Rarely has a TV show so gripped the world as Batman did way back in 1966. People still remember this incredibly campy show and watch it. The show was based on a twenty-year-old comic strip names Batman. In fact the show was credited for saving the dying Bat comic strip from extinction. However the campy tone makes many of the Bat fans angry that this show supposedly set a too campy tone for comic book today.

I think the show did have some bad points especially in the second season but this was still a great show. Adam West was a near perfect Batman, Burt Ward was hilarious as Robin. Neil Hamilton was an excellent Commissioner Gordon and Stafford Repp was excellent as Chief O'Hara. Also Alfred the Butler was played excellently by Alan Napier. Together they would fight the forces of evil in Gotham City with a series of excellent cops, honesty, a man in a six foot bat suit and a series of sound effects that would attack villains toward the end of a thirty minute cycle.

The show was campy but all comic books before Batman were. The show had some distinctly satirical overtones and why shouldn't it. A millionaire dresses up as a bat to fight crime? These days the millionaire is more likely to be committing the crime. The episodes at the beginning of the shows short run and the episodes at the end of the shows run were indeed the best and a few of them were some of the noted best episodes any any television show period.

At the beginning of 1966 everything turned Batman. The TV show dominated television, merchandising an advertisement for the show even made it to the Super Bowl! The show even was made into a theatrically released movie. The show lost almost all of it's edge when the second season came and the show went from being satirical and over the top to just too campy.

The villains were great as well. Top name celebrities lined up to star in this show. John Wayne, Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and other top named celebrities lined up to star in this show, many of them never got the chance. But some of these people were just great. Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Julie Newmar as Catwoman, Cesar Romero as the Joker and Burgess Meredith as the Penguin are now legendary. There were many others but those were arguably the four most well known.

Burgess Meredith was always my favorite. He was such a great actor in real life. Frank gorshin's excellent job as the Riddler brought the Riddler in the comic books from being a minor villain to one of the top villains. My favorite episode of the series were the ones where The Penguin ran for mayor. These were just so many great moments in that one, watching Allen Ludden comment on the fight between Batman and the Penguins goons were hilarious. My second favorite episodes were where the Joker went surfing and planned to win taking over the surfers. That was classic.

I found it interesting that in this show everyone was helpful, the only bad guys were the villains and everyone who was not a villain was misguided and the villains were really goofy instead of evil. Everyone was basically decent. People that lived during that time said it was like that even outside of television. I like the comic strips of Batman and the show because it is supposed to show everyone in a good light and show everyone's good side.

Many comic book people say this show is awful. This is the original Batman on television, and if there was not this there would be no movies there may not even be a series of comic books as this show regenerated interest in the comic strip even Bob Kane said so. All I can say is this is classic television. It is without a doubt hilarious and a great tribute to the series.