TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Bob Furmanek
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by Bob Furmanek »

Gentlemen, great work on the show, I enjoyed it very much!

My primary intent in doing the research and sharing the documents was to set the record straight. I'm very glad that you did the podcast to help get the word out.

My apologies for the dead links in the 2015 4th season thread. The images were stored in a Photobucket account which is no longer active. I still have all the original clippings and articles.

Life has put me on a different path these days and I'm focusing almost exclusively on our 3-D restoration work. (www.3dfilmarchive.com) However, the Bat-fan is still alive within me and I'm currently working on chronologically documenting the dozens of Batman records that came out in 1966. I should have something ready to share in a few months.

I'm still finding new information in the primary source documents on ratings. In time, I should be able to provide weekly reports on how the show performed in the Nielsens.
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P “Junior Batman” Y
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by P “Junior Batman” Y »

Thanks, Bob. The pleasure was all ours, and we’re grateful for all your diligent labor!

As a film studies guy, I’m a huge fan of your 3D restoration work as well. I had no idea that CREATURE was one of yours; it’s on par with the 35mm “polarized” print I saw at the Music Box in Chicago back in the mid-nineties. I’m certainly loving the Flicker Alley releases. Beautiful work.
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Bob Furmanek
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by Bob Furmanek »

Thanks very much, we've just restored Cesar Romero's only 3-D feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcxKsU4GWyw

I love the Bat Kids Fan Club pin. I've had one since the 70's and the non-licensed artwork is outstanding!

By the way, does anyone know the first day of filming on the pilot and the production dates on the first season episodes? Thanks!
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Ben Bentley
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by Ben Bentley »

Bob Furmanek wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:29 am By the way, does anyone know the first day of filming on the pilot and the production dates on the first season episodes? Thanks!
The pilot's production number was 6028 and the shooting dates were 10/20/65 to 11/04/65

Below is the "Cast Sheet" for the pilot corroborating this:
Screenshot 2020-03-31 at 13.30.59.jpg
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Bob Furmanek
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by Bob Furmanek »

That's great, thank you very much Ben. I'm putting together a timeline for my upcoming article.

By any chance, do you know the filming dates for The Purr-fect Crime?
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bat-rss
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by bat-rss »

Bob Furmanek wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:25 am Gentlemen, great work on the show, I enjoyed it very much!
We appreciate the Bob Furmanek (TM) Seal of Approval! Who needs Good Housekeeping?
Bob Furmanek wrote: Sun Mar 29, 2020 11:25 am I'm still finding new information in the primary source documents on ratings. In time, I should be able to provide weekly reports on how the show performed in the Nielsens.
That would be awesome! Looking forward to it.
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High C
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by High C »

To continue with the never-ending ratings discussion, I noticed in Marc Cushman's These Are The Voyages Volume 1, he listed the Nielsen averages for the two-week period that included the first Catwoman arc of season 2 and the Minstrel arc. Suffice it to say, it was not good.

The Thursday broadcasts were in a three-way tie for 36th, respectable, but a long way from only
a few months before. And the Wednesday broadcasts were in a four-way tie for 57th. Ugh. The momentum obviously was long gone.

By the way, in doing a newspaper search for contemporary stories and listings of season 3, I noticed that even middling just-canceled shows such as the two-season Western Laredo were running in syndication already. The biggest reason, in my educated opinion? All the episodes were in color. That's another reason why Dozier saw dollar signs. Local stations and viewers already were demanding color shows and movies at all hours of the day, and Batman's color was as bold and bright as any show's at the time.

And I daresay, with remastering and Blu-Rays, it still is.
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Mr. Glee
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #129: The Show's Ratings, and Rating "Godzilla"

Post by Mr. Glee »

RE: the shooting dates for "The Purr-fect Crime" and other first-season episodes:

The Batman '66 book by Robert T. Garcia and Joe Desris says "The Purr-fect Crime" was filmed in early February. The "final" script for the episode is dated January 26.

The book doesn't include shooting dates for all of the first-season episodes, but it does specify that filming of the final episode, "Fine Finny Fiends" wrapped on April 15.

I've been trying to put together a complete list of shooting dates for the entire series, here's what I have so far for Season 1 (additions and corrections to the below welcomed!):

s1-dates.jpg
Note: with two exceptions (info from the Garcia/Desris book), the above dates all come from series paperwork found at the old Bat-dox site.
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