TV Series: Batman Season 3

The third season of Batman, which began in September 1967, is a big change in style and content from the first two seasons. Previously the series had been made up of two-part stories with episodes that were broadcast twice a week, on Wednesday and Thursday evening in America (on Saturday and Sunday evening in Britain). The Wednesday episode ended with a cliffhanger in which Batman and Robin were left in a seemingly unescapable predicament. The Thursday episode showed how Batman and Robin escaped and went on to defeat the villain.

The episodes of the third season are in a more flexible format. Most episodes are self-contained, although there are occasional two-part or three-part stories. The episodes were only broadcast once a week, on Thursday in America (and on Sunday in Britain). There's no cliffhanger, although there's frequently a hook to the following episode through next week's villain being shown at the end of the episode.

The biggest change to the series is the introduction of Batgirl, played by Yvonne Craig. The series' executive producer, William Dozier, wanted to introduce a female crime fighter, but he needed the approval of DC Comics. Julius Schwartz of DC agreed to the creation of a female equivalent of Batman. She was first shown in Detective Comics in early 1967 in preparation for her appearance on television. Her secret identity is Barbara Gordon, the daughter of the police chief James Gordon.

Batgirl's fighting style is unlike that of Batman. She never punches anyone. In most cases she kicks villains in the face. On occasions she hits them with hand-held objects, such as a piece of wood. She doesn't have the multitude of gadgets that Batman uses. That makes sense. She isn't a multi-millionaire like Bruce Wayne. Her daytime job is a librarian, so she doesn't have a big budget to fight crime. What's most interesting is her facial expression when she's fighting. For Batman and Robin, fighting criminals is serious business. Batgirl always has a big smile on her face when she's fighting. For her it's all about having fun.

This is the first glimpse we get of Barbara Gordon in the first episode of season three. She was mentioned twice in the final episodes of season three, but we didn't see her face.

When Batgirl enters a room to challenge villains she always puts her hands (or rather her fists) on her hips. I call this the Batgirl pose.

Note the different hair colour. Barbara Gordon's natural hair colour is black, but she wears a red wig to disguise herself. It must be really convincing, because her father never recognises her, neither her face nor her voice. Sigh... that's why we need suspension of disbelief.

One of the most amusing things in the third season is that the only person who knows Batgirl's secret identity is Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred. He promises not to reveal it to anyone. He doesn't even tell Batman who she is.

He receives a kiss as a reward. Lucky guy!

The first villain in season three is the Penguin. I've never taken the trouble to count the episodes, but he must be the most prolific villain in the series.

The Penguin kidnaps Alfred. His henchmen wear shirts to identify them, so that Batgirl knows who she has to kick.

The second villain (introduced at the end of the first episode) is the Riddler, played by the phenomenal Frank Gorshin. He was the most spectacular character in the Batman television series. It's a shame that he barely appeared apart from in the first season.

And the third villain is Siren, played by Joan Collins. She's a new character, who didn't appear in the first two seasons. She's also an original character, not based on anyone in DC Comics. She has the power to hypnotise any man by singing a high note. Batgirl is the only one who can fight her.

I'll have to count the appearances of villains before I write about the Batman TV series again. But don't hold your breath while you're waiting.

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