as Batman as Robin
Origin In the early 1960s, Ed Graham Productions
optioned the television rights to the
comic book Batman and planned a straightforward juvenile adventure show much like
Adventures of Superman and
The Lone Ranger, to air on
CBS on Saturday mornings. East Coast ABC executive Yale Udoff, a Batman fan in his childhood, contacted ABC executives
Harve Bennett and
Edgar J. Scherick, who were already considering developing a television series based on a comic-strip action hero, to suggest a
prime-time Batman series in the hip and fun style of
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. As well, in 1964, film buff
Hugh Hefner screened all 15 chapters of the
1943 Batman serial at the
Playboy Mansion. The trendy event received much notice in the press, prompting Columbia to offer the unedited serial to theaters in 1965 as
An Evening with Batman and Robin in one long, marathon showing. This re-release was successful enough to inspire the development of a television series based on the property. When negotiations between CBS and Graham stalled, DC Comics quickly reobtained the rights and made a deal with ABC, which farmed the rights out to
20th Century Fox to produce the series. In turn, 20th Century Fox handed the project to
William Dozier and his production company, Greenway Productions. ABC and Fox expected a hip, fun, yet serious adventure show. However, Dozier, who had never before read comic books, concluded, after reading several Batman comics for research, that the only way to make the show work was to do it as a
pop-art campy comedy. Originally, espionage novelist
Eric Ambler was to have scripted a TV movie that would launch the television series. However, he dropped out after learning of Dozier's campy comedy approach. Eventually, two sets of screen tests were filmed, one with
Adam West and
Burt Ward and the other with
Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell, with West and Ward winning the roles.
Season 1 as the Penguin,
Cesar Romero as the Joker, and
Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. as Catwoman in the first and second seasons (1966–1967) of the show.
Lorenzo Semple Jr. had signed on as head scriptwriter. He wrote the
pilot script and generally wrote in a pop-art adventure style.
Stanley Ralph Ross, Stanford Sherman, and
Charles Hoffman were script writers who generally leaned more toward campy comedy, and in Ross's case, sometimes outright
slapstick and
satire. It was initially intended as a one-hour show, but as ABC executives changed the premiere date from fall 1966 to January and the network having only two early-evening half-hour time slots available, the show was split into two parts to air in 30-minute installments on Wednesdays and Thursdays. A cliffhanger connected the two episodes, echoing the old
movie serials. Some ABC affiliates were unhappy that ABC included a fourth commercial minute in every episode of
Batman. One affiliate refused to air the series. The network insisted it needed the extra advertising revenue.
The Joker,
the Penguin,
the Riddler,
Catwoman,
Mr. Freeze, and
the Mad Hatter, villains who originated in the comic books, all appeared in the series, the plots of which were deliberately villain-driven. According to the producers,
Frank Gorshin was selected to portray
Riddler because he had been a
Batman fan since childhood.
Catwoman was portrayed by three actresses during the series run: by
Julie Newmar in the first two seasons, by
Lee Meriwether in the
feature film based on the series, and by
Eartha Kitt in the third and final season.
Burgess Meredith improvised the Penguin's "quacking" to avoid coughing out loud from smoke getting caught in his throat from the cigarette required for the role. The show was extraordinarily popular, and was considered "the biggest TV phenomenon of the mid-1960s".
Season 2 Semple's participation in the series decreased in the second season. In his autobiography
Back to the Batcave, Adam West explained to
Jeff Rovin – to whom he dictated the autobiography after rejecting an offer to contribute to
The Official "Batman" Batbook written by Joel Eisner – that when work on the second season commenced following the completion of the feature film, Dozier, his immediate deputy
Howie Horwitz, and the rest of the cast and crew rushed their preparation. Thus, they failed to give themselves enough time to determine what they wanted to do with the series during season two.
John Astin replaced Frank Gorshin as The Riddler for a pair of episodes when Gorshin's new agents at
William Morris demanded more money.
Season 3 was added to the cast for season three in 1967, portraying Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. as
Catwoman in the third and final season. By season three,
ratings were falling, and the series' future seemed uncertain. To attract new viewers, Dozier opted to introduce a female character. He came up with the idea of using
Batgirl, who in her civilian identity would be Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara. He asked the editor of the Batman comics to further develop the character (who had made her debut in a 1966 issue of
Detective Comics). To convince ABC executives to introduce Batgirl as a regular on the show, a promotional short featuring
Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as
Killer Moth was produced. Batgirl was the first superheroine to appear in an ongoing capacity on television. The show was reduced to once a week, with primarily self-contained episodes, although the following week's villain would be introduced in a tag at the end of each episode, similar to a
soap opera. Accordingly, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were mainly eliminated, and most episodes ended with him encouraging viewers to watch the following week. Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season due to
Madge Blake's poor health and the issue of trying to fit so many characters (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, and a guest villain) into a half-hour episode. Another cast change during the final season was replacing
Julie Newmar, a popular recurring guest villain as the Catwoman during the first two seasons. Singer-actress
Eartha Kitt assumed the role for season three, as Newmar was working on the film ''
Mackenna's Gold'' at that time and was therefore unable to appear. In the
United States, Kitt's performance in the series marked the second mainstream television success of a black female, following Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in
Star Trek and continued breaking the racial boundaries of the time. Frank Gorshin, the original actor to play the Riddler, returned after a one-season hiatus, during which
John Astin made one appearance in the role. The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of
surrealism. In addition, the third season was much more topical, with references to
hippies,
mods, and distinctive 1960s
slang, which the previous two seasons had avoided. The set design also changed to a more minimalist setup, except for Wayne Manor, Commissioner Gordon's office and Barbara Gordon/Batgirl's Apartment, the majority of the season 3 sets consisted of stylized cardboard or paper cutouts set up against a black background.
Episode format As head scriptwriter, Lorenzo Semple wrote four episodes himself and established a series of "Bat Rules" for the freelance writers working under him. The show's campiness was played up in elements, including the design of the villains, dialogue and in signs appearing on various props. Batman would frequently reveal one of his many crime-fighting gadgets, which were usually given a ridiculous-sounding name, such as Shark Repellent Bat-Spray or Extra-Strong Bat-Knockout Gas. The series used a narrator (executive producer
William Dozier, uncredited) who would end the cliffhanger episodes by intoning, "Tune in tomorrow – same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!" During the climactic fistfights in each episode, the punches and other impacts were punctuated by
onomatopoeia (sound effects such as "POW!", "BAM!", "ZONK!") superimposed on the screen, as in comic-book fight scenes. A typical story begins with a villain's nefarious caper (stealing a fabulous treasure, kidnapping a prominent person, attempting to take over
Gotham City, etc.). At police headquarters,
Commissioner Gordon and
Chief O'Hara deduce the villain's identity, admit they're outclassed, and gaze reverently at the Batphone. At "stately
Wayne Manor",
Alfred (Wayne's butler) answers the Batphone and calls
Bruce Wayne and
Dick Grayson away from an oblivious
Aunt Harriet with a humorously transparent excuse. Batman and Robin race the Batmobile to police headquarters and begin to work on the case, usually insisting on doing it alone. Batman and Robin locate the villain, lose in a brawl, and are left alone in a ridiculously complex
deathtrap. The episode ends in a
cliffhanger. The next episode resolves the cliffhanger in a comically improbable fashion. The same general plot pattern of investigation and confrontation repeats until another major brawl (accented by onscreen
onomatopoeic words) that defeats the villain. Scene transitions in the show were accompanied by a Batman logo appearing over a rapidly-spinning background along with an iconic
stinger. Episodes also frequently featured "Window Cameos", in which Batman and Robin are shown climbing up the side of a building by rope, and a guest celebrity appears out of a nearby window of the building and makes a joke or aside.
Cancellation Near the end of the third season, ratings had dropped significantly, and ABC canceled the show.
NBC agreed to take over the series, but before it could do so, it was discovered that hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of
Batman sets had been destroyed. Rather than rebuild the sets,
NBC dropped the project.
Camera shots From the beginning, cameras were purposely placed out of level with the set (known as "
Dutch tilt"), and characters were filmed from high and low angles. This technique was most often used when filming on the set of a villain's lair to lend a surreal, comic-book quality to the scenes, as well as to imply or merely remind the viewer that the crooks were crooked.
Batmobile from a
Lincoln Futura concept car. The original
Batmobile from the 1960s TV series was auctioned in January 2013, at the
Barrett-Jackson auction house in
Scottsdale, Arizona. It was sold for $4.2 million.
Tie-in music Several cast members recorded music tied into the series. Adam West released a single titled "Miranda", a country-tinged pop song that he actually performed in costume during live appearances in the 1960s. Frank Gorshin released a song titled "The Riddler", which was composed and arranged by
Mel Tormé. Burgess Meredith recorded a spoken-word single called "The Escape" backed with "The Capture", which consisted of the Penguin narrating his recent crime spree to a jazz beat. Burt Ward recorded a song called "Boy Wonder, I Love You", written and arranged by
Frank Zappa. In 1966,
Batman: The Exclusive Original Soundtrack Album was released on LP, featuring music by
Nelson Riddle and snippets of dialogue from Adam West, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin, Anne Baxter (as Zelda the Great) and George Sanders (the first Mr. Freeze). The "
Batman Theme" was included, along with titles like "Batusi A Go! Go!", "Batman Thaws Mr. Freeze", and "Batman Blues". It was reissued later on compact disc.
Neal Hefti, who wrote the iconic theme song for the series, also released a soundtrack album in 1966,
Batman Theme and 11 Hefti Bat Songs. ==Release==