Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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Golddragon71
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Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Golddragon71 »

I don't mean permanently, because i honestly feel that once you become a Bat-fan (especially of the Classic '66 series) you always go back to it whenever you get the chance.
But Initially, You're watching Batman week after week and then you're not. It's either been cancelled during it's initial run taken off the schedule in the later re-airings, (Maybe just moved to a channel or timeslot that's outside your ability to watch)

I've mentioned many times that I first discovered Batman when it was on after school every day in the Mid to late 70's. Now in mid 1979, My family moved from Branford, CT to Darien. (Not a very far distance when you're driving yourself, but when you're 7 years old, It feels like you moved across the country!) when school started up in the fall, I went home turned on the TV and No Batman (as there was a new show called Battle of the Planets that Had a Star Wars vibe to it, I never really made a fuss about the lack of caped crusaders on TV) It wasn't really until the late 80's that i would be interested in watching Batman again. (I think MTV was showing it along with the Batdance video by Prince) as the next decade came and went i would go back to Batman when it was available (largely on FX)
As I think back on it though, Batman for me left the schedule pretty quietly. It was on everyday after school....and then it wasn't
"Someone might be able to substitute for Batman, for a very short time, but no one could ever replace him!"
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Batman65
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Batman65 »

I was going to say never, but then I read thru your post here. For me, it would have been thru the 70s and up,until mid to late 80s. Truth is, as you stated, he just wasn't on, at least not here in eastern WI. he wasn't. Of course, there were no DVDs or streaming, heck, there wasn't more than 3 or 4 channels then either.
elmrgraham
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by elmrgraham »

Maybe in the 70,s.
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TBolt
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by TBolt »

When my local terrible cable company started doing split times with Channel 32 out of Chicago, they switched it over to a religious channel in the afternoons so I got Davey and Goliath one day after school. Lost Son of Svenghoolie the same way.
To the Bat-Elephant!!
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Bill S.C.
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Bill S.C. »

Who stopped?
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The Boss
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by The Boss »

For me it wasn't just Batman. Before cable we were all at the mercy of local UHF channels as to what they were going to air. I remember often playing with the dial to get an even somewhat viewable picture that still had to be visualized through the snow. I was told more often than once that I would ruin my eyes watching TV this way (and probably did).


In addition to Batman I was always on the hunt for channels airing The Adventures of Superman, Gilligan's Island, Dennis The Mennis, I Dream of Jeanie, Star Trek, The Brady Bunch, Bewitched and any number of cartoons that were not currently on Saturday mornings.

Fortunately cable TV came along in the 80s and changed all of that. Suddenly most of these shows - and lots more like Disney's Zorro for one - were widely available.
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Dr. Shimel
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Dr. Shimel »

It would go off the air for a period of time, which would only whet the appetite for when it would inevitably return.
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bat-rss
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by bat-rss »

As I recall, in Iowa after 1976 we couldn't find it anywhere for about ten years.
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Boy Wonder
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Boy Wonder »

There was a time (1975 - 76) when Batman was on in reruns, 3 times a day on two UHF channels.
Then, around 1977, it was gone.
The only time(s) that I ever stopped watching was when it just wasn't on TV anymore.
Thank God for DVD and Blu Ray.
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John Mack
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by John Mack »

Great thread! I was born and raised in Chicago. From 1969 until 1974 the following line up on WGN started at 3:30: Speed Racer, Little Rascals, Batman, Green Hornet, Munsters, then Addams Family. Then in 1975, WFLD, channel 32 UHF came onto the scene and they carried on the WGN schedule pretty much, except that Batman lead things off at 3:30. They switched out the Green Hornet though for Superman. In 1977, it all disappeared. We moved to Phoenix, AZ and no nothing. I picked up watching again in California in 1985, where he was on three different channels throughout the day and early evening. Then there was some cable ruling that made seeing the same program over and over a thing of the past. I believe several shows got tightened down to once a day, MASH being one of them and Hawaii Five O another. So, from 1977 to 1985, no Batman for me.
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Ben Bentley
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Ben Bentley »

I think there must have been around an approximately nine year period between originally falling in love with the show upon my first exposure on Channel 4 here in the UK before "re-discovering" my childhood love of the show and falling for it all over again when FX were ran the show when it launched here in 2004. It's safe to say I fell even further down the rabbit-hole the second time and thanks to this board, it's never left my life since.
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gothosmansion
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by gothosmansion »

I started watch it when I was four or five, around Sept/Oct 1976 or so when it first showed up in reruns on a local channel. I remember the date because I promptly went Bat-crazy, and my first Batman comic had a January 1977 cover date. I watched until that station quit showing it. They probably only showed it a few months, though.

I only got to see the occasional rerun of the 1966 movie until I was in sixth grade. A local station started airing the show, but for some bizarre reason, it aired at noon while I was in school. I didn't get to see it again until Thanksgiving Holidays and still remember the first Egghead two-parter was shown...one of the reasons I still have such fondness for those episodes. I still remember which episodes aired over Christmas break and spring break as well. Fortunately, the reruns were still on over the summer, but Batman was removed from the schedule before Thanksgiving rolled around again.

After that, I didn't get to see the show again until 1989 when it popped up due to the hype over the first Michael Keaton/Tim Burton movie. I had a VCR by then and taped all the episodes. I haven't been without it since.
Quarhog
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Quarhog »

Living in Britain, when Season 2 finished in spring 1967 I felt absolutely bereft; and in those pre-video days didn't see another episode until the whole series was rerun on Saturday mornings on ITV in the summer of 1976. Somehow I missed Season Three at the time, and thus had two big surprises watching 'Catwoman's Dressed to Kill' when Eartha Kitt instead of Julie Newmar (who had been listed in the part in 'TV Times') came marching in - and nobody said: "Eartha Kitt! What are you doing dressed as Catwoman?"; and when a character I'd never heard of before called Batgirl popped up a few minutes later!

I finally managed to video the Catwoman episodes in 1988 when the series was repeated again early on weekday mornings; and rushed out to buy the DVD box set as soon as it came out a couple of years ago. (Which almost inevitably I don't actually watch since I can now watch it any time I like!)
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Bat-Brony92
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Bat-Brony92 »

TV Land used to rerun it all the time when I was a kid and then it just stopped and for a while I lost interest in it (I was more into Power Rangers LMAO!) until youtube came along (This was during my middle school years btw) and POW! I was back into it! and now I have the 1st season on DVD WOOT!
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Progress Pigment
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Re: Do you remember when you stopped watching Batman?

Post by Progress Pigment »

I'll let you know when it happens,

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Next week, the Dynamic Duo meets the Clock King!
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