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Batman
Original Run	January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968
No. of Episodes	120
Genre(s)	Superhero Comedy
Creator(s)	William Dozier
Exec. Producer(s)	William Dozier William P. D'Angelo Howie Horwitz (producer)
Starring	Adam West Burt Ward Alan Napier Madge Blake Neil Hamilton Stafford Repp Yvonne Craig William Dozier (narrator)
Country of Origin	United States
Original Channel	ABC

"To the Batcave!"

Holy TV classic, Batman! Highly-rated, Emmy-nominated, and a pop culture phenomenon, the 1966 Batman TV series brought comic book characters to the American living room in a new way.

Using a straight-faced form of comedy called "camp", the appealed to children for its adventure and adults for its humor. Adopting the feel of cliffhanger serials, the show pitted its heroes, Batman and Robin (and later Batgirl) against an array of "kooky criminals", incluing The Joker, Catwoman, the Riddler, and The Penguin.

While the original comic book character had been a dark and grim avenger, unbound by the policies and procedures of the police, the TV version meticulously obeyed all laws, even to the point of fastening the seatbelts in the (George Barris designed) Batmobile before engaging in a hot pursuit.

Setting the tone for the broadly drawn "guest villains" to follow, Frank Gorshin was nominated for an Emmy for his maniacal portrayal of the Riddler in the show's first story arc. Stories typically took two episodes to tell. Due to the show's success, both episodes might air during the same week.

The basic situation was similar to the comics. Bruce Wayne (Adam West), a millionaire philanthropist and gadabout, was secretly the crime-fighting Batman. His ward, Dick Grayson (Burt Ward), was his sidekick, Robin. Assisting them was Alfred (Alan Napier), the Wayne family butler. He not only managed "stately Wayne manor", but the secret Batcave beneath it. When Police Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara faced a greater threat than could be handled by Gotham City's finest, they used the Bat Signal or the Batphone to alert the Dynamic Duo. To the Batpoles!

After figuring out the elaborate plan, and a fight with colorful graphics of Bam! and Pow! replacing the actual hits, the caped crusaders would be trapped and appear to be doomed in some elaborate mechanism of mayhem. The first episode would end with time running out, and narrator "Desmond Doomsday" (actually producer William Dozier) would entreat the audience to come back to see how they escaped, "Same Bat-time! Same Bat-channel!"

After making a clever escape (sometimes with the aid of some obscure bat-gadget), the villains would be defeated.

External Links

• Batman at IMDB.com
• Batman Wiki

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