With its colorful BAM! ZOW! approach, this swingin' Sixties vision of the Dark Knight was a camp parody of the Batman mythos, owing little to the dark pulp origins of the character, created in the 1930s and inspired by masked vigilantes The Shadow and The Spider. (My comics friends may never forgive me for featuring it.)
The oft-copied, oft-parodied snazzy theme song was written by Neal Hefti, an important composer and arranger of the big band bebop era who went on to write for film and TV in the 1960s and '70s. Hefti began arranging professionally in his teens, and went on to work as trumpeter, composer and arranger for the likes of Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Frank Sinatra. In the '50s, Hefti led a big band of his own, which featured wife Frances on vocals.
Working with film and TV in the 1960s, Hefti's credits include How to Murder Your Wife, Barefoot in the Park -- and the original film The Odd Couple. The score for the latter was repeated for the classic sitcom, which ran from 1970-1975.
BATMAN (1966) on TVGuide.com
THE ODD COUPLE (1970) on TVGuide.com
BATMAN (1966) episode guide, summary at TV.com
THE ODD COUPLE (1970) episode guide, summary on TV.com
BATMAN (1966) DVD news at TVShowsOnDVD.com
THE ODD COUPLE (1970) DVD news at TVShowsOnDVD.com
BATMAN OPENING CREDITS
THE ODD COUPLE OPENING CREDITS
More themes:
BONES
CAPTAIN AMERICA
CHARLIE'S ANGELS
CHECKMATE
DAN AUGUST
HARDY BOYS / NANCY DREW MYSTERIES
HART TO HART
IT TAKES A THIEF
JUDD, FOR THE DEFENSE
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER
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