This Week's Batman TV Almanac (9/11-17/05)

[AaronHandy3]

SEPTEMBER 14, 1966

"Hot Off The Griddle" (#9703-Pt. 1) first aired @ 7:30 p.m. on ABC as the 37th episode of Batman.

• We learn here that Alfred Pennyworth sustained a back injury in the last war, porbably an excuse made up in order to not have to Catusi with Aunt Harriet.
• George Barrows is best known for his title role of Ro-Man/Great Guidance in the 1953 scifi thriller Robot Monster and playing gorillas in various other pictures.
• Buck Kartalian (John) later played The Werewolf in the TV series The Monster Squad.
• James Brolin made the first of 3 Batman appearances in these episodes before moving on to star in the ABC Primetime dramas Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-76) and Hotel (1983-88). Brolin was roomate to the show's casting director, Michael McLean, which accounts for his appearances on Batman.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1966

"The Cat And The Fiddle" (#9703-Pt. 2) first aired @ 7:30 p.m. on ABC as the 38th episode of Batman.

• The late Jack Kelly (Jack O'Shea) is best remembered as Bart Maverick on the 1957-62 ABC Western Maverick.
• The narrorator calls the latest dance craze The Catwalk, but in the previous episode Aunt Harriet called it The Catusi.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1967

"Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin" (#1701) first aired @ 7:30 p.m. on ABC as the 95th episode of Batman.

• This segment launched the series' third and final season, and introduced Batviewers to actress-ballerina Yvonne Joyce Craig as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. Also, the show was now seen once a week on ABC (Thursdays @ 7:30), the reason being that broadcasting twice a week proved to be overkill (hence the previous season's massive inventory of 60 episodes).
• Producer Howie Horwitz made a 15-minute film (which was never aired) of the Batgirl character for ABC (which featured her and The Dynamic Duo confronting the villain Killer Moth) in order to convince The Alphabet Network that the addition of the new character would help the ratings. The network liked it and decided to give the Batman TV series a chance at a third season.
• This season, all of the action word titles which appear during the climactic fight sequences were still inserted inbetween scenes, with an added twist: they now flash.