Batmanning 66.1

I didn't just pick up the Batman 66 episodes, I picked up the big deal pack with cards and a Batmobile! And I didn't get any old versions, I got the BluRays!

So, who is the first villain Batman faces? The Clown Prince? The Felonious Feline? The Bent Bird? No, it is the Prince of Puzzlers, the Riddler! (As opposed to the Puzzler, who would turn up later.)

In fact, Joker would be after Penguin, who's up next. In this first season we get such classic villains as Zelda the Great, False Face, and Bookwyrm... and whole one of whom would be in more than one pair of episodes.

What is interesting here is how the format of the show is still settling. We are used to the "Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel", but it isn't until about halfway through the season that it sticks around. And the beginning of the second half is a full recap of what happened in the previous episode, instead of just "Batman is in this trap". And remember the classic person sitting up sticking their head out of the window? We get that only once, at the end, in this season.

That aside, this is still the classic series we remember. The most remarkable thing is just how much the actors commit to their bits. Adam West points out that the comedy comes because they treat everything so seriously, despite it being Bateverything and Holy everythingelse.

Camp? Yep. But fun? You betcha!

[END]