Updated: October 08, 2023

The sad thing is that the Batman series really had it's strength in being cheesy funny. We were never really watched for the incredible action sequences that left us on the edge of our seats.

I'm also a big fan of when they use the Batrope to climb up the side of the building and it's so obvious they're just walking along a building-like floor and the camera is turned sideways. There's always a great fight scene complete with "Biff" and "Ker-sploosh" and "Whamo" flashed on the screen. Not to mention "same Bat time, same Bat channel" at the end of each weeks epiosode. I really miss those great cliffhangers, during this time period.

The real highlight of the TV series, are the villains. They are all incredible! Frank Gorshin as the Riddler is my personal favorite. His cackles and hops around and acts all crazy and is genuinely a fun character to watch. Lee Meriweather, the third woman to play Catwoman, is purrfectly sly and charming both as Catwoman and as Kitka, a Russian newspaper writer who seduces and kidnaps debonair millionaire Bruce Wayne, not knowing that he also Batman. Cesar Romero is fantastic as the Joker. He always scared me a little as a kid, because his mouth was so freakishly long. But he is the one and only Joker. Finally, Burgess Meredith is the Penguin. He is so delightfully silly.

The Batman series aired from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968 on ABC for 120 episodes. The episodes were generally two-parters: Wednesday's episode was a cliffhanger, resolved in Thursday's episode.

Batman creator Bob Kane noted that this series saved the Batman comic series from cancelation when the show revived the character's popularity. Despite this, most comic fans despised this series for stereotyping superheroes and comics as campy nonsense. Furthermore, soon after the show was canceled, the character's comic series took on a dark and deadly serious tone that was reminiscent of the original comics in the late 1930's as a reaction to the TV show's light touch.

Adam West always believed that the Batman movie would be a showcase for his acting talents that the TV show didn't provide, but playing Batman at all pretty much ruined his career for any other serious acting because he would always be remembered as Batman.