Jan. 12 '66: "Bat-monster" attacks on "Lost in Space"

[Mr. Glee]

When ABC's "Batman" premiered on January 12, 1966, the competition on CBS was an episode of "Lost in Space" about an intergalactic zoo-keeper whose menagerie is unleashed at the end of the episode. Judging by the script for this scene, it may have included a subtle in-joke that referenced ABC's highly-promoted new series - see what you think (I bolded the relevant text):

P.O.V. SHOT - THE SPACESHIP

Alien animals are pouring out of the spaceship. WE HOLD for as long as necessary and then CAMERA PICKS UP one animal, a bat-like monster, in particular. It comes directly toward the CAMERA and suddenly opens up a pair of giant wings to attack.

FREEZE FRAME

And that's how "Lost in Space" ended on the evening of January 12, 1966. Coincidence? Possibly, but I really doubt it. The episode, "The Keeper - Part 1" was being written and prepared in November and December of '65, and ABC had announced the imminent premiere of "Batman" on November 2nd. Both shows were 20th Century-Fox productions, so the "Lost in Space" production team would have been very aware of the new competition scheduled to arrive on January 12, and the show was behind schedule, meaning episodes had to be aired in the same order they were shot - so "The Keeper - Part 1" was always locked into a January 12 airdate.

Here's a picture of the bat-monster in question:

[BiffPow]

I remember the “menagerie” of alien monsters consisted of maybe three costumed actors who appeared to simply parade past the camera lens, circle around behind the camera and then descend the steps again to give the impression that there were more creatures than there were. I also seem to recall that the “giant” cyclops was one of the human-sized creatures.