Posted by Dan Greenfield on Jan 5, 2026
The BATMAN ’66 Debut Episode You DIDN’T See
MORRISON MONDAYS meets BATMAN ’66 WEEK! — Welcome to BATMAN ’66 WEEK, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the beloved TV show starring Adam West! All week, we’ll be presenting daily tributes and features, leading up to Jan. 12 — the premiere date itself — when we’ll roll out a brand-new TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODE COUNTDOWN, voted upon by a panel of the most knowledgeable Bat-experts around. Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX. — Dan — By BILL MORRISON One of the most prized items in my Batman collection is an original production script by Lorenzo Semple Jr. from the two-part, pilot episode of the 1966 Batman TV series. The script is a revised draft, dated September 3, 1965, a little over six weeks before shooting began on October 20. Simply titled “Batman Pilot Script,” the titles “Hi Diddle Riddle”/”Smack in the Middle” had not yet been assigned to the episodes. For years, I’ve thought about watching the episodes while following along with the script to see what things may have changed between this draft and the final aired version of the pilot. And in recognition of BATMAN ’66 WEEK, this column has given me the excuse to do just that. Much of what changed is merely lines that were trimmed or cut altogether. There are too many to list, and frankly many are not all that interesting. Most seem to have been altered or eliminated to shorten running time, or to follow the general visual storytelling rule of “show, don’t tell.” But here are a few somewhat interesting examples. In the first-ever “Bat-climb,” Batman chides Robin about not being able to solve one of the Riddler’s clues due to the Boy Wonder having his mind on a cute girl that waved to him on their way to the Peale Art Gallery. In the aired version, Robin just responds “Aw, come on, Batman!” but in this draft, the Dynamic Duo’s exchange goes on a bit further. And here, when Commissioner Gordon patches the Riddler into the Batphone, allowing Batman to talk to the captured Boy Wonder, Robin has a line that was cut in which he teases Batman for falling for Molly’s orange juice trap at the What a Way to Go-Go nightclub. Also of note on this page is Scene 118, which describes Batman as being “half asleep,”...
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