Batman - The Complete First Season (1966)

Wealthy entrepreneur Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson lead a double life: they are actually the crime-fighting duo Batman and Robin. A secret Batpole in the Wayne mansion leads to the Batcave, where Police Commissioner Gordon summons the Dynamic Duo on the Batphone with the latest emergency threatening Gotham City. Racing to the scene of the crime in the jet-powered Batmobile, Batman and Robin must (with the help of their trusty utility-belts) thwart the efforts of a rogues gallery of flamboyant arch-villains, including the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and the Catwoman.

Creator: William Dozier

Stars: Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier

The producers at ABC had wanted to try something different. Since Superman had been a fairly popular show, they decided to add another comic character to the TV line-up. They decided to go with Batman. Wanting to make it different, they added a campy feel to the show so it would appeal to both kids and adults. They didn't know exactly what to expect from their test audience they played a few scenes that had been recorded (weeks before the actual airing of the first show came). The results? Well, it's not what you would expect. The results were poor by their standards. ABC decided to go with it anyway, aside from the results. They'd later find out they made a wise choice.

Many promotions were made starting a few weeks before the show was going to be seen by the public's eyes. The show had been played up, and much of the public wanted to see it just because of all the hype–who would want to miss something that your friends were going to be talking about at school the next day? The first episode aired on Wednesday, January 12, 1966. The title of it was "Hey Diddle Riddle" starring Frank Gorshin as The Riddler was to decide the fate of the show itself. It was an instant hit, the kids loved the BAM! POW! and the bright colors, while adults liked the special guest appearances. Bat-mania swept the country in the weeks following, anything that could be made with "Batman" somehow promoting it was. Batman, the movie, came out later in 1966, although it was originally slated to come out before the first episode of the TV show. The movie was also a huge success.

As the season rolled by, the show had lost some of its ratings, and ABC decided they'd better introduce a new character to gain the public's interest once again. They decided that character would be Batgirl. Still though, the ratings just weren't good enough. Eventually the public tired of the same plots. Villains steal or kidnap; Batman and Robin alerted and meet in Commissioner's office; villain slips up; Batman and Robin catch the villain who's taken away to jail. On March 14, 1968, the last episode "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires" aired, with Batman and Robin ending up in a giant pressure cooker.

IMDB

Complete Episode List of First Season:
1x01 12/Jan/1966 Hi Diddle Riddle
1x02 13/Jan/1966 Smack in the Middle
1x03 19/Jan/1966 Fine Feathered Finks
1x04 20/Jan/1966 The Penguin's a Jinx
1x05 26/Jan/1966 The Joker Is Wild
1x06 27/Jan/1966 Batman Is Riled
1x07 02/Feb/1966 Instant Freeze
1x08 03/Feb/1966 Rats Like Cheese
1x09 09/Feb/1966 Zelda the Great
1x10 10/Feb/1966 A Death Worse Than Fate
1x11 16/Feb/1966 A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away
1x12 17/Feb/1966 When the Rat's Away the Mice Will Play
1x13 23/Feb/1966 The Thirteenth Hat
1x14 24/Feb/1966 Batman Stands Pat
1x15 02/Mar/1966 The Joker Goes to School
1x16 03/Mar/1966 He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul
1x17 09/Mar/1966 True or False Face
1x18 10/Mar/1966 Holy Rat Race
1x19 16/Mar/1966 The Purr-Fect Crime
1x20 17/Mar/1966 Better Luck Next Time
1x21 23/Mar/1966 The Penguin Goes Straight
1x22 24/Mar/1966 Not Yet, He Ain't
1x23 30/Mar/1966 The Ring of Wax
1x24 31/Mar/1966 Give 'em the Axe
1x25 06/Apr/1966 The Joker Trumps an Ace
1x26 07/Apr/1966 Batman Sets the Pace
1x27 13/Apr/1966 The Curse of Tut
1x28 14/Apr/1966 The Pharaoh's in a Rut
1x29 20/Apr/1966 The Bookworm Turns
1x30 21/Apr/1966 While Gotham City Burns
1x31 27/Apr/1966 Death in Slow Motion
1x32 28/Apr/1966 The Riddler's False Notion
1x33 04/May/1966 Fine Finny Fiends
1x34 05/May/1966 Batman Makes the Scenes