Synopsis - Batman is Bruce Wayne. As a teenager Bruce was traumatized by witnessing his parent’s murder and vowed to avenge
their deaths by bringing the criminals to justice. Bruce Wayne used
his vast fortune to study criminology, to train his body to athletic
perfection, and to acquire high tech vehicles and weapons to fight
crime in his hometown of Gotham. One night Bruce Wayne was startled by
a bat outside his window and decided to dress himself as a “bat man“
to strike fear in the “cowardly and superstitious“ hearts of
criminals. From that moment forward, Bruce Wayne became “Batman“ in
his altered state. Helping the Cape Crusader is Robin the Boy Wonder.
Together the Dynamic Duo take on many arch enemies like the Joker, the
Riddler, the Penguin, Two-Face and Catwoman.
About the Show
First episode aired: January 12, 1966
Last episode aired: March 14, 1968
Number of seasons:3
Number of episodes:120
the show was broadcast on 2 consecutive nights with a cliffhanger
ending between. It was similar to the old movie serials. In the
3rd season, it was cut back to 1 night per week.
during the first season, Batman was rated number 10 program on
Wednesday and #5 on Thursday. People eventually only tuned in on
Thursday night because there was a short recap of the 1st episode
at the start of the Thursday episode.
this was the first time a hero from comic book origins would make it to TV
the bat cave set cost $800,000 (in 1966 dollars)
was filmed at 4 different studios during the production of the series.
the character Batgirl was added in the 3rd season to help boost ratings
built by Barris Kustom Kars; current owner - George Barris
based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura
Curb Weight:5500 lb
Length: 225 in.
Height: 48 in
Fins: 84 in
Wheel base: 129 in
has a completely hand formed steel body
front engine/rear drive
Cost to modify the Futura: $30,000
took 3 weeks to build
George Barris took molds off of the
number one car and built three fiberglass copies. The first two
were sent out on the auto show tour and the third was sent to
dragstrips across the country to compete in staged events. While
history has been stretched a bit in later years, the ONLY car to
appear on the series and in the full length feature film was the #
1 Futura car
Bat Gadgets
The Batmobile was
equipped with a arsenal of special equipment to help the Dynamic Duo
in their crime fighting activities.
The Bat TurnLever used to turn the car around 180
degrees. By pulling the handle, twin parachutes on a 25' nylon
cord came out.
The parachutes looked good on camera but were
not really made to stop this 6000 pound machine. The shot was done
at a very slow speed so the chutes didn't get ripped off then the
film was sped up to give the illusion of speed. The show started
getting letters from Batfans asking how could Batman just leave a
huge set of parachutes in the middle of the road so they equipped
Alfred with a Batmobile Parachute Pickup Service Van to go and
retrieve the chutes from the street!!
when activated would disable any vehicle following the Batmobile.
Turn it on and his ignition would conk out.
Automatic Fire Extinguisher - If the Batmobile detected a
fire, it would implement the automatic fire extinguishing system
The Mobile Bat Computer - If the Caped Crusader needed to
get some quick info from the Batcave, he could use his Mobile
computer to down load his files.
The Bat Beam was the fly swatter looking thing on the
antenna. When it was turned on, the antenna raised up and it
projected a beam that could destroy anything in it's path. It was
used to blow holes in buildings, etc.
Emergency Tire Inflator - If the Batmobile got a flat it
was no problem, just press the emergency tire inflator, and your
back in business in no time.
Bat Smoke Screen - Say you've got a nasty villain hot on
your tail, what do you do ??? You activate the smoke screen and
fog them off the road !!!
The Battering Ram - Cant get into the warehouse where the
Riddler has Robin held hostage ??? Activate the Battering Ram and
bust the whole door down !!!
Voice Control Batmobile Relay Unit - Say some weirdo has taken
off with the Batmobile, you need to operate something on the car,
no problem ! Talk into your Batradio and the relay unit at the
Batcave will transmit your request !!
The Bat Photoscope - If Batman needed a photo from the main
computer, all he had to do is send a request and a signal would be
sent to the Batmobile and a photo would be printed out of the
dash.
The Batphone - What would happen if the Bat signal went off
and Batman was not at a phone ???? No problem, pick up the
batphone and give police headquarters a call.
Police Band Cut-In Switch - If Batman needed to talk to Gotham
Cities finest , he could bypass the Batphone and activate the
radio cut in to speak to them directly on the police radio.
Mobile Tracking Scope - If the duo needed to figure out where
a villain went, they used the mobile tracking scope to pinpoint
the exact location of the villain.
Batmobile License Plate
Four different license
plates can be see on the #1 Batmobile from 1966-1968
Batmobile
