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Production:
USA, 1966-68 |
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Production:
USA, 1966-68 |
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between Batman, Robin and the villains. We have to point that it was a very different Batman compared to Tim Burton’s of 1989, and also to Cristopher Nolan’s of 2005. Although everybody knows it, Batman’s story needs to be recalled. Bruce Wayne has had a trauma during his childhood: he saw his parents being killed in a robbery. So he has grown up with an irresistible desire for fighting crime. Being heir of an immense wealth, Bruce can attend to deep scientific studies and physic training to prepare for his mission. And in order to terrify criminals, he chooses a night scary animal, the bat. This story was created by Bob Kane in 1939 for Detective Comics. In a short time, Batman finds two reliable assistants: by first young Dick Grayson, |
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who was working in slavery as a circus acrobat, so becomes Batman’s ideal
partner wearing the clothes of Robin, the wonder boy; then Alfred, the
butler who is engaged a short time later (he was the son of Wayne family’s
old butler, and only in a second time was described as Bruce’s tutor after
his paerent’s death). At first he was over-weighted, then become the slim
moustached figure we all know. First Batman stories were very noir, the police chased him for his non legal methods, and villains were darker too: the Joker was a sort of serial killer, although he already had his typical look. But some years after censors wanted more “politically correct” stories, with less violence and less evil villains, so Batman begun his cooperation with police and |
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the villains become ludicrous, megalomaniac buffoons. |
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In the third season also Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) appeared. Athletic and,
wearing the costume, quite sexy, Batgirl was Barbara, commissioner
Gordon’s daughter, who had decided to fight against crime together with
Batman and Robin. The dynamic duo was unaware of her real identity, as she
was unaware of theirs, and her father was unaware of everybody’s... Producer William Dozier had his role too: his was the voice which commented the final cliffhanger saying “same bat-hour, same bat-channel!”. But the most intriguing characters were the “guest-villains” who appeared in the episodes. The Joker was Cesar Romero, famous character actor of the sixties, who often portrayed various villains (we can see him in many Disney films and in the japanese |
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movie “Latitude zero”). The Penguin was Burgess Meredith, who appeared in “The twilight zone” and was in the regular cast of the TV serie “Search”). The Riddler was Frank Gorshin, while Catwoman was portrayed by three different actresses: Julie Newmar, Lee Meriweather (who was also in the regular cast of “The Time Tunnel”) and Eartha Kitt. Three actors too were used for Mr. Freeze, all famous: George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Egghead too was a famous actor, Vincent Price. In fact they said that many famous Hollywood actors contacted Dozier to be a Batman villain... As they did in the comics, Batman and Robin had a large number of bat-gadgets, |
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first of all the bat-mobile. In the years Batman owned a lot of different
ones, starting from the chunky ones of the thirties and forties, to the
futuristic and baroquesque of the nineties. But this one is surely the
most elegant and luxurious: this one became a big businness for Corgi Toys
(together with many others TV and cinema cars), which produced it also in
a version with tow and bat-boat. As said above, the episodes were made in two parts, and the first part ended with a very stereotyped cliffhanger: Batman and Robin could have been sitting on a bomb, or tied in a room which was fileld with water or some gas, or (the very classic) tied to a rail road while the train was coming, while Dozier’s voice reminded to the audience to watch the show the following week. The first episode was broadcast by ABC in January ’66, and immediately was a |
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huge success despite “Lost in Space” was on CBS. Not only it fancied viewers of any age, but the television Batman also saved the comics one. In fact just two years before DC comics had considered the idea of closing Batman stories, and the TV show raised the sellings at an incredible rate. No need to mention the merchandising and the sellings of all the possible bat-gadgets... After the end of first season, a cinema movie was made, where the dynamic duo had to face the four main villains (Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman). In the third season Batgirl made her debut, but all was becoming too repetitive, and only children were left to watch it. Considering the high budget, it took very little effort for ABC to decide the show cancellation. |
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NBC thought
about producing a fourth season, but it wasn’t done. The show went on, if
we can say this, as animated serie, and to see again a live-action Batman
it was necessary to wait for the Tim Burton movie, which was absolutely
more psychological and dark (like Frank Miller’s comic), in the style of
its director. They said Adam West was quite upset because nobody contacted
him, and let’s hope he wanted to do a cameo... |
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| 1) Hi Diddle Riddle 2) Smack in the Middle 3) Fine Feathered Finks 4) The Penguin's a Jinx 5) The Joker is Wild 6) Batman is Riled 7) Instant Freeze 8) Rats Like Cheese 9) Zelda the Great 10) A Death Worse Than Fate 11) A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away |
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12) When the Rat's Away the Mice Will Play 13) The Thirteenth Hat 14) Batman Stands Pat 15) The Joker Goes to School 16) He Meets His Match, 17) True or False-Face 18) Holy Rat Race 19) The Purr-fect Crime 20) Better Luck Next Time 21) The Penguin Goes Straight 22) Not Yet, He Ain't |
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23) The Ring of Wax |
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34) Batman Makes the Scenes |
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40) Barbecued Batman? |
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51) Hizzonner the Penguin |
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62) The Bird's Last Jest |
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73) The Penguin Declines |
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84) Batman Displays His Knowledge |
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103) How to Hatch a Dinosaur |
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114) The Penguin's Clean Sweep (Pinguin e il grande sonno) |
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