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Originally Published June 11th, 2003
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ABC introduced Batman in January of 1965 and the twice weekly series was instantly, and wildly, popular. However, after two seasons, the ratings were beginning to fall, so in 1968 a new character was introduced: Batgirl, as portrayed by Yvonne Craig. In order to convince ABC executives that the new character would work, an eight-minute promotional short was produced by the folks in charge of Batman. It was not, however, a pilot for a proposed Batgirl spin-off.
In September of 1965, National Periodical Publications (a precursor to today's DC Comics) contracted with ABC for a live-action television series based on its Batman character [1]. Although originally scheduled for a fall debut, the new Batman series was soon given not one but two timeslots as part of ABC's midseason 1966 plans [2]. It would air on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:30PM to 8:00PM beginning January 12th and January 13th, respectively.
Despite the early timeslot, Batman was not intended solely for children. Producer William Dozier realized that a heavy emphasis on "exaggerated cliché" could draw adults to the program [3]. And, drawn they were. Early "overnight" ratings from Trendex covering the fifty largest television markets in the country gave the Wednesday premiere a staggering 27.3/49 rating; the Thursday premiere an even more impressive 29.6/59 [4]. ABC easily crushed its competition, the first half of Lost in Space on NBC and the first half of The Virginian on CBS.
Still, such impressive results from a heavily promoted double premiere were hardly unexpected. The real question would come in the following weeks. Would Batman be able to maintain its initial popularity? When Nielsen released its ratings report for the two week period January 10th to January 23rd (which included Batman's first four episodes), the Wednesday installment had an average 26.2 rating, ranking 9th, while the Thursday installment averaged a 26.3, ranking 8th. The success of Batman pushed ABC's weekly rating during primetime for those two weeks to an 18.8, up two points from the previous two weeks [5].
For the week ending February 13th, Thursday's episode of Batman was at the top of the Nielsen report covering the thirty largest markets, with a 28.5 rating. Wednesday's episode pulled a 26.5 rating and ranked fifth. Thanks in no small part to Batman, ABC won the week and, more importantly, had increased its share of the audience 10% in just five weeks [6].
When the 1965-1966 season ended, both Batman installments were in the top ten, despite only airing for half a season. Thursday's installment was 5th, Wednesday's 10th. Only two other ABC shows, Bewitched and The Lawrence Welk Show, ranked in the top thirty. Whether it was due to the intense promotional campaign ABC waged prior to the show's premiere or the "camp" factor, the viewing public loved Batman.
When Batman returned in the fall of 1966 for its second season, ratings had cooled somewhat from the heights of the first season. It was still scheduled twice a week, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:30PM to 8:00PM. For the two weeks between September 12th and September 25th, 1966, Batman (Wednesday) averaged a 30 share in its two outings, coming in second in its timeslot behind The Virginian on NBC. The Thursday installment averaged a stronger 35 share for its two episodes, winning its timeslot, beating Jericho on CBS and Daniel Boone on NBC [7].
Viewers were still interested in Batman, but not in the incredible numbers they had been during the first season. When Batman burst onto the scene in January of 1966, it was the new "big" thing, the latest fad. But that fad quickly passed; imitations introduced in January of 1967 on the other networks (Captain Nice on NBC, Mister Terrific on CBS) never caught on. And The Green Hornet, an attempt by ABC to repeat Batman's success in the fall of 1966, was less than successful and was canceled after a single season.
Neither installment of Batman ranked in the top thirty for the 1966-1967 season. However, due to Batman's decreased performance, NBC's The Virginian, which aired opposite Wednesday's Batman, ranked 11th overall for the 1966-1967 season, up from 25th during the 1965-1967 season when Batman was introduced.
Due to the declining ratings of Batman, when ABC announced its schedule for fall 1967, Batman was only airing on Thursdays [8]. Furthermore, in an attempt to shake things up, William Dozier, decided to add a Batgirl character for the third season in an attempt to pull in more young girls. At the time, the series was widely watched by young boys and Dozier was of the opinion that a strong female character could bring in an equal number of young girls [9].
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In order to sell ABC executives and/or 20th Century Fox Television (the production company) on the idea of adding a new character to the series, an eight-minute promotional short was created to introduce and showcase Batgirl. Yvonne Craig took on the dual role of Batgirl and her alter-ego, librarian Barbara Gordon (daughter of Police Commissioner James Gordon, played by Neil Hamilton). As the promotional short opens, the narrator (voiced by William Dozier) introduces us to Barbara Gordon at the Gotham Library.
Barbara is helping millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne prove a point to Roger Montros, a fellow playboy. While chatting with Barbara, Bruce points out his ward, Dick Grayson, and then cheerfully says goodnight. When he and Dick leave, they take note of the four men sitting at another table (all dressed in blue, wearing metal antennae) and decide a visit from Batman and Robin might be in order.
Once Bruce and Dick leave, the library closes, leaving Barbara and Roger Montros alone with villain the Killer Moth and his henchmen. Within moments, the four have knocked out Roger Montros and locked poor Barbara in a closet. Roger Montros is knocked out and Barbara is thrown into a closet. Little do they know that inside the room is her own secret closet.
Before the Killer Moth and his men can leave, Batman and Robin show up and take out three of the four thugs. The Killer Moth, the only one still standing, simply pulls out a gun-like object and points it at the Dynamic Duo! Instead of firing bullets, however, it creates a cocoon around the crime fighters, effectively eliminating their threat. Trapped, it looks like the end for Batman and Robin...
Meanwhile, Barbara has begun transforming into Batgirl: her suit, which she has on under her regular clothing, her cape, which is actually her skirt turned inside out, and her mask, which she takes off a coat rack and brings with her. Once outside, fully transformed, the now raven-haired Batgirl smashes in through a window into the library, exchanges a few words with Robin, and then defends herself against the thugs.
She then frees Batman and Robin with her electronic Batgirl compact with a laser beam, which destroys anything. The three crime-fighters take on the thugs one last time. While Robin finishes things up, Batman takes a moment to ask Batgirl who she is. Batgirl's response? Her identity shall remain a secret, just as Batman and Robin are mysteries to her.
After the thugs are taken care of, Batman tells Robin to call up Commissioner Gordon and tell him they've dispatched with the Killer Moth and his Mothmen, with the help of Batgirl, who has vanished. Batman ponders aloud if they've seen the last of her. The short ends with Batgirl riding her "Batgirlcycle," complete with a bat-shaped mirror, towards her next adventure, which just so happened to be a role on Batman for its third season and final season.
In the short, the Batgirl costume worn by Yvonne Craig is a variant of the costume that would appear later in the Batman series. Her cowl, for example, ties under her chin and the half-mask is pointed beneath her eyes. During the third season of Batman, Batgirl's cowl is tucked over her ears and the half-mask is rounded under her eyes. The promotional short is the only time this original outfit is shown.
Clocking in at only eight minutes, the Batgirl promotional short successfully introduces the characters of Barbara Gordon and Batgirl yet allows her to retain her mystique. There is no mindless exposition explaining how or why Barbara Gordon decided to become Batgirl. The promotional short simply needed to prove that Batgirl would be a worthy addition to the cast and it accomplished that goal.
On the other hand, the Killer Moth must be one of the most pathetic villains ever, and given all the nutty villains seen in Batman, that's saying something. Nothing could be more conspicuous than the Killer Moth and his henchmen sitting together, decked out in their moth costumes, and yet only Bruce Wayne seemed to give them a second thought.
Additionally, and this is an unfortunate product of the times, despite being a "caped crusader" on par with Batman and Robin, in the promotional short (and on Batman) Batgirl never gets to punch any of the bad guys. Instead, she uses a rolling globe or a falling bookcase to incapacitate. She gets in a few kicks, but nothing more. The same could be said for April Dancer on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., who often left the fighting to Mark Slate, or any of the female security guards on Star Trek, who might kick an evil alien, but never punch them.
At the end of the day, the short was enjoyable. Granted, the lines are corny ("No Boy Wonder, I'm Batgirl." or "You are no longer alone, Caped Crusaders!"), but they are no worse than the typical Batman episode. The promotional short includes William Dozier's narration, the famous Batman music is present, the fight scenes are full of BAMS! and POWS!, and Robin even gets to throw out a few "Holy whatevers."
Unfortunately, Batgirl's first season would be Batman's last. The third season premiered on Thursday, September 14th, 1967. In January of 1968, William Dozier announced that ABC had informed him they would not be renewing Batman for a fourth season. Although ABC denied they had told Dozier anything, the Nielsen ratings spoke for themselves. Batman had sunk as low as 48th in the weekly ratings, a far cry from its glory days at the top of the charts [10].
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On February 13th, 1968, ABC finally confirmed reports that Batman was canceled. The final episode would air on Thursday, March 21st and the following week The Second Hundred Years (which had premiered in September of 1967) would take over Batman's timeslot [11]. The Second Hundred Years was itself canceled in March of 1968 when ABC revealed its new fall schedule; The Ugliest Girl in Town was given the Thursday at 7:30PM timeslot [12].
Batman fan Joseph passed on the following information about Batgirl and Batman:
Hi!
For many years, I have known that a short "mini-episode" of "Batman" was filmed in early 1967 in an attempt by the producers to convince ABC to add the Batgirl character for the 1967/68 season. Until now, I (who was a youngster when the series aired and was a confirmed Bat-addict!) had never seen any portions of it.
Contrary to what some people think, Batgirl was not created expressly for the TV show. She was created, like "Batman" himself, by cartoonist Bob Kane and first appeared in an issue of Detective Comics published in the Fall of 1966, some months after the TV show had become a huge hit. As was the case on TV, the comic-book Barbara Gordon was a young librarian working at the main branch of the Gotham City Public Library. However, the comic-book Barbara Gordon has shoulder-length red hair, whereas the Barbara Gordon of the TV series had short brunette hair, as did actress Yvonne Craig.
Yes, Killer Moth WAS the villain in the 1966 comic-book story that introduced Batgirl, but the storyline of the promotional film was very different from the comic book story. In the comic book story, Barbara Gordon was enroute to a costume party wearing a "Batgirl" outfit, but had a run-in with Killer Moth, managing to escape. She enjoyed crime-fighting so much that later in the story, she encountered Killer Moth again, and helped Batman and Robin defeat him. I'm not 100% sure, but it may have been the only time KIller Moth appeared as a villain in the comic book.
Near the end of the comic-book story that introduced her, Batgirl pursued Killer Moth on a motorcycle, but in the comic book, her motorcycle was referred to as the "Batbike". Perhaps the producers of the TV series were concerned viewers would think upon hearing the word "Batbike" that Batgirl rode a bicycle, but for whatever reason, on TV her motorcycle was referred to the "Batgirlcycle".
Hopefully, the entire 1966-68 "Batman" series will be released on DVD in the near future. And when it is, I'm sure the complete "Batgirl" promotional short will be included as an extra with the third-season (1967/68) episodes.
Best Wishes,
Joseph
Here at Television Obscurities, we join Joseph in hoping that one day soon, Batman will find its way to DVD and into the hands of fans the world over.
Works Cited:
1 "National Periodical to Produce TV Shows with Comic-Book Heroes." Wall Street Journal. 15 Sep. 1965: 11.
2 Carlson, Walter. "Advertising: TV Getting Superman in Color." New York Times. 16 Sep. 1965: 77.
3 Stone, Judy. "Caped Crusader of Camp." New York Times. 9 Jan. 1966: 75.
4 Gent, George. "Campy 'Batman' Flying High on TV." New York Times. 15 Jan. 1966: 54.
5 Adams, Val. "Antoine to Quit WNBC for WABC After 17 Years." New York Times. 8 Feb. 1966: 79.
6 Gent, George. "Wife Is Not a Wife in New N.B.C. Show." New York Times. 19 Feb. 1966: 55.
7 Gould, Jack. "How Does Your Favorite Rate? Maybe Higher Than You Think." New York Times. 16 Oct. 1966: 129.
8 Gent, George. "A.B.C. Programs For Fall Listed." New York Times. 3 Apr. 1967: 67.
9 Windeler, Robert. "TV's Top Series Add Ingredients." New York Times. 21 Jul. 1967: 31.
10 "Curses!!! 'Batman' Meets His Master: Television's Ratings." New York Times. 26 Jan. 1968: 95.
11 "'Batman's' TV Spot Going To 'Second Hundred Years'." New York Times. 14 Feb. 1968: 95.
12 Dallos, Robert E. "A.B.C.-TV Plans Replacements For 8 Evening Programs in Fall." New York Times. 11 Mar. 1968: 83.
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