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Batman series misses SBS charter

SBS defends retro title on VICELAND as a way to promote content.

Great news for nostalgia fans but there will be raised eyebrows over the original Batman series coming to SBS VICELAND next week.

The multichannel plans to screen 34 episodes through double instalments every Friday from July 21.

That’s despite SBS VICELAND recently indicating its brand was “A premium TV experience for those curious about life right now.”

It is also off Charter for the channel.

An SBS Spokesperson: “SBS VICELAND’s schedule includes some content which appeals to broader audiences, enabling us to cross promote and make a bigger impact for more Charter-focused titles.”

Holy revival! When it first premiered in 1966, Batman became something of a phenomenon. Today the adventures of the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder are more popular than ever, and a new generation of audiences are discovering the meaning of the term ‘Batmania’.

Created by Bob Kane in Detective Comics #27, Batman is unique among super-heroes in that he can’t fly, and he doesn’t come from another planet or have supernatural powers. The appeal of the character is rooted in the fact that Batman is a normal human who takes the form of a bat to conceal his true identity and terrorise evil-doers. His only extraordinary attributes are his vast personal fortune, his strength and agility, and a keen detective sense.

In 1984 all of Batman’s 120 episodes were carefully remastered from the original negatives, restoring all of the sharpness and colour of the original network versions. Stars the late, great Adam West as Batman.

Season One, Episode One: Hi Diddle Riddle (6.35pm)
The arch-criminal’s twisted trail leads Batman to break the law himself, fall before the criminal charms of Molly – the beautiful Molehill Mob moll – in a discotheque, and brings Robin into the master-fiend’s evil clutches.

Episode Two: Smack in the Middle (7.05pm)
The prince of puzzles holds Robin hostage to lure Batman into a trap that could mean the end of the Caped Crusader’s war against the underworld.

15 Responses

  1. The Batman movie,shown recently must have been a success. It was the only thing I’ve watched on SBS Viceland so far. Its great that they’re bringing back the series, although a little too late for me, I’m half way through season 2 on the dvds. I wish we had a tv channel that catered for fans of classic tv from the 60s and 70s, like they do in America. Fox Classics is just boring showing mostly the same shows continually. And Eleven although a good channel mostly shows stuff from the 90s and 00s.

    1. I have to agree with you to a point, Eleven does shows stuff from the 90’s and 00’s but they are repeating it ad nauseam, I’m looking at you Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, King of Queens and same with One, I’m looking at you M*A*S*H*, Star Trek The Next Generation, Get Smart, Hogan’s Heroes.

  2. Not sure what the fuss is – its only on for one hour, once a week. Not like its multiple episodes on multiple nights per week. To me it is niche and edgy enough to fit right in with the channel.

  3. SBS twists and turns like a slippery snake on its “charter” obligations and how it meets it. Smoke and mirrors. These guys would say anything convenient to defend their latest cockamamie decisions regarding content.
    From failed naked dating shows to British train documentaries…really I would love to find out what these highly paid civil servants do with their time all day.

    1. The train docos have been a great and enduring success for SBS, and as they cover history, travelogue, food,. technology, culture etc etc it covers pretty much everything possible in their much vaunted charter-I , for one, will not hear a word against them!

  4. I don’t care that this is off-charter – Adam West’s shock death really upset people, and it’s smart that one channel sees the potential in re-screening this classic series. Back in the day, this show was original, edgy and would have been exactly the type of series an SBS Viceland channel would have wanted to make.

    1. Whilst Mr West’s passing was a pity, he was an elderly man and no one lives forever unless it’s in reruns on TV!
      Hard to say what the appeal would be for a current audience but it would probably be pretty limited compared to when the series was first shown here as one of only 3 channel options.

  5. “In 1984 all of Batman’s 120 episodes were carefully remastered…” It can’t possibly be 1984 – hopefully SBS are screening the episodes from the 2014 High Definition remastering.

    1. HD only if this is the 2014 remaster direct from the original 35mm stock. However, it’ll still be 4:3 and monoaural.

      And yeah, this doesn’t fit with the charter of either Viceland or SBS overall unless they consider that it ticks the LGBTQ box!

  6. ““Re-launching SBS 2 as SBS VICELAND takes our commitment to a new level with a truly cutting-edge, contemporary mix of local and international programs, made by young people, for young people,” -SBS director of television and online content, Marshall Heald October 2016. I don’t care for where this channel has gone and to be frank I’d rather watch Batman than most of the Vice programming shown, but it is off-charter and doesn’t relate to what they so strongly defended only last year in their move to become Viceland. Time to take stock and sort this out. SBS2 was doing ok. This channel is a mess.

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