Vault: Michael Keaton Joins The Show

Summary

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Episode Overview

Episode Title: Vault: Michael Keaton Joins The Show
Podcast: The Bert Show
Air Date: December 8, 2025
Host: Bert & The Bert Show Cast
Main Guest: Michael Keaton

In this high-energy, fast-paced episode, the Bert Show welcomes acclaimed actor Michael Keaton, known for iconic roles in Beetlejuice, Batman, and Mr. Mom. The main theme centers around Keaton’s illustrious movie career, why he left the Batman franchise, his perspective on a possible Beetlejuice sequel, and his thoughts on his then-new movie, White Noise. The episode is marked by candid conversation, sharp wit, and Michael Keaton’s signature dry humor, tightly packed into a rapid-fire interview due to time constraints imposed by Keaton’s publicity team.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Comically Limited Interview Time

• Bert and the team learn mid-show that the interview will only last two to three minutes, to everyone’s surprise and mock horror.
  • [02:10] Bert: "We wouldn't have even agreed to do the interview if we knew it was only going to be 120 seconds long."
• The team jokes about how difficult it is to squeeze all their questions into such a short window, suggesting humorous ways to make it work.
• Keaton takes it in stride, offering to “end the interview whenever I want.”
  • [04:04] Michael Keaton: "Okay. I'm pretty much done. Thank you very much."

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2. Leaving Batman and Script Quality

• Bert asks why Keaton left the Batman franchise after two films, with the assumption that he’d be the “007” of Gotham.
  • [04:14] Bert: “I thought that when you signed on to be Batman, you were gonna be Batman for 19 different movies. Like the 007 franchise. And I'm just curious, did you back out of that?”
• Keaton reveals his reason:
  • [04:28] Michael Keaton: “Yeah, it was not good. It was not a good script. And I said, hey, I'll do the third one. But we got to redo the script... Interestingly, what they're doing in this one is what I suggested for the third one… But anyway, it wasn't good. And I said, I want to go on to do some other things.”

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3. George Clooney “Killed Batman” Rumor

• The hosts probe into the popular notion that George Clooney “killed” the Batman film series.
  • [05:04] Interviewer: “…was there any kind of, you know, secret satisfaction when they kept talking about how George Clooney killed Batman?”
• Keaton responds diplomatically:
  • [05:13] Michael Keaton: “No, I think. I think what happened was George said that ... According to my friends ... he said, 'Michael Keaton clearly is the best Batman. He knows how to do it. I single handedly destroyed it,' which was not true. He's a very charming cat.”

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4. Keaton’s Relationship With Batman Movies Post-Departure

• Refuses to watch the later Batman movies:
  • [05:40] Michael Keaton: "Honestly, I've never seen him... I just had no real interest. If somebody would have told me, God, this thing's brilliant, I probably would have got to see it. But I didn't hear that."

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5. Is a Beetlejuice Sequel Possible?

• Beetlejuice is a beloved topic among the Bert Show team.
  • [06:02] Melissa: "Beetlejuice is one of my favorite characters ever. And I have to know from you, will there be a sequel? Would you take that role if there was a sequel?"
• Keaton is enthusiastic about returning:
  • [06:10] Michael Keaton: "I'm dead serious ... you should start a groundswell because ... it's a guaranteed money maker for them. And also, it's one of the only things I'd like to do... If Tim Burton would produce it, I would love to do it again."
• Notable joke regarding activism:
  • [06:39] Michael Keaton: "You call 1-800-GROUNDSWELL."

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6. Legacy: The One Movie

• The cast asks Keaton what film he’d like to be remembered for:
  • [06:45] Burt: “…what is the one movie you want people to look at for Michael Keaton as the legacy that he left behind?"
• Beetlejuice stands out:
  • [07:05] Michael Keaton: “…it might be Beetlejuice. Because I think what my goal has always been ... is originality ... And I think that movie is truly a piece of art ... There was nothing like it. So maybe as an artist, I would want to look back and go, you know, it's that... probably that one, I guess.”

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7. White Noise and Attraction to the Project

• Why White Noise was irresistible:
  • [07:52] Michael Keaton: “...I really wanted to go back to work, but only in something that interested me. And when I read this, I thought it was Just one of the better written things I'd seen and really unusual and totally different... it's kind of a thinking man's version of this genre and very scary...”
• Thoughts on the film’s resonance and its reception by TV hosts:
  • [08:36] Michael Keaton: “I was on the Today show with Katie Couric ... and Dr. Phil did the same thing ... it's making people talk because it's this phenomena that I guess is starting to pop up ...”

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8. On Being Scared by Scary Movies

• Keaton downplays his own fear:
  • [09:09] Michael Keaton (joking): "Well, you know, you're talking to a guy who gets scared, like certain kinds of cheeses."
  • He explains that little actually scares him in movies, but he enjoyed scaring family as a kid and lists the few films that did rattle him, such as The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, and Poltergeist.

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9. Paranormal Beliefs & Research for White Noise

• Melissa asks about contacting the other side (a theme of White Noise):
  • [09:48] Melissa: "Do you think that we can get messages from the other side? Because it's kind of what we..."
• Keaton’s answer evolves during research:
  • [09:51] Michael Keaton: "...before I started this film. No, I never even heard of this. I don't even know what people are talking about. ...I had to do a whole rethink about it. ...it was verified by respected scientists that there is something that comes across that they can't explain. They have recordings of Gregorian monks going way, way back and they hear voices in them that they can't explain."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On limiting words:
  • [03:17] Michael Keaton (to Bert): “Are you making good use of your words or are you good with the language?”
• On leaving Batman due to a bad script:
  • [04:28] Michael Keaton: “Yeah, it was not good. It was not a good script...”
• On setting up a movement for Beetlejuice 2:
  • [06:39] Michael Keaton (joking): “You call 1-800-GROUNDSWELL.”
• On his artistic legacy:
  • [07:05] Michael Keaton: “...it might be Beetlejuice. ...I think that movie is truly a piece of art because ... there was nothing like it.”
• On being scared:
  • [09:09] Michael Keaton (joking): “You're talking to a guy who gets scared, like certain kinds of cheeses.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:35] — Introduction to Michael Keaton’s guest appearance
• [02:10] — Realization of abridged interview window, hosts scramble
• [03:17] — Michael Keaton jokes about being “chatty” and “wordy”
• [04:14] — Batman franchise: Keaton explains his departure
• [05:13] — George Clooney “killed Batman” discussion
• [05:40] — Keaton admits he never watched later Batman films
• [06:09] — Beetlejuice sequel: Keaton’s enthusiasm and suggestions
• [07:05] — Legacy movie: Keaton picks Beetlejuice as his artistic highlight
• [07:52] — Attraction to White Noise, unusual script, and genre innovation
• [09:09] — On being scared and horror movies that shook Keaton
• [09:51] — Beliefs and research into the paranormal for White Noise

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Summary in the Bert Show’s Style

This episode is a wild ride packed into a brisk, joyfully chaotic interview. Michael Keaton’s authentic, wry humor shines in every segment, whether talking Hollywood inside baseball, the unusual chaos and creativity behind Beetlejuice, or confronting his own reputation as Batman. The Bert Show crew keeps it real and relentlessly funny, even under the pressure of a ticking clock. For fans of Keaton, 80s/90s movies, and clever radio banter, this vault episode is a must-listen.

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Transcript

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[Burt]

Purch the Burt Show.

Michael Keaton of Beetlejuice fame and also Pacific Heights and Batman. My life. Mr. Mom gonna join us here any second.

[Producer/Assistant]

Just so you know, when he calls that if this comes, if this comes up. I didn't give you a time, but they said, okay, Michael Keaton's gonna join you in a minute. You've got two to three minutes.

[Burt]

Two to three minutes?

[Producer/Assistant]

Yeah.

[Burt]

Wow.

[Producer/Assistant]

But I didn't tell you that we.

[Burt]

Got a two to three minute interview with Michael Keaton.

[Producer/Assistant]

Take as long as you want. That's. I'm just saying that because if we're in the middle of somebody who's like, yeah, I found this great website. There's all naked people doing all Kind. And then you suddenly have to go to Michael Keaton quickly. That' just.

[Melissa]

That's why, Dan, skip the whole introducing everybody on the show. That takes two or three minutes.

[Jen]

Right?

[Burt]

We wouldn't have even agreed to do the interview if we knew it was only going to be 120 seconds long.

[Producer/Assistant]

Here's the way. Here's how we can either make it exciting. You can do. We challenge you to actually do an interview in three minutes or less.

[Burt]

I can't do. I can't. No, there's no challenge. I can't do it. I can't even see the Burt show on all the hits. Q100 in two minutes.

[Jen]

Yes.

[Melissa]

This is Melissa.

[Michael Keaton]

Melissa, say hi.

[Melissa]

This is Jen. Jen, why don't you say Hi? That takes three minutes right there.

[Burt]

We got 13 members of the on air staff.

[Producer/Assistant]

Hey, Michael, we're gonna play Beetlejuice for you now. And when you hear a spot that you thought you could have done better, why don't you tell us to stop and then reenact that spot.

[Burt]

Hey there. Michael Keaton. How are you today?

[Michael Keaton]

I'm well. How are you?

[Burt]

We're doing good. I want to let you know something right off the bat, though. We are a chatty. We are a wordy morning show and we just found out from your people that we only have like three minutes with you. So I am.

I am going to put the end of this interview in your hands. You tell us when you're done.

[Michael Keaton]

Wordy. When you say chatty.

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Yes.

[Michael Keaton]

Are you making good use of your words or are you good with the language?

[Burt]

I would define chatty for you, but it would take me seven minutes.

[Michael Keaton]

Don't do that. It's like me emailing the other day. My assistant just bought me a Palm Pilot where you text message people. I just got done working on Herbie with Lindsay Lohan. You cannot believe how quickly she can email or text message people. Her little thumbs are just flying. It took me. I timed myself. It took me about 14 minutes.

[Burt]

We've got the same thing here, like intern Jen. You have to be like 24 years old or younger to have that gene.

[Michael Keaton]

You know, I am a Luddite.

[Burt]

Michael Keaton joining the Burt show on all the hits. Q100. So, Michael, when you want this interview to be over, you tell us our time is up or we'll just. We're just gonna keep going.

[Michael Keaton]

Okay. I'm pretty much done. Thank you very much.

[Burt]

Very nice talking to you. Very nice talking to you. I think the first thing that I would. I would really like to ask you, because we only have nine seconds left.

[Michael Keaton]

Okay.

[Burt]

Is like, I thought that with the whole Batman legacy, I thought that when you signed on to be Batman, you were gonna be Batman for 19 different movies. Like. Like the 007 franchise.

[Michael Keaton]

Right.

[Burt]

And I'm just curious, did you back out of that?

[Michael Keaton]

Yeah, it was not good. It was not a good script. And I said, hey, I'll do the third one. But we got to redo the script. And, you know, interestingly. And I predict this next one will be good because there's a lot of really talented people involved. But interestingly, what they're doing in this one is what I suggested for the third one. I said, I don't think this script is well written personally. And I know the writer's a good writer, but I thought, this is not good. Let's just work on it. And I thought it was more interesting to go back and do more of a prequel. And that's apparently what they're doing in this one. And I'll bet you this is good. Not for that reason, but I just have a feeling that it'll be quite good. But anyway, it wasn't good. And I said, I want to go on to do some other things.

[Interviewer]

Now, I know in Hollywood every actor has to be respectful of other actors, but was there any kind of, you know, secret satisfaction when they kept talking about how George Clooney killed Batman?

[Michael Keaton]

No, I think. I think what happened was George said that.

[Burt]

He did.

[Boost Mobile Announcer]

He said.

[Michael Keaton]

He said. And I've never heard this, but my friends, people have told me, and George, you know, I know him, but we've never talked about that. According to my friends, DC has told people, he said, Michael Keaton clearly is the best Batman. He knows how to do it. I single handedly destroyed it, which was not true. He's a very charming cat.

[Burt]

Did you sit down and watch the other Batman movies?

[Michael Keaton]

Honestly, I've never seen him. Now, I did poke my head in. I was at a multiplex once and it was playing down the hall, so I don't know what I was seeing, but I went down to poke my head in it. And I just. I just. It's not out of any kind of vengeance. I just had no real interest. If somebody would have told me, God, this thing's brilliant, I probably would have got to see it. But I didn't hear that.

[Burt]

I didn't go talking to Michael Keaton on the Burt show on all the hits. Q100.

[Melissa]

Beetlejuice is one of my favorite characters ever. And I have to know from you, will there be a sequel? Would you take that role if there was a sequel?

[Burt]

You know what?

[Michael Keaton]

You know what? You guys should start. I'm dead serious about this. You should start a groundswell because that. You should start promoting that idea. Because I'm telling you, first of all, it's a guaranteed money maker for them. And also, it's one of the only things I'd like to do. I get bored real quick doing things, so I like to move on. I just had so much fun doing that, and I think we only scratched the surface. So I would that movie again. If Tim Burton would produce it, I would love to do it again.

[Producer/Assistant]

Who do we call for that? Because I've never started groundswell.

[Michael Keaton]

You call 1-800-GROUNDSWELL.

[Melissa]

I think you texted Lindsay Lohan.

[Michael Keaton]

That's how you started.

[Burt]

You know, and looking back at your movie career, you've done so many great movies, and it's so easy to tell by your resume. Like, you really love stretching yourself in these different roles. What do you want, like, the one movie, I mean, in 130 years, when you're not around anymore and only your movies are left, what is the one movie you want people to look at for Michael Keaton as the legacy that he left behind.

[Michael Keaton]

Wow, that's something I never thought of. Honestly, as nuts as this may sound, it might be Beetlejuice. Because I think what my goal has always been, you know, originality is really hard to come by for many of us, and something that's totally, truly artistic and original is really tough. And I think that movie is truly a piece of art because look at the other people involved in it. And Tim Burton, there was nothing like it. So maybe as an artist, I would want to look back and go, you know, it's that. But. But besides that, I honestly, I can't think of probably that one, I guess.

[Burt]

Well, I think Beetlejuice is a pretty satisfying answer for all of us.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely. And, you know, you said how you get bored easily. I'm curious, because I'm really excited about White Noise because I think the subject matter is fascinating. What about that, you know, attracted you to do this movie?

[Michael Keaton]

Well, you know, I do, and I do. There aren't that many. I have. The irony is I have tons of interests, and that's one reason I don't work that much. And I'm off doing other things that I'm interested in, but I really wanted to go back to work, but only in something that interested me. And when I read this, I thought it was Just one of the better written things I'd seen and really unusual and totally different from other things that I've seen out there. Not only read, but movies that I've seen. And especially in this genre. It's kind of a thinking man's version of this genre and very scary. But I thought, this will never happen because I'll never find the right director. And then they sent this guy over from England to talked to us, and he had a great take on it. And I just thought it was really.

Literally, legitimately frightening and made you really think. I was on the Today show with Katie Couric the other day and she went on and on about how much she was, how enthusiastic and how interested she was in this film and the subject matter and how much she liked it. And Dr. Phil did the same thing when I was on there. So it's making people talk because it's this phenomena that I guess is starting to pop up in the.

[Burt]

I've always wondered, like, when you're working on a scary movie like this even though you know what's coming up while you're shooting it, it's in the script. Do you still get scared as hell when things are happening on the set that you're acting in?

[Michael Keaton]

Well, you know, you're talking to a guy who gets scared, like certain kinds of cheeses.

So. No. No, honestly. Honestly, it's hard for me to get scared in movies when I see them. Even as a kid, it really took a lot to scare me. But I come from a big family. There were seven of us. And I took great pleasure in scaring everyone in my family. I loved scaring people and being scared. But I never would see movies that scared me very much. And I thought this had the potential. Exorcist scared me, and Rosemary's Baby scared. And Poltergeist was pretty scary. But this, I thought, was not only scary, it was like kind of a good mystery. In the thriller, do you think that.

[Melissa]

We can get messages from the other side? Because it's kind of what we.

[Michael Keaton]

I would have told you, you know, before I started this film. No, I never even heard of this. I don't even know what people are talking about. I think it's just a good idea for a movie. It turns out this goes way, way back. There's an article I don't think I'm reviewing myself, but there's an article in the London Mail, I believe. And there's all these little articles popping up all over the place about an awareness of this. And this thing dates way, way, way, way, way back. They've got recordings of people. I mean, so they claim. You know, it is really, really interesting. And after reading this article yesterday, I had to do a whole rethink about it. I mean, I had a really. Because it was verified by respected scientists that there is something that comes across that they can't explain. They have recordings of Gregorian monks going way, way back and they hear voices in them that they can't explain. Wow.

[Melissa]

Wow.

[Burt]

Well, the name of the movie is White Noise. It starts. When does it start? Michael? Tomorrow starts tomorrow with Michael Keaton. Your people are buzzing our cell phone big time. So we got to let you go or we'll never get an interview again. Very, very good talking to you, Michael Keaton. Thank you very much for joining us. Oh, yeah, good talking to you. Bye now.

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