'Batman,' the '60s series is out on DVD

Batman, the 60s series is out on DVD
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Highlights

If you\'re an impressionable young kid hitting your teens right now, chances are pretty good you\'ve been watching and enjoying some Batman — either Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan\'s just-completed Dark Knight trilogy, or the prequel series, Gotham, now showing on Fox.

If you're an impressionable young kid hitting your teens right now, chances are pretty good you've been watching and enjoying some Batman — either Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's just-completed Dark Knight trilogy, or the prequel series, Gotham, now showing on Fox. If you came of age a generation ago, your Batman of choice was likely to have been the big-screen caped crusader played by Michael Keaton or George Clooney. Or maybe even Val Kilmer.

But between 1966 and 1968, long before any of those versions of the DC Comics hero, Batman came to the screen in a much lighter, and brighter, ABC series, starring Adam West. The Dark Knight it wasn't. This Batman was played for laughs, with its star's no-nonsense delivery making it all the more tongue-in-cheek.

A still from the 60's Batman series

With its pop-art sensibility, vibrant colors and rogue's gallery of playful guest stars, Batman was a brief but major hit. Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Julie Newmar as Catwoman — these were some of the original villains who made this Batman a TV phenomenon right from the start.

That first season, ABC presented two episodes per week in a serialized cliffhanger format — and both installments made that year's Top 10. Yet, until now, this particular incarnation of Batman has never been released on home video — not on DVD, not even on VHS. But Warner Bros. Home Video has just released the entire Adam West Batman series on DVD and Blu-ray, including a limited-edition collectible box set that comes with a set of Batman trading cards and even a Hot Wheels Batmobile.

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