Robin said 'holy' an awful lot in the 60's Batman TV series whilst clenching his fist in his gloved hand. It was one of the things that the show was remembered for among many other tropes. Fans of the show longed to see the series released on DVD and blu-ray and a few weeks ago they finally had their prayers answered as the complete series is now available to purchase. So what better time to write about it?
Now I wasn't alive in the 60s but as a kid growing up in the 90s I used to watch reruns of the old Batman show and boy was it different from today's version. These days you see Batman as a kickass, tough as nails superhero hero (even though he doesn't have any super powers) capable of inflicting fear into the hearts of his enemies before taking them down. In the old show you had Batman and Robin running around in tights, fist fighting their way through villains with actual words appearing on screen as they struck their jaws such as 'pow', 'bang' and 'wallop'. There are plenty of one liners and morals aimed at kids but this was a lighter side to Batman and it worked. Kids loved it as did many adults and it shot Adam West and Burt Ward to stardom.
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| Vending machine with KO gas...has Joker all over it! |
So part 1 would more often than not see the dynamic duo in the clutches of evil and part 2 would see them escape due to Batman's very intelligent mind and go on to apprehend the criminals. Later there were a few 3 part episodes and even single story episodes.
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| Julie Newmar |
The Joker, Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler all feature in the series and all are expertly played by their actors. They really capture the personalities of their characters and apart from
Heath Ledger I don't think any actor has been able to do the same since. That's the thing about this show, all the characters and actors were so unique that it helped the show shine.
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| Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin and Burgess Meredith |
I do like how Penguin is portrayed in Gotham though. I've always wanted to see a new live action Batman series to see how it would differ to the campy 60s but it is interesting seeing how Bruce Wayne became Batman and the state Gotham was in.
The Batcave, Batmobile, Batphone and Batpoles all featured so that was great to see. Oh and the Batcomputer that Batman and Robin used to deduce the villains location or next possible target. Of course because of my name being Mathew I now call my car the Matmobile, all thanks to this show! I sometimes use Matphone but that's how far as it goes...for the moment. Wait! I'm currently typing this on the Matcomputer in my Matcave! Hmmm....
Several episodes featured Batman and Robin climbing up the side of buildings with the Batrope and special guests opening the windows to talk to them. Can't say I ever knew who they were though!
Batman became so popular that a movie was released featuring Batman against many villains and including an hilarious bomb scene that he just couldn't get rid of!
Lately a lot of merchandise such as action figures have been released being based on the 60's series as well as a Batman 66 comic book series. At the moment it's more popular than ever! A lot of Youtubers have created their own fan films based on the 60's series too, go search for some.
This show isn't meant to be taken seriously though, just sit back and enjoy! You can never take this to seriously:
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| Batman performs the Batusi! |
Oh and let's not forget Yvonne Craig who made her debut in season 3 as Batgirl!
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| Phew! |
Sadly the show was cancelled after the 3rd series. Another production company wanted to buy it and continue but by then all the sets had been destroyed and they decided it would cost too much to build them all again.
However at least you can enjoy the classic series on DVD & blu-ray now!
Until the next post!
Same Mat-Time!
Same Mat-channel!
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