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Jake Rossen<\/strong>\u00a0and Mental_Floss<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/b>present 15 Campy Facts About Batman<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Here are three of my favorites<\/span>…<\/p>\n \n 1. A QUARTERBACK FOR THE L.A. RAMS ALMOST PLAYED BATMAN.<\/span><\/strong> 6. IT HAD THE LOWEST TEST SCORE OF ANY TV PILOT IN HISTORY.<\/span><\/strong> 10. BRUCE LEE SCARED THE TIGHTS OFF OF BURT WARD.<\/span><\/strong> Jake Rossen\u00a0and Mental_Floss\u00a0present 15 Campy Facts About Batman.\u00a0\u00a0Here are three of my favorites… 1. A QUARTERBACK FOR THE L.A. RAMS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,65,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-celebs","category-trivia","category-tv","comments-off"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14741"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14744,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14741\/revisions\/14744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThe kitschy approach of Adam West was not on producer Ed Graham\u2019s mind when he optioned Batman<\/em> for a television series from DC Comics (then National Periodical Publications) in 1962. Figuring he could capitalize on a Saturday morning kids’ series similar in tone to the George Reeves-starring Adventures of Superman<\/em> from the 1950s, Graham struck a deal with CBS and enlisted former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Mike Henry for the title role. With CBS dragging their feet, Henry decided to opt out and play Tarzan instead; ABC was more ambitious about the idea, securing the license from National and moving ahead with producer William Dozier and writer Lorenzo Semple Jr., who agreed the show would work best if it didn\u2019t take itself seriously. (Just seriously enough not to cast a football player.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n
\nBefore its January 12, 1966 premiere, ABC screened the pilot for a test audience. Using knobs that could express their approval (or disapproval), the group verified the equipment was working when they gave the \u201ccontrol\u201d footage, a Mr. Magoo<\/em> cartoon, a favorable rating. When Batman<\/em> ended, it scored in the upper forties, a disastrous number. (Most pilots of the day scored in the mid-sixties.) The national audience, prepared with weeks of advertising to help contextualize the humor, found it funnier: the show was an immediate success.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\nWard, who fancied himself something of a martial arts expert, once boasted to West that he had sparred with Bruce Lee. When Lee made an appearance on the show as part of a crossover with Dozier\u2019s other series, The Green Hornet<\/em>, he and Robin were scheduled to have a fight. According to West\u2019s autobiography, Lee showed up to the set wearing a dour expression and looked ready to kill Ward, who put his hands up in a defensive reflex. Lee cracked a smile and called out, \u201cRobin\u2019s a chicken!\u201d Everyone but Ward found this funny.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"