revealed to be hiding in the Batmobile's trunk. Batman, however, anticipated this and none of the criminals know where the Batcave is. A figure erupts, with Batman and Robin finally ending the zodiac crimes.

The Joker persuades wealthy heiress Baby Jane Towser to join him in his artistic capers. Aided by his new accomplice, the Joker easily clears out a wing of the Gotham City Museum to make room for his latest "masterpiece" - pieces of a broken table. But the laughing criminal has plans for the priceless collection of paintings that once filled the room.

"Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", is the first episode of Season 3 of the Batman television series', first aired on ABC September 14, 1967 as its ninety-fifth episode. It guest starred Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, and also was the first appearance of Yvonne Craig as Police Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl.

Marsha, the Queen of Diamonds, is after the giant diamond that powers the Batcomputer. With her love darts, she puts both Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara under her spell (and into her custody). When the Dynamic Duo show up, they too are injected with her love potion, and Batman must agree to marry Marsha if he ever wants his friends to be returned.

The Joker and the Penguin team up on a crime wave based on signs of the zodiac. The pair, aided and abetted by a woman known as Venus, keep Batman and Robin on the run. The Dynamic Duo manage to capture the Penguin but the Joker remains on the loose. Batman and Robin figure the Joker's next caper will take place at a museum and lay a trap. But the heroes are captured instead. Now, Batman and Robin face almost certain death; the heroes are to be crushed beneath a giant asteroid on display at the museum.

The Penguin appears to have gone straight. (Evidently the citizens of Gotham City have short memories; he tried the same trick in season one.) Not only that, he has emerged as the leading contender for mayor of Gotham City, thanks to a little-known provision of the city charter that permits felons to run for elective office. Mayor Linseed, facing almost certain defeat, convinces Batman to run for mayor. This displeases the Penguin, who doesn't want to leave anything to chance. He lures Batman and Robin into a trap and, by episode's end, things don't look good for the Dynamic Duo.

Batman and Robin get back on the Penguin and Marsha, Queen of Diamonds', trail. Several escaped lizards lead them to the villains' hideout, where they find the stolen chain mail suits. Remembering an earlier clue from the Penguin, they head to the federal subtreasury to find that the Penguin, Marsha, and their cronies have broken into a vault containing ten million dollars in gold bullion. The Dynamic Duo shut the vault door on the criminals and try to prepare for every breakout scenario, but the Penguin has a daring plan of escape that no one could have counted on.

Batman and Robin narrowly escape the Joker's death trap and quickly get back on the villain's trail. The villain runs the Gothham City Police Department ragged with his crimes based on the zodiac. Meanwhile, Venus, the Joker's accomplice, warms to Batman. Eventually, the Dynamic Duo again corner the Joker. But, once more, the heroes are captured. Now, Batman, Robin and Venus are chained in a shallow pool with a giant clam. The clam swallows Robin and Batman and Venus will be next on its menu.

Hoping to obtain the Batcave's bat-diamond, Marsha searches for a new potion to use on the Caped Crusaders. Batman and Robin do some searching of their own and arrive at the criminal's hideout. But after Marsha douses them with her concoctions, the villainess seems to have a unique bargaining chip - two tiny caped toads - with which to gain Commissioner Gordon's help in locating the Batcave.

After escaping the Penguin's death trap, Batman still faces an uphill run to defeat the Penguin in the race for mayor of Gotham City. The Feathered Fiend uses every dirty trick he can think of to ruin Batman's reputation. But the Penguin discovers opinion polls aren't what they are cracked up to be. Still, Batman and Robin will need to subdue the villain before his plot can be put down once and for all.

In order to keep a close eye on the Penguin (and hopefully locate the stolen chain mail armor), Batman and Robin rejoin Penguin's movie efforts. The next part of his film is to take place in medieval times. Therefore, Penguin has the Dynamic Duo dress in armor suits, but only to trap them with a giant magnet while he snatches top-secret papers from the Hexagon. Batman and Robin free themselves and follow the villain, but after a losing battle with him, the Penguin has them hauled off as scrap metal to be crushed.

The Joker appears in an art gallery and defaces the paintings with paint-spraying guns. But instead of being horrified at his alterations, the Joker's work is praised as "art". After more success at an international art competition, the Joker founds his own art school. But Batman and Robin suspect he has a more sinister purpose in mind when he enrolls only wealthy millionaires.

As a front for his next crime wave, the Penguin forms a motion picture company. He teams up with Marsha, Queen of Diamonds, and gets Batman and Robin to take part in his movie. Marsha attempts to put Batman under her spell with drugged lipstick during the love scene, and filming at the Gotham City Museum of Antiquities turns out to be a good cover for the Penguin to snatch some ancient armor. Moreover, when the fight scene turns out to be all too real, the Dynamic Duo are captured and tied to a giant catapult about to be sprung.

Egghead and Olga, Queen of the Bessarovian Cossacks, team up to kidnap Commissioner Gordon. In exchange for his safety, they demand a ten cent tax for every egg eaten in Gotham City. Batman and Robin suspect that Olga may also be after the giant Samovar of Genghis Khan and use it to find a way into her hideout. However, it turns out that the Duo have been expected. While Olga targets Batman as her future husband, her cook prepares a wedding borscht which will contain Commissioner Gordon and Robin.

Egghead and Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, steal two pounds of Radium from the Gotham City Radium Center. Using it in their "Zapping Machine," they attempt to hatch an ancient Neosaurus egg, planning to feed the baby dinosaur a meal of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. Surprisingly, the machine seems to be working. But when the egg cracks, the baby Neosaurus is more than they can handle.

Egghead and Olga, Queen of the Cossacks, kick off their return with several thefts from the Gotham City Museum. Egghead begins planning a series of heists - intended to provide him with the dowry needed to marry Olga. Swiping 500 pounds of dehydrated caviar goes off without a hitch. But when Batgirl attempts to outfox Egghead, she is instead captured by the villain. It's up to Batman and Robin to find the villains' hideout before Olga's Cossacks make mincemeat out of their crime fighting friend.

Nora Clavicle, a women's rights activist, uses her influence to have Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, and the whole police force fired and replaced with women. She cuts ties with Batman and Robin, then launches her plan to blow up Gotham City with explosive-packed mice and collect on the insurance. The Terrific Trio look for a way to neutralize her mechanical hordes before it's too late.