The Famous Bat Climb

At the time of the series Batman was HOT ! Everyone wanted to be on the show. The producers also wanted to add surprise guests to keep viewers tuning in to see " who would turn up " on the show". One way to add a few " celebs " without writing them into the actual plot of the show was to have them appear in a cameo appearance as Batman and Robin were either climbing up or down a building.

Stanley Ralph Ross one of the show's main writers recalled, " These sequences were usually written on a short deadline. I would have to come up with stuff that ran 22 seconds or so. They would call me up and say, Stanley, we've got so and so coming in tomorrow. Sometimes I wrote it on the set . More often than not, I had a day. That was all decided by Bill Dozier ( the exec. producer ) and Howie Horowitz and it was all personal friends. People were waiting in line to do it . Everyone wanted to be on the show."

How It Was Filmed

Click for large image ! 

As you can see in the first photo, the guest would sit under the set on their back and when given the cue, would pop up from the platform underneath the set. After the first cameo by Jerry Lewis, the camera angle was adjusted on the guest to make it appear more realistic.
( see photos below ) Not very comfortable for the guest !.
The set was done at a slight angle, enough to give a small illusion of going up when filming.
To make the capes appear as they were being affected by gravity, the effects men used clear fishing line to pull them back. If you look closely on film, you can see the wires attached to the capes.

 
A total of 14 guests popped their head out of the side of a building to question the caped crusaders.

 





Jerry Lewis
was the first cameo Batclimb appearance in episode 29
I think everyone knows who he is !!

 






Dick Clark
He was ( and still is ) The host of American Bandstand. Batman asked if he was from Philadelphia. He wanted to know how he knew and Batman told him , " people from Philadelphia always dip their diphthong. " ( diphthong means a blend of two vowel sounds in one syllable. thank's Websters ! )

 


The Green Hornet and Kato
The Green Hornet ( Van Williams) and Kato ( Bruce Lee ) paid a visit on a batclimb. Batman asked what they were doing and then said goodbye. The funny thing was in a later episode of Batman, The Hornet and Kato were thought of as criminals by the caped crusaders.

 






Sammy Davis Jr
Appeared on the set to ask" whats up man"
to the Dynamic Duo

 





Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez
Popped his head out to tell them he was watching some crazy people. Bill Dana starred in his own TV show, The Bill Dana Show from 1963 to 1965.

 


Howard Duff
Howard said Hi and made mention, its sometimes easier to catch a thief with a fast gun than a fast Batrope. A mention of his TV show "Felony Squad" 66-69. He came back in the third season to appear with his wife Ida Lupino playing Cabala ( episode # 119 - The Entrancing Dr Cassandra")

 





Werner Klemperer
Appeared as Colonel Klink. He was looking for an underground operative. This is the weird part, he was from WWII Germany and his show, Hogans Heroes was telecast on a different network !!??

 




Ted Cassidy
Came by as Lurch and told Batman they gave him quite a start. He was a favorite on The Addams Family who also starred Carolyn Jones as Morticia. She was also Marcia Queen of Diamonds in Batman.

 





Andy Devine
He showed up on a Christmas time show as Santa. He was best known as Hap Corman in Flipper the TV Series (64-65)
He also had his own show, Andy's Gang as the host
from 55-60 .This show was a TV Show where Andy, with a studio audience full of loud screaming kids, would show movies.

 


Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter Poped out and decided that he would have to quit his famous show " People Are Funny " which ran from 1951-1961. He said he couldn't find anyone interesting . Robin said," Too bad it was a good show "as Batman and Robin continued on , Art had a brainstorm for a new guest but they had vanished.

 



Edward G Robinson
There is very little wonder to why this man was on the show, he was a superstar and also was a friend of the exec producer.

 






Susie Knickerbocker
She was a gossip columnist at the time and wanted to do an article

 on the Caped Crusaders which made Robin say, " Holy Jet Set !

 




The Carpet King
Figure this one out, big name stars were doing their best to get on the show and this man was cast in a climb cameo. He was not a big star but rather he was the guy who sold exec producer , William Dozier an oriental carpet.
Holy Throw Rug !!

 



Mr Carpet King was the last Bat Climb featured in the show. This climb was shown in the last show of the second season. There were no Batclimbs in the third and last season due to the fact that the show was cut back to half an hour and with the addition of Batgirl, there was barely enough time to fit the heroes and a few villains in such a short time span.

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