9. The Leaked Pilot Script 1: Awful Writing
A second draft of the pilot script was leaked a couple months ago which was full of worrying indications of how bad the series looked to be. The premise of the pilot is new-to-the-force Jim Gordon getting partnered with jaded, corrupt cop Harvey Bullock to solve the double murder of the Waynes, leaving their only son Bruce an orphan. As they go through Gotham searching for clues, numerous Batman references crop up and the pilot reveals it is nothing but a giant cheeseball. Among the many howlers in the script were the corny gangster phrases like "mopes," "loonybirds," "skell huggers, "sugar bunnies," and "a cool glass of milk". Is this supposed to be a comedy? What kind of gangster talks like a cartoon character? Or is this a period piece/parody of classic gangster movies? Gone is the well-spoken butler Alfred Pennyworth, replaced with a cockney geezer. The line from the script that stands out is: "Oi! Master Bruce! Stop playing silly buggers! Get your bloody arse down off there!". Um... ok...was this role originally written for Dick Van Dyke? And then there's Jim's fiancée Barbara, who says the line "Jim, you are the cleverest, bravest, goodest man in Gotham" which is the dictionary definition of exposition. The examples of lazy writing for the pilot script reveal a lack of any kind of freshness or originality in the concept to this series. If this is the direction the show is heading, it might well be the worst thing Batman-related since 1997's Batman & Robin.