Talking Simpsons - Lookwell Pilot With Gayest Episode Ever

I was probably one of the few kids of our generation that saw the pilot air live by complete happenstance. When I was very young I'd occasionally catch the tail end of the old Batman show before being dragged off to 7am mass, but my real love affair with Adam West came about in 1989 when Fox resurrected the Batman 66 film to ride the hype of Tim Burton and Michael Keaton's effort. We taped it off TV, watching it almost weekly for years. So when Adam West showed up on the tube as I channel surfed some random summer evening I didn't hesitate to tune in. I thought the show was hilarious and was excited to look for it again next week not being savvy enough to understand its fate. Eventually I memory holed it until my discovery of Square Pegs on Trio caused me to cross its path again in college. I had no idea it was such a beloved underground sensation for all those years. Great choice for an ep.

Ron Sterling

Jenna Fischer and James Gunn are no longer married, they divorced in 2008.

So fun fact about ol Mister West: he was hired for the role of Batman cause the producers of that show saw this commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7inP-nuKhA

Devin Hoffarth

Adam West's delivery of, "That's not what I heard," is going to stick with me for a while, I think.

Bradford A Barker

I watch this pilot once a year, what a great great loss. Too bad this didn’t go, clearly as good as Brisco County Jr.

Michael Branson

I'm delighted by this, I love this pilot. I've got to point out that the Lookwellism "You never waste time, time wasted you" is another mangled Shakespeare quote, this time from Richard II: "I wasted time and now doth time waste me…" (5.5.4). That MA in Renaissance drama and poetry just keeps paying for itself.

Charles

I had this in my notes, I swear. Major boss battle vibes.

Drew Mackie

The theme song sounds so much like JRPG battle music, I thought you were playing something from Final Fantasy for a second.

nina matsumoto

I think this pilot didn't get picked up largely because of the points you guys raise in that it's hard to see how this formula works as a series. Is he going to be like a live-action Inspector Gadget that stumbles into solving crimes despite the fact that he spends the entire episode undermining the real investigation? I also wonder if some of it was that the network wasn't sure if people were ready to be annoyed with Adam West. Batman was still airing regularly in syndication and everyone kind of loved him even if most had moved on from that portrayal of Batman. Either way, it's a very clever pilot and I love West's performance and it really makes me sad that he didn't get more comedic roles like this. And Barry was the first thing I thought of when I watched this pilot in anticipation of this show. I could easily see Lookwell taking on a persona similar to Henry Winkler's in that show. How great would it have been to get a West cameo in Barry? Man, I miss Adam West.

Joe Hodgson

I wonder if the pilot had gone to series and somehow lasted long enough if it would have stumbled onto the formula of shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Aqua Teen Hunger Force where the protagonists are completely unsympathetic and nothing is ever resolved. As is everybody seems to think Lookwell's not worth bothering with and the sooner they get him to leave the less damage he'll do. He's a celebrity and kind of a cop so I could see society letting him just get away with a lot.

Matt Quintanilla

For the record, Lookwell wasn’t the first TV show to star the Adam West we know today. In 1989, Nick-At-Nite aired a pilot called Cartoon Lost and Found, which, like Lookwell, only aired once. West played an older version of himself working at a secluded office, reminiscing and showing off the classic cartoons from his childhood. The pilot was thought to be lost, but resurfaced back in 2020. https://archive.org/details/vts-01-1_20200918_2030 A fun Simpsons connection is that this was the first writing credit for Spike Feresten, who later wrote Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming in Season 7. He was also a writer on Seinfeld, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and Letterman. Just like Conan, he was the host of his own late night show, FOX’s Talkshow with Spike Feresten.

Dylan Mansfield

Like a birthday present a week later; my two favorites in one! Thanks, boys!

Matt LS