NBC Releases Unaired Adam West Episode Of Powerless
A few months ago, NBC tried a comedic take on the superhero craze with Powerless, a comedy about a bunch of ordinary workers living in a city full of superheroes. It turns out if you establish a world where superheroes exist….no one really cares what the bystanders are doing. (Also, despite boasting a cast of Danny Pudi, Vanessa Hudgens and Alan Tudyk, it wasn’t really that funny.) Ratings were dismal and NBC pulled the show from their schedule before all 13 episodes could air.
The show was a DC production and had the clearance to name-drop DC superheroes, but not show them. Usually when a superhero appeared on camera it was an original creation. The show controversially introduced “Bruce Wayne’s cousin” (played by Tudyk) as the boss of a Wayne subsidiary that specialized in products that dealt with the collateral damage caused by superheroes. This meant that Batman was profiting off his own recklessness, and was ALSO controversial.
Turns out before his death, Adam West guest-starred in one of the unaired episodes of Powerless, as Wayne Enterprises executive Dean West (also an original creation). This episode might have gone unseen if West had died at a time when no one remembered Powerless at all (so they had about two months), but here it is. NBC has released the entire West episode to their YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/XUJ8vNugi6c
Adam West possessed a brilliant talent for humor through his ability to recite absurd statements with complete sincerity. He was best known for his role as the original television Batman in a decidedly comedic take on the Caped Crusader, and most of the roles he took on throughout his career were inspired in some way by the iconic show. He was always game for it and kept working in show business until the very end. He died at age 88 late last week.