Fun article the other day in the Wall Street Journal—or, as they like to style themselves: The Wall Street Journal. (← with a period at the end, I have no idea why)—about all the over-the-top villains in the old “Batman” television series (which is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD).

“Batman” ran in the late 1960s, and I loved it as a child. Thought it was just incredibly dramatic action/thriller material!

The episodes ran back-to-back on two consecutive weeknights, always ending the first episode with a cliffhanger featuring Batman and Robin ensnared in the villain-du-jour’s trap, e.g., dangling from a rope over a vat of steaming, dangerous liquid. As the dynamic duo slowly dropped lower and lower toward their doom, the narrator’s voiceover intoned dramatically, “Is this the end for our caped crusaders?  Tune in tomorrow!  Same ‘Bat’ time!  Same ‘Bat’ channel!”

My neighbor, Karen, and I would discuss Batman’s perilous situation on the walk to school the next morning, worried that this time might actually be the end of our heroes and anxiously awaiting that evening’s episode to find out how it was resolved.

Not until years later, when I saw the show in reruns as an adult, did I realize that “Batman” was actually total tongue-in-cheek camp.

At which point I loved it even more 🙂

If you fondly remember . . .

• Burgess Meredith’s “Penguin”
• Cesar Romero’s “Joker”
• Julie Newmar’s (and Eartha Kitt’s) “Catwoman”
• and Frank Gorshin’s “Riddler”

. . . you can  follow this link to “The Rogues Gallery of Gotham” and relive the fun!