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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Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by English Invader »

Anyone here remember Batman when it first came out? The excitement of the TV promos and the first episode, the weekly wait for each new episode and talking about them with your friends at school/work? How many people have that nostalgic connection?

My parents are old enough to remember (they're both in their sixties), but most of the people I've seen on this forum seem younger than that. I was born in 1981 (13 years after the show went off the air) and I can only remember re-runs from about the age of 7 onwards. The John Astin Riddler episode is one of the first ones I remember.
noman
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by noman »

Yeah I rmember seeing one episode ending....when I was .....young....but id didnt catch on to the series unitl years later....
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Dr. Shimel »

I can faintly remember seeing a promo for the second part of the first Mad Hatter appearance which talked about if Batman was going to be able to escape having plaster dumped on him. Also, going over to a friend's house to watch the S2 Egghead appearance and the Catwoman/Pussycat saga.
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Riddler 66
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Riddler 66 »

At 54 going on 55, I'm a member of the Original Run Club. So I full well remember Batmania at it's peak. The stores were flooded with Bat Merchandise and cereals were were big for mail in premiums. It came on when I was in Kindergarten, and remember "playing Batman" at break time. The cutest girl in the class did play Catwoman.
The trigger: one of my riddles!
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Chuck Williams
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Chuck Williams »

Absolutely!
I recall going to a school fair at Halloween time and seeing a flock of plastic bat helmets on kiddies everywhere!
Quick, Everyone, Flee for your lives, into the street!!!!

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Dr. Shimel
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Dr. Shimel »

I also remember getting a Bat Screen (or something akin to it) for Christmas 1966.
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clavierankh
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by clavierankh »

I remember it. Batman premiered three days before my tenth birthday.(I'm an old geezer!) I remember the Batman Is Coming promos. I remember having to decide between Lost In Space and Batman on Wednesday night.

I remember the Batman and Robin serial coming to the local theater and being surprised it was so different from the series.

I also member March 16, 1966 the premier of The Purr-fect Crime and being a little annoyed when the episode was interrupted with news bulletins about Gemini 8 tumbling out of control and being in serious trouble. I was also a space buff so I was fascinated. My parents let me stay up late and watch the re-entry.

So many memories.
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rajung
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by rajung »

Oh man do I remember.
My mom still says she could plant anything in front of me to eat, and I would eat it all without even knowing what it was.
My favorite was cold can corn straight out of the can, cold with salt/pepper.
These days that doesn't work so well.
Kresge was the hot spot for toys related to the series.
Eat at the diner section and hit the toy isle.
I seen the first episode and was instantly hooked,but if I remember correctly it was due to 2 reasons,the car and then the bright colors.
I was pumped when it went to 2 episodes per week and my parents cringed.
Oh well, I suffered through Porter Wagner and they actually thought I liked Topo Gigio from E.Sullivan.
That plastic and cloth mouse didn't last long in my toy collection.
By the end of the original series run I did lose interest and don't think I watched all the shows ea. week,I was getting bored with the shows other than Batgirl.Green hornet lasted about a month for me and as hard as I tried, just couldn't connect with it due to being more serious.
All the .67 cent toys I destroyed in sand boxes and lighter fluid simulated crash scenes I want back.
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hisyouthfulward
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by hisyouthfulward »

Four years old in 1966 and having my brother call me to watch "Batman" is my first coherent memory. My mom said that she'd put my dinner on a tv tray because that was the only way I'd eat when the show was on. The episodes that really stick out to me are the ones from first season. I remember distinctly the the first episode, Bruce Wayne going into the incinerator, the death-trap from the False Face episode, the first Mad Hatter and others. There was a long gap between the original series and the next time I saw the show, a very snowy Channel 20 (for those living in the Thumb of Michigan) out of Detroit and WEYI, channel 25 out of the Tri-Cities area here in Michigan. I was in 6th or 7th grade for these but I still remembered large chunks of the shows' plots from way back in '66-'68.
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Yellow Oval
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Yellow Oval »

I first remember seeing it in '67 and it was a repeat of the premiere Season 1 episode. The colors, costumes, vehicles, and action mesmerised me. Riddler scared the hell outta me popping out of the manhole when the car drove away and then I remember being horrified that Batman was too drugged to drive the Batmobile and the police had taken his keys away from him! 'Batman on drugs??? The evil substance of the late '60s that only the 'hippies' took at that time???' :shock: (and you're really from back then if you remember what I'm talking about! ;) )

Being hooked at that point I started getting all things Batman such as slippers for Christmas that year as well the Corgi Batmobile, Bat-puzzles, and anything with a Bat logo on a box. When I started to read, then the comics came into the picture, and I still continued watching the series non-stop in syndication until the later '70s when it started to fade from the small screen.

I wish I had some of the memories of what others have seen here in terms of TV commercials, merchandise, etc.
"Hmmm... I don't like the twist this joke is taking. Let us away! Let us away!"
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Progress Pigment
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Progress Pigment »

rajung wrote:Oh man do I remember.
My mom still says she could plant anything in front of me to eat, and I would eat it all without even knowing what it was.
My favorite was cold can corn straight out of the can, cold with salt/pepper.
These days that doesn't work so well.
Kresge was the hot spot for toys related to the series.
Eat at the diner section and hit the toy isle.
I seen the first episode and was instantly hooked,but if I remember correctly it was due to 2 reasons,the car and then the bright colors.
I was pumped when it went to 2 episodes per week and my parents cringed.
Oh well, I suffered through Porter Wagner and they actually thought I liked Topo Gigio from E.Sullivan.
That plastic and cloth mouse didn't last long in my toy collection.
By the end of the original series run I did lose interest and don't think I watched all the shows ea. week,I was getting bored with the shows other than Batgirl.Green hornet lasted about a month for me and as hard as I tried, just couldn't connect with it due to being more serious.
All the .67 cent toys I destroyed in sand boxes and lighter fluid simulated crash scenes I want back.
Thanks for that! My first vivid memory of Batman was seeing him in the early 70's when I visited my cousin's in Florida, and saw the cliffhanger of Batman being turned into a frosty freezie. I remember that scene like yesterday. Man was I hooked!
Next week, the Dynamic Duo meets the Clock King!
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wally wingert
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by wally wingert »

Yup! A fan from day one! My ersatz Batman costume in early '66 gave way to the official Ben Cooper cape and mask set (and a Batman t-shirt) which I received for my 5th birthday in May of '66. (I even roped an unsuspecting neighbor boy into being Robin! His mom made him a home-made cape just for the occasion!)
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HFFF1
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by HFFF1 »

I am also a member of the Original Run Club and can relate to all that has been posted, especially the pre-VCR/DVR days of channel switching between Batman and Lost in Space during commercials on Wednesday nights. Surprised the rotary dial to change channels didn't wear out.

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
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Lord Death Man
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by Lord Death Man »

My husband was, from when the 'Batman is coming!' promos began running. Listening to his Batmania stories is really fun, as he was the 'go-to' kid in second grade as he had been reading DC comics and Batman in particular since he was three. He remembers being miffed that he almost always missed the first episode of the week because his sister wanted to watch 'Lost in Space' (daddy's girl always gets her way!), even though he enjoyed it too, and it was on a black and white TV. The stories of 'cutthroat collecting' of the Norman Saunders Batman cards sold at the candy store across the street from school, the discussion of each episode on Thursday morning to find out what he missed, the fun of Thursday nights, piles of Batman toys from Christmas 66 and 67 (he still has the home movies and most of the toys!) and even the trouble he got in when he used his 'Penguin Umbrella' to 'incapacitate' 'Batman' on the playground-I think it was the golden age of his childhood :D .
He flies and fights-BATMAN!
Purity and virtue-BATMAN!
Cowards run away!
Batman saves the day!
Also, Boy Wonder Robin.
Batman and Robin-caped crusaders at night!
BIFF! POW! BAM! BATMAN!
gerryd54
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Re: Anyone here old enough to remember the original run?

Post by gerryd54 »

I was 11 when it premiered and I remember the commercials very well. If you didn't live through it, it's hard to describe how Batman permeated the culture. It really was everywhere . I remember seeing Adam and Burt in person when they came to the Walt Whitman Mall on Long Island in Huntington , New York to promote the movie. We stood out in the hot sun and humidity but it was worth it.It is hard to believe that almost 50 years later Adam and Burt are still here and we are still talking about it.
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