To The Batpoles! Batman 1966

Midway through Season Two, Julie Newmar appeared along with Michael Rennie as guest villains Catwoman and Sandman in The Sandman Cometh . But originally, this script by Ellis St. Joseph featured only the Sandman, with Robert Morely picked to play the role. This time, we get into how the teamup came about as we begin a look at St. Joseph's original draft script. Also, Below the Staff Music takes a...

Even after Batman made ABC's "second season" schedule, to start in January 1966, there was still concern about how audiences would react. Will they get the joke? Should a laugh track be used? In a memo dated January 14, 1966 - the day after the second episode, Smack in the Middle , was first broadcast — Joseph Schrier , Director of Program Development at ABC, reports on audience testing on the pil...

What will we cover in our next episode? Also, what will be the topic of the next patrons-only podcast? Listen to hear how you can help to decide the answer to the latter question, and to hear the answer to the former!

In television, a show's "bible" is a collection of the rules for the world of a particular show, to keep writers on track with their scripts. The makeshift bible that Lorenzo Semple, Jr., wrote for Batman is lost to history, but what might have been in it? What are the rules that we can see the show following? Tim has compiled some and presents them here — and asks for your suggestions. In a recen...

He's best remembered as the Gotham City Police Department's  Commissioner Gordon , the Dynamic Duo 's #1 cheerleader. But Neil Hamilton had a long Hollywood career decades before Batman , dating back to the silent film era. This time, we talk about the hills and valleys of his decades in film and television, capped off with the Batman role that earned him the funds to retire. PLUS: More of Adam We...

We're joined again by our childhood friend  Kyle for the second installment of our comparison of actors who appeared on both Batman and Star Trek . On which show did Grace Lee Whitney (King Tut moll Neila vs. Yeoman Janice Rand ), Lee Meriwether (Tut kidnapee Lisa Carson vs. planetary security system Losira ), Frank Gorshin ( the Riddler vs. traitor-tracker Bele ), and Sherry Jackson (Riddler moll...

As the broadcast of Batman season one drew to a close, a treatment called Rembrandt the Third Meets his Master was submitted by 31-year-old Yale M. Udoff , who would go on to some success, but was just getting started as a screenwriter. Udoff's inexperience may account for many of the problems with this treatment: A villain, Rembrandt III , whose crimes and motivations are too creaky for a TV show...

At the height of Batmania in the first half of 1966, nearly every press outlet found it necessary to do a feature story on the phenomenon. But many in the media were not terribly impressed by Batman , so these articles tend to look down their noses at the show. One such example is "Has TV Gone Batty?" , an article by John Skow in the May 7, 1966, issue of The Saturday Evening Post . Aside from the...

We Americans know that  Batman was also popular in the United Kingdom (and many other countries), but there are differences in the level of popularity that was reached and how long it lasted, and also in terms of when "first run" of the show was there. 66 Batman Message Board co-admin Ben Bentley is, in fact, British, so we asked for his assistance in tackling this topic. Our discussion touches on...

When the Batman TV show set off Batmania in 1966, a wide variety of toys and other tie-in items, not all of them licensed, hit the market. Since licensers seldom made style guides in the '60s, rights to the actors likenesses weren't available, and some of the onslaught of Bat-crap came from overseas makers who thought Batman's costume would look better in orange, the results are highly entertainin...

Former Batman comics writer Winston Lyon , fresh off his novel Batman vs. Three Villains of Doom , a few months later produced the novelization of Batman: The Movie , a book called Batman vs. the Fearsome Foursome . This time, for our 200th episode, we discuss the book: though based on Lorenzo Semple, Jr. 's screenplay, it betrays a different attitude toward Batman than Semple, and the Batman show...

The three versions of the script for Nora Clavicle and the Ladies' Crime Club raise some interesting questions about season three. Why did the Duo and Batgirl never have a way to easily contact each other? Why do our heroes' early suspicions that Nora is crooked all get cut from the script? What are the types of female characters that the show keeps coming back to? Plus we look at lines and events...

It's here! The Internet's most complete list of actors who appeared on both Batman and Star Trek: The Original Series ! But... is it totally complete? Look it over and see if there's a relevant actor who isn't listed - then post about him or her in the comments! Some are famous actors in big roles on both, some are extras and uncredited actors, some fall somewhere in between - or had a big role in...

In 2009, writers Nunzio DeFillipis and Christina Weir brought King Tut to the DC Universe in three issues of Batman Confidential (issues 26-28), with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan . Tim and Paul discuss the story, and a few '66 Easter eggs embedded therein. (Originally published on Patreon March 19, 2022.)

We're going away for a bit. Here's the scoop on what's going on and when we'll be back!

As the show hit its first anniversary and the second season neared its end, we see Batman 's characterization of women subtly changing, particularly Lee Meriwether 's strong Lisa Carson character, and some examples of actual (gasp) interaction between women! Why did the "poor, deluded girls" fade away? Was it changing social mores, or just the show trying not to repeat itself? Nancy Northcott join...

In early 1966, Batmania was everywhere. This caused a certain (convicted tax evader) concert promoter to ask the question: Can Batman fill Shea Stadium? Adam West and Frank Gorshin were recruited to play their characters as part of a show that also included such musical luminaries as the Young Rascals and the Temptations . However, on June 25, 1966, the answer to the concert promoter's question tu...

The 11th issue of the Batman '66 comics series gives us an unusual full-issue story in which the Joker teams up with a very Newmar esque Catwoman to break from prison and try to crack up all of Gotham! But how do we feel about these modern Batman elements, such as Arkham , showing up in this context? Is the series fan service going in too many different directions? PLUS: The iPhonedo Garage Band v...

It's time for another script! This time it's the first draft of the Green Hornet guest shot arc A Piece of the Action/Batman's Satisfaction , featuring a much more assertive Robin than perhaps we ever saw Burt Ward play, and a greater focus on the secret identities of Batman and the Hornet! Plus, more of Adam and Burt 's Sept 1, 1966, Merv Griffin appearance, the L'Orchestra Cinematique "EPIC" ver...

You know her as Mousey in A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away , but did you know that Susan Silo has been a sought-after character voice actor for cartoons since the '70s? Or that she had a hit single in 1956 (" Dear Diary ") and performed on American Bandstand? Or that she's performed on Broadway? Or that her high school English teacher became a huge TV star in the '70s? This time we chat with...

Two of the most iconic American TV shows of the 1960s are Batman and Star Trek . A surprising number of actors pulled double duty, appearing on both shows, either as regulars, recurring characters, or one-shot roles. This crossover of actors sounds like an interesting topic, but how do we get it into our show? What we settled on was to put these actors in March Madness-type brackets and pit them a...

When talking about Batman , discussion tends to focus on Adam West , Burt Ward , and those who played villains who the Dynamic Duo brought to justice. But here we've done nearly 200 episodes and mostly missed someone whose name is in the opening credits for the first two seasons: Madge Blake . So this time we've dug in to see what we could learn about this woman who started acting late in life, ch...

As season two rolls on, women are still filling familiar roles: OK with crime, but killing the Dynamic Duo is going "too far"; ditzy moll who dreams of diamonds and Hollywood; "team-up" baddie who's completely superfluous to the male partner's plans. We also get a season one throwback of a moll who crushes on Batman , and a Catwoman assistant (and Batman producer's niece) who wants to be a singer....

The cultural impact of Batman '66 was felt for decades after, and still reverberates. This time we discuss a couple more late-20th-century cartoons that showed evidence of that impact: Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures , which in 1987 gave us Night of the Bat-Bat , featuring Bat-Bat, a hero with the powers of a bat and a penchant for corny one-liners; and numerous episodes of The Simpsons , includi...

Why does False Face impersonate Chief O'Hara ? Where is FF's hideout? Since when does Aunt Harriet drop censor-tempting puns? Why does Blaze tell the Duo "It's faster on foot"? These questions and more are up for discussion as we look at the Outline, First Draft, and Revised Draft of True or False Face/Holy Rat Race ! Also, Merv Griffin 's 7-year-old son Tony asks Adam West some burning questions,...