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, so I just started from scratch. My 2016 and 2026 votes will both be posted in the comments.)
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! To give you a full view of the voting, click here for THE BEST OF THE REST, including a list of eps that didn’t garner a single vote!
And now, to the Batpoll! Here are the TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODES – RANKED:
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13. Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under! (Season 3, 31 Points). Probably the show’s most divisive episode. Some love it, some hate it, but I am firmly in the “love it” category. (I put it at No. 4!) I’m glad it made the cut because I truly believe that no list like this would be complete without it. It’s the highest of camp — and probably the most laugh-out-loud episode of them all. (Plus, Yvonne Craig stuns as both Batgirl and Barbara Gordon!)
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12. That Darn Catwoman/Scat! Darn Catwoman (Season 2, 33 Points). Lesley Gore was golden as Pussycat and should have gotten another shot or two on the series. She and Burt Ward had great chemistry — this whole episode is a Ward standout — and while her two musical numbers grind the narrative to a halt, they’re memorable for their shoehorned-in Sixties-ness. (I had this at No. 10.)
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11. The Zodiac Crimes/The Joker’s Hard Times/The Penguin Declines (Season 2, 32 Points). Another one that’s impossible to ignore — Jim Beard even put it at No. 1. Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith are great together as the Joker and the Penguin; you get two of the best death traps — the meteor drop and the giant clam; and, it revs up to one of the best Bat-fights of them all, in the Batcave itself (preceded by a groovy negative-screen special effect). I had this at No. 12, and while that may seem low, it is roughly where the consensus ended up. Personally, I do think there’s a little too much flab stretching across the three parts.
Voted No. 1 by Jim Beard: “This really should have been the second feature film. It has everything you could want in a Batman production, and in fact I believe you could sit someone down to watch it as an example of everything that makes the show great. The villains are spot-on, the moll (Venus, played by Terry Moore) a cut above, and the killer clam is one of the coolest/funniest cliffhangers ever.”
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10. The Thirteenth Hat/Batman Stands Pat (Season 1, 34.5 Points). I have to admit, I was a little surprised by how much support this one got. Not that it’s a weak episode or anything — hardly! — it’s just I think Season 2’s The Contaminated Cowl/The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul is the better of the two Hatter appearances. Clearly, I’m in the minority there — but either way, David Wayne slays as Jervis Tetch. Worth noting that this ep was adapted from a comic-book story, which I think always helps. (That half point is because one person included the episode in a tie on their ballot.)
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9. A Piece of the Action/Batman’s Satisfaction (Season 2, 44 Points). There was no way this wasn’t going to make this list. Batman and Robin meeting the Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Bruce Lee) is one of the touchstones of the entire series. Roger C. Carmel is a force of nature as Colonel Gumm, but this pairing did deserve a better villain. That said, the climactic showdown between the duos is fabulous, especially Robin squaring off against Kato. Plus the gigantic stamp-machine trap is a real keeper.
Voted No. 1 by Peter Bosch and Walt Grogan. Bosch’s reason is simply, “the Green Hornet and Kato,” while Grogan gleefully enthused, “This one has it all! The Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder take on their Center City counterparts — the Green Hornet and Kato! Plus, keep your cee-ment pond and fasten your seatbelts, it’s the Batmobile and the Black Beauty — together! Holy crossover, Batman! This tops the Beverly Hillbillies meets Petticoat Junction meets Green Acres!”
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8. An Egg Grows in Gotham/The Yegg Foes in Gotham (Season 2, 45 Points). This one isn’t a favorite of mine, so I’ll turn the mic over to Mark Racop, who had this… at No. 8! “One of the best cliffhangers of the entire series was Egghead (Vincent Price) deducing that Bruce Wayne was probably Batman.”
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7. Instant Freeze/Rats Like Cheese (Season 1, 52 Points). An outstanding episode, from beginning to end. Otto Preminger was a far more colorful Mr. Freeze, but George Sanders (unsurprisingly) brought a menacing sophistication to the role, almost like a Bond villain. Another comic-book adaptation, this one has a number of standout moments, but the highlight is Freeze’s super-air-conditioned mountain hideout: It’s not terribly exotic, but it features that far out climate-control device that produces red (for heat) and blue (for cold) zones and passageways.
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5 (Tie). The Joker Goes to School/He Meets His Match, the Grisly Ghoul (Season 1, 73 Points) and True or False-Face/Holy Rat Race (Season 1, 73 Points). The only tie on the list and they just so happened to run back-to-back. The False Face episode is one of the rare ones to delve into the more grotesque elements of Bat-mythology, with a suitably creepy and fairly frightening villain, played by Malachi Throne.
The school episode, for me, is one of the most clever of the series, with, among other things, a memorable performance by Donna Loren as corrupt cheerleader Susie and a hilarious spotlight on Ward as Dick Grayson, Undercover Agent. (One of my finest moments as a Batfan was convincing Figures Toy Company to produce an action figure of him. You’re welcome!) Props to Kip King for making a henchman a key player for once. (I had this all the way up at No. 2 on my ballot.)
The Joker Goes to School… voted No. 1 by Chris Franklin: “I love this one because it breaks up the formula. The Joker targets Dick’s school and Dick is already there, so Batman goes alone, and from the get-go we’re off on a different path than 99 percent of the episodes in Seasons 1 and 2. Plus, you have one of the series’ most memorable deathtraps with the slot machine and the electric chairs in the truck. And most importantly, Dick Grayson, Undercover Agent as a leather jacket-wearing rebel without a clue!”
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4. The Bookworm Turns/While Gotham City Burns (Season 1, 75 Points). Boy, people do love Bookworm (Roddy McDowall), though the character doesn’t rate highly with me. So, here’s Chuck Williams, who voted this No. 1: “My favorites at the top are fluid. Bookworm is No. 1 (today) because it’s deadly serious and seriously funny. The comics world of Batman is perfectly illustrated with giant props and racing around to save the day. The humor is also found in giant props and racing around to save the day. The balance is fine tuned in this set of episodes and every actor is on the same page. No one comes across as silly or ‘in on the joke.’ An excellent example of playing it straight for laughs.”
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3. The Joker is Wild/Batman is Riled (Season 1, 80 Points). Another comics adaptation, and a doozy at that. The Joker’s first appearance on the series is a whiz-banger, with the Clown Prince of Crime making turnabout fair play by donning his own utility belt. My favorite bit is the Joker summoning his henchmen (love those outfits!) from inside the busts of great comedians. (Shout-out to the great Ernie Kovacs!) Queenie, played by Nancy Kovack, is magnetic. Throw a red or brunette wig on her and she would have made a great Poison Ivy.
Voted No. 1 by John S. Drew: “As much as everyone ranks the very first episode as the best, this one is it, in my opinion. It’s right out of an issue of Detective Comics (1952’s Issue #73) with Batman figuring out the Joker’s scheme by deducing that a champagne cork was not discolored with age.”
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2. The Purr-Fect Crime/Better Luck Next Time (Season 1, 124 Points). Well, OK. Here’s an interesting one. This episode got more first-place votes than any other — from Ben Bentley, Mark Racop, Scott Sebring, Sam Greenfield and me. Weirdly, however, two voters left it off their ballots entirely, which I cannot fathom.
This episode is, to me, the Platonic ideal for the series: action, adventure, humor, drama, pathos, a genuine mystery, and a luminous performance by Julie Newmar, her first as Catwoman. Newmar (and the writers) would play the Feline Fatale more broadly in subsequent episodes, but here she’s seductive, dangerous and funny, all at once. Plus, the whole third act of Part One — eight minutes! — is the show’s best death trap, and Part Two begins with another great trap. Batman at its best. For many of us.
Bentley: “For me, Purr-Fect Crime was the show at its peak, firing on all cylinders, which it very rarely did after that very episode. From script and pacing, to the performances from Julie Newmar and Adam West, not to mention the incredible production values on-screen during the multiple death traps, this two-parter embodies everything that sets Season 1 of the ’66 show head and shoulders above what it evolved into. Sure, there is plenty to enjoy throughout the show’s entire run, but mid-Season 1 is hallowed ground to me.”
Racop: “The writing, acting, cinematography, and sets were spectacular.”
Sam Greenfield: “As much as we love this show for all of its wacky spirit, at the end of the day it is still a Batman show, and no episode exemplifies the character and his world better than this two-parter.”
(NOTE: What Scott Sebring wrote about this episode was so compelling, I’m running it as a separate column in March, for The Purr-Fect Crime’s 60th anniversary.)
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1. Hi Diddle Riddle/Smack in the Middle (Season 1, 145 Points). While I prefer The Purr-Fect Crime, you can’t fault this selection at all; it’s usually the default choice among the Bat-cognoscenti. Frank Gorshin made the Riddler — a throwaway villain in the comics — an instant A-lister with his kinetic, frenetic, Emmy-nominated performance as the Prince of Puzzlers. Jill St. John is barely contained dynamite. And that’s just the guest stars.
Adam West is note perfect as Batman his first time out — Batusi and all — and Burt Ward embodies the comics’ Boy Wonder (though he’s perhaps a little too excitable at times). For kids watching this on Jan. 12 and 13, 1966, it was a life-altering moment.
Voted No. 1 by Mike Allred, Paul Kupperberg, and Scott Tipton. (I had it at No. 5.)
Allred: “Far and away, Hi Diddle Riddle/Smack in the Middle is my all-time fave for multiple reasons, i.e. it’s the darkest of all the episodes, with terrific high-end production.”
Kupperberg: “Because it’s the episode that started it all and introduced us to the magic of Adam West as Batman.”
Tipton: “Frank Gorshin’s bravura performance sets the tone for all Bat-Villains to come.”
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We’re not done yet! Click here for the BEST OF THE REST.
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MORE
— The Complete BATMAN ’66 WEEK INDEX of Features. Click here.
— The TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 Countdown: THE BEST OF THE REST. Click here.
