Batman

What can I say about this series? It was crazy and ridiculous but it was all good fun.

If anybody's seen my review of the 1966 Batman movie then you'll pretty much know what my view is on this show. It was ridiculous but in a good way.

For starters, Robin couldn't possibly hope to fool anyone with that disguise? How about I put on a mask and go and visit my parents? Would a mask like Robin's fool anyone?

The thing I loved about this series was the cliffhanger episodes. Batman and Robin would be put in a seemingly inescapable trap and then in the next episode Batman would manage to reach into his utility belt and pull out a convenient device. In one episode Batman was about to be dropped in acid when he suddenly remembered that Alfred the Butler had acid proofed his costume. How funny is that?

The crazy thing was how Batman and Robin always had the right equipment. They had things such as Anti-Penguin Gas Pills and other crazy devices. I honestly wouldn't have thought there would be enough room in their belts for half their equipment.

The best thing about this show was the fights at the end. The bumbling villains would outnumber Batman and Robin who would then bash them into next week just before the police arrived.

This was a good show for it's first couple of seasons. The beautiful Yvonne Craig joined the third season as Batgirl and she was good. However the cliffhanger episodes were gradually phased out and each half hour episode had a beginning, middle and end.

This isn't the type of show to take seriously. It's great fun and anybody who watches it will laugh their socks off at times. If it shows up on your local TV channel then watch it!

Who could ever forget those immortal words such as "Pow" and "Wham" flashing up on the TV screen as Batman and Robin landed into evil wrong-doers with clenched fists flying. Those long black evening gloves of the Caped Crusaders could really pack a punch!

All of us who were hard core "Batniks" had boxes full of the mandatory merchandising goodies. There was the die-cast Batmobile and Bat Boat, the costume complete with 'útility belt' and I seem to recall a board game buzzing around at some point. No doubt, there was also a View-Master reel and probably a flicker ring as well. Ah, those were the days. If only we'd kept all of that stuff, be worth THOUSANDS on ebay!

It's a shame that kids haven't got anything like the old Batman nowadays. It was colorful, fun and highly imaginative.

Pure escapism and great memories.

The elements that made this series so good:

The casting of Batman/Bruce, the casting of Robin/Dick, the casting of The Joker, the casting of The Riddler, the casting of King Tut, the casting of The Penguin, composer Nelson Riddle, composer Billy May, the Irwin Allen sound effects, the flashy Batcave set, the Batmobile, the colourful narrator, and one element is too private to mention here.

This 120 episode series has so many related productions you must see as well: the 1949 Batman and Robin movie serial, the 1966 Batman movie, The Green Hornet TV series of 1966, the Shazam! TV series of 1974, the Superfriends cartoon, the YouTube satire videos, 2003's Back To The Batcave, 2016's Batman cartoon with West/Ward doing the voices, the 1966 Batman Facebook groups with rare behind-the-scene photos of the series, etc. It never ends. 1966 Batman will live forever!

This show is completely nuts! It is SO goofy, and I can realize that now that I'm older. I watched this from when I was 7-12, and always loved it. I still like to watch it whenever they air the re-runs, but now laugh AT it, not WITH it! I've heard of crime fighting, but this is ridiculous! STILL, I like to watch it because I'm a fan of Adam West and Burt "HOLY" Ward! I'd recommend it to all kids who like super-heros, but any body else had better prepare themselves for the "cheesiest" ride of their lives! "HOLY TELEVISION! IT'S ON EVERY DAY NOW!" So folks, tune in tomorrow (and every day): same bat time, same bat channel!

Adam West not only was Batman, in this series he was straight man. His straight face was always what held thing together. No matter how outlandish Robin or a super criminal was, West would always appear to take things in stride & have a straight face when he would pull something out of his utility belt to handle the problem. Burt Ward's Robin was often reactive with many Holy Blanks!! & while he was mostly a sidekick for Batman, sometimes when the Caped Crusdaer was tied up, he & the faithful Alfred would manage things. To me the criminals were most often the stars of this. Burgess Meredith made a great Penguin - especially when he runs for mayor of Gotham City against Batman and proclaims "I should have gotten into politics sooner because in campaigns, all my dirty bird tricks are legal now!" Imagine that, & this is before Nixon got caught.

Frank Gorshin's Riddler has never been equaled. Ceasar Romero's Joker was so good that Jack Nicholson had to take the character in new directions in the film to avoid direct comparison. The amazing thing about this series was the amount of great actors & actresses they got to play the criminals. It is a who's who of character actors from that era. Alan Ladd, Vincent Price, Otto Preminger, Art Carney, Roddy Mcdowell to name a few villains.

This was an ABC series which would have lasted longer, but CBS had such a power house line-up, this was lucky to make it 3 seasons. At least they were 3 great seasons & all in color. The cliff hangers & fights from these are now classic, & some of the plots were pretty corny, while others showed imagination. Overall, just think of Robin saying "Support your police!" & Batman responding "Well said, Robin." and you get an idea that while the series was corny, it at least had a moral compass always. Holy establishment, Batman!