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Like many who grew up in the '60s and '70s (and perhaps even '80s and later), Tim and Paul had the course of their lives changed by the 1966 Batman TV show, from the types of play they did growing up to their present-day interests.

In this series, they discuss the show's allure and its failures, the arc of the show from satire to sitcom, its influences (the '40s serials and the comic books themselves) and the things it, in turn, influenced.

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  2. #103 Pop vs Camp: Which is Batman ’66?

#103 Pop vs Camp: Which is Batman ’66?

Feb 7, 2019

Bruce and Dick camping

Bring your Coleman stove! Grab your sleeping bag! "Go to the creek and brush your teeth!" It's time for a serious "Camping Trip"!

Back in episode 12, we took time to examine the idea of "camp" and why Batman '66 is often described as "campy." Producer William Dozier and others involved with the show rejected that label because of its "gay" associations, and instead maintained that it was an example of Pop art.

Listener Dan E. Kool pointed us recently to an essay by Sasha Torres, a professor at the University of Western Ontario. The essay is called The Caped Crusader of Camp: Pop, Camp, and the "Batman" Television Series, and it has inspired us to record this episode, on the idea of camp and Pop art as defining aesthetics for Batman '66. Is Batman camp or Pop? What tradeoffs do you make by designating it as either one?

Also, now that we're in season three, do we still agree with our idea in episode 12 that Batman is a "sitcamp"? Has it totally become a sitcom by this point? Has the level of camp since season one become lower, or higher?

Also, the Johnny's Jackey Yoshikawa and his Blue Comets version of the Batman theme, and your mail!