Batman Description
The series was produced
in the United States and debuted at 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday
evening, January 12, 1966 on ABC television, with the conclusion
airing at 7:30 PM ET Thursday night, January 13 (replacing
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet on Wednesdays [which
moved to Saturday] and the canceled primetime music variety
series Shindig! on Thursdays). The Batman series contained
a broad, mad-cap humor that was embraced by youth in the
1960s, partly due to the popularity of MAD and Cracked magazines.
It was known for its silly high camp concepts, which were
also seen on Car 54, Where Are You?, Lost In Space, and
Green Acres.
Adam West's Batman/ Bruce
Wayne was a zealot for all things wholesome. He routinely
spouted proverbs to his castmates heralding patriotism,
civil obedience, and the American way. Such over-the-top
dialogue continues to be the style some associate with the
Batman character despite it being least reflective of the
Batman mythos as it is known today. (The series was, however,
very reflective of the character as portrayed in comics
in the late 1950s and early 1960s, before editor Julius
Schwartz revamped the books, removing much of the silliness.)
The series ran for a total of 120 25-minute episodes.
The show revolved around the
adventures of the crimefighter Batman (Adam West) and his
sidekick Robin (Burt Ward) in Gotham City. Batman's secret
identity was as debonair "millionaire philanthropist"
Bruce Wayne, who lived outside the city in "stately
Wayne Manor" with his youthful ward Dick Grayson, also
known as Robin (Burt Ward), faithful butler Alfred (Alan
Napier), and Aunt Harriet Cooper (Madge Blake). Aunt Harriet
was Dick Grayson's, not Wayne's, biological aunt, though
this fact was mentioned only a few times during the second
season (in the episodes 'The Clock King Gets Crowned' and
'The Devil's Fingers').
The adventures usually called
for the heroes to fight supervillains such as The Joker
(Cesar Romero), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin and later John
Astin), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Mr Freeze (George
Sanders and later Otto Preminger), King Tut (Victor Buono),
and Catwoman (played at various times by Julie Newmar, Lee
Meriwether, and Eartha Kitt).
Other main characters were
Police Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton) and Chief O'Hara
(Stafford Repp) of the Gotham City Police, and, in the third
season, Batgirl (Yvonne Craig). Probably one of the campiest
installments featured flashy Vegas showman Liberace, in
a dual role as a hard-nosed cigar chomping thug and his
intimidated but essentially honest brother.
Quick action sequences, the
voice of TV producer William Dozier as a pompous sounding
narrator (identified as Desmond Doomsday on the Batman Television
Soundtrack Album) providing the storylines, psychedelic
sets and costumes, Dutch angles (with the criminals' lairs
always being filmed with the camera at an angle to emphasize
the "crooked" nature of the criminals), and bright
colors were all meant to evoke the four-color, campy world
of the comic books of the 1950s and 1960s under the strict
Comics Code Authority.
The series is notable for
its use of cliffhanger endings, and the "Batclimb cameo"
whereby the Dynamic Duo would occasionally scale the outside
of a tall building, encountering cameo appearances from
top celebrities of the day. The fight scenes were accompanied
with comic-style captions, such as WHAM! and POW!, that
would appear on screen in time with the action.
