BATMAN to DVD?????!!!!!

[Randall]

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Batman ... nned/19353

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=50309

All I can say is, "WOW!" I thought I may never see it in my lifetime. But the merchandising that came out last year did seem to suggest that things might be in the works.

Big, big news. I still consider it my favourite show ever (even once I was old enough to realize that it was a comedy), and have met a few of the actors involved, and have photos with West, Newmar, and Craig on my wall.

I'm surprised that it's Warner handling the release, though. I was under the impression that Fox owned the show. We all know that Warner owns the character, but Fox did release the '66 film on home video, and most of what I'd read suggested we were waiting for an announcmenet from the Fox people. Maybe they still get a piece of the pie.

Now we can only hope that the set is all we can hope for. It'll apparently be all 3 seasons in a box, and it had better be available on Blu-ray too. I'm sure it will be. The mind boggles at what extras could be included, though I have a lot of stuff in my collection already (various TV appearances, reunions, interviews. etc).

Just great news for the Batman fan. I've been checking TVshowsonDVD.com every day for years, just to read that announcement.

[Dacey]

Yay! I've only seen the West movie at this point, so this will be a real treat for me!

[EricJ]

I hate to be the one to say "Don't raise your hopes" compared to the West movie, but as fortuitous timing goes, I'd just finished going through the series on YouTube cover to cover (haven't gotten to the Season 3 London-trip or Eartha Kitt Catwoman eps yet), and it never got better than the first season.
(I'll grant, however, that Julie Newmar was better than the movie's Lee Meriwether.)

The bulk of the series was in Season 2, where they consciously played up the "goofy" camp factor, most of the villains were tailor-made for guest stars (Liberace as Chandell, etc.), and some of the main stars, like Frank Gorshin's Riddler, were too expensive or otherwise-obligated to come back for more than a few episodes.
And William Dozier was so intent on having a Batgirl spinoff in Season 3, he practically gave her the entire series, and reduced B&R to near-cameo supporting characters....After ABC had already slashed the budget to one self-contained episode a week.

So, yes, a brief, bright and shining dream, but one you remember more fondly for your first exposure to Cool Superheroes than anything else. For most of the generations after us, that's either the Incredibles or the Avengers, and it's getting harder to explain to them what we thought was cool instead of condescendingly goofy.

[Randall]

I can't disagree too much with Eric, really. As much as I love the show, there's a big nostalgia factor going for it (it honestly takes me right back to being 7 again, with the same awe factor of seeing a Batman comic come alive). Still, it's a great goofy ride there for a while, taken in doses. If you watch too much of it, it does get repetitive, especially with so much of the same guest villains. But so much fun.

And yeah, as much as I love Batgirl, she does cramp the already-shortened stories in season 3. A lot of those are pretty forgettable, though Joan Collins is gorgeous in her episode.

Still, nothing shall dampen my thrill of finally receiving this on official home video.

[Ben]

I was going to email Rand when I saw this the other day but I didn't get time - I knew it wouldn't be long before he picked up on it though!

While I never doubted we'd see this come to disc (fingers crossed for Blu!) someday soon (and certainly within our lifetimes!), in the end money talks and bullshine walks so it wasn't as if someone wasn't going to do the maths and finally sort some deal out.

This is great news, though I'm with Rand in that I'm surprised WB is handling the release. Maybe they get that kudos due to being the character owner, though Fox will certainly be getting a big piece of that pie (my personal thought is that Fox is the company that blinked first, knowing that nothing was really going to happen if they didn't budge: since half is better then none, I'm betting they'll let WB put it out but get a bigger slice...unless WB has bought the show masters outright and Fox just gets a fee, although I don't think that would be the case).

BBC4 here in the UK ran all three seasons just over a year ago (nicely in an adult timeslot, which was cool) and they looked fantastic. Great color prints and no debris...I can't begin to imagine what these could look like in HD! Sure the stories and characters get more and more goofy, but I quite like the Batgirl shows as much as the rest of them, since what was already camp almost becomes knowingly so...and so makes it something we're in on as an audience as well as the cast and program makers.

Extras-wise, they know how much demand there is for this: expect special packaging, new interviews and all the trimmings. I wouldn't be surprised if other companies come along and jump on the batwagon to try and sell other programs (like Batmania, etc), but it would be cool if there was a new doc on the show, a few key commentaries, a run down of guest stars, featurettes on the character actor villains, something on Nelson Riddle's music - and even that Wonder Woman pilot shot by the same crew on the same sets with the same narrator.

Dacey...if you at all liked the Batman movie then you'll love the series. The movie was perhaps "bigger" in a way, but the series is way more fun, especially the various character performers who really go to town on their roles in a way that the movie always felt to me to be more restrained so that one villain, for instance, didn't outshine another.

Anyway...top news! To the Bat-Disc Player...!

[Randall]

Right, I have to wonder if ultimately--- after all the other rights issues were addressed--- Warner insisted on handling the release, and Fox finally caved but received a large chunk of compensation. Buying the masters outright would not be out of the question, and it wouldn't surprise me, really, if Warner ponied up a mountain of cash to make it happen. They've done similar purchases (e.g. Superman IV) just to keep things "in the family."

[EricJ]

Dacey...if you at all liked the Batman movie then you'll love the series. The movie was perhaps "bigger" in a way, but the series is way more fun, especially the various character performers who really go to town on their roles in a way that the movie always felt to me to be more restrained so that one villain, for instance, didn't outshine another.

I'm always of the opinion that while Jack Nicholson was better than both of them, Cesar Romero was a better Joker than Heath Ledger will ever be:
Heath was a young Internet punk, while Cesar was the older, more "elegant" and experienced criminal who knew he could get away with anything and cared more about crafting the joke of it.
The Big Four villains in the first season do such a great job of creating the comic characters with a modicum of seriousness, you end up hating Season 2 for turning it goofy.

and even that Wonder Woman pilot shot by the same crew on the same sets with the same narrator.

Dozier also tried to turn Dick Tracy into a Dozier-narrated comic-book pilot, but think that character's owned elsewhere.

though Joan Collins is gorgeous in her episode.

When did Poison Ivy appear in the print comic, btw?
Odd that we had three mind-control/love-potion females in the series, and one plant-oriented villain (played by Milton Berle, no less), but no Ivy. Just how expensive would it have been?

[Ben]

Ahh...of course!

Didn't think of this before, but just read up on a new Batman prequel TV show, said to be focusing on Commissioner Gordon's early years. Much like the Superman/Smallville series, Gotham will showcase Gordon's rise from policeman to detective to the person who will become Batman's greatest ally, all the while teasing the caped crusader's storyline by having Bruce Wayne popping up to keep Gordon guessing as they both move towards the characters they are destined to become and we all know them as.

So why is this anything to do with the 1960s series coming to disc from WB? Well, of course Batman is a WB-owned character through WB-owned DC Comics. Gotham, on the other hand, is being produced for the Fox network... And it's pretty obvious once you put the pieces together exactly what WB's bargaining chip was in letting them have the rights to a new series...

So, yeah, I think Fox's new take on "Gotham" is the reason we're going to see "Batman" come to home video, finally, and hopefully the new show won't be too shabby either...!

[Randall]

Ahhhhh.... yeah, that makes some sense.

Good thinkin'!

[ShyViolet]

Soooo excited about the new movie!

Also, my friend bought the whole series and we watched two episodes. What an amazing show! I never really appreciated enough when I was a kid but I absolutely love it now.

[ohmahaaha]

Batman, I think, really is the coolest comic book character. You can do him light (like the '66 show), you can do him dark like the Dark Knight movies, you can do him anywhere in between, you can do him young like in "Year One" or you can do him old like in "Dark Knight Returns" and it all works!!

[GeorgeC]

So why is this anything to do with the 1960s series coming to disc from WB? Well, of course Batman is a WB-owned character through WB-owned DC Comics. Gotham, on the other hand, is being produced for the Fox network... And it's pretty obvious once you put the pieces together exactly what WB's bargaining chip was in letting them have the rights to a new series...

Batman is simply one of Warner Bros/DC Comics' cashcows...
They've been milking that character going on nearly 30 years now.
It's been a very good happy coincidence that some of the best Batman multimedia (animated series, animated movies, videogames) have been produced during the same time frame. You can't say that about most of the other superheroes let alone other DC characters... The best work has generally been done with Batman.

(I still hate the live-action stuff other than the Adam West series. Watched the Adam West Batman film... It's better than I remembered!)

It's like how Star Trek is called 'the franchise' at Paramount.
Of course, everything else is owned by Disney now!

Anyhoo, Batman celebrated the 75th anniversary of the publication of the very first Batman comic last year. That's why they commissioned those two animated Batman shorts over a year ago... This is the part of the celebration of the character. You hardly notice that kind of thing now with most of the other characters... It seems after the 50th anniversaries they have not emphasized the age/anniversaries of a bunch of those comic book characters...

Only Superman has gotten anniversary treatment and it's positively anemic compared to what WB/DC promoted for Batman. They did do a 75th Anniversary Superman animated short but it pales compared to what was done for Batman!

The Batman TV series (1960s) has been going through a kind of renaissance in popularity (same thing happened with The Monkees in the 1980s on their 20th anniversary) and this has been going on for well over a year now. The TV show release on home video is only the climax of that celebration but it will go on for at least two more years until the official 50th anniversary of the TV series. They have a new Batman comic book (Batman '66) that's on its second year that's based on the continuity and bat-characters from the 1960s TV series. It's a very different comic from the 'mainstream DC Batman'. (In other words, it's actually a fun comic book to read whereas the usual Batman for the last 25 years has generally been dark and violent and basically about as friendly as a guard dog. Yeah.)

I passed on getting the Batman TV series on Blu ray this past Christmas. When I heard about the issues with the discs I'm actually glad that I passed on the box sets. That probably more than the actual cost of the sets (which is good but not great for a first time release) is the bigger factor on why I passed on it. This is ridiculous that WB is still having recalls like that on such a high profile. They screwed up big time no matter how you slice it. Who is in charge of Q & A for the home video section? They did this time and time again for the Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry releases on DVD! Uh-uh. They gotta get their act together... I wouldn't buy sets from them until at least a week after they show up on shelves. They've done this too many times.

And yeah, Batman: The Animated Series ('92-'95) itself is due for a 25th anniversary in two years as well. That'll probably be around the time they'll actually do Blu ray releases of that series (IF they bother to re-release in HD disc format) and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. There's still a heck of a lot of stuff that STILL hasn't been released on Blu ray (or DVD!) and now they're talking about Ultra HD!

(I'm frankly amazed that even Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman was released Blu ray. That's easily the weakest of the B:TAS animated series spin-off movies. It puzzles that Mask of the Phantasm hasn't been released on Blu ray yet. That's still my favorite Batman film, animated or live-action, period...)

Virtually every DC character (Batman & Robin, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, The Justice Society of America which was THE original superhero team, and so on; most of the major Marvel Comics characters are 'only' 50 years old -- only Captain America, The Sub-Mariner, and the Human Torch are as old as the DC characters),has passed their 70+year anniversary in the last few years but you would hardly know it because DC is basically celebrating the anniversaries on of all things freakin' comic book variant covers! I'm dead serious...! There are maybe 100,000 people (in a good month) who actually routinely buy comics in the US. That's less than 1% of the population! More kids know these characters from the shows on TV and the movies and T-shirts than will ever read the comics by far... Marvel and DC are almost certainly not making money off the monthly comic books. Trades and special edition hardcovers, yes, but not the 32-page monthly junk.

**DC IS celebrating Batman to a much greater point because that's who they make the most money with now.** Superman WAS the major/number one DC character but that was through about the late 1960s/early 1970s. Since the late 1970s, Batman has definitely been more popular. They're trying to promote the other characters with the new TV series (The Flash, Arrow) and animated tie-in's as well as continuing to exploit Batman.

I'll be dead honest -- I haven't like most of the live-action DC movies or any of the more recent TV series. I just don't care for the CW/WB stuff. The animated stuff was definitely more my flavor until about the last 2-3 years.

** = Can't be emphasized enough!

[ShyViolet]

Very cool, rare 1989 interview with Adam West, Burgess Meredith, Julie Newmar, and Caesar Romero!!!!


https://youtu.be/2FeSKF9Ab7c


(Makes sense since the Burton/Keaton film was so big that year.)

[Ben]

Thanks, Vi...I’ll batmark that for later!

[ShyViolet]

No problem Ben! Hope you enjoy.