James Tucker’s 13 Favorite BATMAN ’66 Episodes
The supervising producer of the two Batman ’66 animated movies weighs in…
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BATMAN ’66 WEEK: Wrapping up the show’s diamond jubilee with a survey of more than 13 Bat-experts! Welcome to the finale of BATMAN ’66 WEEK, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the beloved TV show starring Adam West. We wrap up — on the Jan. 12 anniversary date itself — in the most fitting of fashions: a poll to determine the TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODES — RANKED. (For the rest of the BATMAN ’66 WEEK features, click here.) A decade ago, we ran a similar ranking, but it’s one I did on my own. Not only have I re-done my own picks, I’ve invited 13 Bat-experts to join in the fun. Who are they? DC Comics Batman ’66 cover artist Mike Allred; 13th Dimension regular Jim Beard, a Batman ’66 historian with four books on the subject under his utility belt; Mark Racop, the operator of the Batman ’66 Museum in Logansport, Indiana, and the owner of Fiberglass Freaks, the only licensed purveyor of full-size, operational George Barris-style Batmobiles; Ben Bentley and Scott Sebring of the essential 1966 Batman Message Board; 13th Dimension contributors Paul Kupperberg, Peter Bosch, Chris Franklin, Walt Grogan, and Scott Tipton; Chuck Williams, the artisan who crafts the world’s most accurate Batman ’66 costume replicas and props; and John S. Drew, host of The Batcave Podcast. Rounding out the crew, and making it a family affair, are myself and my son Sam Greenfield, who’s been watching the show since I first showed it to him when he was a young boy, more than two decades ago. Each voter submitted a weighted ballot: top choice gets 13 points, second choice gets 12, and so on. They were free to pick any installments they wanted, with the proviso that multiparters count as a single episode. The movie was not eligible, because it wasn’t an episode, rather a theatrically released feature film. The commentary below is mostly my own, though each voter chimes in when their top pick comes up. (By the way, I didn’t consult my own picks from 10 years ago. I knew my opinions had shifted somewhat, and didn’t want to be influenced, so I just started from scratch. My 2016 and 2026 votes are posted in the comments.) BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! To give you a full view of the voting, click here for...
BATMAN ’66 WEEK: All the episodes that just didn’t get enough votes — or any at all! To wrap up BATMAN ’66 WEEK, our 60th anniversary tribute to the great Adam West TV show, we’ve posted our poll of the TOP 13 EPISODES — RANKED. You can find that list, the names of the voters, how the weighted ballot worked, and how this came together, by clicking here. But I also wanted to show off how the rest of the episodes fared, the ones that may be favorites to some, but just didn’t make the cut. So here’s the BEST OF THE REST (the second 13 — actually 14 — vote leaders), plus the also-rans and the episodes that didn’t get even a single vote! — BEST OF THE REST (Tie) Fine Feathered Finks/The Batman’s a Jinx and Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin (27 Points) (Tie) Hizzoner the Penguin/Dizzoner the Penguin and The Contaminated Cowl/The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul (26) Pop Goes the Joker/Flop Goes the Joker (23) The Devil’s Fingers/The Dead Ringers (21) The Minstrel’s Shakedown/Barbecued Batman? (19) (Tie) The Curse of Tut/The Pharaoh’s in a Rut and The Spell of Tut/Tut’s Case Is Shut (17) King Tut’s Coup/Batman’s Waterloo (15) The Penguin’s Nest/The Bird’s Last Jest (14) I’ll Be a Mummy’s Uncle (13) (Tie) Batman’s Anniversary/A Riddling Controversy and The Great Escape/The Great Train Robbery (12) — THE ALSO-RANS 11 Points The Greatest Mother of Them All/Ma Parker Come Back, Shame/It’s How You Play the Game 10 Points The Penguin Goes Straight/Not Yet He Ain’t Death in Slow Motion/The Riddler’s False Notion Green Ice/Deep Freeze The Cat’s Meow/The Bat’s Kow Tow Louie, the Lilac 8 Points Shoot a Crooked Arrow/Walk the Straight and Narrow (8) 7 Points A Riddle a Day Keeps The Riddler Away/When the Rat’s Away the Mice Will Play Catwoman Goes to College/Batman Displays His Knowledge Ring Around the Riddler 6 Points Hot Off the Griddle/The Cat and the Fiddle The Clock King’s Crazy Crimes/The Clock King Gets Crowned The Puzzles Are Coming/The Duo Is Slumming The Unkindest Tut of All The Joker’s Flying Saucer 4 Points The Ring of Wax/Give ‘Em the Axe The Joker’s Last Laugh/The Joker’s Epitaph Ice Spy/The Duo Defy The Wail of the Siren 3 Points The Sandman Cometh/The Catwoman Goeth (3.5 because of a tie on one ballot) The...
The supervising producer of the two Batman ’66 animated movies weighs in…
Ron Marz and Matthew Dow Smith pick them…
