| The Batman/Superman Hour | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Hal Sutherland |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by | Ted Knight |
| Theme music composer | John Gart |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 34 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Allen Ducovny |
| Producers | |
| Running time | 60/30 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Release | September 14, 1968 (1968-09-14) – January 4, 1969 (1969-01-04) |
The Batman/Superman Hour is aFilmationanimated series that was broadcast onCBS from 1968 to 1969.[1] Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of theDC ComicssuperheroesBatman,Robin andBatgirl alongside shorts fromThe New Adventures of Superman andThe Adventures of Superboy.[2]
This series marked the animation debut ofBatman, his supporting cast and some of theirclassic enemies likeJoker,Penguin,Riddler,Catwoman,Mr. Freeze,Scarecrow,Mad Hatter, and some villains exclusive to the series.
The success ofThe Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967 had prompted Filmation to produce aMetamorpho pilot and begin development on other similar series.[3] These plans were cancelled when CBS secured the animation rights to Batman in the wake ofABC's recent success with theBatmanlive action television series.[3] Going into production close to the start of the 1968 TV season, what would becomeThe Batman/Superman Hour required Filmation to pull as many additional animators from other projects as they could spare to ramp up production.
This series was the first timeOlan Soule andCasey Kasem performed as the voices of Batman andRobin. WhenThe New Adventures of Batman was produced in 1977,Adam West andBurt Ward reprised the roles they had originally played in the live action TV series. Soule and Kasem would return several times to reprise their roles in 1972'sThe New Scooby-Doo Movies, 1973'sSuper Friends, 1977'sThe All-New Super Friends Hour, 1978'sChallenge of the Superfriends, 1979'sThe World's Greatest SuperFriends, and starting in 1980 Soule voiced the character in the 7 minute shorter episodes that were produced through 1983. These 1980–1983 episodes aired under the genericSuper Friends title. Kasem would go on to voice Robin with Adam West as Batman in 1984'sSuper Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and 1985'sThe Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.
In 1969, the series was repackaged into 30-minute episodes for Sunday mornings, without the Superman segments and renamedBatman with Robin the Boy Wonder. Batman would next appear inThe New Adventures of Batman in 1977. In 1985,Warner Home Video released five selected episodes of the series onVHS as part of the "Super Powers" video collection. These videos were re-released in 1996 and are out of print. In 1996, episodes were included inThe Superman/Batman Adventures on theUSA Network. They later aired on theCartoon Network andBoomerang.
The Superman portion of the program consisted of new 61⁄2-minute shorts from Filmation'sThe New Adventures of Superman andThe Adventures of Superboy.
The Batman half ofThe Batman/Superman Hour consisted of new shorts. One story was presented in two 61⁄2 minute segments and one story in a single 61⁄2 minute segment. Thirty-four stories were produced.
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