Batman 

The Caped Crusader and his young ward battle evildoers in Gotham City.

Creators:

Lorenzo Semple Jr., William Dozier

Stars:

Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier

Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Adam West	...	Batman / ... 120 episodes, 1966-1968
Burt Ward	...	Robin / ... 120 episodes, 1966-1968
Alan Napier	...	Alfred / ... 120 episodes, 1966-1968
Neil Hamilton	...	Commissioner Gordon 120 episodes, 1966-1968
Stafford Repp	...	Chief O'Hara 120 episodes, 1966-1968
Madge Blake	...	Mrs. Cooper 96 episodes, 1966-1967

Storyline

Wealthy entrepreneur Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson lead a double life: they are actually the crime-fighting duo Batman and Robin. A secret Batpole in the Wayne mansion leads to the Batcave, where Police Commissioner Gordon summons the Dynamic Duo on the Batphone with the latest emergency threatening Gotham City. Racing to the scene of the crime in the jet-powered Batmobile, Batman and Robin must (with the help of their trusty utility-belts) thwart the efforts of a rogues gallery of flamboyant arch-villains, including the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and the Catwoman.

---

Plot Keywords:

bust sculpture | cape the garment | catchphrase | city | thompson gun | 

---

Taglines:

Batman comes to life tonight! Watch master criminals like The Riddler try to outwit those legendary crime fighters Batman and Robin in TWO spine-tingling episodes each week! (season 1)

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman

Filming Locations:

380 South San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

20th Century Fox Television,Greenway Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min (120 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Burt Ward often complained about personal safety issues, as he was often located near explosive effects and other pyrotechnics, with his costume offering little protection from any debris related to the effects. Ward also claimed that the flash from one on-set explosion almost left him permanently blinded. Producers downplayed Ward's injury claims, feeling he was immature, and saying he would milk any injuries he suffered during the making of the series. Producers also believed that Ward's concerns about any damage to his body (particularly his face) were connected more to personal vanity rather than personal safety.

---

Goofs

The Batsignal shown in the sky did not match the silhouette on the glass - the silhouette had a visible neck, while the projected image did not. Also, the tail was longer in relation to the rest of the image on the silhouette than it was in the projected image.

---

Quotes

[about to zoom out of The Batcave!]
Robin: Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed.
Batman: Roger. Ready to move out.

---

Crazy Credits

The actor who played the villain would always be credited as the "Special Guest Villain"

---

Alternate Versions

In the late 1980s, original cast members reunited to film special introductions to be added to the start of each episode.

---

Connections

Referenced in Bewitched: The Eight Year Itch Witch (1971)

---

Soundtracks

Batgirl Theme
Music by Billy May
Lyrics by Willy Mack

User Reviews

Absurd Persons, Plural

Looking back at this program from its completion through all of the episodes, it's easy to characterize it as being a campy version of Bob Kane's Dark Knight legend. But I'm not at all certain that it had to be...

In fact, in looking at the first two episodes, which featured Frank Gorshin as the first "Special Guest Villain," The Riddler, the program was quite hard-nosed, pretty straight and sinister (considering the costuming of the lead players), and actually somewhat poignant with the performance of Jill St. John. I would compare these first two episodes with any adventure series and say that they hold their own.

Of course, what happened was that with the wild Rogue's Gallery of villains, the over-the-top costuming, the dutch angle camera setups, with the straight-laced line reads of the two heroes, and the bugle like narration of "Desmond Doomsday" (the alias for Producer William Dozier) Batman was destined to be seen as nothing but pure camp. Not that that's bad, unless you feel this tarnished the legend of The Caped Crusader.

Meanwhile, the show became the hottest thing happening, nearly overnight. All sorts of acting greats wanted their chance to challenge the Dynamic Duo, and unlikely villains played by Liberace, Van Johnson, Art Carney and Zsa Zsa Gabor all appeared, in addition to the semi-regular performers, Caesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Julie Newmar and the aforementioned Gorshin. Those that couldn't be villains turned up in cameos, from Dick Clark to Sammy Davis Jr. to Santa Claus (as portrayed by old time actor Andy Divine) all had a moment of Batman and Robin's time. Though perhaps the most puzzling cameo was when Colonel Klink of "Hogan's Heroes" turned up at a Gotham City window. Not only was he from presumably 23 years in the past, he would have been a Nazi in an American city AND he was from a program on another network! If you know of an explanation for this, please pass it along.

The elements that made the show work were the Batmobile, a beautiful and evocative vehicle that transported the heroes from their secret location the 14 miles to Gotham City before the opening credits for that episode were finished. It's still one of the most instantly recognized automobiles, based on the 1955 Lincoln Futura and restyled by George Barris. Add in the gadgetry, Batman's utility belt, the bust of Shakespeare that held the switch that opened the bookcase... "To the batpoles!" and of course, the talents of the stars, Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier, who was nothing short of brilliant as Alfred, Neil Hamilton and Stafford Repp as the commissioner and chief of police and later the charm of Yvonne Craig as the addition to create "The Terrific Trio."

But even as the formula was working, it was wearing out its welcome as it went, and by the time the show started their third season, the ratings were clearly slipping possibly due to the tone change making the episodes sillier rather than more adventuresome. Despite the addition of Batgirl, and a change in the format so that each episode was self contained, rather than having a two part cliffhanger, the magical run ended and ABC canceled it.

There was a rumor that NBC was interested in giving the program a fourth season, however 20th Century Fox, the production company for the series had already demolished the centerpiece of the program, the batcave set, and NBC was unwilling to spend the time and money to rebuild it.

Probably just as well, as Batman has since been through numerous incarnations to get back to the standard that Bob Kane originally had for him.