The old “Batman” TV show that ran from 1966-1968 was odd because during much of its run it would air one 30-minute episode on Wednesday and then finish the story with a second 30-minute show on Thursday. This was done mostly during the first two seasons.
I seem to remember that there was another TV show that was on during the same time period that also regularly did the split-episode bit each week, but I can’t remember what is was.
Anybody remember?
Could you be more specific in what type of show it was? Superhero show like Batman? Green Hornet, Mr.Terrific, Captain Nice?
Seems to me it was some kind of superhero show, or maybe sci-fi, but I can’t recall it. Just seem to remember there was more than one show sequenced like “Batman” at around the same time.
I remember the other shows you mentioned, but don’t remember them being split episodes.
I think it was “Peyton Place”.
I believe it was Batman only that did this. The producer, William Dozier (who was also the voice-over who said “same bat-time…”) split it into 2 parters to emulate the Saturday morning serials of his childhood.
Dark Shadows?
Was it black and white? British? Did the hero have a sidekick or was s/he a loner? Was it paranormal (superpowers/magic) or like batman (detective/more realistic)?
It may be “Peyton Place” that I am thinking of. Through most of its run, it used the 2-episode format and ran about the same time.
The reason I remember there being a show that used this format, but don’t remember the show exactly, is because I was not allowed to watch “Peyton Place”. It was considered much to adult oriented for my young little mind, and it came on quite late at night because of its content.
“Peyton Place” was in fact on twice a week. According to this site, it premiered in September, 1964 and aired Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 to 10:00. Then in '65 and '66 it was on three nights a week! I was a 12 year-old boy when “Peyton Place” premiered, and could not have cared less about the show!
“Batman” was a midseason replacement that premiered in January of '66. I was a 14 year-old boy, and cared a LOT about Batman. Trouble was, the concluding segment each week fell on Thursdays, as I recall. And on Thursdays, our Boy Scout Troop had its meetings. This was in the dark ages. No vcrs. I never saw Batman escape from a trap that first season!
Does Underdog count? It definitely ran for a full hour at certain points in its existence, so “be sure to tune in for our next exciting episode” meant “after this commercial break”.
Peyton Place was a prime-time soap opera (one of the first) that ran 2 (and later 3) times a week. It wasn’t really a two-part show, since the story lines were never wrapped up like in Batman.
As time went on, Batman’s producers discovered that people weren’t watching the first episode, just the second, since that recapped everything. They ran a one-episode story and tried to switch the days around (the first half on Thursday, the second half the following Tuesday), but the fad had ended and the show was canceled.
In any case, the lesson wasn’t lost on network schedulers: shows with cliffhangers aren’t scheduled twice a week.