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At 3:09 p.m. in the gymnasium of Woodrow Roosevelt High School, Dick Grayson and some of his classmates are practicing for a big game against their rivals, Disco Tech. The head cheerleader Susie decides to take five and offer some drinks from a nearby dispenser. To their surprise, the machine produc

Quote1 Sorry kids, stay back. Sorry, Robin isn't with me. Quote2
Batman


The Joker Goes to School is an episode of season 1 of Batman. It premiered on March 2, 1966.

Synopsis for "The Joker Goes to School"

At 3:09 p.m. in the gymnasium of Woodrow Roosevelt High School, Dick Grayson and some of his classmates are practicing for a big game against their rivals, Disco Tech. The head cheerleader Susie decides to take five and offer some drinks from a nearby dispenser. To their surprise, the machine produces silvers dollars instead of drinks. This catches the attention of the GCPD. Despite the seemingly victimless nature of the crime, Commissioner Gordon calls Batman to tell him that the Joker is at large and may be planning something terrible in store.

Batman goes through the Joker’s records: about a week ago, he was released from prison and bought the One Armed Bandit Novelty Company. He then gets a call from Woodrow Roosevelt’s principal A. P. Schoolfield that another machine is disposing stocks and bonds. While asking for the names of the student council, the principal brings up Dick Grayson and Batman heads over to the school.

At Schoolfield’s office, Dick, Susie and their friends Pete and Herbie, who serve as the student leaders discuss the situation and Susie finds out that Schoolfield’s coffee machine is also dispensing silver dollars. The two boys are amazed but Dick reminds them that life isn’t that easy. A short argument follows just as Batman pulls in and he is attracted by a crowd of curious onlookers. After he tells them to keep away from the Batmobile for their own safety and that Robin isn’t with him, he heads into the office where he tells the student leaders on what the Joker’s scheme is: he plans to undermine student morale by making the students quit their books, drop out and use their silver dollars for more selfish purposes. To give the students an idea as to what the Joker looks like, he presents a projector with a sideshow of the Joker’s mugshots. Pete and Herbie decide to take a closer look…

….and the real Joker appears before them. Thanks to a technicality (he has to be on school property for more than two minutes on the grounds of loitering) he gets away scot free. Batman then gets a call from Gordon telling him that a bar has been hit with a gimmicked jukebox. The Dark Knight then instructs Dick to return home while he goes to investigate.

In the back room of the Easy Living Candy Store, Joker and his two-man gang the Bad Pennies, Nick and Two-Bits, are counting the loot from the robbery. Shockingly, Susie is also a member of the gang too, having longed for a taste of the finer things in life. In exchange for some important documents stolen from Schoolfield’s safe, Joker presents her with three expensive items: a rhinestone bracelet, a bottle of imported Mexican perfume, and a fox stole. As she admires the gifts, Joker, reading that the documents are pre-college exam papers, decides to find another advantage.

Batman and Robin decide to investigate the school but Susie, having encountered them, informs the Joker of their prescience and when the Dynamic Duo decide to experiment on the milk machine, they are legcuffed and gassed to sleep. They awaken in the rear of a truck, where the Joker, speaking to them through a trick microphone, tells them that the electric chairs they restrained to are hooked up to a slot machine. If the machine comes up three lemons, they’ll be hit with 50,000 volts of electricity.

Appearing in "The Joker Goes to School"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

  • Joker
  • Nick
  • Susie
  • Two Bits

Other Characters:

  • Bonnie (Voice only)
  • Herbie
  • Mr. Vandergilt
  • Pete
  • Principal A.P. Schoolfield
  • Wayne Foundation (Mentioned only)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:



Notes

  • No notes.

Trivia

  • In Brazil, this episode is famous as the basis of the satirical dubbing called "Bátima a Feira da Fruta", reaching more than two million views.[1]


See Also

Recommended Media

  • None.


Links and References

  • None.

Footnotes

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