Adam West R.I.P.

[John Johnson]

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/adam-we ... 202461532/

[Eric Paddon]

For people of my age and anyone who first experienced the 60s TV show in reruns all the way to the 80s before there was any movie franchise, he will always be the definitive Batman even with the flaws the series had (I think the biggest mistake was that Lorenzo Semple and the powers that be made Batman too square/straight with the end result that Batman was too often the butt of the joke in the series. By contrast, George Reeves as Superman even in the silliest of stories was always reacting with wry amusement to the silliness around him. Had West approached the character more like that, I think the results would have been better).

I'm glad he lived long enough to finally see the series reach DVD and Blu-Ray and that he could share his impressions of the show, and that despite the career setbacks he went through after the show he at least managed to get things stable.

The bright colorful era of the 60s TV show still looks vivid to us in HD Blu-Ray that it's sometimes hard to believe we're as far removed from that era as World War I was in their time.

[Monterey Jack]

Kind of serendipitous that West passed away so soon after Roger Moore, as both men held stewardship over an iconic pop-culture role (Batman, 007) that entered into a campy, self-aware stage during their tenure that's easy to bag on in retrospect based on the "gritty" interpretations that followed, but yet still retain a warmth and genial charm that persists to this day.

[mkaroly]

RIP Adam...loved the TV Batman show as a kid and still enjoy watching it every now and then. West had a unique delivery of his lines (in the rhythm in which he spoke coupled with gestures and eye movement, etc.) that, at least for me, is what made the TV show so special despite how ludicrous it could get.

[AndyDursin]

o a campy, self-aware stage during their tenure that's easy to bag on in retrospect based on the "gritty" interpretations that followed, .

Man I would MUCH rather be living through that stage again than today's prefab crap tentpoles and pretentious BS that plagues most of our modern cinematic entertainment. But people, in general, took themselves less seriously then than today's generation does, so many "millenials" believing they alone are the most important people on the planet. West's BATMAN was part of a golden age of escapism IMO -- along with STAR TREK, laid the groundwork for STAR WARS and SUPERMAN and all the other great stuff we saw in the 70s and 80s. And there ain't no "golden age" of anything happening right now in pop culture no matter how gritty DC's movies are.

The show was silly...but it was also smart. It thought enough about it's audience to know they were in on the joke and the level of writing was often witty in addition to being campy.

RIP to the Bat I grew up with!

[KevinEK]

West was known for being a gracious and decent man, and for handling the Batman television history over the past 40 years with good humor.
I too am glad he was able to participate in the Blu-ray set, and that he and Burt Ward were able to contribute some great stuff to the DVD of their movie. (Ward in particular offered some of the most hysterical comments, including one about being on the sidecar of the Batcycle when it was fired into the bushes - "I didn't realize that it was unusual to be going to the Emergency Room every week...")