Check Out DC’s Strange Announcement of the BATMAN TV Series

[Dan Greenfield]

Hey, Batfolks:

I happened upon this historical tidbit, which I've posted over at 13th Dimension:

https://13thdimension.com/check-out-dcs ... 66-series/

Dig it!

-- Dan

[High C]

Great find, Dan. Thanks for sharing.

And obviously, as you noted, this is the most concrete proof of what's always been said, that the show originally was planned for Sept. 1966 but was moved up because ABC's other shows were tanking (a common problem for ABC, mired in last place, at that time).

[BATWINGED HORNET]

Thanks for posting this, Dan. Yes, its no wonder Batman was launched early, since ABC was in a deep hole by the time 1966 rolled in, with long-running The Donna Reed Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and newcomer Shindig! all suffering from low ratings and eventually leaving ABC early that year.

[Mr. Glee]

DC must have had a long lead time with their publishing schedule - TV columnist Cynthia Lowry had announced the January premiere of BATMAN back on October 20th, in her nationally syndicated column.

[AndyFish]

In that great conversation with Julie Schwartz I had oh so many years ago I had asked him about the lead time and he told me it was closer to six months which is amazing, because in today's climate we've turned in pages to a major publisher TWO WEEKS before the book is out in print on occasion.

Remember how THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN used to give the old line at the end about buying "Superman Magazine" at the end of the show? I remember asking why we weren't pushing Batman Comics at the end of the 90s Batman Animated Series and was told the rules had changed about commercially promoting a tie in item.

I don't know when those rules changed, but I remember the surprise I had when I read these old Batman comics and the soft sell they were doing for the show even when it had premiered.

The BATMANA fan club was much more aggressive about the coming show and getting news out to fans, they were also the first to turn on the show when it got too campy.

[Bob Furmanek]

The first mention of the show in Variety was August 25, 1965 and Adam is listed for the show on September 22, 1965.

Funny, there's no mention whatsoever of doing a feature first as a way to launch the series.

Another Bat-myth busted?

Variety 8.25.65 Bat.JPG (29.81 KiB) Viewed 3585 times

Variety 9.22.65 Adam.JPG (22.22 KiB) Viewed 3585 times

[clavierankh]

Obviously the writer of the first newspaper article didn't know anything about Batman "A fellow who disguises himself as a bat to solve crimes". Also the letter column piece was a blurb sent in by a letter writer and not something DC put in.

I don't think there was much cross promotion from DC. The only thing I can think of is this cover. Batmen 183 Aug. 1966 It may not even be our Batman series because the title screen is different. Given the lead time in comics this might have been drawn before the series.

[High C]

Regarding the cover, I think Robin faked the Bat-phone call because he really wanted to watch Lost in Space instead. Holy Benedict Arnold!