Dr Acula wrote:
What I heard was that Hugh Hefner showed the Batman serials at the Playboy mansion, where some Hollywood types saw how popular and funny the serials were with the audience and thus created the campy series.


The question I have: is this just an urban legend, or how it actually happened?

I think we may have a definite answer, thanks to Tom Weaver's book Eye On Science Fiction. I was just rereading the interview with William Self, a 20th Century Fox executive who was directly involved with the development of the TV series. When asked if the show was inspired by revival screenings of the serials, Self's answer is an unambiguous "no". This prompted me to dig out the February 1994 issue of Cinefantastique, which contains a thorough look at the creation of the TV series. Author Bob Garcia interviewed many of the key participants, including network executives, and not one of them mentions the serials. Lorenzo Semple, who turned in his first draft of the pilot script on 08/07/65, is emphatic that the camp approach was something he brought to the project, and not something that ABC or producer William Dozier had in mind when they first acquired the rights.

Last Edited By: Paul Haight May 15 11 3:35 AM. Edited 2 times.