"Batman" Debuts on TV – Jan. 12, 1966

Holy Diamond Jubilee, Batman – your TV show on ABC debuted sixty years ago tonight!

Below is the TV page of the January 12, 1966 Journal making the announcement of the debut, with a photo of Batman (Adam West) in the Batmobile. 

The caption reads, "Batman, the legendary nemesis of evil, the Caped Crusader whose very name strikes fear into the hearts of villainous villains everywhere, sets out with Boy Wonder Robin on another crime-thwarting adventure in his super vehicle, the atom-powered, parachute-breaked [sic], multi-weaponed four-wheel arsenal, the Batmobile, as ABC-TV's "Batman," a new series of twice-weekly, live-action color adventures, premiere tonight at 7:30. The program will also be seen Thursdays in the 7:30-8 p.m. time period.

It was pretty much a stroke of genius to program the show two nights in a row, as my brothers and I loved the show and were suckered into watching it both nights. (We pretty much commandeered the TV in the early evening; I don't remember my parents ever watching it until we went to bed.)

As I wrote back here, my parents bought us the paperback reprints that were rushed into print to capitalize on the popularity of the TV show. Just as we each had a favorite Beatle, we each had a Batman villain that was 'assigned' to us depending on which paperback we had. Mine was the Penguin. At least he didn't seem as evil as some of the other bad guys to me.

Watching the occasional late-night  Batman reruns on MeTV the last few years have really surprised me. I had forgotten the big-name celebrities that appeared on the show as the villains, or in cameo appearances in which they stuck their head out the window of the building that Batman and Robin were scaling. The villains always seemed to have some good-looking henchwomen too (such as Edy Williams). And what boy watching the show in the 1960s didn't have a crush on Catwoman (Julie Newmar)? I remember feeling bad when she fell in that bottomless pit.

During my recent viewings, the celebrity that I was most surprised to see was none other than Jack Kelly – Bart Maverick! He was playing some kind of fedora-wearing guy that was in cahoots with the baddies. In one scene he was comically straddling some kind of 'getaway rocket' (shown below) and I felt bad for him – except that he was probably having a blast working on a wildly popular TV show, not to mention sharing some scenes with Catwoman!

Courtesy David Richardson

Holy Hijacking! Batmobile Disappears On Way to Midway Mall – 1967

Courtesy Cleveland Air Show

Well, it’s Labor Day – and for many people that means a trip to the Cleveland National Air Show. I noticed that this year, the Batcopter and the Batmobile (above) from the Batman TV series will be on display inside the air show grounds.

That reminded me that I had this article written by Lorain Journal Staff Writer Owen DeWolfe that appeared on the front page of the paper on June 24, 1967. It tells about how the Batmobile and Batcycle disappeared en route to Midway Mall’s sports car show.

I’m sure there was a logical explanation, but it made for a little bit of fun.

To learn more about the original Batmobile used in the TV series, be sure to visit www.1966batmobile.com. It’s a terrific website featuring a comprehensive history of the vehicle, including the man behind its construction and a great gallery of vintage and new photos.

And if you like, you can revisit my post about Batman from last year here.

An Evening With Batman and Robin – Feb. 1, 1966

Back in February 1966, the Batman TV show starring Adam West had only been airing for about a month when the above ad appeared in the movie section of the Journal on Feb 1, 1966 – 49 years ago yesterday. It promoted a one-time showing of An Evening With Batman and Robin at the Tivoli in Lorain.

An Evening With Batman and Robin apparently was rushed into theaters to take advantage of the TV series' popularity. The ersatz "feature" was merely a compilation of the 15 episodes of the 1943 Batman movie serial.

Batman as he appeared in the 1943 serial

The serial was a little ahead of its time, however, with its apparent inclusion of zombies in the storyline.

Here's Episode 1 of the original serial. It's not too bad, actually. It's a little more faithful to the original comics than the campy 1960s version.

The real Batman feature starring most of the TV cast wouldn't hit the screens until July 1966.

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Like everyone else our age at that time, my brothers and I were big fans of the Batman TV series, which was televised in two parts on successive weeknights.

Here are the opening credits for the 1966 season.

We had the paperback reprints of the original comics (below), which we brought with us on one of our cross-country camping trips to read in the car. It didn't occur to me that the stories were made up of comics that were decades-old.

We also had the Batman candy that came in small colorful boxes (below) that you could string together to make a genuine Batman utility belt.

I think we had a 45 RPM record of the Batman theme song, but – if I remember correctly – it might have been a different recorded version than what was played during the opening and closing of the TV show.

As for the big 1966 Batman movie, I don't recall seeing it in the theaters. I'm pretty sure we waited until it came to TV. Since it didn't feature the original Catwoman (Julie Newmar), it's probably just as well – although Lee Meriwether did do a good job as her replacement.

I think we lost interest in the Batman TV show during the third and final season when Batgirl was introduced. It seemed ridiculous that Batman and Robin didn't have a clue as to her true identity. Plus I resented Batgirl horning in on the Caped Crusaders' cases.