Batman: The Complete Series (1966-1968)

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

It was also a fad that quickly died down, resulting in a short-lived show. It has also fallen into near-obscurity due to the lack of a home video release and spotty availability in reruns. It has also been unfairly cast as an embarrassment and an unintentional comedy which is unfortunate because it was absolutely intended to be a comedy.

In any case, you can't possibly suggest that its phenomenal success in 1966 has remained intact and unchanged in 2014.

Originally Posted by BrandonJF

Of course it will. Friends will be running in syndication much longer and more often than the Batman TV show. I would be surprised if Friends hasn't already had more airings than Batman.

I think the whole comparison to Friends is just absurd, but I find the dismissal of this show absolutely astounding.

Near-obscurity? The show has been running in syndication for nearly 50 years, so it will be another several decades before Friends even has a chance of catching up. If anything, it's lack of home video release has only increased it's desirability - it has been the #1 most requested unreleased show since practically the inception of the DVD format.

While I again think comparing it to Friends is silliness, if we are comparing them, I have a hard time thinking that in 50 years people are going to be sitting and talking about Friends in the way we are now about Batman '66. It's simply not the kind of proven, timeless show that Batman '66 is - as generation upon generation discovered and rediscovered the show. Particularly internationally - it's been said, you can turn off the sound on Batman '66 and still follow the story perfectly, it translates not only across generational but also cultural borders in a way a talky sitcom really cannot.

As to it's influence on Batman/comics in general, I highly recommend you check out the book "14 Miles to Gotham" - it's a very good compilation of essays on the show, and you might pick up quite a bit about how much

Catwoman and Riddler, among others, were essentially resurrected for the show (neither had been in the comics for quite some time, and particularly Riddler was fleshed out much more as a character and to this day you can trace his evolution to the show). They invented the "catsuit" look of Catwoman, and you'll find Anne Hathaway's Catwoman shares more direct lineage to her as any other portrayal of Catwoman. The modern Barbara Gordon Batgirl was created for the show - there was an un-related Bat-girl briefly during the "pink" scare of the 50's, but Batgirl was created for the show and was put into the comics at the same time and has endured for half a century now.

There are so many things about Batman that we currently know that either were created, developed further, or solidified by the '66 series that would take a book to cover (oh, wait a sec, someone did - see above). To play this off as some obscurity when it's a cornerstone of television history (just the fact that it is credited with selling millions of color televisions as the first "must see in color" show alone qualifies it) and here we are, nearly 50 years later, talking about it - action figures are being made, there is more Batman '66 related product out there than since the show was originally on the air, and not to mention that Batman was 2nd fiddle to Superman and on the verge of the comic being cancelled before, and he has been more popular than Superman ever since - to be honest, I can't think of another 60's show aside from Star Trek that can even begin to approach it's overall lasting cultural impact on so many generations of viewers.

[franken_psycho1990]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

I think the whole comparison to Friends is just absurd, but I find the dismissal of this show absolutely astounding.

Near-obscurity? The show has been running in syndication for nearly 50 years, so it will be another several decades before Friends even has a chance of catching up. If anything, it's lack of home video release has only increased it's desirability - it has been the #1 most requested unreleased show since practically the inception of the DVD format.

While I again think comparing it to Friends is silliness, if we are comparing them, I have a hard time thinking that in 50 years people are going to be sitting and talking about Friends in the way we are now about Batman '66. It's simply not the kind of proven, timeless show that Batman '66 is - as generation upon generation discovered and rediscovered the show. Particularly internationally - it's been said, you can turn off the sound on Batman '66 and still follow the story perfectly, it translates not only across generational but also cultural borders in a way a talky sitcom really cannot.

You speak the truth, I agree 100%!

[gusw666]

Originally Posted by SolidRaider

This would be the greatest TV show to own on Blu-ray.

PLUS ONE mate, agree with you 500%, it will be a most have in any nerd, or not nerd collection, cant wait to hear more from it!!!


Gus

[The_Donster]

So let me get this straight, Star Trek TOS is still relevant, but 60's Batman isn't? Get off my goddamn lawn you ****ing puppy!

[franken_psycho1990]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

So let me get this straight, Star Trek TOS is still relevant, but 60's Batman isn't? Get off my goddamn lawn you ****ing puppy!

What you said... haha I agree. Damn people these days.

[redrunner97]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

It was also a fad that quickly died down, resulting in a short-lived show. It has also fallen into near-obscurity due to the lack of a home video release and spotty availability in reruns. It has also been unfairly cast as an embarrassment and an unintentional comedy which is unfortunate because it was absolutely intended to be a comedy.

In any case, you can't possibly suggest that its phenomenal success in 1966 has remained intact and unchanged in 2014.

I did a search with my cable provider and tomorrow a total of 8 episodes will be show in syndication on my local networks. 8 a day times 30. That's 240 episodes a month, just locally. Not counting national and international/inter-regional networks.

How is that near obscurity? And it's fking BATMAN, you know?
The highest grossing superhero in the history of cinema? It's about damn time!

[Darkstream]

Originally Posted by The_Donster

So let me get this straight, Star Trek TOS is still relevant, but 60's Batman isn't? Get off my goddamn lawn you ****ing puppy!

I don't know who said that, but even being a big Batman fan, I can see why someone would think that. Both are obviously dated and full of camp, but while Batman was more-or-less a farce or like something out of the Theater of the Absurd, Star Trek was science fiction morality plays with intelligent (most of the time) stories and social messages. Both are deservingly cult shows and fun entertainment, but let's face it, Batman was silly, while with Star Trek you could actually learn something.

[franken_psycho1990]

Originally Posted by redrunner97

I did a search with my cable provider and tomorrow a total of 8 episodes will be show in syndication on my local networks. 8 a day times 30. That's 240 episodes a month, just locally. Not counting national and international/inter-regional networks.

How is that near obscurity? And it's fking BATMAN, you know?
The highest grossing superhero in the history of cinema? It's about damn time!

Very valid point. Some of these people just don't get it.

[Gold Ranger]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

~snip~to be honest, I can't think of another 60's show aside from Star Trek that can even begin to approach it's overall lasting cultural impact on so many generations of viewers.

Gilligan's Island?

[Darkstream]

Strangely enough, I only own two porn movies and they happen to be parodies of the 60's Batman and Star Trek.

Sorry, is that too much information? lol

It just goes to show how much of a pop cultural impact both those shows made on me as as kid, and now still as an adult.

[GuruAskew]

Originally Posted by redrunner97

I did a search with my cable provider and tomorrow a total of 8 episodes will be show in syndication on my local networks. 8 a day times 30. That's 240 episodes a month, just locally. Not counting national and international/inter-regional networks.

How is that near obscurity? And it's fking BATMAN, you know?
The highest grossing superhero in the history of cinema? It's about damn time!

I don't think it aired anywhere in my area for a good 15 years. I can see several episodes of Seinfeld, Friends and The Simpsons every day but Batman wasn't easy to see for some time before MeTV. It all but disappeared on television for a while, and like it or not, it's reputation has taken quite the beating as other Batman adaptations have come and gone.

I said it before and I'll say it again: most people don't understand that this show was intentionally campy. Most people somehow have the idea that this is one of those "so bad it's good" shows. Most people treat this show like it's the red-headed stepchild of Batman adaptations.

I think it's every bit as valid as any other Batman adaptation but it's ignorantly seen as an embarrassment to most people born in the 80s or later.

[Gold Ranger]

It hasn't played here in NY since the 1990's...
EARLY 1990's

[CraigThom]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

I wonder if the Batman theatrical movie from 1966 and Legends of the Superheroes (1979) will be part of the set too?

The movie is already available on Blu-ray. I picked it u a few months ago for $5.

[Darkstream]

It still plays where I live in Philly.

http://metvnetwork.com/shows/batman

[GuruAskew]

Originally Posted by KaineKinetic

It hasn't played here in NY since the 1990's...

EARLY 1990's

Thank you.

You're living in a fantasy land if you think this show has had a presence on television anywhere near Trek, Twilight Zone, Lucy etc. in the past 20 years. You could easily argue that it deserved to have that kind of presence but it simply didn't. I don't know who is to blame, I'm assuming the same issues that prevented it from seeing a home video release have kept it off television in any large way, but with all this spotty availability and legal roadblocks they've succeeded in hiding the show from the eyes of an entire generation of viewers and I'm excited that this is a huge step in changing that.

[GuruAskew]

Originally Posted by Darkstream

It still plays where I live in Philly.



http://metvnetwork.com/shows/batman

I get it on MeTV too. But I couldn't say that 2 or 3 years ago. And if it aired anywhere in my area before that I wasn't aware of it. I seem to remember watching it in the early 90s too, like '91 or '92 but if it popped up anywhere else during that time between it didn't last long.

Edit: it played on The Hub too starting in 2010 and now that I think of it that's when I remember being shocked to see it on TV after so long.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

I said it before and I'll say it again: most people don't understand that this show was intentionally campy. Most people somehow have the idea that this is one of those "so bad it's good" shows. Most people treat this show like it's the red-headed stepchild of Batman adaptations.

There's a lot of truth to this. A lot of people enjoy the show ironically not really realizing that it was made ironically. It's a lot like The Monkees that way. Everybody involved knew exactly what they were doing.

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by GuruAskew

I get it on MeTV too. But I couldn't say that 2 or 3 years ago. And if it aired anywhere in my area before that I wasn't aware of it. I seem to remember watching it in the early 90s too, like '91 or '92 but if it popped up anywhere else during that time between it didn't last long.

It has never left syndication for more than brief periods (months, not years). I have always had a TiVo wishlist set up for it and it never went very long before showing up somewhere else.

Aside from general syndication which featured it quite heavily through the 80's and early 90's (though it never left the air, there was a huge renaissance around the 1989 film), F/X aired it throughout the 1990's (particularly in the early years when it ran like four hours a day), and TV Land had it through the 00's (in late night slots by the end, but it never left). The HUB launched in 2010 with the HD versions and ran them through several times with multiple showings per day.

And this is just the US. It has also remained in syndication world-wide. It is quite assuredly in the pantheon of "all-time seen shows" of the classic era that have not left syndication for any significant time since they originally aired - along with Lucy, Star Trek, and The Brady Bunch.

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

Near-obscurity? The show has been running in syndication for nearly 50 years, so it will be another several decades before Friends even has a chance of catching up. If anything, it's lack of home video release has only increased it's desirability - it has been the #1 most requested unreleased show since practically the inception of the DVD format.

According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, it's currently the second most requested unreleased show; The Wonder Years currently ranks higher (although that can at least be viewed through Netflix).

[GuruAskew]

Available for syndication and widely syndicated are two very different things as this thread demonstrates. When you have people saying they didn't see it for 15+ years you know it doesn't have a Star Trek or Twilight Zone-level presence in reruns.