# 1966 Batman series starring Adam West returning on Monday, 11 October

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 11, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750 "2010-10-11T03:29:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/1 "2010-10-11T03:29:12Z")

</div>

The old favorite TV series Batman is returning to cable on Monday evening, Oct. 11 at 11:30 PM ET. The show will air on the new Hub network, formerly Discovery Kids. I think the last time this series showed up was on TV Land. This will give fans of the show a chance to catch up again, since it looks like this show will never be released on DVD. It’ll probably be cut by a few minutes per episode to add more time for commercials, which is sad, but at least it’s a chance to revisit such favorite villains such as Frank Gorshin (the Riddler), Cesar Romero (the Joker), Burgess Meredith (the Penguin), and Julie Newmar (the Catwoman).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/2 "2010-10-11T03:29:47Z")

</div>

I don’t get that channel

my whole life is a tragedy

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/3 "2010-10-11T03:31:46Z")

</div>

It’s on most digital cable systems. My DVR’s set.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/4 "2010-10-11T03:32:22Z")

</div>

Batusi!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/5 "2010-10-11T04:28:07Z")

</div>

I’m still holding out for the DVDs. The unending delay is diabolical!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/6 "2010-10-11T04:29:55Z")

</div>

I loved that show when it first came out. But I suspect seeing it now, it will look all cheesy, and I’ll marvel at what a dopey kid I was.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/7 "2010-10-11T04:44:29Z")

</div>

It holds up very well. Its camp-factor was deliberate and tongue-in-cheek, so it’s actually clever and fun to watch as an adult, too, but on a different level.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/8 "2010-10-11T05:39:29Z")

</div>

There are a whole bunch of episodes on YouTube, apparently taken from the original ABC master prints. The bad news is they are split up into chunks of fewer than 10 minutes each. But they have the original intro (“This is an ABC color presentation.”) and otherwise appear to be untouched.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/9 "2010-10-11T13:11:04Z")

</div>

I’ll have to tune in…anyway, for you people who liked the show:Burt Ward (who played Robin), wrote a book about his experience on the show…it was called “Men In Tights”-I can’t find the book anywhere.  
My interest in the book is because Ward was interviewed by a local radio talkshow host (Howie Carr-WRKO) years ago-the interview was hilarious! Ward revealed that he got some flak from the RC Church-they considered his costume  
“obscene”.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/10 "2010-10-11T13:15:35Z")

</div>

You mean [http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Wonder-My-Life-Tights/dp/0964704803](http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Wonder-My-Life-Tights/dp/0964704803).

It helps to have the correct title if you are looking for a book.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Silent\_Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Silent\_Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silent_Kal)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/11 "2010-10-11T16:03:41Z")

</div>

My DVR has been waiting for this. Hopefully there won’t be any of those obnoxious, quarter-screen, animated ads during the show. I remembered this [first two-parter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smack_in_the_Middle) as being the only time a character actually died. Wiki says:

> [@](#):
>
> The original script had a grimmer Batman, who “allowed” Molly to fall to her death. [DC Comics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Comics) rejected the scene and it was shot with Batman desperately trying to save Molly.

Really? That’s \*way \*out of character for any incarnation of Batman, especially this one. Was the tone of the series originally going to be so very different? From the same page:

> [@](#):
>
> This is one of two episodes of Batman in which characters lose their life; the second is Episode #8705-Pt. 2, A Death Worse Than Fate, wherein the gunmen, intending to drill Batman and Robin full of bullets, shoot each other to death as the Dynamic Duo dodge them, aided by Zelda The Great.

That I definitely don’t remember. In fact, I thought bad guys actually using guns was a big no-no for this series.

Looks like The Hub is starting with [a pretty good lineup;](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_The_Hub) I’m thrilled to see the original Transformers and G.I. Joe cartoons on TV again.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/12 "2010-10-11T16:40:30Z")

</div>

> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> I’ll have to tune in..anyway, for you people who liked the show:Burt Ward (who played Robin), wrote a book about his experience on the show..it was called “Men In Tights”-I can’t find the book anywhere.  
> My interest in the book is because Ward was interviewed by a local radio talkshow host (Howie Carr-WRKO) years ago-the interview was hilarious! Ward revealed that he got some flak from the RC Church-they considered his costume  
> “obscene”.

Oh, that was nothing new. Look at what Dr. Fredric Wertham said in 1954 in his book _Seduction of the Innocent_:

Sometimes they are shown on a couch, Bruce reclining and Dick sitting next to him, jacket off, collar open, and his hand on his friend’s arm. Like girls in other stories, Robin is sometimes held captive by the villains …\* Robin is a handsome aphetic boy, usually showing his uniform with bare legs\*. He is buoyant with energy and devoted to nothing on earth or interplanetary space as much as to Bruce Wayne. _He often stands with legs spread,_\* the genital region discreetly evident\*\*.\*

Other times Batman ends up in bed injured, and young Robin is by his side. At home they lead an idyllic life. They are Bruce Wayne and “Dick” Grayson. Bruce is described as a “socialite” and the official relationship is that Dick is Bruce’s ward. They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and they own a butler, Alfred. Batman is sometimes shown in a dressing gown.

[Emphasis added]

What, exactly, does “discreetly evident” mean? What, in plain sight, _isn’t_ “discreetly evident”?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/13 "2010-10-11T17:19:53Z")

</div>

> [@Silent\_Kal](#):
>
> In fact, I thought bad guys actually using guns was a big no-no for this series.

The Bat-villians did occasionally use guns. That’s why Adam and Burt had the [Bat-shield](http://www.tvbatshield.com/home.html).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/14 "2010-10-11T17:20:10Z")

</div>

> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#):
>
> What, exactly, does “discreetly evident” mean? What, in plain sight, _isn’t_ “discreetly evident”?

[Do I have to spell it out for ya?](http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=303:batmans-boner&catid=32:seduction-index&Itemid=36) 😃

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/15 "2010-10-11T17:27:18Z")

</div>

> [@cochrane](#):
>
> > [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#):
> >
> > What, exactly, does “discreetly evident” mean? What, in plain sight, _isn’t_ “discreetly evident”?
> 
> [Do I have to spell it out for ya?](http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=303:batmans-boner&catid=32:seduction-index&Itemid=36) 😃

This one’s better: [http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com\_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=32&Itemid=50](http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=32&Itemid=50)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/16 "2010-10-11T17:35:49Z")

</div>

Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.

(Which I know is from their movie, but I just love that line).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/17 "2010-10-11T18:11:28Z")

</div>

Holy Flaming Batshit!

ETA: Batman.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/18 "2010-10-11T19:43:12Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and they own a butler, Alfred.

They “_own_” a butler???

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/19 "2010-10-11T20:13:53Z")

</div>

My life is now complete. Assuming we get Hub.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Silent\_Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Silent\_Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silent_Kal)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750/20 "2010-10-11T20:34:36Z")

</div>

> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#):
>
> My life is now complete. Assuming we get Hub.

It’s a re-branding of the Discovery Kids Channel, so if you got that, then you now have The Hub.

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1966-batman-series-starring-adam-west-returning-on-monday-11-october/556750.md?page=2)
