60's Batman T.V. Show
 

Hi All,
.........I am new to this forum and I guess I am probably asking an old question that most likely been asked many times before...

Sorry... but I searched the web and can not find out anything.
So you guys are my only hope to find out...

Does anyone know anything as to when (or ever) the "Batman (Adam West) T.V. show will ever be released on DVD?

Thank you all for your time.
Cheers, CHARITY

Welcome to the forum.

This is being held up by a rights squabble between Fox and Warners. I wouldn't count on seeing this anytime soon.

I would love this. esp Season 1, before the goofy guest stars showed up. Yeah with the rights thing, it could be a while.

the rights will magically get ironed out next yr, just in time to tie in with the theatrical movie

Thanks... guys :)
Charity

I hope ckolchak is right!!! Please!!! I can't believe money can't solve this problem. As DVD sales skyrocket, surely each party will make far more now than they would've thought last year. It's an expanding pie, so they should play nice and settle up... Dream on.... but I really want Batman!!

Please....

The new Batman movie is scheduled for 2005. I have a very hard believing that these issues won't be resolved in time to profit off of it. I would expect Q2 2005.

I think Fox owns the rights to the show, but Warner owns the rights to the characters...I think it is something strange like that. I watched reruns of the show as a kid and would buy season sets. In fact, the movie was one of my first dvd purchases.

They have four 90s batman movies and loads of animated shows to release when the new movie is out. Why would they need that 60s TV series????

Also, for those who don’t know the 60s Batman: The Movie is out on DVD and can be obtained for very cheap.

Why did he allow the movie version of the TV show to come out, then? It seems like once that's out, the people will already remember to be embarrassed or not (depending on, you know, their own *personal* feelings).

I mean, I don't want the show myself, personally, but I think people should be allowed to have it sold to them if they really want it.

Hasn't Warner Brothers allowed 'Superman 4: The Quest For Peace', 'Batman and Robin', 'Steel', and 'Swamp Thing' on DVD at various times? Those movies are far worse embarrassments than the '60's television series.

Steel was never on DVD.

And <i>Swamp Thing</i> kicks ass.

Color me surprised; maybe the dude does have some consistency.

I don't think we're debating the merits of the film here; the point is, the vast majority of people agree that it's a bad movie, badly acted with a bad script (often regarded as the worst of Craven's "real" movies -- which is to say, dismissing things like 'The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2'), and it is embarrassing to compare it to the comic book, much as Batman is. I like Batman fine, but I recognize why there's a strong contingent of bat-fans who are embarrassed by it.

But, hey, if you love Swamp Thing as a character but would rather people judge him by the movie than the comics, I apologize that you didn't fit into my generazliation.

I could go back and include 'Supergirl', but I think people are more divided on that. I could go back and add 'Superman III', but I have a soft spot for that movie, bad as it is.

How 'bout "Return of the Swamp Thing"? That's on DVD.

Oooh... snarky!
Interestingly, I'm of the opinion that S3 is the most fun to watch of the 4 Reeve movies (though I think S1 is technically the best piece of art).

I highly doubt this. The president of DC Comics is too small a fish to have any say in Warner's DVD operations -- assuming he doesn't like Adam West, which I doubt. DC recently hired West to write the introduction to the recent Batman in the Sixties collection, so I don't think the problem is on the DC end.

As for the big cheeses at Warners, I doubt they give a damn about whether Adam West is more light-hearted than whatever Frank Miller knock-off they're churcning out next week. Batman is Batman, and they won't see tension between the Adam West Batman and the Christian Bale Batman any more than they think the Bruce Timm version of Superman conflicts with Smallville.

I just hope eventually we'll also see The Green Hornet complete series on DVD as well.

I was pleasantly surprised with that "Batman: The Movie" DVD I picked up for $5.50 at Wal-mart on a lark. The movie is not the greatest, of course, but the transfer is very good and the commentary with Adam West and Burt Ward was highly entertaining!! I was very happy with that blind-buy purchase. One of the most fun commentaries I've watched.

Personally, I find S2 the most fun to watch. S3 falls more into the "guilty pleasure" realm for me, and I don't think I'd even have the pleasure aspect if I hadn't liked it as much as I did as a kid. But I love Pryor, and his bizarre 'Office Space' plan, and the scene where Clark and Superman fight, and I even remember the evil cyborg lady scaring me as a kid. Also, I was never that bothered by the second-rate Lex Luthor villain. At least he didn't have Ned Beatty with him.

But I know there are plenty of people who'd say that one is an embarrassment too, and I see where they're coming from even if I'd disagree.

DC Comics was known as National Periodical Publications in the 1960s when they licensed Batman to Fox. Subsequently, in 1967, Kinney National Services bought the National Periodical Publications. In 1968, Kinney bought the Warner Brothers Studio and changed its name to Warner Communications. In 1989, Time purchased Warner Communications and became Time-Warner; then in 2000, AOL merged with Time-Warner.

That's a long way of saying that you're right -- Fox owns the rights to the show, but Warner owns the rights to the characters. I also agree with you -- this show was my favorite when I was growing up (I watched it in reruns during the 1980s), and I would buy season sets in a split second.

It's one of the few times I want to go the VCD way. If the show is being held up due to some idiot head-huncho, then there is something severely wrong. He may not like it, but Batman was a huge success and has a loyal following not only from TV fans, but from Bat-fans, such as myself.

Fox wants to put this out in a big way.
everything will get resolved later this year and i wouldn't be surprised to start seeing them Q1 '05.

between the vivid pop art colors of the shows palatte and the fact it was shot on film, this series should look amazing.
i know the (Fox)film does

The rights issue thing is an excuse --- Fox and Warner will work it out just fine when it is in their interest to do so, which will be next year when the hype for the new Batman is in full swing.

My guess as a long time DVD observer is that Season 1 will be on DVD in early 2005, followed by Season 2 and 3 later that year.

Yeah, but only recently have TV shows on DVD been known to be such a gold-mine.

MG - I'd say that, because of today's big news relating to Miramax, Kevin Smith, and Green Hornet, you're probably much closer to your hope than Bat-fans are.

Well, the Batman movie hype was at its nadir when DVD started and has only recently picked up again. 'Batman and Robin' killed the desire for more Bat stuff for a long time; even the cartoons barely survived, and had to combine themselves with Superman in order to shift the focus a bit.

I mean, you wouldn't say, "Hey, there's been hype for Superman since 1978, but 'Lois and Clark' still hasn't hit DVD, therefore it never will," wouldja? I mean, it may or may not, but long-dead hype is not a factor, that's all I mean.

But, more importantly, DVD sales are totally different than VHS sales when discussing television shows. 'Eerie, Indiana' was never released on VHS, yet has had a DVD release and came very, very close to getting a full series release before it was pulled.

You can say that about 90% of the "TV on DVD" releases. TV didn't sell well on VHS. It's selling like hotcakes on DVD.