ABC Second Season Reruns

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Bob Furmanek
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ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by Bob Furmanek »

The first season reruns have been posted in another thread so I thought it would be interesting to see which shows were selected for network repeats after the second season.

April 5, 6 - Hi Diddle Riddle
April 12, 13 - The Purrfect Crime
April 19, 20 - An Egg Grows in Gotham
April 26, 27 - The Thirteenth Hat
May 3, 4 -The Curse of Tut
May 10, 11 -The Sandman Cometh
May 17, 18 - Fine Feathered Finks
May 24, 25 - The Joker is Wild
May 31, June 1 - Shoot a Crooked Arrow
June 7, 8 - The Bookworm Turns
June 14, 15, 21 - The Zodiac Crimes
June 22, 28 - That Darn Catwoman
June 29, July 5, 6 - Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend
July 12, 13 - Green Ice
July 19, 20 - Ring of Wax
July 26, 27 - King Tut's Coup
August 2, 3 -The Contaminated Cowl
August 9, 10 - Come Back Shame
August 16, 17 - The Cat's Meow
August 23, 24 - Hizzoner the Penguin
August 30, 31 - The Devil's Fingers

It's interesting to note that seven first season episodes (one-third of the repeats) were shown again in the summer of 1967.

I'm speculating that ABC and Greenway selected the other fourteen shows that had the best ratings from the second season in order to put their best foot forward for a possible third season.
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Ben Bentley
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by Ben Bentley »

"Shoot A Crooked Arrow" certainly is a little more palatable when sandwiched between those two solid Season One offerings.
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High C
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by High C »

It is quite interesting that they went back to season 1 for a sizable portion of the repeats. Maybe it was a tacit admission of the decline in quality.

I'm surprised they held back the repeat of the Pengy election satire until August. The Emmys were in June that year and Greenway was pushing that arc heavily for awards, so I'm kind of surprised they didn't rerun it in April or early May.

Thanks as always for the great info, Bob.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Thanks for the research, Bob. I too find it surprising that season one episodes were rerun post season two. It would be interesting to see the ratings for all season two episodes, especially Newmar's return to the series, the Green Hornet crossover and the Astin Riddler arc.
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Bob Furmanek
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by Bob Furmanek »

With three of her second season appearances rerun in the summer, I suspect the Catwoman ratings were above average for the second season.
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High C
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by High C »

Bob Furmanek wrote: Mon Apr 23, 2018 10:19 am With three of her second season appearances rerun in the summer, I suspect the Catwoman ratings were above average for the second season.
I would think so. Frankly, I was surprised they didn't re-run all five of her season 2 arcs. I wouldn't have put that past them.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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epaddon
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by epaddon »

It certainly makes sense why they would have gone back to a Gorshin Riddler episode as a first rerun because by that point seeing him again would have had to be a ratings grabber.
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Mr. Glee
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by Mr. Glee »

Some info on the BATMAN ratings is included in Marc Cushman's books about LOST IN SPACE, as the two shows were competing in the same time-slot on Wednesday nights. During BATMAN's first season, its "audience share" was routinely in the 40s (versus the mid-to-upper 20 share LOST IN SPACE was pulling during those months.)

Right from the start of BATMAN's second season, the audience share was regularly down in the 28 to 31 range. (Note: these numbers reflect Nielsen's "weekly MNA" ratings reports, and may only reflect the 7:45-to-8:00 segment of the shows.)
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High C
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Re: ABC Second Season Reruns

Post by High C »

To piggyback on that, Mr. Glee, widely-published Nielsen figures for the 1965-66 season show that Batman's Thursday segment ranked fifth for the whole season on Wednesdays and 10th on Thursdays. (So interestingly, the recaps already had become a ratings problem.)

Still, compare that to 1966-67, when it plummeted below the top 30 in both slots.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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