Peter Scolari, Emmy-winning actor, 1955-2021

Emmy-winning actor Peter Scolari, who co-starred with Tom Hanks in Bosom Buddies and later appeared on Newhart, Girls, and the Batman-adjacent show Gotham, died 10/22/21. He was only 66.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter about his guest role on Family Ties. This man had 1,844 more important things to do yet he took the time to leisurely answer questions about a 24-minute show he appeared on once in 1986.

After, he wrote "Do you think you could send me a copy of that book about Mr. Finger? Think of it as a late birthday present...oh, and if you could sign it, that would be so cool." 

Then he actually read it, and made a point to tell me. What's so cool now?

Of the hundreds of pop culture figures I've interviewed, he was one of the most genuine and most gracious. A bosom buddy I never met in person. Thank you and RIP Peter.

Bill Finger's paperweight on "Gotham"

Did I…?

Was that…?

Watching the season 3 episode of Gotham called "The Executioner" (original air date 11/14/16), my eyes popped and my jaw dropped when the character who will become Poison Ivy picks up a paperweight.

A paperweight that so happens to be THE EXACT SAME STYLE AS THE ONE BILL FINGER LEFT BEHIND more than 40 years ago.

As seen in Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman:

The story behind Bill's paperweight came with a crazy coincidence; could this Gotham appearance be one, too? Or, even better, was it (however unlikely) done deliberately?

First Bill Finger credits on TV and in comic books

On 10/10/15, we got our first glimpse of the newly worded Batman credit “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.” It is from what some called a house ad but what actually seems to be a title page.

A little more than a week later, the credits are coming fast and furious now.

On 10/18/15 (technically 10/19/15, since the show aired at midnight), the first known Bill credit in a TV show ran—Robot Chicken DC Comics Special III: Magical Friendship:

Later on 10/19/15, in the end credits of the fifth episode of the second season of Gotham (“Scarification”), we first saw the credit in a television series where said credit will now appear each time:

Today, on 10/21/15, we encounter the first three credit appearances in comic book series: 

Batman & Robin Eternal #3

Batman: Arkham Knight—Genesis #3

Gotham Academy #11
 

The covers of the above (courtesy of the Bill Finger Appreciation Group):

We’ve come a long way.

No "Bill Finger" in GOTHAM credits...but no "Bob Kane," either

This omission is, I believe, a first in the history of (official) Batman narrative:

As pressure to credit Bill mounts, I wonder if leaving Bob out is a ploy to defend not putting Bill in...

Bill Finger, Michael Uslan, and the inspiration for “Gotham”

The clever Michael Uslan (producer of every movie with Batman in it since 1989) had a brainstorm to hunt for a fun—and pivotal—piece of cultural history. 

Bill Finger named Batman’s city after seeing a phone book listing for “Gotham Jewelers,” and Michael found a February 1938 ad for the company in a digital newspaper archive. Here’s another, from June, from the same Yonkers, NY paper:

Bill Finger’s name in “Gotham,” the city he named?

On 5/5/14, Fox announced its series order for Gotham, a TV show about Bruce Wayne’s city before he became Batman, debuting fall 2014.

Without Bill Finger, the show—let alone the city—would have no name.

According to The Steranko History of Comics, Volume 1 (page 45), and as repeated in Batman & Me, Bob Kane’s autobiography (page 44), Bill Finger said

Originally, I was going to call Gotham City ‘Civic City.’ Then I tried Capital City, then Coast City. Then, I flipped through the phone book and spotted the name Gotham Jewelers and said, ‘That’s it,’ Gotham City.

As alluded to here before, I understand that until any changes are legally made to the agreement Bob Kane made with DC Comics, subjective terms (namely “creator” or “co-creator”) are off limits, so for the Gotham credits I propose a simple statement of fact:

“Batman’s city was first called ‘Gotham’ in a story written by Bill Finger published in Batman #4, 1940.”

Several times since the announcement, I have tweeted about this. Of course, it’ll take more than tweets to get Bill’s name in the show’s credits, but if you do, please keep it similarly simple/non-inflammatory, and please use hashtag #FingerInGotham.

Justice has no expiration date.