Batman The Television Series

**Batman** Simply Known as The, Batman the Television Series or Batman (TV Series) is the 1960s Version on The Dark Knight who is More goofy and responsible to The Law then The Darker More Emo Batman's of the Late 20th Century to the Early-Mid 21st Century Batman's

## More Info

### Starring

Adam WestBurt WardAlan NapierNeil HamiltonStafford ReppMadge BlakeYvonne Craig

## Overview and Plot

The series focuses on Batman and Robin as they defend Gotham City from its various criminals. Although the lives of their alter-egos, millionaire Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson are frequently shown, it is usually only briefly, in the context of their being called away on superhero business or in circumstances where they need to employ their public identities to assist in their crime-fighting. The "Dynamic Duo" typically comes to the aid of the Gotham City Police upon the latter being stumped by a supervillain. Throughout each episode, Batman and Robin follow a series of seemingly improbable clues (also known as "bat logic") to discover the supervillain's plan, then figure out how to thwart that plan and capture the criminal.

The third and final season, which aired one episode a week and introduced Yvonne Craig as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, consisted of self-contained stories. Each third season story ended with a teaser featuring the next episode's guest villain, except for the series finale. The cliffhangers between multiple-part stories consist of villains holding someone captive, usually Batman or Robin, with the captive(s) being threatened by death, serious injury or another fate. These cliffhangers are resolved early in the follow-up episode with Batman and Robin getting themselves out of every death trap.

Ostensibly a crime series, the style of the show was in fact campy and tongue-in-cheek. It was a true situation comedy, in that situations were exaggerated and were generally played for laughs. This increased as the seasons progressed, with the addition of ever greater absurdity. However, the characters always took the absurd situations extremely seriously - which added to the comedy.

## Episodes

* Season 1 - 34 Episodes: January 12th 1966 - May 5th 1966
* Season 2 - 60 Episodes: September 7th 1966 - March 3rd 1967
* Season 3 - 26 Episodes: September 14th 1967 - March 14th 1968

## Cast and Characters

### **Regular Cast**

* Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman: A multi-millionaire industrialist whose parents were murdered when he was a child and who now secretly uses his vast fortune to fight crime as the masked vigilante Batman. With the exception of two episodes, the series refrains from mentioning his origins as a "crime orphan". Producer William Dozier cast Adam West in the role after seeing him perform as the James Bond-like spy Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik television advertisement. Lyle Waggoner had screen-tested for the role, though West ultimately won out because, it was said, he was the only person who could deliver his lines with a straight face. West later voiced an animated version of the title character on The New Adventures of Batman.
* Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin: Batman's sidekick, dubbed the "Boy Wonder": a high school student noted for his recurring interjections in the form of "Holy \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, Batman!" (The series avoids referencing Robin's origins as Bruce Wayne's fellow "crime orphan", as whose legal guardian the courts appoint Bruce.) Ward voiced an animated version of this character on The New Adventures of Batman.
* Alan Napier as Alfred: Batman's loyal butler and Batgirl's discreet confidant. He is the only person who knows the true identities of Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon.
* Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon: The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department and one of Batman's two major police contacts. He summons the Dynamic Duo via the Batphone or the Bat Signal.
* Stafford Repp as Chief O'Hara: Gotham City's Chief of Police, and Batman's other major police contact. The character was created by Semple for the series, as someone for Gordon to talk to, and later briefly added to the comics. In 2013, DC revealed this incarnation's first name to be "Miles" in their Batman'66 comics.
* Madge Blake as Harriet Cooper: Dick Grayson's maternal aunt. She first appeared in the comics, two years before the series premiered, to give Bruce and Dick a reason to be secretive about their dual identities.
* Yvonne Craig as Barbara Gordon / Batgirl: Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Gotham City librarian and crime fighting partner for Batman and Robin for the third season. Occasionally, this threesome was nicknamed the "Terrific Trio".
* William Dozier as Narrator (uncredited): According to Adam West's memoir, Back to the Batcave, his first exposure to the series concept was through reading a sample script in which Batman enters a nightclub in his complete costume and requests a booth near the wall, as he "shouldn't wish to attract attention". It was the scrupulously formal dialogue, and the way that Batman earnestly believed he could avoid standing out while wearing a skintight blue-and-grey costume, that convinced West of the character's comic potential. With the death of Adam West on June 9, 2017, Burt Ward is now the only surviving main Batman cast member.

### The Recurring Villains

* Cesar Romero as The Joker: A clown-themed, prank-loving villain and Batman's archenemy, who leaves behind jokes as clues to his next crime.
* Burgess Meredith as The Penguin: A penguin-themed gentleman thief who commits crimes using multipurpose umbrellas.
* The Riddler played by: Frank Gorshin (Seasons 1 and 3 and the movie) John Astin (Season 2): A criminal who leaves behind riddles as clues to his crimes.
* The Catwoman played by: Julie Newmar (Seasons 1 and 2), Lee Meriwether (the movie), Eartha Kitt (Season 3): A cat-themed jewel thief and cat burglar in a complicated love-hate relationship with Batman.
* Victor Buono as Professor William McElroy / King Tut: An Egyptologist who developed a split personality after being struck on the head during a student protest. Each time he is hit on the head, he switches between the personalities of a university professor and a reincarnated version of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.
* Dr. Art Schivel/Mr. Freeze played by: George Sanders (Season 1), Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach (Season 2): A mad scientist who, after exposure to a freeze solution, now needs below-freezing temperatures to survive. His weapon of choice is a freeze-blast gun, capable of freezing its target solid. In his first appearance, the gun could also produce a heat/incendiary beam.
* David Wayne as Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter: A formally dressed villain with an obsession for collecting hats (he steals the hats from his victims, then knocks them out with a mesmerizing ray that pops out of the top of his hat).
* Vincent Price as Egghead: A smug, bald-headed genius whose crimes and speech patterns involve eggs.
* Carolyn Jones as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds: A criminal with a fondness for jewelry.
* Cliff Robertson as Shame: A Western-themed villain, whose partners at various times include Okie Annie and Calamity Jan. The three of them spoof famous Western characters from the movies (namely Shane, Annie Oakley, and Calamity Jane).
* Anne Baxter as Olga, Queen of the Cossacks: A Russian-accented, redheaded villainess often paired with Egghead. Baxter had earlier appeared in one story as "Zelda the Great", a master of illusion whose crimes are tied in with magic tricks.
* Milton Berle as Louie the Lilac: A gangster with a fondness for flowers.

## Production

### Origin

In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions optioned the television rights to the comic book Batman and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show, much like Adventures of Superman and The Lone Ranger, to air on CBS on Saturday mornings.

East Coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in his childhood, contacted ABC executives Harve Bennett and Edgar J. Scherick, who were already considering developing a television series based on a comic-strip action hero, to suggest a prime-time Batman series in the hip and fun style of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC Comics quickly reobtained rights and made the deal with ABC, which farmed the rights out to 20th Century Fox to produce the series.

In turn, 20th Century Fox handed the project to William Dozier and his production company, Greenway Productions. ABC and Fox were expecting a hip and fun—yet still serious—adventure show. However, Dozier, who had never before read comic books, concluded, after reading several Batman comics for research, that the only way to make the show work was to do it as a pop-art campy comedy. Originally, espionage novelist Eric Ambler was to have scripted a TV movie that would launch the television series, but he dropped out after learning of Dozier's campy comedy approach. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with Adam West and Burt Ward and the other with Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles.

### Season 1

Lorenzo Semple Jr. had signed on as head scriptwriter. He wrote the pilot script, and generally wrote in a pop-art adventure style. Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward campy comedy, and in Ross's case, sometimes outright slapstick and satire. It was originally intended as a one-hour show, but ABC changed the premiere date from Fall 1966 to January of that year. With the network having only two early-evening half-hour time slots available, the show was split into two parts, to air twice a week in 30-minute installments on Wednesdays and Thursdays. A cliffhanger connected the two episodes, echoing the old movie serials.

Some ABC affiliates were not happy that ABC included a fourth commercial minute in every episode of Batman. One affiliate refused to air the series. The network insisted it needed the extra advertising revenue.

The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, and the Mad Hatter, villains who originated in the comic books, all appeared in the series, the plots for which were deliberately villain-driven. According to the producers, Frank Gorshin was selected to portray Riddler due to the fact that he was a Batman fan since childhood. Catwoman was portrayed by three different actresses during the series run: by Julie Newmar in the first two seasons, by Lee Meriwether in the feature film based on the series, and by Eartha Kitt in the third and final season.

The show was extraordinarily popular, and was considered "the biggest TV phenomenon of the mid-1960s".

### Season 2

Semple's participation in the series decreased in the second season. In his autobiography Back to the Batcave Adam West explained to Jeff Rovin, to whom he dictated the autobiography after rejecting an offer to contribute to The Official "Batman" Batbook written by Joel Eisner, that when work on the second season commenced following the completion of the feature film, Dozier, his immediate deputy Howie Horwitz, and the rest of the cast and crew rushed their preparation. Thus, they failed to give themselves enough time to determine what they wanted to do with the series during season two.

John Astin replaced Frank Gorshin as the Riddler for a pair of episodes when Gorshin's new agents at William Morris demanded more money.

### Season 3

By season three, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain. To attract new viewers, Dozier opted to introduce a female character. He came up with the idea of using Batgirl, who in her civilian identity would be Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, and asked the editor of the Batman comics to further develop the character (who had made her debut in a 1966 issue of Detective Comics).[11] To convince ABC executives to introduce Batgirl as a regular on the show, a promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced.[12] Batgirl was the first Superheroine to appear in an ongoing capacity on television. The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self-contained episodes, although the following week's villain would be introduced in a tag at the end of each episode, similar to a soap opera. Accordingly, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were mostly eliminated, most episodes ending with him encouraging viewers to watch next week.[notes 1]

Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season, due to Madge Blake's poor health and the issue of trying to fit so many characters (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, and a guest villain) into a half-hour episode. Another cast change during the final season was replacing Julie Newmar, who had been a popular recurring guest villain as the Catwoman during the first two seasons. Singer-actress Eartha Kitt assumed the role for season three, as Newmar was working on the film Mackenna's Gold at that time and thus unable to appear. In the United States, Kitt's performance in the series marked the second mainstream television success of a black female, following Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in Star Trek and continued breaking the racial boundaries of the time. Kitt's performance as Catwoman would also, later, inspire Halle Berry's portrayal of the character in the 2004 film Catwoman, in which Berry would mimic Kitt's famous purrs. Frank Gorshin, the original actor to play the Riddler, returned for a single appearance after a one-season hiatus, during which John Astin made one appearance in the role.

The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of surrealism. In addition, the third season was much more topical, with references to hippies, mods, and distinctive 1960s slang, which the previous two seasons had avoided.

### Episode Format

Each story relied on using the same formula, so that the audience quickly came to expect a series of familiar set pieces: a phone call from the police asking for Batman's help, a dash to the Batcave, a race in the Batmobile to police headquarters, a conference in the Commissioner's office, investigating the scene of the crime, examining clues in the crime-lab at the Batcave, rushing to the villain's secret hideout, falling into the pre-arranged trap. By relying heavily on a formula, it became easy to spoof various elements of that formula.

### Teaser and exposition

The typical story begins with a villain's caper (such as stealing a fabulous treasure, kidnapping a prominent person, or attempting to take over Gotham City). In his office, Commissioner Gordon, along with Chief O'Hara, learn of the crime and the culprit. Helpless to stop the villain, they contact Batman via the Batphone – a bright red telephone that provides a direct phone link to Batman (be it at Wayne Manor, the Batcave or the Batmobile). At "stately Wayne Manor", Alfred (Wayne's butler) answers the Batphone and informs Bruce Wayne of the call. Frequently, Wayne and his ward, Dick Grayson, are found talking with Dick's aunt, Harriet Cooper, who is unaware of Bruce and Dick's secret identities. Alfred discreetly interrupts and they excuse themselves to go to the Batphone in Wayne's study. Upon learning the details from Gordon, Wayne turns a switch concealed within a bust of Shakespeare that stands on his desk to reveal two fireman's poles hidden behind a sliding bookcase. "To the Batpoles!" Wayne exclaims, and he and Grayson slide down the poles that lead to the Batcave.

More Infomation on Found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman\_(TV\_series)

## Reunions and role reprisals

* In 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward returned as voice actors for the second Filmation-produced animated series, *The New Adventures of Batman*.
* In 1979, West, Ward, and Frank Gorshin reunited and reprised their respective roles on NBC for Hanna-Barbera's two *Legends of the Superheroes* television specials.
* In the 1980s, several cast members teamed up for a series of celebrity editions of *Family Feud.* The participants were Adam West, Burt Ward, Yvonne Craig, Lee Meriwether, and Vincent Price.
* In 1984, West would once again reprise his role as Batman in animated form when he succeeded Olan Soule in the final two seasons of *Super Friends*.
* November 1985 would see several cast members reunited on the syndicated afternoon talk show, America as Adam West, Burt Ward, Julie Newmar, Vincent Price, Cesar Romero, Terry Moore, Liberace, Eartha Kitt and Zsa Zsa Gabor (Yvonne Craig does not appear) were reunited along with the original Batmobile which was still covered with flocking from its tours since the 70s. In the opening scene, Adam West and Burt Ward were in the Batmobile from an actual TV episode. They are segued from the TV film episode to the live stage again inside the Batmobile. They are introduced by Ricardo Montalban. Burt Ward makes a request he'd like to have a 15th anniversary reunion of the Batman Class of 1968.
* In 1997, West returned to the role of the Batman for the first time in 12 years voicing the Caped Crusader/Spruce Wayne in the animated short *Boo Wonder*. It was the fourth segment of episode 93 (season 5) of *Animaniacs* produced by Warner Bros. It was a parody of the 1966 *Batman* TV series with *Animaniacs* character Chicken Boo replacing Robin the Boy Wonder.
* In 2002, West and Ward did their voice-over, and reprised their roles as Batman and Robin in an episode of *The Simpsons*, "Large Marge." Bart Simpson with his friend, Milhouse Van Houten watched an old Batman episode as the dynamic duo were trapped on a carousel by Krusty the Klown as ClownFace. Batman and Robin made their escapes, thanks to their Bat Carousel Reversal Spray. The police arrested ClownFace and his henchmen.
* In 2003, West and Ward reunited for a tongue-in-cheek television movie titled *Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt* which combined dramatized recreations of the filming of the original series (with younger actors standing in for the stars), with modern footage of West and Ward searching for a stolen Batmobile. The film included cameo appearances by Newmar, Gorshin, and Lee Meriwether, as well as Lyle Waggoner, who had been an early candidate for the role of Batman. Yvonne Craig did not appear in the movie—she reportedly disliked the script. The movie was released on DVD in May 2005.
* In 2005, Adam West again returned to the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne for the Digital Animation & Visual Effects (DAVE) School released *Batman: New Times*, a short CGI film in which all characters were portrayed as Minimates (predating the Lego film craze). In addition to West, other notable voice actors included Mark Hamill as The Joker, Courtney Thorne-Smith as Catwoman and Dick Van Dyke as Commissioner Gordon.
* Ward reprised his role as Dick Grayson / Robin in the 2019 Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths"

## Spin-offs and sequels

### Batman (1966 film)

A film based on the television show, Batman, was released in 1966. The film was originally intended to be produced before the series as a way to introduce the series to the public. However, the series' premiere was moved up and the film was forced to wait until the summer hiatus after the first season. The film was produced quickly to get into theatres prior to the start of season two of the television series.

The film did not initially perform well in theaters. Originally, the movie had been conceived to help sell the television series abroad, but the success of the series in the United States was sufficient publicity. The film was shot after season one was filmed. The movie's budget allowed for producers to build the Batboat and lease a helicopter that would be made into the Batcopter, both of which were used in the second and third seasons of the television show.

### Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

West and Ward announced at the Mad Monster Party that one or two Batman animated movies would be released in 2016 with the two doing voiced roles as their characters for the show's 50th anniversary along with Julie Newmar returning.

The trailer for Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders made its debut on August 17, 2016. The film was released on Digital HD and Digital Media on October 11, 2016 and on DVD and Blu-ray November 1, 2016.

### Batman vs. Two-Face

A sequel to Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders called Batman vs. Two-Face was released on October 10, 2017. The film starred William Shatner voicing Two-Face as the main antagonist. Adam West died before it was released; however, he did complete his voiceover work before his passing. This was one of Adam West's final performances before he died from leukemia.

### Batman '66

In 2013, DC began publication of Batman '66, a comic book series telling all-new stories set in the world of the 1966–68 TV series. Jeff Parker writes the series, which features cover art by Mike Allred and interior art by different artists each issue. In the course of this series, the Bookworm, the Minstrel, Sandman, Olga Queen of the Cossacks, Zelda The Great, Shame, and Marsha Queen of Diamonds all have their first appearance in Batman comics. Penguin, Joker, Riddler, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze also appear in the series. Issue #3 of Batman '66 introduced the Red Hood and Dr. Holly Quinn into the series continuity. In issue #7, Batman used a new vehicle, the Bat-Jet, to follow False-Face to Mount Rushmore. The series was to have introduced Killer Croc into the continuity, as well as a new villainess named Cleopatra. Issues #23 through #28 were mainly dedicated to introducing villains from the comics that either were not used, such as Solomon Grundy, Poison Ivy and Scarecrow, or did not exist at the time, such as Bane, the Harlequin (Dr. Quinn's criminal persona) and Killer Croc (who was introduced earlier as one of King Tut's henchmen, but gained a focus story). In April 2014, the first five issues were compiled into the Batman '66 Vol. 1 trade paperback. Kevin Smith and Ralph Garman likewise worked on a Batman and Green Hornet crossover, titled Batman '66 meets The Green Hornet. The six-issue miniseries began publication in June 2014.[45] Jeff Parker wrote a Batman and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. team-up titled Batman '66 meets The Man from U.N.C.L.E. released in 2016. Ian Edginton wrote a Batman team-up with John Steed and Emma Peel of The Avengers titled Batman '66 Meets Steed and Mrs. Peel. Batman teams up with Wonder Woman in the crossover team up Batman' 66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 writing by both Parker and Marc Andreyko. In a reversal of sorts, Archie Comics announced in March 2018 that they would be producing the next crossover titled, Archie Meets Batman '66 to be released as a six issue mini series starting in July. The series would be written by Batman '66 veteran Jeff Parker and Archies stalwart Michael Moreci. Mike Allred would return to create the main covers with Archie artists creating the alternative covers and interior art.

## Legacy

The series' stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, were typecast for decades afterwards, with West especially finding himself unable to escape the reputation of a hammy, camp actor. However, years after the series' impact faded, an episode of Batman: The Animated Series paid tribute to West with an episode titled "Beware The Gray Ghost". In this episode, West himself provided the voice of an aging star of a superhero television series Bruce Wayne had watched as a child and from which he later found inspiration. This gave West new popularity with the next generation of fans. He also played Gotham City's Mayor Grange as a somewhat recurring role in The Batman. In addition, West played the voice of Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne's father in the episode "Chill of the Night" from the series Batman: The Brave and the Bold. West would eventually embrace his past with the series, and his recurring role as a fictionalized version of himself as Mayor West in the TV series Family Guy deliberately made no references to the series, at the behest of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

Burt Ward reprises his role as an old Dick Grayson in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

## Reviews

* This was one of My Favorite Batman's and also The First Batman I Ever saw, So This Show meant a lot to me when i was growing up i Recently got back into after Adam West Passed away in 2017, I Remember when my dad told me about it with my sister it was clear in my mind, I Remember watching an Episode of Fairy Oddparents, and my dad came as asked me and my sister if we want to see "Batman & Robin", I asked him who they were and the rest is history as my dad turned on the TV and went to Netflix where the 1966 Movie was being streamed at the Time. (Review By Rebekah Rodriguez)

## Trivia

* Producers did develop several tentative scripts for Two-Face, but (likely due to broadcast standards at the time) never produced any of them; at one point, Clint Eastwood was allegedly slated for the role.
* Adam West, dictating Back to the Batcave to Jeff Rovin, admitted to having resented the development; in his words, "We were now calculating and titillating. These kinds of things are always short-term solutions to problems.

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