First off I would like to give a comparison to two Batman animated series that were produced by Filmation Productions in the 60's and mid-70's. Lets start with the first animated "Batman" installment titled "The Adventures of Batman and Robin"(narrated by the great Ted Knight) which was part of "The Superman/Aquaman/Batman Hour" which premiered right after the TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward went off the air in 1968. Here the dynamic duo continue their adventures which was mostly seen on Saturday mornings and I remember this show vividly as a kid. Still for one the story premise was exactly like the TV series and the comic book with Batman and Robin fighting evil doers/villains and maintaining order in Gotham City alongside with the help of Batgirl.
In this series,you have the stylish animation of veteran Hal Sutherland who took part in the directional duties and some excellent writing from Batman creator Bob Kane. But the voice overs for Batman and Robin were done by actor Olan Soule and radio personality Casey Kasem(who would go on to do voice overs for a array of cartoon characters including Shaggy from Scooby Doo)who would go onward to do the voice overs for the dynamic duo again in "Superfriends"(which was produced by Hanna-Barbera) which premiered during the early 70's. But getting back to the first and only original format of the Batman animated series from the late 60's is this: it maybe old and crappy but here it packed a heavy load of non-stop excitement and adventure each week because it kicked butt even for a hourly segment it still held even better than the crap that's on these days(prime example: Batman Beyond---why destroy the image of a great superhero format?). Like I said,the series was produced by Filmation associates(productions)and it ran from 1968-70.
Then,the unthinkable happened which almost killed the Batman franchise entirely.........
In the fall of 1977,Filmation produced a new concept called "The New Adventures of Batman". Filmation produced 16 episodes and recycled them endlessly in repeated episodes from 1977 to 1981. This was shown as part of a lineup of shows for Saturday Mornings which CBS-TV at the time produced a 90 minute format called "Tarzan and the Super Seven" which consisted of episodes "The New Adventures of Batman","Tarzan:Lord of the Jungle","The Adventures of Shazam and Isis", along with The Lone Ranger and Zorro all on the same bill since this was part animated cartoon along with a live-action bit as well,"Jason Of Star Command" which was mostly seen on Saturday Mornings and some Sunday Mornings in repeated episodes until CBS canceled them all in 1981. But getting back to the new Batman format,this second installment of the Batman series(besides Superfriends) was by far the worst(not to mention pathetic) representation of Batman ever conceived and it shows if you see the episodes you know what I mean. It sucked. For one,this version brought back most of the cast from the Batman TV series of the 1960's,and it featured the voice overs of Adam West(Bruce Wayne/Batman),Burt Ward(Dick Grayson/Robin),and Yvonne Craig(Barbara Gordon/Batgirl). The rest of the characters stayed in place,but what was missing from the original was the butler Alfred. The villains? Well,they did however bring back four of the most gruesome diabolical characters The Dynamic Duo ever face....The Joker,The Penguin,The Riddler,and The Catwoman. Did they ever bring Eartha Kitt out of retirement to do the voice-over for Catwoman,not to mention bringing back veteran actors like Burgess Meredith and Frank Gorshin to do the voicework. But they couldn't get Cesar Romero? New villains were added to the series were Professor Bubbles,The Moon Man,and Electro. The show had perfectly good stories and great exciting adventures including Batman and Robin defending Gotham City from the forces of evil. But what killed it and ruined the entire concept not to mention killing the series? The most annoyingest character ever devised.......
BAT-MITE! A total nuisance and one pain in the butt. Out of all the animated characters ever made BAT-MITE comes in behind THE WONDER TWINS PLUS WENDY AND MARVIN(from Superfriends),and ORKO(from another Filmation production "HE-MAN")as one of the most worst in the bunch and it shows alongside two Joel Schumacher masterpieces'(Batman Forever w/Val Kilmer and the pathetic as hell Batman and Robin w/George Clooney,Chris O'Donnell and an obese Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl--please as if?)
Believe me,compare the two and see what I mean.
