Batman 66 Still Going Strong & Getting Stronger

The Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight, The Darknight Detective! Of course, I am referring to -- BATMAN! One of the greatest heroes in comics!

Whereas other heroes, such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and others operated in the daytime, the Batman lurked in the shadows. The Batman fought crime, plain and simple.

The Batman has been a favorite hero (Amongst MANY) of mine almost from the very beginning of my comic book reading. It was an issue of Batman that made me a collector ( Batman # 311) and like most kids of my age , back in the 1970's , I used to race home from school everyday to watch BATMAN. Now, the 1966 BATMAN TV series is FINALLY coming out on DVD!

All of the bickering and the in fighting has ceased , and fans have finally gotten what they have asked for all along. It is too bad that so many stars , who could have provided some excellent commentary for the set have passed on during the years the show was in dispute. Very few of the main cast are still around to tell their stories about appearing on the show. The late Eli Wallach , for example , said that he only received " half the kudos " from his children for playing Trader Eli on the Captain Kangeroo show , as he did in substituting for Otto Preminger as Mr. Freeze on BATMAN. Preminger himself found doing Batman gave him status with his grandchildren.

So many stars wanted to do the show, that the producers couldn't use them all as guest villains. This is why the famous " Window Cameo " scenes were invented. A guest would pop up and open a window in whatever building Batman and Robin happened to be climbing at that time. Some of the strangest cameos were Ted Cassidy as " Lurch " from the Addams Family (" Continue with your harpsichord , citizen.") Werner Klempner also appeared as Colonel Wilhelm Klink. The duo tell him to say " Hello, to Colonel Hogan for us!!" The Green Hornet and Kato even pop up in a window scene. The Dynamic Duo recognize them as crime fighters in the episode. Later, in " A Piece Of The Action" / " Batman's Satisfaction !!" the duo think of the Green Hornet and Kato as criminals.

There were some characters and some actors, that were perennial favorites. One such actor was Burgess Meredith. The writers kept a Penguin script available for Meredith at all times. Some actors were NOT as well liked, Alan Napier who played the role of Alfred, (the Wayne family butler) did NOT like " That AWFUL Otto Preminger !! " . Napier had WORKED with Preminger before, and did not like how he treated his actors. Such feelings of animosity were few (At least for the guest stars). Things got so bad on the set between the two stars that neither Adam West OR Burt Ward would come to the set ahead of the other. The crew took great pains to make sure that Adam and Burt both arrived on the set at the same EXACT time. The show suffered in the last of the second season and especially the third season. The scripts kept getting more and more " camp" , and the gadgets and situations more and more outlandish.

In the third season, the budget was slashed, and the series dropped to one show per week . The sets were INCREDIBLLY cheap or nonexistent. In the next to the last episode (# 119 , " The Enchanting Dr. Cassandra " ) the bat fight took place in a totally darkened room. Plus, with so many characters vying for time, Bruce/Batman, Dick/Robin, Barbara/Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara, Alfred , the villain of the week, his moll, and two henchmen, each episode was strained . The writers were at a loss as to how to create a cohesive story from episode to episode. So, it was no surprise that the show was cancelled after it's third season.

Adam West is quoted as saying : " We premiered to huge ratings and when you are that high, the only direction you can go is down !! " The Producers, William Dozier and Howie Horwitz , knowing that this was to be the final episode , made " gag " cameo appearances as two of Minerva's millionaire customers in Episode # 120's " Minerva, Mayhem, and Millionaires !! " Minerva was played by Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Just a few years after the final episode was filmed, the series went into syndication where it was well received by a new group of fans and still draws fans even today.