Batman 1966 turns 50

[LeotheLateBloomer]

http://comicbook.com/2016/01/12/its-the-50th-anniversary-of-batman-tv-show-premiere/

Today is the day the popular Adam West tv series has turned 50 years old. They will be releasing an animated movie and releasing a Lego Batman set both based on the tv series. It also shows that Batman can work both dark and light-hearted.

What is your experience with the tv series.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Saw the movie once as a kid. Hated it. Still do.

Did ANY good come out of this TV series? Did it keep Batman as an IP alive in American culture?

Somebody sell me on this.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Batman's Fred Wolf, pretty much sums it up.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Batman's Fred Wolf, pretty much sums it up.

Yeah, but I don't think the Adam West show kept the brand alive and made possible future better adaptations. Am I wrong on this?

[ZariusTwo]

Brave and the Bold pretty much did this only way better.

Still love it though.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Yeah, but I don't think the Adam West show kept the brand alive and made possible future better adaptations. Am I wrong on this?

It did, actually. The comic books were pretty much dying and the Adam West series pretty much saved Batman from being cancelled as a brand and also started what was known as "Bat-maina", not unlike Turtle-mania.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

It did, actually. The comic books were pretty much dying and the Adam West series pretty much saved Batman from being cancelled as a brand and also started what was known as "Bat-maina", not unlike Turtle-mania.

Okay, cool! I did not know that!

[Bry]

Oh man. I unequivocally love this show. But it's absolutely not for everyone. I loved it watching old re-runs as a kid, then thought it was cheesy and "silly" as a teenager/young adult, then found a whole new love for it once I learned to appreciate camp. Because everything about this show was 100% deliberate. But camp can be very divisive.

Batman's Fred Wolf, pretty much sums it up.

Yep, exactly. And my appreciation for it kind of hinges on it not being considered "the" Batman anymore, and the property largely stepping out of its shadow since.

The TMNT, on the other hand, are still in the Fred Wolf cartoon's shadow and it looks like that's not going to change any time soon, so any appreciation I have for that show is mixed in with some resentment. :trazz:

(Though FW TMNT is also much more uneven in quality, and at times flat-out lousy, than Batman '66 ever was.)

[CyberCubed]

(Though FW TMNT is also much more uneven in quality, and at times flat-out lousy, than Batman '66 ever was.)

Not really.

[chrisdude]

Saw the movie once as a kid. Hated it. Still do.

Did ANY good come out of this TV series? Did it keep Batman as an IP alive in American culture?

Somebody sell me on this.They convinced DC to come up with Batgirl, because they wanted a female lead for the show.

I think it was the first Batman TV series.

Um... that bangin' theme song..?

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

They convinced DC to come up with Batgirl, because they wanted a female lead for the show.

I think it was the first Batman TV series.

Um... that bangin' theme song..?

Batgirl wasn't already a thing in the comics?

[TurtleTitan97]

Batgirl wasn't already a thing in the comics?

Prior to the introduction of Barbara Gordon, the Batwoman character and her side-kick Bat-Girl appeared in Batman-related publications, but were eventually removed at the direction of editor Julius Schwartz for being outdated and unrealistic. Schwartz stated that he had been asked to develop a new female character in order to attract a female viewership to the Batman television series of the 1960s.[4] Executive producer William Dozier suggested that the new character would be the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon, and that she would adopt the identity of Batgirl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon

On that note, Happy B-day Batman '66. I just started watching the show myself awhile back and I'm currently on episode 7.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Gordon

Holy crap. I never knew that! I mean, I knew about the original Batwoman and Batgirl, but... wow. :teek:

Okay, so basically, without Adam West Batman, there is no Batgirl.

Kinda like how we have Fred Wolf to thank for Krang, Bebop, and Rocksteady? I can dig it. :tlol:

[CyberCubed]

Batman '66 literally saved the Batman franchise and was the first exposure of Batman to the mainstream. I'm surprised you don't know this.

Batman comics were on the verge of being canceled. He was nothing more than an obscure comic character.

The 60's Batman show is what made Batman famous and a mainstream character. It was the first exposure to Batman for millions of people

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Batman '66 literally saved the Batman franchise and was the first exposure of Batman to the mainstream. I'm surprised you don't know this.

Batman comics were on the verge of being canceled. He was nothing more than an obscure comic character.

The 60's Batman show is what made Batman famous and a mainstream character. It was the first exposure to Batman for millions of people

If I did know it, I forgot. I had no idea Batman '66 was such a direct parallel to FW TMNT.

Now, I do already know that Marvel nearly bought DC at one point... THAT would have been interesting, to say the least.

[CyberCubed]

How do you think people would have ever known about Batman prior to the 60's series? It was a comic, not everyone reads comics.

The 60's show did the same thing for that generation as the 1989 Batman movie and B:TAS did for the 90's generation, it brought Batman back for an entire new generation of fans who had no idea who he was.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

How do you think people would have ever known about Batman prior to the 60's series? It was a comic, not everyone reads comics.

The 60's show did the same thing for that generation as the 1989 Batman movie and B:TAS did for the 90's generation, it brought Batman back for an entire new generation of fans who had no idea who he was.

I dunno, Batman's been around forever. Same as Dick Tracy or Superman. When characters have been around THAT long, I don't pay as much attention to the origins or history.

I only go back as far as GOOD Batman. Or, at least, Batman that appeals to me, which is the '90's. Around the time of "No Man's Land" in the comics, and Batman TAS. Anything before that just doesn't do it for me...

[Bry]

Not really.

No? I'd say it was a lot more consistent (aside from the format slightly changing in season three). Though it didn't run as long, so I guess it's hard to directly compare.

FW TMNT had some severe dips in quality over its run, though. I wouldn't really say the same about Batman '66.

I had no idea Batman '66 was such a direct parallel to FW TMNT.

It definitely is in some ways, yeah. The main difference is that Batman had been around for 27 years before the '66 show and had starred in a bunch of movie serials in the '40s. Nothing that had the same cultural impact, but he was a "known" character already and had a history in a way the TMNT weren't/didn't yet.

All the same, yep, the show definitely popularized Batman with the mainstream audience the same way the FW show did for the TMNT. And with a somewhat similar camp sensibility.

Now the TMNT just needs its own "Batman '89" at this point in the game. :trazz:

[CyberCubed]

I dunno, Batman's been around forever. Same as Dick Tracy or Superman. When characters have been around THAT long, I don't pay as much attention to the origins or history.
.

You do realize at the time the 60's show came out, Batman was only about 25 years old, right? Likewise Batman had franchise fatigue at that point and the comics were on the verge of being canceled.

I mean, NOW we think of Batman being around forever since the 1930's is a long as hell time ago. But the 60's were a lot closer to it than now, obviously. 60's Batman revived the franchise.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

You do realize at the time the 60's show came out, Batman was only about 25 years old, right? Likewise Batman had franchise fatigue at that point and the comics were on the verge of being canceled.

I mean, NOW we think of Batman being around forever since the 1930's is a long as hell time ago. But the 60's were a lot closer to it than now, obviously. 60's Batman revived the franchise.

30 years of Batman before a TV show is forever in terms of a character's lifecycle. Least in my opinion it is.

[CyberCubed]

30 years of Batman before a TV show is forever in terms of a character's lifecycle. Least in my opinion it is.

TV wasn't even mainstream in the U.S. till the 50's. Most people didn't even own televisions back then.

[TMNT_Guy]

The 1966 Batman show and Batman the Animated Series are the only two adaptations of Batman that I find myself coming back to. It’s good clean fun that will never be recaptured…though I am curious about the upcoming animated film.

[Leo656]

The thing is, it's a very literal take on the comics of that era. VERY literal. The colors, the camera angles, the dialog, the way everyone behaved, especially the villains... it was a 1:1 recreation of what was being done on the page. It's kind of hard to notice that, 50 years and however many re-imaginings of Batman later. But it's a huge reason why it resonated with so many people, it was literally the comics brought to life. The closest thing I can even compare it to, is the "Speed Racer" movie, which was a 1:1 adaptation of the cartoon show and was equally as divisive as Batman '66 has become to modern viewers, for a lot of the same reasons. "It's too corny and goofy and campy and bright and silly!" Right, yeah... except so was what they were adapting, so in reality they did a Perfect Job, it's just not everyone's taste.

It's like, you either "get" what the people making it were trying to do, in either case, or you don't. And those who "get" it, maybe it's not their favorite thing but they can at least appreciate it. But you'll always have those who just can't get into it. And I do get it, what we've gotten used to with Batman is so dramatically different, but it still doesn't change the fact that as of the time the show was made, it was by far the best and most authentic live-action comic book adaptation ever produced.

I loved it as a kid; I grew up reading the 80s comics but also had reprints of the older stuff, so there was never any problem as far as understanding how, say, Keaton Batman was more authentic to a modern version while West's Batman was equally authentic to the books of its own day. Since I grew up reading and enjoying all the different eras and takes on Batman in equal measure, I've always had a fairly broad acceptance of what can and can't be done with the character.

That acceptance comes to a screeching halt at the Schumacher films, however. :trazz: As authentic as Batman '66 was in its day, I don't think a live-action attempt in that vein should EVER have been done again, once the general consensus of what Batman is eventually changed. Cartoons are one thing - Brave and the Bold won me over - but a live-action Batman in a modern setting needs to be darker and more real. When the Schumacher films came out, and it seemed that Batman was once again doomed to be a "goofy" character in his mainstream presentations... man, was I pissed at the Adam West show for providing the "inspiration" for those pieces of sh*t.

Then I calmed down when Batman movies got good again. :lol: Now I like it fine, I just kind of have to be in the mood to watch it. But it absolutely did save the Batman comics from cancellation and springboard the character's popularity to equal (and eventually surpass) Superman's. So whether it's to a modern viewer's taste or not, it's still kind of its own huge deal.

[ZariusTwo]

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>Batman '66 folded before this could become canon:(

[Bry]

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I mean, c'mon. This show is hilarious. :lol:

[Wesley]

I loved watching reruns of this show as a kid. I don't remember much about it, though, except the characters. I thought it was fun to watch. I haven't watched it in years, though. It was shown on rte two in the late 90s around the same time as Batman TAS, so I was able to watch two different versions of Batman at the same time.

[ProactiveMan]

I love this show - I watched it every day after school. It's silly, but it's a lot smarter than it sometimes gets credit for.