Holy Anniversary!-Batman debuted on ABC-TV*

55 years ago today, January 12, 1966, Batman debuted on ABC-TV.

To me, the most enduring part of the show is the car. Chicks dig the car.

 

The Batmobile was pretty cool but not as cool as the villain's.

 

My Dad stored cars at a closed car wash across the street from Barris Kustom for years when I was a kid. Probably ages 5 to 10 or so.
Batmobile, Munster car, and so many more were always there. Many more came and went. Green Hornet, Bob Hope golf cart,
Sizzler Car after the Mattel Toys line. My favorite was always the Munster's Coffin Race Car.

 

This is why Superman works alone.

 

Still my favourite screen Batman.

 

I grew up with the reruns before school as a kid. Yvonne Craig as Batgirl was an early crush of mine. I have the complete series blu-ray set and I like putting on a few episodes once in awhile.

 

I grew up in B.D. Burbank and saw the Barris Batmobile on display and on the street several times during and after the show was on the air. I believe he sold the original a few years ago for $5 million!

 

What's great about this picture is that all are in character except for Caesar Romero who is simply smiling, yet he remains the most convincing.

 

Romero refused to shave his moustache for his role as The Joker. They just put makeup and powder over it.

 

I was 10 when 'Batman ' debuted and a big Batman comic book fan.

My Dad told me months earlier that a Batman television show was coming soon and I was ecstatic.

When I saw it though I didn't know what to think. Didn't seem right. Not serious or real enough. Batman had a gut. Chief O'Hara seemed goofy. And what's with Robin and this "holy " this and that?
Yeah , the campiness went right over my head. But watched it anyway. Every episode. So did my Dad and I remember him laughing lots at it. I think he had a thing for Catwoman too.

 

I was watching.

 

I watched it in reruns and as a kid it was totally serious to me. As an adult I like the humorous tone. Really funny to see the show and imagine myself actually taking it serious as an action show. Nonetheless, it's brilliant how the show works on multiple levels. It's also interesting to see how such a short-running show had such a large impact. I have the whole series on Blu Ray and even though there are a lot of episodes, the show only lasted 3 seasons.

That being said, upon rewatch I did get the feeling that the show was running out of steam towards the ends of it's run. I don't mind Bat-girl actually but the plots got worse and worse. You would think that having the show change to self contained episodes would bring in fresh and exciting plots but it didn't. There are still some very interesting season 3 episodes but the writing was pretty much on the wall at this point. Would have been interesting to see how (if?) the show would be retooled if the show moved to NBC, which they planned to do.

The show is an entertaining romp though and I highly recommend the Blu-rays. The show looks spectacular on BR, with all it's vivid colors. I was kinda surprised we actually got a BR release at all, considering how messy the right to the show are.

 

Wow. I only remember this show in color but I know our family didn’t have a color TV when Batman debuted so we must have watched in B&W. This iconic burst of TV aired premiered 26 days after another major TV airing for kids of a certain generation: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

We watched Batman, and The Green Hornet, and those ridonkulous shows like Mr. Terrific. But none held a candle to Lost In Space in our neighborhood. That was the show.

 

I was five years old in it's first run. I remember sometimes going with my older brothers to the mall so we could watch it in color at the electronics department.

 

I want pictures, or I don't believe you. (Don't worry, I believe you. I just want to see the pictures!)

 

I wish there were pictures. The world was a much different place pre smart phone.

 

It's also interesting to see the many times they tried to recapture the magic of the show resulting in stuff like this:

 

That being said, the two fairly recent animated Batman 66 movies were very well done.