It’s NATIONAL EQUAL PAY DAY: Check Out BATGIRL’s 1973 Public Service Announcement

Fifty years later, Yvonne Craig’s words and actions resonate…

It’s National Equal Pay Day and of course my mind raced back 50 years to the 1973 Department of Labor public-service announcement in which the 1966 Batman TV show’s Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) confronts the Dynamic Duo about her substandard pay.

Even though there’s a “national day” for it, this is an everyday issue. That said, there’s no better time to replay the commercial, with Dick Gautier standing in for Batman and Burt Ward as Robin.

There are a number of versions online, all of varying quality. Here’s the National Archives’ shorter version, followed by a longer, lower-quality version posted by the sadly defunct Bat-Blog:

Why is March 14 National Equal Pay Day this year? Because, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, “This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.”

You tell ’em, Batgirl. That is just not right.

MORE

— The TOP 13 Yvonne Craig BATGIRL EPISODES — RANKED. Click here.

– Dig This UP-CLOSE LOOK at an Original BATGIRL Costume. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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3 Comments

  1. That commercial would still air a lot on my local channels, way up into the early 80s. I didn’t understand back then why Batgirl would hesitate to save Batman and Robin…but now I do!

    And as a kid, I never caught that Batman WASN’T Adam West, either!

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  2. I think I did realize back then that Batman wasn’t played by Adam West – but I didn’t know until recently that it was Hymie the Robot, and that he’s under Adam West’s
    formerly pink cowl!

    (Coincidentally, it sounds like this PSA almost exactly coincides with the debut of “The Six Million Dollar Man ” pilot movie, which is also being noted for it’s 50th anniversary.)

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  3. Shhhhh, remember, some people don’t want to hear truth and logic. You’re probably on a list now.

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