Top 10 Best, Funniest, Most Dangerous Moments From Television’s Original ‘Caped Crusader’

The world lost a true superhero on Friday night when Adam West, television’s original Batman, passed away at the age of 88. Throughout his long life, West had a great acting career which included appearing in numerous movies and TV shows, but he will always be known as quite possibly the best “Caped Crusader” ever. With that, it is time to look at 10 of the best moments ever from the mid to late ’60s Batman TV series.

As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, Adam West died Friday night in Los Angeles after a short fight with leukemia. For a while, he found it hard to get a lot of work after Batman went off the air, but he came back in a big way over the last couple of decades with voiceover work and even appearing in numerous television shows.

Still, he will always be the man behind the mask of a campy TV series about Batman, his crime-fighting sidekick Robin, and battling the villains of Gotham. It is a show that made for many memories, and here are 10 of the best, funniest, most dangerous, and greatest moments from Batman.

The infamous time bomb

Anyone and everyone who ever watched the original Batman TV series knows of this scene. You may even know about it without having seen the episode because it is just that absurd and absolutely hilarious to see Batman running around with an oversized bomb and nowhere to dispose of it.

This actually took place in Batman: The Movie which was released in 1966 and it is absolutely amazing to watch from beginning to end. Batman (Adam West) even lets the world know that “some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb.”

The political debate – Batman vs. The Penguin

Burgess Meredith played the role of The Penguin and he did it masterfully, but this scene from an episode in Season 2 was amazing. As The Penguin tried to become Gotham City’s mayor, Batman actually joined the political race to stop him from winning the election. Bruce Wayne didn’t join the race…it was Batman.

The Penguin attempts to turn things around and make it seem as if he is a hero and Batman is the bad guy, but it never works.

Anytime the Batphone was used at all

In the office of Commissioner Gordon, there is a red phone underneath a glass case that allows him direct contact to Batman. From there, Batman answers his own red and awesomely shaped Batphone straight from the Batmobile.

A visit from Santa Claus

Yeah, this actually happened in an episode of Batman where Santa Claus popped out of a window as the Dynamic Duo was scaling the wall of a skyscraper. This was in one of the infamous Batman window cameos which also includes:

• Dick Clark
• Jerry Lewis
• Howard Dugg
• Bill Dana
• Ted Cassidy as Lurch
• Sammy Davis Jr.
• The Green Hornet and Kato

Batman vs. a shark

This also took place in Batman: The Movie and it has the Caped Crusader battling it out with what looks to be a great white shark. As Robin is piloting the Batcopter, Batman is hanging on a rope ladder as a shark is out of the water and biting his leg. Batman continues punching, kicking, and battling him but nothing works.

At that point, Batman uses his “Shark Repellent Spray” to get rid of the creature of the deep.

In a bit of a matching moment from Adam West’s time as Batman, there was also the episode titled “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under.” This has the scene where Batman dons bright yellow swim trunks to head out on the water and surf.

Batman battles a tiger

Batman fighting animals was not limited to those in the ocean as he also ended up battling it out with a tiger as well. In the episode titled “Purr-fect Crime,” Batman ends up tangling with the strongest henchman that Catwoman has ever hired — a tiger.

Egghead uses his egg bombs to Batman and Robin stoned

Vincent Price made some incredible guest appearances as the villainous Egghead who tortures and torments the Dynamic Duo. As he continues to throw out the puns, he also uses a couple of gaseous egg bombs on Batman and Robin which makes them stoned more than some of the kids in Dazed And Confused.

Batman and Robin scale countless walls

As mentioned earlier with the cameo by Santa Claus and many other celebrities, this is one of the most iconic moments in Batman history. Watching Batman and Robin scaling the wall with the greatest of ease was an amazing effect back in the day, but it is easy to figure out now.

Still, it is awesome to watch.

The Batusi

You have to remember that Batman was on during the ’60s and psychedelic dances were nothing that anyone was a stranger to. In the season premiere of the TV series, Batman attempts to win a battle of wits with the assistant of The Riddler, but she asks him to dance.

One of the most popular dances at the time was the Watusi which leads to Adam West, in full Batman costume, introducing the world to the “Batusi.” Just do yourself a favor and watch the video below because it is phenomenal.

Batman rescues Robin by actually using the teeth of the “Boy Wonder”

An episode in the first season of Batman sees the evil Riddler attempt to kill Robin with a rather generic push off of a tall building in Gotham City. Trying to save him, Batman tosses him a Batarang which Robin grabs with his insanely strong set of teeth to hold onto for dear life.

Long before he was the Caped Crusader in the Batman television series, Adam West had a great career which included numerous movies and TV series. After he became the DC Comics’ superhero, he went on to continue an acting career which was still active until his death. Now, the world has lost one of the truly great heroes, but he left behind so many memories for fans to hold onto. Honestly, there may never be as fantastic a scene as Batman running down a boardwalk with a giant bomb.

[Featured Image by 20th Century Fox]