Wednesday, July 23, 2008

na, na, na, na, Batman!

So The Dark Knight is kicking @ss and taking names at the box office. In hour, lets have some trivia about the campy TV series that started it all...

* The Batmobile was a customized 1955 Lincoln Futura, which had been used in the film It Started with a Kiss (1959).

* The Batcave set was built on the exact spot where the Skull Island Gate was located in the original King Kong (1933).

* The show aired from January 12, 1966 to March 14, 1968 on ABC for 120 episodes. It was one of few TV series to be seen on 2 different nights a week: 7:30 Wednesdays AND Thursdays. The episodes were generally two-parters: Wednesday's episode was a cliffhanger, resolved in Thursday's episode.

* Some of the 1966-7 episodes paired super criminals with one another, following in the pattern of the theatrically released version of the series, Batman (1966), which featured The Catwoman, The Joker, The Riddler and The Penguin.

* When playing The Joker, Cesar Romero painted over his mustache rather than shave it off.

* Burgess Meredith's role as The Penguin was one of the more popular guest roles, so much so that the producers actually had a script ready for him whenever he was in Los Angeles.

* The Shakespeare bust used to slide open the bookcase and expose the batpoles had an electric switch that couldn't open the bookcase but it did turn on a light behind the set to signal the crew to slide it open.
* In all the scenes of the villains' hideouts, the camera filmed at an angle, almost "crooked" (the shot is known as "canted"). This was because all the villains were also crooked.

* Aunt Harriet was written into the series to counter the rumors that Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were gay. The producers felt that a female aunt would "round out" Wayne Manor.

* A Total of 352 "Holy" words were used by Robin from "Holy Agility" to "Holy Zorro".

* The National Safety Council brought up the safety issue in the Batmobile. They wanted to know why the Batmobile was not fitted with seat belts. The producers answered that question by having Batman and Robin "buckling up" before they tore out of the Batcave.

* Each main villain had their own theme music.

* Anne Baxter appeared as two different villians. The first one was the female magician Zelda, but her more famous appearance was as Egghead's paramour Olga, Queen of the Cossacks.

* When the series premiered, Alfred had been "killed off" a few years earlier in the comic book series. However, when the producers announced that they intended to make Alfred a regular character, he was brought back to life in the comic book as well.

* 84 different word overlays were used during the fight scenes from "Bam" to "Kapow".

* The first show to hold two spots in the weekly Neilsen ratings every week, a feat not duplicated until "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (1999/I) over 30 years later.

* The Riddler was just a minor and forgettable villain in the comics. This series is responsible for turning him into one of the most popular villains in Batman's rogues gallery.

* This was one of the "in" shows to appear on if you were a big name in Hollywood, and many top names guested on the show, including many who didn't do much TV otherwise. Those performers who weren't cast as guest villains could frequently be seen popping their heads out of windows to exchange a few words with Batman and Robin when the latter would be climbing up a building wall.

* Of all the villains portrayed on the television series, Mr. Freeze had the most actors portraying him: George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Catwoman had three actresses as well -- Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and Lee Meriwether (in the movie version).

* Batman creator Bob Kane noted that this series saved the Batman comic series from cancellation when the show revived the character's popularity. Despite this, most comic fans despised this series for stereotyping superheroes and comics as campy nonsense.

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