I don't know why The Batman (2004) had it's casting director change midway through the run of the show, but I feel like you can sort of tell it happened. Because the three Ginny McSwain seasons had Adam West and Frank Gorshin there as guest actors, but it didn't really have too many times to other DC properties or shows. But wouldn't you know it, Andrea Romano swapping out for her brings Kevin Conroy and George Newbern and Dana Delany and all these DCAU actors back to the show. George Newbern and Dana Delany are good performers, but i'm just using them to emphasize my point here.
It really helps mark their respective eras. It helps that the Ginny McSwain seasons also had Dan Castellaneta as The Ventriloquist, which now reminds me that Ginny McSwain was the dialogue director or something on Darkwing Duck in the 90s. So that explains her reusing an actor she met on Darkwing Duck for her later Batman work. And Dan Castellaneta pulls both parts off. Which is kind of impressive.
I'm kind of rambling now, but I just feel like i'm pointing out an obvious sort of thing. Which is that The Batman (2004) was initially a very independent show, but then people kept getting mad that it wasn't the DCAU. So they forced it to conform to the DCAU by having all these guests, and that may have killed the show. It certainly couldn't have helped, i don't think.
The show deserves a revival and a second chance. So does Batman The Brave and The Bold, to be honest. So I kind of wish both shows would get resurrected. I'd even take a crossover. Diedrich Bader and Rino Romano together might be the stuff dreams are made of. If we added the Telltale Series universe, i'd be even happier. Kevin Michael Richardson, Jeff Bennett and Anthony Ingruber all playing Joker would be so fun. There's so many good batman shows or series that need comebacks, but none of them involved Kevin Conroy as a main character.
