Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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English Invader
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by English Invader »

HFFF1 wrote:Another memory of that time (unlikely to be repeated in today's world) is vising what was then Sears Roebuck, sitting on the floor and watching Batman IN COLOR in their TV department with a bunch of other kids, while our parents shopped. Not having a color TV at home made it feel like Christmas. :D
I figured that at that time, the vast majority of households would have had black and white TVs. I sometimes watch Batman episodes in black and white for an authentic experience and while you can still enjoy them that way you can tell they were meant to be seen in colour.

I've always felt the black and white episodes of the Grey Ghost were a nice touch (an episode of Batman: the Animated Series that guest stars Adam West and is kind of a tribute to the sacrifices he made in his career for his involvement in Batman, a must watch if you haven't already seen it).
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John Mack
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by John Mack »

I was old enough to remember season 3 first run in 1968. I ran around my kindergarten class singing, "Batgirl! Batgirl!" This is one reason I don't mind season 3 like others do here. I am emotionally attached to it and always will be.

John
Music. BAT! Music.
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chrisbcritter
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by chrisbcritter »

Definitely remember watching during the first airings. I was 5 1/2 when the show premiered (on our black-and-white Zenith portable), and of course the neighbor kids all reenacted the episodes. In fact one of the girls next door to me was named Joan Collins! (But she was always playing Catwoman, not the Siren...)
"To the medical eye, such childish claptrap means only one thing, young man: You need some sleep."
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Riddler Fan
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Riddler Fan »

Yes, I clearly remember watching Hi Diddle Riddle on that January night in 1966. I was 10 years old and my father worked in advertising and his company had ads running on the program and we all watched it. My father' s reaction to the show wasn't that good, but he was smart enough to know that it would be a huge hit.
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1966.batmobile
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by 1966.batmobile »

For some reason, I remember 1966 in better detail than most other years in the '60's. Vacations we went on, Christmas, and especially Batman. As I mentioned elsewhere, I saw the traveling version of the Barris batmobile at a fair that year, and my pedal car became my batmobile, even though it was blue. I too had a costume, but I'm not sure if it was the same one Wally posted himself wearing. Were there other versions? I remember trying to make a batarang/ batrope to climb trees in our yard, and jumping off of the picnic table a lot and singing the batman theme while doing so for some reason. My older brother bought me the Marketts theme 45, and to this day he still calls me Batman...
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Bill S.C.
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Bill S.C. »

I was in Kindergarten when the show premiered. I remember going to school on Thursday mornings and we'd talk about the show and wonder how B&R were going to escape; we could hardly wait for the show that night to find out what happens next. My mom also bought me the 45 of the theme and I remember wondering why it sounded different than it did on TV.

As with many homes back then, we had a B&W TV and I didn't see the show in color until we got our first color TV in 1971.
"Oh soon we'll be out amid the cold world's strife. Soon we'll be sliding down the razor blade of life." - Tom Lehrer
Batmmannn
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Batmmannn »

Yes I was old enough then to jump over bushes with a blue towel on,.....

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hisyouthfulward
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by hisyouthfulward »

Batmmannn,

Are you wearing socks as gloves in that picture? I used to do the same thing, too when dressing up way back when...
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Gernot
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Gernot »

I was born in '62, and still remember the series from back then. We'd usually watch the show in the kitchen on a small B&W set, but every once in a while, my parents let us watch it in the living room IN COLOR. :)

I also remember all the toys from '67 or '68 (not sure which Christmas), but we'd always play Batman at recess in school. Heh. The most popular kid usually got to be Batman, and I had to play one of the villains. At least I didn't always have to be one of the henchmen! :)
Jaws63
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Jaws63 »

I was born in December of 63, so I was 3 years old when the series was in it's prime. Do I remember watching it on the ABC network?...Yes, but very vaguely. I mostly remember what I saw in syndication in the 70's. Our family moved from Indiana to up-state New York in 74. I watched the series on channel 29 wutv in 74. Our cable provider(at that time) was able to pick up New York, New York's WPIX 11, but we only got the morning cartoons. I remember being jealous, because I saw the promos for their super hero block in the afternoon and thinking why do they get two episodes per weekday afternoon while our local station only played one episode.
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Jim Akin
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Jim Akin »

I turned 4 in March of '66, and watching the first season of Batman is one of my earliest memories. I couldn't figure out why my folks were laughing at the dire events onscreen. :) I was Robin to an older, more worldly kid down the street (he was in kindergarten) who used to play Batman. The girl who lived in the house between ours was our Catwoman, and my kid brother had a good Riddler giggle, so he got that role until he lost interest over always having to be a crook.

I remember the avalanche of bat-merchandise, but we didn't have too much of it. I had Batman pajamas and slippers, a T-shirt with the TV logo on it, and the Ben Cooper costume, with "BATMAN" inside the yellow-oval bat logo on the forehead. We also had a Batman Colorforms set and a deck of cards (from Whitman publishing) that featured comicbook versions of Batman, Robin, and the villains. I learned years later that the illustrations used on the cards were by the DC Comics team of Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson; the same artwork continued to be used on bedsheets, stickers, jelly glasses and other licensed items well into the 70s. My Bat-buddy from down the street had the Corgi batmobile and batboat, and I thought they were the coolest things ever. :)

My folks lost interest in Batman sometime during season 2, and it wasn't until I was in second or third grade that I learned about Batgirl, from syndicated shows. What a revelation!
elmrgraham
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by elmrgraham »

I first watched Batman at my late uncles house in Keansburg,New Jersey in January,1966.I have been a fan since then.
rdawsoniii
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by rdawsoniii »

Yep. I was in second grade. I distinctly remember a promo that featured Patty Duke and William Schallert from the Patty Duke Show.

I had a Batman plastic mask and utility belt (that included a batarang and grappling hook). I remember there was a compartment on the belt big enough to hold 2 of my mom's chocolate chip cookies.
whatever_gong82
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by whatever_gong82 »

I wasn't around when the show was first on, but it has always been a part of my life, until the 1992 Animated Series came on, and then the newer movies.

There is a Batman for all generations, since I think that he is the only fictional Comic book character that I think can go from child friendly to an PG-13 version, to even an R-rated one someday(I hope that we'll never see that, no matter how good it would be with a Good writer/Director combo) and still work.
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Gernot
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Gernot »

whatever_gong82 wrote:I wasn't around when the show was first on, but it has always been a part of my life, until the 1992 Animated Series came on, and then the newer movies.

There is a Batman for all generations, since I think that he is the only fictional Comic book character that I think can go from child friendly to an PG-13 version, to even an R-rated one someday(I hope that we'll never see that, no matter how good it would be with a Good writer/Director combo) and still work.
Well now, you can say that about Superman, too, as far as spanning all age groups. From the radio shows, the animated theatrical releases, the serials, the B-movie and TV show (the first two seasons were especially violent), and so on prove this.

Both heroes enjoy the multi-generational adoration. :)
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