Did it rise and falter too quickly due to the fact it was perhaps too campy or is that what made the series so special?

I think that's what made the show special . I remember watching it when I was a kid. I would eagerly wait until the next day to find out who the villian was going to be. lol And I think Batman's seriousness and Robin's terrible puns were part of the charm. I thought the first 2 seasons were great. The last season wasn't though. When they added Batgirl and only had one show a week and didn't end on a cliffhanger anymore, it wasn't the same. And then they replaced Julie Newmar as Catwoman with Eartha Kitt. What were they thinking? :ohno:

THIS IS THE ONLY BATMAN WORTH WATCHING.



Forget any of the movies or whatever that came after this. They cant hold a candle to 1960's Batman. It was fun, hip full of action, colorful characters and it was good. Interestingly enough ABC cancelled Shindig to make room for Batman.

I think it was what it was supposed to be and of course that's why it was so wildly successful. On the other hand, it does seem like it would have been hard to sustain something like that, because the novelty of it was a great part of the appeal and once that wore off they were bound to be in trouble. I know that people often blame the introduction of Batgirl, the half hour episodes, and the network for the fall of Batman but really I think even with great writing and production values the show probably wouldn't have gone much more than five years or so.

And just for the record, Batgirl was the the best thing ABOUT that third year. :)

Actually, the first season for the most part (thanks to Lorenzo Semple, Jr.) had a good balance of of seriousness and campy (but in a clever manner). By the second season (with people like Charles Hoffman and Stanford Sherman writing more often), the show seemed to become too self-aware and amped up the camp value. By the third season, the series had more or less become a sad parody of itself, satirizing not only comic books of the day but trends.

THIS IS THE ONLY BATMAN WORTH WATCHING.



Forget any of the movies or whatever that came after this. They cant hold a candle to 1960's Batman. It was fun, hip full of action, colorful characters and it was good. Interestingly enough ABC cancelled Shindig to make room for Batman.
I'll take the Chris Nolan movies over this. It fitted its' time but it has'nt aged well. Dated and painful today. The animated series is way better.

I think it was what it was supposed to be and of course that's why it was so wildly successful. On the other hand, it does seem like it would have been hard to sustain something like that, because the novelty of it was a great part of the appeal and once that wore off they were bound to be in trouble. I know that people often blame the introduction of Batgirl, the half hour episodes, and the network for the fall of Batman but really I think even with great writing and production values the show probably wouldn't have gone much more than five years or so.

And just for the record, Batgirl was the the best thing ABOUT that third year. :)
Well the good thing is that it had 120 episodes thanks to airing twice in 1966-1967 so when you watch in syndication it's like it aired for 5 seasons. lol

I never had a chance to see the Batman TV series, but a friend of mine did . I watched the 1966 Batman movie at his house, and he said "It's too bad Batman was cancelled after it's third season, because that's when Batgirl appeared and the Batboat, so as soon as they got those elements in place, it was cancelled !" .