History
In 1965 the American Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) ratings were poor and they needed a fresh new show to broadcast in the new year. So they approached a producer called William Dozier who had the idea to "over do" Batman to make it fun for adults and appealing to youths.
"I bought a dozen of the comic books from various vintages, so I read all these things, and I thought they must be outer their minds. It was all so juvenile and so then a very simple idea came to me and that was to over do it. And if you over did it I thought it would be funny for adults and yet would be stimulating for kids, you had to appeal on both levels to have a chance." - William Dozier "It was a tough search [for actors] because you had to find an actor who was prepared to play Alice In Wonderland as if it were Hamlet" - Charles FitzsimonsABC bought the show, before watching two screen tests one with Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, and the other with Lyle Waggoner as Batman and Peter Deyell as Robin, they decided Adam and Burt would play the parts. The pilot was called "Hey Diddle Riddle", "Reviews for it were bad if ABC hadn't already brought the show it would of never gone on the aire." - William Dozier. Dispite the poor review when Batman premiered on January 12, 1966 it was FAR from poor, it was a HIT!
1965 ABC Presentation
You can now watch the 1965 ABC Presentation below, this was the network preview of the Batman show before episode one was broadcasted in January 1966.
"It wasn't planned for two nights originally, we shot them as one hour shows and then decided to break them up into two half hour shows" - William Dozier
Initial Success
"It had a 52 share of the audience, which is unheard of, their was no question about it, it was the biggest immediate hit which ever aired television" - Dozier
During series one Batman was rated the number 10 programme on Wednesdays and number 5 on Thursdays. Part one was shown on Wednesday, then continued on Thursday.
The show was in colour, everyone was used to black and white. After the first series a motion picture was produced which was a hit for parents and children all over America. Also the movie sold the show across loads of different countries including Great Britain, Italy, Argentina, Germany and Portugal. 75 million dollars worth of Batman merchandise was released in 1966, which was outselling the James Bond merchandise which was the in thing of the time.
Downfall
Sadly because the show was SO GOOD the only way the ratings for it to go was DOWN, but slowly. Series two introduced many new guest stars (Liberace as Chandell was the most watched episodes in the WHOLE Batman60s Show!) and new villians to make the show more fun packed! However, as the end of series two was coming to a close too many viewers were becoming bored.
A decrease in ratings resulted in Batman being cut down to only one show a night, and production costs were cut so sets became poor. So to convince ABC that Batman deserved a third season William Dozier decided to freshen up the show by adding Batgirl who was played by Yvonne Craig. Another presentation was made in 1967 and shown to ABC executives who liked the idea so gave permission for the third season to go ahead. (More history about Yvonne and to watch the presentation visit the Batgirl webpage by clicking HERE.) According to Yvonne, by adding Batgirl the producers hoped to gain the attention of more male adult viewers and also young girls. But still loads of viewers were lost and the show was cancelled on 14th March 1968 on its 120th episode "MINERVA, MAYHEM AND MILLIONAIRES" which William Dozier had a part in! The decrease in ratings was largly down to the adults, the kids were still tuning in but the adults became bored.
"It was a very expensive show to do, the sets were expensive, the special effects were expensive, and the cost was killing us." - Dozier
"It was the network's decision to cancel the series because it wasn’t delivering a big enough audience of the right kind, it wasn’t Delivering enough adults who buy things." - Dozier
NBC had ideas to pick up the show but it was too late. ABC had already taken down the set for the batcave.
Yvonne Craig : "When we were cancelled by ABC, we wondered if we could get another network. When it looked like we couldn't, they came with a bulldozer and bulldozed the whole set. Then two weeks later NBC said; 'Listen, we'd like to take a shot at "Batman" if you still have the sets'. They didn't want to start from scratch and build them because the set cost $800,000. So, it was too late, nothing came of it."
However, even though series four was never meant to be (sigh), in September 1969 the show went into syndication or in other words re-runs were put out across different stations which lasted until the early 1970's. Then with the launch of the *new* Batman film in 1989 starring Michael Keaton as Batman the 1960s series was brought back to many TV screens to fit around the release. And of course even today 40 plus years later the series is repeated across many channels are over the world on stations such as; TVLand, Sci-Fi, FX & BBC4.
UK Broadcastings
Here's some information about British Broadcast dates:
- The show aired on the various ITV channels across the UK on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Times varied depending on the region but usually late afternoon/early evening.
- It began on 21 May 1966 and ran until 11 September.
- The second series ran from the following week 17 September 1966 until 2 April 1967. These episodes were then repeated by the individual independent channels for the next few years in no specific order.
- The third series was not shown until 1974 when screening began on 14 September as part of the Saturday morning kid's show Saturday Scene.
- This final season finished its first UK airing on 8 March 1975. From then on the show was repeated incorporating episodes from the third season by the various independent channels across the UK.
American Television 1966-1968
1966 is a significant year in American television history as all shows, on all networks were broadcasted in colour during prime time for the first time ever. Notable shows that ended in 1966 are:
- The Flintstones (1960-1966)
- The Addams Family (1964-1966)
- The Munsters (1964-1966)
- The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966)
Notable shows which started in 1966 were:
- That Girl- The Monkees
- The Road Runner Show
- The Time Tunnel
- Mission: Impossible
Top 20 Rated/Watched Shows 1966-1967
1. Bonanza
2. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
3. The Lucy Show
4. The Red Skelton Show
5. Batman (Thursday)
6. The Andy Griffith Show
7. Bewitched
8. The Beverly Hillbillies
9. Hogan's Heroes
10. Batman (Wednesday)
11. Green Acres
12. Get Smart
13. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
14. Daktari
15. My Three Sons
16. The Dick Van Dyke Show
17. Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
18. The Ed Sullivan Show
19. The Lawrence Welk Show
20. I've Got a Secret
As you can see Batman was most watched on the Thursday night which would have been the second part episode, it was however the channels (ABC) most watched show followed by Bewitched. Between 1967 and 1968, so the end of the second season and the third season, Batman was no longer in the top 20 and reduced to only the Thursday timeslot. Bewitched however remained strong and lasted until 1972. However Batman of course was cancelled in 1968 and replaced with the sitcom "The Second Hundred Years" which started strongly but ended miserably resulting in only one season (26 episodes) being produced.
Batman was broadcasted at 7:30pm on Wednesday's and Thursday's, many critics at the time believed that Batman and the other networks success "Bewitched" saved ABC. Bewitched entered its third season in 1966 but its first in colour, both were the highest rated shows on ABC.
Wednesday Night 1966-67 ABC Schedule
7:30 - Batman
8:00 - The Monroes
9:00 - The Man Who Never Was
9:30-10.00 - Peyton Place
Thursday Night 1966-67 ABC Schedule
7:30 - Batman
8:00 - F Troop
8:30 - The Tammy Grimes Show
9:00 - Bewitched
9:30-10.00 - That Girl
Batman was also broadcasted once a week at 7:30 during 1968 on a Thursday evening.