I'm surprised that no one has posted anything on this yet.

The Batman TV show is a touchstone for those of us who were kids in the 60's.

I was a fan of the show, and Mr. Adam West. And I still am.

[www.cnn.com]

RIP Adam. Loved watching it after school everyday.

The one and only Batman as far as I'm concerned - I grew up watching all of those episodes. Holy Crap Batman....

Batman and Robin - Laughing Gas




RIP Adam West

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

No!! Who is the deputy major of Quahog?

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loog droog
I'm surprised that no one has posted anything on this yet.

The Batman TV show is a touchstone for those of us who were kids in the 60's.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the news report and then looked at this board. I saw the show in re-runs in the early 70s.

Then again, there was also a similar lack of response here when Jonathan Frid died -- I mean, he was Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows, the first time a vampire was ever portrayed as sympathetic.

But, alas, in both cases the fandom is confined mostly to the U.S. -- each relatively unknown to a more international site like this.

I guess this leaves just Burt Ward and Julie Newmar as the only surviving cast members. Definitely a big part of my mid-to-late 1960s after-school TV viewing, along with The Monkees, of course. Surprised that they waited until 2014, when most of the cast was already dead and DVDs were an almost obsolete technology, to finally bring the entire series out on DVD (it was never released on home video during the VHS era). It took me months to get through that box set. One thing I'd forgotten was that if you've seen one episode of Batman, you've seen them all. It's not the sort of thing you can binge watch. A little Batman goes a long way.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 02:05 by tatters.

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tatters
Surprised that they waited until 2014, when most of the cast was already dead and DVDs were an almost obsolete technology, to finally bring the entire series out on DVD (it was never released on home video during the VHS era).

There were two reasons for this: I think the TV show's producer William Dozier had a lock on the rights, and for whatever reason couldn't make a deal with Time Warner that satisfied all parties.

Also, during the Tim Burton-Michael Keaton era the Batman brand was trying to get serious and distance itself from the Adam West "camp" version send-up.

There is a nice 2013 documentary that I saw on Showtime called Starring Adam West. about his life story, Batman and fame, and fame after Batman.

He came across as a family man and a real pleasant guy who had been through the ups and downs and didn't take himself too seriously.


[www.youtube.com]

I agree with you that the box set should have been released 10 years earlier.
And yes, a little bit of Batman goes a long way. (Even by the standards of Batman, that third season episode where Batman and the Joker have a surfing contest just goes way too far...)



In addition to being the producer of the series, William Dozier was also the narrating voice on the Batman show which set the stage of each episode and ended the cliff-hangers with the familiar "..same Bat-Time, same Bat-channel!"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 03:10 by loog droog.

"Some years ago I made an agreement with Batman. There was a time when Batman really kept me from getting some pretty good roles, and I was asked to do what I figured were important features. However, Batman was there, and very few people would take a chance on me walking on to the screen. And they’d be taking people away from the story. So I decided that since so many people love Batman, I might as well love it too. Why not? So I began to reengage myself with Batman. And I saw the comedy. I saw the love people had for it, and I just embraced it.”
Adam West - 1928-2017

What a great guy; snarling satire easily in his grasp but really just embraced the whole thing, giving the fans some presence and fun all the way out.
Here is reprising that old Batusi at fan request tho the many decades have passed. sorta looks like he's doin' Mick a bit here too haha.
RIP what a great guy.
[youtu.be]


Batusi (The Dance)
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 04:10 by hopkins.

The Kinks, The Who, The Standells covered The Batman theme; The Ventures nailed it as well. West had a wicked sense of humor as a voice actor too.
The Very Best Of Mayor West - Family Guy
[www.youtube.com]

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loog droog
He came across as a family man and a real pleasant guy who had been through the ups and downs and didn't take himself too seriously.

Indeed, a very pleasant guy. He was "Honorary Mayor" of my hometown when I was a kid (in the '70s) and was always approachable and friendly - he'd ride in the 4th of July Parade every year, etc. Even though Batman was a few years in the past by that time, he was still a big star to us kids - and he always took time to chat whenever we'd see him around town.

RIP, Mr. West

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hopkins
The Kinks, The Who, The Standells covered The Batman theme; The Ventures nailed it as well.

NRBQ too!
[www.youtube.com]


I once read that Wings played it during the '75 Australian tour...anybody ever heard that?

Jill St. John in that Batusi clip. Holy Helluva Sexy Woman, Batman.

Watched the show religiously first run in the 60's Loved it then, loved it now.

Julie Newmar- another woman you wouldn't have minded unmasking, either.

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loog droog

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hopkins
The Kinks, The Who, The Standells covered The Batman theme; The Ventures nailed it as well.

NRBQ too!
[www.youtube.com]

wow they nailed it; what a lot of fun; that is a truly great band. thnx.

They made a Batman Animated Movie last year in style of the 60´s series. West, Ward and Newmar did the voices. It´s called return of the caped crusaders and its really great fun.

RIP-Batman

It was great fun watching Batman, unfortunately it lasted 26 episodes!

[twitter.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 15:52 by MisterDDDD.

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runaway
RIP-Batman

It was great fun watching Batman, unfortunately it lasted 26 episodes!

There were 120 episodes. Like I said, it took me months to get through that box set.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 18:45 by tatters.

Not the original, but the best

This is good stuff:
[www.youtube.com]

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tatters

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runaway
RIP-Batman

It was great fun watching Batman, unfortunately it lasted 26 episodes!

There were 120 episodes. Like I said, it took me months to get through that box set.

In the Netherlands, only 26 of the 120 episodes were broadcast in the 1960s. Despite the popularity of children, the KRO stopped the broadcasts because parents found the series too violent. In Flanders, the same happened after 7 episodes.

It sounds so silly!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017-06-11 20:16 by runaway.

I loved Adam West. He had such a great speaking voice. Batman captured my imagination when I was a child in the '60s. It captured a lot of kids' imaginations, as I recall role-playing games played by kids at the time. They even had bubblegum cards for the show.

I can see how the show would be tiresome if binge-watched. The Nelson Riddle music, such as the themes for the villains, is grating. The show is garish-looking. William Dozier's voiceovers get tedious, as well.

Camper than a row of test, but great fun ! I loved the 60s Batman, but when Frank Miller started inking for DC, I soon forgot it.

R.I.P., Mister West. Haven't seen your Batman since the 1960s - boy, am I getting old. Wasn't the theme from Batman a Top 40 radio hit back in the day?

Regarding the clip with Jill St. John, wow! Pardon my old school phrasing, but she was a stone cold fox. Loved her in "Diamonds Are Forever". Whatever happened to her in terms of career?

At the end of each episode, a voice over would exclaim:

"Tune in next time...same bat time, same bat channel"!!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

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dmay
Regarding the clip with Jill St. John, wow! Pardon my old school phrasing, but she was a stone cold fox. Loved her in "Diamonds Are Forever". Whatever happened to her in terms of career?

She's married to Robert Wagner and is basically retired, having done very little acting the past several years.

The silly Batman. He's a far cry from today's Dark Knight.

And yet he wondered why he was never chosen for any of the Batman movies.

the shows aired twice weekly, with a goof cliffhanger at the end of the first one.

that was awesome.

Adam West was the BEST BATMAN

RIP

Feel The Fear
And Do It Anyway

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misterfrias
The silly Batman. He's a far cry from today's Dark Knight.

And yet he wondered why he was never chosen for any of the Batman movies.

He was chosen for a Batman movie, at the height of his own series' success. Of course you meant one of the iterations since the late 1980s. The man was an actor and the role was his only real claim to fame. It was a burden he regretted for limiting his chances, but also one he came to embrace, always with humor. His desire to do a cameo of some sort was purely an actor looking for an opportunity. Don't read more into it than that. While my generation's Batman may have been camp and yours may have been noirish, at the end of the day, they're still both disposable entertainment with all the nutritional value of the popcorn they're produced to sell.

ROCKMAN