Friday Night Video

Tonight we have a thrill packed, spine tingling episode of the Dark Knight- 1960's style. "Batman" ran from 1966 to 1968, which would make me about ten years old at the time. I remember being totally in awe of this show.

I mean, who wouldn't want to be Batman? You got to live in stately Wayne Manor (which, in the show, consisted of a living room, a den and I don't think anything else). You had a butler who waited on your every need. You had an impressive physique, a utility belt, a cool car, and best of all, you had the batcave. All of these things more than made up for being saddled with youthful ward, Dick Grayson.

In the short time this show was on, Bat-merchandise was all over the place. I remember buying a wad of trading cards at the Crest on one of my Saturday visits into town with Dad, and then promptly dropping them all as I ran across the intersection before the red and yellow lights switched to green (this was in the day before they had dedicated walk lights at the traffic lights. Back then, both the red and yellow would light at the same time and this was the cue to run like hell).

I remember having a rubber Batman ring that looked like the bat-emblem at the beginning of the show. I made the mistake of wearing it to Harris School one day where Mrs. Smith took it away from me at lunch time. She put it on her finger and walked around the cafeteria just to taunt me. But the joke was on her. Unlike me, she looked totally ridiculous wearing it.

One Saturday, my family stopped at a doughnut shop on our way to the Cape. Behind the counter was an awesome Batman costume they were raffling off. Dad filled out a slip for me and Mom might have too, but nothing ever came of it. Not for me anyway. To this day, I carry more than a little resentment for the nameless "winner" who took what was rightfully mine. I picture him today, overweight and middle-aged, stuffed into my Batman costume that he still insists on wearing as he stands at the doughnut counter, reliving the glory days of his past. That should be me.

Anyway, aside from the merchandise, I remember the show being on two nights a week- with some episodes being continued  to the following show at the "same bat-time, same bat- channel". Unfortunately, this was when Dad started going through his "No TV on a School Night" phase.

I'm not sure how Dad concocted this scheme but it was implemented fairly inconsistently, and by "inconsistently", I mean sometimes he gave into my whining and sometimes he didn't. I assume this rule was designed to somehow encourage me and my siblings to find something constructive or creative to do in the hours we would normally have spent watching TV. I can't say say that it ever worked for my brother and sisters, but it didn't work for me. I spent the extra time screwing off in my room, thinking of excuses not to do my homework and cooking mini-hamburgers on my Vacuform- which, come to think of it, was pretty creative... so I guess it worked after all.

But I digress. Time to relive the awesomeness of what Batman is all about. Tip: you may want to leave a light to alleviate the suspense. You've been warned.