Adam West Batman question (1 Viewer)

Okay...I'll try and ask this without violating any rules/laws...

I've, shall I say, "seen" versions of the Adam West Batman series that start off with a vintage ABC color logo intro...three circles run across the screen and morph into the ABC logo and a voice says "ABC presents this program in color."

THEN...the "Batman In Color" intro with the chorus of voices singing "Batman!"

Then the "episode proper" begins.

Question:

In the show's original network run, episodes would really have had one or the other of the above (and I'm pretty sure only the latter), but not both.

Right?

BTW...still waiting for the show to be released on DVD, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

When the networks started broadcasting the majority of their shows in color, each of the three networks had its own "color announcing logo."

NBC had a peacock that would cycle colors through its tail as the announcer proclaimed the show was being broadcast in "living color."

CBS had a simplier logo where the CBS eye would slide across the CBS Color logo turning the letters different colors.

ABC had the logo you mentioned.

I'd say these network color-announcing logos lasted a year or two (NBC's longer since they got into color broadcasting earlier). So, I believe ABC ran both that logo and the BATMAN-IN COLOR logo for probably the first half season of its run (it was a midseason replacement show).

Well, the NBC peacock ran regularly from the late 50s into the 70s (in a couple of different versions), the CBS bumper ran from the fall of 1966 through early 1968 and the ABC color logo ran from 1966 through at least part of 1967, if not a bit later...

Additionally, I recall seeing both bumpers during the original run of the program (I was a big fan!)... and when you add those together, PLUS the theme song-- it's clear that the networks weren't afraid to waste a little air time in those days...

-Kevin

It's interesting that of all the repeats currently running here in the UK, on our BBC Four channel, only two episodes have had the "Batman!" sung chorus with the Batman symbol card right at the very start. We're over 60 episodes in, I don't know why.

The upside is that it looks as though we are going to get a complete run of all 120 episodes, and that this channel doesn;t have ad breaks, plus the onscreen logo is very small and unobtrusive.

That's interesting. I had thought that at least for ABC, the standard "generic" ABC in color intro would have been used on shows that did not have their own "(Title of show) in color" intro. Learn something new every day.

I have seen two different versions of this -- the visuals are the same but the music is different. It's difficult to describe the audio, but I am under the impression that the version that starts out more low-key with the tapping of a drum was the earlier one (?)

I also thought the "Batman In Color" intro had different color backgrounds, depending on the season -- or am I misremembering that?

Channel 32 in Chicago used to run the show from old 16mm film prints. Then they switched to tapes some time in 1984-85. The shows were sped up, and the station used to make its own shortened closing credits for Batman as well as for other shows, but the shows seemed otherwise complete. This is when I was shocked to see the "in color" intro -- which seemed vaguely familiar, then I remembered WGN-Channel 9 used to have that at the beginning of their reruns (WGN aired the show from 1969-1973, give or take a year). Since the Channel 32 run, I have not seen the "Batman In Color" intro on any other station or cable network running the show.

If you want to see some network color logos go to kingoftheroad-dot-net. (I can't post web sites yet, so sorry I can't give the full web address.)

I also remember seeing the "in color" card for Batman (with the singers simpling singing "Batman!") before reruns during the early 70s on WLVI in Boston. WLVI also kept the NBC Peacock before Star Trek episodes at that time as well.

I remember that 'in color' intro from the 1970s repeats on WPIX here in NYC. Also, I remember watching a similar intro card for The Mod Squad during it's original ABC run (I'm 43 today, so I'm entitled to wallow in childhood memories until midnight!). I always associate the classic NBC peacock with Hollywood Squares, and I wish NBC would bring it back- the current peacock does nothing for me, and in returning to the 1962-75 version, the network would be embracing its proud past.

There's a website that has clips of the "in color" intros by the Big Three during the 60s- here's a link- you're gonna love seeing these filmed logos!

NBC, ABC, and CBS logos from the 1950's and 60's

The "Batman...in color!" was still being used on the tapes that WDKY-TV used (circa 1987-88) when they were airing Batman reruns in Kentucky, and naturally, I also vividly remember them from WLEX reruns in the '70s.

I've always felt that opening title card to be "part of the show."

Nice to hear that a similar opening for fellow ABC series The Invaders has been retained for that show's DVD release. The editing out of vintage billboards, bumpers, vanity cards, etc. is a far too common practice when it comes to modern presentations (whether it be broadcast reruns or home video releases). [/rant]

The thing is, everyone is so insistent on "extras" on DVD releases, and then stuff like that is frequently removed. That makes no sense to me at all. It kind of misses the point.

A local station in Montana ran crappy-quality Batman prints in 1984, which featured the "in color' tag at the beginning.
At some point in the late 80s, probably around the time of the 1989 Tim Burton film, the prints were cleaned up and broadcast using video tape masters rather than 16mm prints, and the syndicator and/or local stations chopped the "in color" tag from all the episodes. I think these have stayed in syndication ever since, while the 16mm prints were retired or destroyed.

Looking at my old TVLand tapes recently,There were still one or two episodes that still had the "In Color!" tag on them,such as the first Catwoman episode.

The episodes that WDKY showed in the late '80s were certainly from tape (too clean to have been 16mm, plus it was a brand new station, so they probably bought the most modern format that Fox had at the time anyway, which would've certainly been some sort of tape format).

Maybe having "...in color" is redundant these days, but these little things (like the original vintage endboards/vanity cards) add to the appeal/charm of these older shows.
I can understand the syndicators wanting their current identities represented (particularly if the show is from a defunct library, like the QM stuff), but instead of replacing the vintage material with modern versions, I think it would be far preferable to run them as they were, then add-on the "modern" boards at the very end.

I remember being pleasantly surprised to see the NBC peacock at the front of the Laugh-In shows that were running on Trio (though they got rid of the NBC "snake" at the end).

Perhaps the syndicator left them in when they were cleaned up around 1989, and each cable entity or local station had the discretion to make additional cuts that ended up with the tags removed.

The one peacock is NBC is STILL trying to forget :


Sneezing Peacock

Must be the case, because WFLD-Channel 32 in Chicago started running the show around 1974 or so. (Previously, WGN-Channel 9 had run the show, and they did have the "In Color" tags.)

The Channel 32 showings (from 16mm) had the "In Color" tag cut off, which the station may have done on their own. Some time in the mid-1980s, WFLD started running the show from new tape copies, which were time-compressed but not edited -- and they now had the "In Color" intro. However, when I saw these episodes on The Family Channel (which started running them around 1988 or so), they were edited and missing the "In Color."

WPWR-Channel 50 also ran The Green Hornet around the late 1980s/early 1990s, with the "in color" intro tag.

WWME-TV ("Me TV") in Chicago has run both shows, with no "In Color" intro and the Batman shows have a 1990s 20th Century-Fox logo replacing the original 1960s one. Their episodes are apparently otherwise uncut.

Having watched the series when it first premiered in early 1966, I never saw both openings on any ABC program, one right after the other.

The animated logo that you're speaking of was used until ABC made the decision to begin each program they were colorcasting with intros such as "Batman...in Color," "Bewitched...in Color," etc.. Once those intros began, the animated logo was dropped.