Batman TV series DVD set in 2014!!

[Jaws63]

Yeh, I seem to remember watching these episodes in their first syndicated run and the darker tone was prevalent in the first season, it brightened up as the series wore on.

The colors in the trailer seem right on the money...just as I remember it.

The pink backdrop in the in-color cards I think is also due to the washed out colors, I thought I remembered a yellow/lemon color as the backdrop...not sure yet if the In-color cards will be included in this official release. I'm pretty sure I'm right about this, but LOL if it's not included we won't be able to know one way or the other.

[Lord Death Man]

Interesting article on Forbes about the DVD release being the end of an era.

[Ben Bentley]

I'm a little late chiming in on the "Sizzle" trailer for the release, but here goes...

The colors and contrast look AMAZING! This short trailer portrays the palette of the show that I have been so desperate to see all of these years. Having been lucky enough to see and to hold original costume items, I think any issues some of you appear to be having with "darkness" are based on pure contextual fallacy as a result of washed out re-run tapes and poor TV recorded DVD bootlegs over the years.

[Kamdan]

Those in doubt with the transfer need to take a look at the differences between the VHS and Laserdiscs of Star Trek compared to the HD transfers they made for the Blu-ray release. You're dealing with two different forms of video transfers and we've gotten to a stage where the end result resembles a resolution on par with a film print. It may be jarring at first, but you're seeing it the way it was filmed.

[Mr. Comic Book]

But is this what the director and producer intended ? The pilot is not supposed to be super dark and saturated, especially when Batman enters the night club.

Yes, it's essentially what was originally intended. You may like the faded, washed-out syndication prints better, but they do not have greater validity than the actual footage from 1966. The darker, more heavily saturated look is the real deal. If you don't like it...well, your best option is to stick with the bootlegs and syndication prints, because WB's not going to put out a washed-out, artificially-lightened transfer.

This isn't a matter of WB getting it "wrong." They're not. You simply don't like the way the show originally looked. And that's a matter of personal taste for which WB is not responsible.

[LizardKing]

Kinda funny that some folks are complaining already and they have not even seen the July 24 press conference let alone own the DVD's yet.

[marvelbloodhound]

Begorrah!

[AndyFish]

Dateline Hollywood - BATMAN CLASSIC TV SHOW RELEASE
NOV 18th marks the date of the long awaited Batman 1966 Tv Series on Blu Ray, Dvd and Digital release. The set will ship in a full sized Bat cowl which will convert to a chip bowl and limited editions will include remainder Batman cereal from 1989.
Studio execs were excited to release the details that the episodes have been pressed from the TV Land prints imcluding the love able logo in the bottom right corner and each episode runs it's full 19 minutes. Colors have been restored to their original pastel Hughes of pink and brown and each episode was digitally remastered through a dirty fish tank.

George Lucas has been brought in to enhance the release by digitally replacing Adam West with modern Batman Christian Bale and teen heartthrob Justin Bibber (changed his name) for Burt Ward. Lucas also improved the third season by erasing it and running an endless loop of the Star Wars Christmas special in it's place featuring curmudgeonly Bea Arthur as Aunt Harriet. Warner Bros explained this by saying they've always hated the '66 Batman and fans have been demanding more Bea Arthur.

The soundtrack by Neil Hefti has been improved with an all new track by Lady Gaga who herself has been digitally inserted I to the role of Bonnie, police commissioner Gordon's previously unseen secretary. Gags performed the score with the aide of a pork chop and bowl of cole slaw creating a unique sound.

"fans are going to love what we've done, and if they don't what's it matter? Most people who want to see the show now are senile or close to it, so we can just give them some pablum and tell them it's lobster bisque, right?"

[Gleeps, it's Batman]

LOL!!! Andy, that's a riot!

[Jaws63]

Dateline Hollywood - BATMAN CLASSIC TV SHOW RELEASE
NOV 18th marks the date of the long awaited Batman 1966 Tv Series on Blu Ray, Dvd and Digital release. The set will ship in a full sized Bat cowl which will convert to a chip bowl and limited editions will include remainder Batman cereal from 1989.
Studio execs were excited to release the details that the episodes have been pressed from the TV Land prints imcluding the love able logo in the bottom right corner and each episode runs it's full 19 minutes. Colors have been restored to their original pastel Hughes of pink and brown and each episode was digitally remastered through a dirty fish tank.

George Lucas has been brought in to enhance the release by digitally replacing Adam West with modern Batman Christian Bale and teen heartthrob Justin Bibber (changed his name) for Burt Ward. Lucas also improved the third season by erasing it and running an endless loop of the Star Wars Christmas special in it's place featuring curmudgeonly Bea Arthur as Aunt Harriet. Warner Bros explained this by saying they've always hated the '66 Batman and fans have been demanding more Bea Arthur.

The soundtrack by Neil Hefti has been improved with an all new track by Lady Gaga who herself has been digitally inserted I to the role of Bonnie, police commissioner Gordon's previously unseen secretary. Gags performed the score with the aide of a pork chop and bowl of cole slaw creating a unique sound.

"fans are going to love what we've done, and if they don't what's it matter? Most people who want to see the show now are senile or close to it, so we can just give them some pablum and tell them it's lobster bisque, right?"

I just relived my nightmare!!! LOL

[batsman]

But is this what the director and producer intended ? The pilot is not supposed to be super dark and saturated, especially when Batman enters the night club.

Yes, it's essentially what was originally intended. You may like the faded, washed-out syndication prints better, but they do not have greater validity than the actual footage from 1966. The darker, more heavily saturated look is the real deal. If you don't like it...well, your best option is to stick with the bootlegs and syndication prints, because WB's not going to put out a washed-out, artificially-lightened transfer..

I've addressed some of these concerns in previous posts. Most of the comments are about the pilot, not other episodes in the series.

A few points that need clearing.

The "faded" and "washed out" prints, are not really "washed out". This misinformation needs to be cleared, most people on the board don't want to talk about it, or have the facts wrong.

The series was remastered for syndication. The pilot, and some of the episodes for season 1, had new prints struck. Nobody talks about this. Everybody talks about the "bootleg" set.

This is about the broadcast version, not the "bootleg" set from a convention or other places.

The pilot, the broadcast version, the one shown on TV not the bootleg, looked outstanding, even with its problems it looked very good.

You may like the faded, washed-out syndication prints better, but they do not have greater validity than the actual footage from 1966.

Some of the episodes from the syndicated version have a lot of validity, because there were changes made. Did you know some of the end credits were remade after the original broadcasts, the "actual" footage from 1966? So is it okay to have the wrong credits? Or the right ones, which were corrected for the syndicated version ?

Changes, not cuts were also made for censorship reasons, the new set will probably discard those.

Were the changes the original intent of the producers? In some cases, yes.

Yes, it's essentially what was originally intended.

The darker, more heavily saturated look is the real deal.

When Batman enters the night club, the scene is lively with the dance and music going on. If you darken these scenes, the original intent is lost.

The trailer shows a scene with the Penguin turning around. Where's he supposed to be? The darker look makes it look like he's robbing a bank, when he isn't. He's supposed to be in the umbrella shop. Doesn't look that way.

This isn't a matter of WB getting it "wrong." They're not. You simply don't like the way the show originally looked. And that's a matter of personal taste for which WB is not responsible.

It isn't just a matter of personal taste. WB has a responsibility to get it right. They've gotten it wrong before. These issues need to be addressed.

[Lou Szabo]

Interesting article on Forbes about the DVD release being the end of an era.

Well that reviewer nailed it! The aisles for blu ray and DVD are dwindling. Happy that we have a chance to have it on disc before its gone too. I wonder if a 3D version will be the final hurrah!

[That_weirdo_Cage]

I have a question about color-shifting. On the TV Land set, there's a very noticeable shift from red to blue just before the originally broadcast commercial breaks. It's as though this color shift were intended to notify someone running the reels that it was time to get ready to switch over. This is a very frequent occurrence.

Is that a characteristic of the bootlegs, or should we anticipate seeing that in the original material? I'm sure I'm not imagining this effect. I've always thought it was curious, as I've never seen such a thing on other shows.

[Scott Sebring]

I have a question about color-shifting. On the TV Land set, there's a very noticeable shift from red to blue just before the originally broadcast commercial breaks. It's as though this color shift were intended to notify someone running the reels that it was time to get ready to switch over. This is a very frequent occurrence.

Is that a characteristic of the bootlegs, or should we anticipate seeing that in the original material? I'm sure I'm not imagining this effect. I've always thought it was curious, as I've never seen such a thing on other shows.

Sometimes this shows up in legit DVD releases of other older shows (like "I Spy" for one) due to when they are relying on a process called "auto leveling" which is a form of automated color correction that looks at the the white and black levels of the RGB signal and levels them out to optimize the picture color and contrast. Effective on an average but not ideal. Anyway, if this process is used during a "fade to black" moment like going to a commercial break, the process would overcompensate for the diminishing brightness and the picture would actually get brighter and the colors and picture would eventually go bonkers. So, in this sort of practice, they choose to have the "auto level" to be switched off at those "fade to black" moments. Thus, the color correction that it had goes away and the color will shift to whatever the print had at that time. Some have a blue fade and some have a yellow fade. What would be ideal is to dial in the correction for each bit of footage and not rely on an auto level system but that requires more money, time and trained eyes. Although they probably do at least manually dial it in for scenes that are in extreme dark like a lit match in a basement scene or filtered scenes like a red lit room representing a photo lab. Or they may just leave the "auto level" off for those scenes as well. Depends on the engineer, studio and budget.

Hope this helps.

[That_weirdo_Cage]

Yes, thank you, Scott. That's exactly the kind of information I was hoping for. Very interesting.