Punch Magazine

49 years ago, in January of 1966, a
little TV show debuted and kinda/
sorta changed things.
Starring Adam West and Burt
Ward, the show became something
of a sensation.
Oh sure, it featured campy comedy
( yes, the whole series IS actually
a comedy, NOT an action/
adventure show) and veered often
towards satire. Compared to other
shows in the 60’s at the same
time, it can be considered somewhat
daring with its sense
of parody and innuendos.
What younger fans may not
realise is that the very first
episode “ Hi Diddle Riddle”
featured a goofy dance bit,
the “Batusi”--a pun on the
Watusi, that became a hip
dance trend in 1966. Right
from the start, the show was
making trends.
The show featured similar iconic
touchstones, such as the famed
“window cameos” with various
popular celebrities of the day,
and the seemingly endless “ Holy
_______ “ phrases from Robin,
amongst other things. Stuff like
the famous on-screen comicbook
sound effects still influence
both comics AND other TV
shows and movies to this day.
The charm of the show is that it
can be appreciated at two levels.
There’s the action and derring-do
for the kids, and then the silly
camp performances, and frequent
sly double-entendres in the
dialogue for the adults.
One of the interesting ironies of
the show is that even though it’s
been around almost 50 years,
it’s not been marketed to it’s full
potential. Oh, sure, it’s had literal
tons of products made as a direct
result of it, except in two area:
action figures and home viewing
of the show itself.
Stuff like the famous onscreen
comic-book sound
effects still influence both
comics AND other TV shows
and movies to this day.
Yes, it has run almost
continuously in many TV region
markets since it was cancelled
after three seasons but, until
this last fall, the show itself
has NEVER been legitimately
available on VHS, DVD or Bluray.
You could go to almost any
major comic convention and
find/buy bootleg copies of the
series in various formats, and of
often dubious quality.......but there
never was a genuine authorized
article available.
Likewise there were always
products like die-cast toy
Batmobiles, and various toys
based on Batman and Robin, but
never ones specifically drawn
from the TV show itself........
again, up until about a year ago.
Now there is a host of excellent
products in tribute to the show.
Comics, blu-ray/dvd sets, toys--
both low and high-end. Batman
from that era is finally getting his
due, and the wait has been worth
it.
Utterly enthralled by the heroics
and completely oblivious to the
innuendos. Corgi 1/43rd scale
die-cast Batmobiles--perhaps
my all-time favourite toy--and
still own one today. The action
figures now have great likenesses
to the series actors, and decent
enough feature and articulation
to make them very collectible.
The availability of the series
on DVD/Blu-rays means I can
finally watch them all in order. It
certainly is a product of its times,
but it still remains charming
and really quite funny. On Bluray,
the show has never looked
better, easily the best prints going,
despite its age.
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