1966 Batman - Page 4

It is also airing on The Hub seven days a week for over a year now. FOX would have great marketing with the episodes airing on Cable TV. The Hub could even include an advertising flyer in the box set for their network and shows which would help offset the cost of the DVD's.

The first season was only a half season (though it aired twice a week), so it isn't out of the realm of possibility that Fox (or Warners) will package that first short season and see how well it sells before committing to selling the other two seasons.

Not to mention that the release of the third Nolan film this summer is as big an event as there is likely to be for several Bat-years. Sure there will be a reboot but who knows what the state of the home video market will be by then.

I would like a complete series package. I think that the initial release will sell very well. Since it is a show that is most appreciated by children, I think if they try to spread it out, they will have a very big drop off for the second release. As for who releases it, there has probably never been a tv show better suited to TimeLife's marketing methods than Batman.

Batman tv show (68'-69').....Ah yes, the Holy Grail of dvd wished for releases. We have been lamenting and writing about this for not years, but decades. When or if we will ever see it DVD. It does seem that despite it's numorous issues, they stll couldn't work this out. Perhaps the issues are so great that it makes the release prohibitive dispite being a successful release. If this is ever solved than I guess The Green Hornet would likely be released as well.

Yes, this would be an awesome Time Life release. Maybe you can do some type of Batcave or Batmobile packaging which holds the season sets? I am glad I have a very nice copy but like all of you, I would purchase an official release in a second. Another reason for wishing for a Time Life release is I want to purchhase the whole series. I hate the excruciating slow releases over many years to complete the entire series. i. e. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Dhammer,

Just a question --

The television series debuted in 1966 (and ended in 1968, I think), yet you have '68-69 written in your post above. Is there something special about those two years? Just curious.

The biggest incentive would be to do the series in high def on blu-ray. To my knowledge, Time Life has never done a blu-ray release, certainly not one of their big box releases (Get Smart, Man From UNCLE, Six Million Dollar Man, etc.). If it happens - an extremely big if - I would expect it to tie into the Dark Knight Rises, either the theatrical release this summer or its home video release in the fall.

The series positively screams for a deluxe Time-Life style release in special packaging, along the lines of UNCLE or SMDM. I have absolutely no doubt that it would sell extremely well into the collector market, probably better than the two afforementioned shows. In many way it is the Holy Grail of TV shows absent from any home video release.

And certainly, the source material is easily good enough to justify a BluRay edition.

Apart from Adam West's word for it, though (and no disrespect, but we've found in the past that the celebs can be wrong about these things), we have no real reason to expect that anything has been done to get the series released.

Also, when/if the legal details get ironed out, then there's all the time that will need to be spent remastering the thing in HD (if there is to be a Blu-Ray release), and who knows how long that could take (especially if we're talking about all three seasons at one time).

At this point in time, it'll be a disappointment if a potential release is anything less than remastered from the original elements and on Blu-Ray (let alone 100% unedited).

I'm going to wait for something a bit more official.

Hell will freezer over before this series comes out

Here's a Couple of other things that will happen before an "official" version of Batman comes out on DVD.

Brooke Shields will win an Acadamy Award.

The Detroit Lions will win a Super Bowl.

BTW I actually saw Hell Freeze over! It's located about 15 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Be careful what you wish for!

Sorry, I did mean 68'. Maybe I wished it went for another season?

I too am not optimistic but on the other hand, much the same was said about the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman which were also high on the demand list but also tied up in Rights Hell. Though of course, Batman is in far more dire straights in that regard.

It could almost certainly be done, if the parties in question decided to invest in the effort, money and above all co-operation needed

I wonder if anyone really knows where this is at or how likely it will be released? I guess there is no reason to be optimistic at this point. My feeling has always been, it must not be worth the hassle. Sure it would sell well but maybe not well enough to make it worth it. Not in the face of some many complications. How acurate they are I don't know. It is also not logical to say it will never be released unless someone is privy to some inside knowledge we are unaware of. And so it goes on year after year....after year.....after year....

The batman 1966 series has been an issue for more than 10 years and there is still not resolution. The series was in 1966, which means the show is nearly 50 years old. I remember the show on YTV in the late 1970s and early 1980s and love it as kid. I am still holding out hope that it will be released one day. I have the movie from 1966 along with new adventures of batman and robin from late 1970s. There is also another batman cartoon from the late 1960s that also has issues with licensing.

Yes, I thought that Filmation Batman and Robin was supposed to be out on DVD years ago,
when they released the other Superman, Aquaman, and the other Superheros sets.

I think there are some issues with characters, like riddler or scarecrow or catwoman. The 1970s series did not have a character issue even though the opening scenes showed catwoman and the riddler.

If there are issues with those characters, how did Challenge of the Superfriends get released?

There are no rights issues with these toons.

- Much of the Filmation library is owned by Warner Bros., including these 1968 - 1969 "Adventures of Batman" cartoons.
- The characters are trademark properties of DC Comics, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Quote:

Thanks, Mr. Finn!  Thanks for confirming the obvious:  that Fox would release this in a minute if the pathway was cleared.  Any chance you can comment on the latest hints (noted above in this thread) from Mr. West that a release may be closer than thought?

"OR NOT". Let's hope so!!!!!

i am huge batman fan, especially the original batman from 1966 and different cartoons done in 1968 and late 1970s. I have the new adventures of batman and robin on dvd and it is good series. I am confused that this set was able to be released due to fact that DC is listed on the set along with this series being own by WB (via Filmation). I would have thought the 1968 series, would not have issues as filmation owns the rights to characters. The only difference in the two sets is Burt Ward/Adam West are part of the 1970s series and not the 1968. The 1968 series has Casey Kasem as the voice of robin.

I would love to see the 1966 series for Batman come to dvd, but as each years passes by the likelihood seems to diminishes. It would be nice if Time Life could be part of the solution like they were for the 6mm.

With Adam West in his 80s let's hope he lives long enough for this series to be released. I have a feeling that if he passes away before this series gets a proper release we can just as well FORGET about ever seeing this series on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Adam West has been a huge supporter for the show to be released. If you look at all the villains, especially the ones now deceased (Penguin - Burgess Merrideth, Joker - Cesar Romer, Mad Hatter - david wayne, King Tutt - Victor Bueno, The Riddler - Frank Gorshin, louie the lilac - milton berle, etc) then makes you wonder if this show will ever be released. I would like to see it released as i grew up in the 1970s and it was shown in syndicatioin and i remember rushing home when i was 10-12 years old to see an episode on YTV in Canada.

What i am very surprised is that 1970s New Adventures of Batman was released and it had adam west/burt ward doing the voice-over work. The characters were the same from the original series including mr freeze, joker, penguin, catwoman, etc. Majority of the voices were done by lenny weinraub! I like to know what is difference between the filmation series and the 1960s live action series, especially in lieu the same characters were used. I also like to know why the 1968's batman series is also not released when in fact it had casey kasem doing the voice work and no adam west or burt ward. Yet, this show is also not available.

I realized over the past 23+ years batman has been re-done with movies and cartoons, so part of the reason maybe the old show might be too campy/cheesy to people of this generation. However, the people born in 1960s and mid 1970s love the old series and this demographic is now hitting their lat 30s and into their 50s. The longer this show goes without a dvd release the less likely it will ever be released. The window is closing each year. I just wish fox/WB/DC or whoever is involved would put their differences aside and released the set as i would suspect it would be top seller. Heck the 6MM was able to be released and it had issues. Maybe it is time for Time Life to be part of the solution!!

The New Adventures Of Batman is a Warner property, while the 1966 Batman series was produced by 20th Century Fox, for starters -- aside from all the other issues that have been mentioned before.

I don't know. Maybe Warner went with that one first because it had the selling point of Adam West and Burt Ward doing the voices, and then the economy tanked bedore the 1960s animated series could be released. I don't know if there are any issues with the Filmation 1960s series which would prevent its release. Anyone?

Thanks, Mark!

I thought that was the case the rights to show are own by fox and the rights to characters are owned by DC comics. The big issues is probably that fox and WB do not want to work together on this project and that is why it is not been released. I believe i remember reading that Adam West has been pushing the studios for the released and he is now 84 years of age. Each year that goes by there appears to less likely this 1960s batman will be released. The curious tidbit too me is that the 1966 movie was released and i had thought that was 20th Century Fox as well and the same characters are from DC comics. So, it makes me wonder why were the able to release the movie and yet still can not work together on the tv shows?

BTW: I watch the 1966 movie on the weekend and it just had me wanting more batman!! I love lee meriweather as catwoman, she could fill out the catwoman costume quite well!

That's what I'm afraid of. If Mr. West assumes room temperature his Estate will be added to the list of Estates that are creating enough trouble with getting this series released. Not to mention the "War" with FOX and WB, etc. What a F.U.B.A.R.!
Edited by Regulus - 2/26/12 at 3:32pm