Worst to First: Ranking the Live-Action Batman TV Shows

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https://lebeauleblog.com/2017/11/10/...hero-tv-shows/

14. Birds of Prey

Ran from: October 9, 2002 – February 19, 2003

Channel: the WB

Heroes: Huntress, Oracle and Black Canary

Villains: Harley Quinn

Notable Guest Stars: Batman, Catwoman and the Joker are partially visible during flashbacks. Lori Loughlin appeared as the version of Black Canary familiar to fans of the comic book. Versions of Batman villains Clayface and Lady Shiva also appeared

What’s Good: Birds of Prey was one of my favorite comic books. These characters had a lot of potential and it was great to see a team of female heroes get the spotlight. Dina Meyer was perfectly cast as Barbara Gordon.

What’s Bad: The show didn’t seem to know what to do with a series set in Gotham City that wasn’t about Batman. The solution they came up with was needlessly complicated. They set Birds of Prey in a future Gotham City that has been abandoned by Batman. The Joker and Catwoman are also MIA. The latter is important because the show’s lead character, the Huntess, has been reimagined as the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. This gives her Cat-like powers because in this non-canonical universe her mother had super-powers.

The changes don’t stop there. The comic books were all about the bond between Oracle and Black Canary. On the show, Black Canary has been demoted to a supporting role. She was also portrayed as a runaway teenager for some reason. Eventually, the adult Black Canary appeared as a guest star.

I don’t want to give the impression that I am objecting to Birds of Prey as a comic book purist. I am merely commenting that the show’s writers tied themselves in knots to fix a non-existent problem. The show could have easily been about the team of lead characters with Batman being referenced but rarely seen. The guy spends a lot of time in shadows, so shooting around him would have been ridiculously easy. Instead, the series was set up around the crazy concept of a future Gotham City in which Batman and Catwoman’s daughter is a super powered crime fighter.

As nutty as that premise is, you could build a decent show around it. Execution is what’s important. Unfortunately, Birds of Prey was just a run-of-the-mill action-adventure show in Batman drag.

Verdict: Cheesy and rarely in a fun way, Birds of Prey wastes terrific characters.

8. Gotham

Ran from: September 22, 2014 – present

Channel: Fox

Heroes: James Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Bruce Wayne

Villains: The Penguin, Fish Mooney, Victor Zsasz, Jervis Tetch, the Court of Owls and the League of Assassins

Notable Guest Stars: Lili Taylor, Frank Whaley, Dan Hedaya, Julian Sands, Paul Reubens

What’s Good: Confession time: I don’t like Gotham. I watched the first season and pretty much hated it. However, I realize that the show has an immense following and I hear it has gotten better in the intervening years.

So, what’s good about Gotham? Ever since the success of Smallville, there were efforts to give Batman the prequel treatment. If you’re interested in what the GCPD was like before the Dark Knight was there to clean up the streets of Gotham City, this is the show for you. It also helps if you like gritty crime procedurals. Gotham is like your average CBS cop show dipped in Bat-sauce.

Robin Lord Taylor is a stand-out as the Penguin. I have to give the show that much.

What’s Bad: I found the tone of the show to be wildly uneven. It was not uncommon in the episodes I watched for the good guys to kill in cold blood. The villains went on bloody killing sprees with regularity. On the other end of the spectrum, there were characters that felt like they had wandered off the set of the Adam West show.

Most of the cops were obviously corrupt and comically inept. The Batman villains were stuck in permanent stasis because they could never fully embrace their destiny. For me, the show spent a lot of time chasing its own tail.

Verdict: Some people like it. I’d rather watch reruns of the show from the sixties Batman.

5. Batman

Ran from: January 12, 1966 – March 14, 1968

Channel: ABC

Heroes: Batman, Robin, Batgirl

Villains: The Joker, The Riddler, The Penguin, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, King Tut, Egghead

Notable Guest Stars: Everyone who was cool in the mid-sixties; Jerry Lewis, Dick Clark, Bruce Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Collins, Edward G. Robinson, Art Carney, Tallulah Bankhead, Roddy McDowall, Liberace, Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, Shelley Winters, Zsa Zsa Gabor

What’s Good: Batman gets a bad rap. Following the show’s enormous success, it was all too easy to dismiss comic books and superheroes as silly kids’ stuff. The show spoofed the genre so effectively that casual audiences couldn’t see superheroes any other way. Even today, you will still see headlines that use “Biff! Bam! Pow!” as short-hand for comic books. But that’s not Batman‘s fault.

Taken on its own, the show is clever and often laugh-out-loud funny. The stories can be enjoyed as adventure stories by kids and satire by their parents. Batman’s pop art style is bright, colorful and visually engaging. And unlike so many other superhero shows that pitted their protagonist against regular criminals, Adam West’s Batman had a rogues gallery of comic book villains.

Bonus points for having given the world Batgirl.

What’s Bad: If you’re looking for a serious take on the Dark Knight, this is not the show for you.

Verdict: I’m in the camp that thinks the sixties Batman is fun in small doses.