Batman had been a comic book hero since his 1939 start in Detective Comics #27, but the caped crusader took a decidedly different turn when ABC’s campy pop-art TV series “BATMAN” premiered Jan. 12, 1966.

This wasn’t how Batman’s transition to TV was supposed to go. Batman was a dark comic book superhero — similar to the character we know today and will soon be seeing in WB/DC’s “THE BATMAN.” In the early ’60s, Batman’s TV rights were optioned by Ed Graham Productions, which was talking to CBS about doing a Saturday morning kids action hero series like “THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN” or “THE LONE RANGER.”

Meanwhile, at ABC, programming executive Yale Udoff, who’d been a Batman comics fan as a kid, knew program chiefs Harve Bennett and Edgar Scherick wanted to do a hip action series like NBC’s “THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.” Yudoff pitched them, Batman, CBS and Graham weren’t getting anywhere, so DC reacquired its Batman TV rights and did a deal at ABC… which brought the project to 20th Century Fox Television…which hired William Dozier to produce an adventure series that would be serious, but fun.

Things changed dramatically when Dozier, who wasn’t into comics as a kid, read some Batman issues and decided the show should use pop art and tongue-in-cheek comedy. Spy novelist Eric Ambler, who was to write a movie launching the series, quit Dozier’s campy comedy concept. Lorenzo Semple Jr., who later wrote 1976’s “KING KONG” remake, wrote a pilot using Dozier’s pop-art style.

The series’ villains were all well known from Batman comics — like the Joker, Penguin, Riddler & Catwoman. With development moving at breakneck speed, two sets of screen tests were shot — with Adam West & Burt Ward as Batman & Robin and with Lyle Waggoner & Peter Deyell. Dozier went for West & Ward — and the rest is TV history.

“BATMAN” was to be a one-hour show, but when ABC decided to launch it in January 1966 instead of September, only two early evening half-hour time slots were open. So “BATMAN” became two 30-minute programs airing Wednesdays & Thursdays with cliffhanger endings.

The “BATMAN” feature that opened July 30, 1966, was to have preceded the series’ debut but was delayed because its stars couldn’t film until season one’s summer hiatus. The film was fast-tracked to get it into theatres before season two began. It was released by the show’s studio, 20th Century Fox, and to this day is the only live-action “BATMAN” movie not distributed by Warner Bros., which owns the character through its DC Comics division.

The Omicron surge is upsetting schedules for the upcoming festival and awards season.  This week, the Berlin Film Festival announced that its upcoming event would be shortened to 7 days from 2/10 to 2/16, down from the 11-day program that had previously been announced.  All group receptions and parties have been canceled and capacity at in-person screenings will be capped at 50%.  Despite this significant scaling back, many were surprised (and pleased) that festival organizers opted to maintain any in-person screenings.

In other important news, the Critic’s Choice Awards 2022 announced that their program which had originally been scheduled for 1/9 would now take place on 3/13, which happens to be the same date as the annual British Academy Film Awards.  BAFTA’s organizers must be disappointed by the conflict and competition, both for audience and talent.   There has been some discussion about establishing a satellite link between the venues in Los Angeles and London to allow stars to participate live at both events.

The CCA was forced to balance the needs of holding its awards show before the Oscars and meeting its obligations to the host venue and TV networks while navigating the disruptions of Omicron.  Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin concluded, “We believe that March 13th will be the right day to properly honor the finest achievements in film and television during the past year.”

See also: Critics Choice Live Telecast Rescheduled For March 13, Same Date As BAFTA Film Awards; Might Be Major Conflict For Some Nominees (Deadline)

Last Friday, the exhibition took a bullet when Disney announced that it was shifting its upcoming release of TURNING RED out of theatres to Disney+ streaming.  The 25^th Pixar feature was expected to produce results at the box office, following the tradition of titles such as TOY STORY, COCO, THE INCREDIBLES, and ENCANTO.

However, Disney has also tasted some success by releasing Pixar movies online, most recently with SOUL and LUCA.  According to internal research, users who sign up for Disney+ to watch Pixar titles tend to remain subscribers at higher rates than users who are prompted to sign up for other titles.  With the theatrical market for family films still somewhat depressed – only SING 2 has generated more than $100M domestically during pandemic times – Disney made the calculation that its potential benefit to Disney+ would be worth more than its prospects at the box office, at least in the current environment.  The growth of Disney+ has stagnated over the past few quarters, and this move may be driven by a need to jumpstart the subscription service, rather than a rebuke of the theatrical market.

Many of the Pixar team that created TURNING RED are said to be disappointed by Disney skipping over theatres.  One Pixar animator was reported saying, “It’s safe to say that we’re all feeling extremely disappointed. Until today, we all thought TURNING RED would be our return to the big screen, and everyone at the studio was so excited about it being this film in particular. It was quite a blow.”  By streaming Pixar titles, Disney risks hurting morale at one of its most storied and profitable film divisions.

See also: How Pixar Staff Reportedly Feels About Turning Red Being Released on Disney+ Instead of Theater (Cinema Blend)

We can now report on one week of 2022 compared with the same week in 2019.  With the 1/7 release of THE 355 producing very little, our current year comparison came in at 42% of the same week in 2019.  Despite SPIDER-MAN’s historic run which continues to help us out in January, this month’s lackluster lineup will hold down totals.  All told, the current 4-week run rate still looks healthy at 79% on the strength of SPIDER-MAN.