There have been some cool tributes to 1960s Batman TV star Adam West since he passed away at 88 on June 9 (following a battle with leukemia), including Los Angeles bringing out the original Batmobile and lighting up city hall with the Batsignal Thursday. But one of the more interesting ones involves DC Comics and NBC agreeing to do something rare: release an unaired episode of a cancelled TV show for free on YouTube.
That would be Powerless, the NBC comedy depicting average people working at a remote division of Wayne Enterprises in a city overrun with supervillains, which was cancelled in May after airing just nine of its 12 shot episodes. The eleventh episode, “Win, Luthor, Draw” starred West as Wayne Enterprises executive “Dean West,” and DC and NBC agreed to release it on DC’s YouTube channel Friday. Here’s the episode in full:
It’s pretty cool to see this, especially for those of us who liked Powerless. Yes, the show wasn’t always perfect, but it had some very funny moments, and an impressive cast that included Vanessa Hudgens, Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi, Ron Funches and Christina Kirk; Tudyk’s inept Van Wayne, nephew of Bruce, was particularly enjoyable.
The basic premise of reasonably-normal people living in a world full of superpowers was interesting too, and a very different take on the more traditional comics-based series. There’s no word yet if the other two episodes will ever air, but at least fans of the show can watch this one, and fans of West can enjoy one of his final appearances, where he’s having a lot of fun, showing off his comic chops, and even making light of his public persona. It’s great that they made this available for fans to check out.
