Posted: 12 November 2018 at 9:30am | IP Logged | 1
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I have seen the BATMAN serials (1943 and 1949). As a kid, I enjoyed them back when Channel 4 aired them in the 80s. Well, to a certain extent.
Even as a kid, I could tell the budgets were low - if I remember rightly, there weren't any Batmobiles - and I sort of forgave that. I did enjoy the cliffhangers and action. Plus, I was happy to see live-action Batman, although my first experience of that was the Adam West series.
But is there a reason they went for generic villains (a hooded villain, The Wizard, and a racist stereotype, Dr Daka)?
Could the budget really not have stretched to Riddler, Joker or Penguin? Might have improved the serials slightly to see one of those.
Also worth mentioning is this: as a kid, there was no IMDb or Google. You only learnt about shows either by writing to a publication such as TV TIMES, who did often reply to readers' queries, or waiting until a book was published. When I first saw these serials on Channel 4, I did wonder if there might be others. I was wondering if they'd made others. Obviously, they hadn't.
Around 1989/90, I did read a magazine which focused on these serials and 1979's LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES. It was insightful, but did make me wish DC had been better served. Be careful what you wish for, I did buy a copy of LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES (NTSC version, not sure if UK ever released it). I was looking forward to seeing live-action versions of Hawkman, Green Lantern, Solomon Grundy, etc. It was quite bad, to be honest.
So, thoughts on the 40s serials are welcome, but I can expand this topic further, too. I know this wasn't unique to WB/DC, but thinking about the 40s serials, LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES and so much else, it sure must have been frustrating for some to be enjoying comics but seeing pretty poor or underwhelming representations on the small screen.
And while I know the 1960s BATMAN series casts a long shadow - I'm fed up of seeing "Holy!" headlines in tabloids - it at least gave me a colourful depiction of Batman, plenty of villains who appeared akin to the comic versions, plus fun even though the series has its detractors.
Edited by Robbie Parry on 12 November 2018 at 9:34am
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