#29

Batman

POW! BOOM! ZOK!

In 1966, ABC broadcast a TV show starring the Caped Crusaders from DC Comics. Batman and Robin made their return to the public eye with this action/comedy series.

Batman was played by Adam West and Robin was played by Burt Ward, and they were the way that the Dynamic Duo was seen until the Batman ’89 movie where they gave batman an update.

The show was one of the earliest show I can remember being obsessed with. Each episode was similar as Batman and Robin would face a villain from Batman’s extensive rogue’s gallery and get captured at the end of the episode and placed in some kind of dasterdly death trap. The next episode would resolve that trap and would wrap up the villain. The villains became iconic too as we got the Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler, King Tut, Mad Hatter, among others.

When I was young, I always bugged my mom to make me a mask like Robin. I was a Robin fan as a youth. Looking back, whenever they had the big fights, Robin would have to fight the big bad villain and Batman would punch out the hoodlums. I was always surrpised how underappreciated Robin felt.

I was, of course, watching reruns of the show. I would always look forward to Batgirl episodes starring Yvonne Craig, who was added as a character in the third and final season.

My friends and I would use the term “Batman Leap” which was when one of us would make an illogical leap to answer a question or solve a problem… something that made no sense, much like Batman and Robin would do on the series. Glu Glutton’s Glue Factory being a prime example.

The campy nature of the show appealed to many, but typecast the actors involved for decades.

Either way, I loved the 1906s Batman series, and it belongs on this list.

So… what’s next on the list? We’ll find out… Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel!