The Batman

[Burnout]

I think they need to continue the cartoon and not end it after 5 season I love that show so much we all need to make the WB keep it

[BentonGrey]

I'm sorry.......but I think I'm going to be physically ill....if you're going to campaign for something, try and get a Bruce Timm show back on the air....

[thalaw2]

It's been 5 seasons already?!?!?!  Good grief!

I suppose most of us old skool Batman TAS fans wouldn't be lift an eyebrow if The Batman was taken off the air....but we'd wet ourselves with glee if it TAS was put back on.

[Midnite]

TV Guide  has posted an article that covers both the end of The Batman  and the debut of The Spectacular Spider-Man:

This week marks a changing of the superhero guard on Kids' WB, the CW's Saturday-morning cartoon block. Swinging into the picture is The Spectacular Spider-Man, which makes its debut with back-to-back episodes (airing March 8 at 10 and 10:30 am/ET).

That's followed at 11 am/ET by the hour-long series finale of The Batman. In his final adventure, Batman and Robin team up with Green Arrow to battle the Joining, an alien menace introduced in last year's season finale. This time around, the Joining steals the abilities of the superpowered Justice League members — Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman and Martian Manhunter — and transfers them into robotic androids.

Though The Batman is ending its five-season run, Batfans still have plenty to look forward to: In addition to this summer's live-action theatrical The Dark Knight, rumor has it that a new Batman TV 'toon modeled after the comic book The Brave and the Bold is in the pipeline. — Rich Sands

For an exclusive look at the android Justice League from The Batman's finale, click here.

Link to android Justice League pic: http://www.tvguide.com/images/features/080303duperdroids.jpg

Apparently that pic isn't all that exclusive, Comics Continuum has it and other new images, too: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0803/05/index.htm

Season 5 was better than 1-3 IMO. Anyways the end is near, and this will make most of you guys/gals happy.  :D

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I suppose most of us old skool Batman TAS fans wouldn't be lift an eyebrow if The Batman was taken off the air....but we'd wet ourselves with glee if it TAS was put back on.

Moderately agreed.  I'm not convinced that we need TAS back on the air, but I would LOOOOVE a new Timniverse series.

[the_ultimate_evil]

meh wouldn't really care i still shake my head with the character designs

[detourne_me]

seriously,  the last two seasons were great!
definitely portrayed Batman much better than how he was in a majority of the JLU episodes,   and it actually reminds me more of his earlier TAS series.

I think some people shouldn't be so quick to judge other cartoons.  Granted the designs were different, but seriously, what's wrong with that?

Our superheroes have been reimagined by soo many artists, designers, creators and writers over the decades, that I seriously cannot understand people getting offended by officially sanctioned representations of the character.

[Previsionary]

The judgment thing goes both ways especially when no one in this thread has given a reason as to why they don't like a particular series. :P

TUE only commented that he didn't like the designs and didnt go on much else. There's not much you can say to sway someone's opinion on art especially when they do art all the time...or did. Anyway, I'll probably check out the finale as the team up based episodes seem to be good.

[BentonGrey]

I've yet to see an episode of The Batman that was as good as the worst of the TAS episodes in terms of character portrayal, dramatic weight, cinematography, and literary complexity or worth.  That being said, I have seen decent episodes.  I have tried very hard to like The Batman, but many episodes I've seen have little internal logic, outlandishly silly concepts, and the art style is very hard for me to get past.  I realize that the latter is not necessarily a strike against it objectively, but I would argue that the art design is, overall, inferior to that of TAS.  In addition, it's not just a matter of art designs.  While I despise the Marylin Manson look The Riddler has in this series, what bothers me more is his interesting character concept from TAS being discarded in preference for a poorly told story of angst.  Add to that the portrayal of The Penguin, removing the only sympathetic element of his character, and the complete white-washing of the most touching and tragic of Batman's villains from TAS, Mr. Freeze, and you've got a loss of complexity that fits the modern crop of kids shows.  People argue that this show shouldn't be compared to TAS because it is a different show, but I say to that: TAS was Batman done to perfection.  It was the best of all possible worlds, the ideal Platonic form of Batman, which makes it almost impossible to resist comparisons to any and all new interpretations, both televised and printed. 

Yes, people keep saying how the newest episodes have improved, and to be fair, I have noticed such an increase in quality across the board.  I haven't seen any "Joker with playing card ray" kind of episodes lately, and there has been a decided upsurge in dramatic weight to the stories they have been telling.  The Superman episode was pretty solid, as was the Green Lantern one.  On the other hand, the Hawkman episode was pretty weak, so the the series is still not completely free from its original shortcomings. 

[GogglesPizanno]

I always was kind of a supporter of the show, it wasn't as good as the timm stuff, but I found it to be pretty entertaining. But contrary to others who like the show, this last season and a lot of the previous one took a lot of my goodwill and squandered it. It just became too stupid. It had some high points, but the lows... oh the lows.... (Virtual Joker episode...really?)

It had a good run (longer than I expected), but I think it's time has come.

[thanoson]

So Benton, what you're saying is nothing has been as good OR will ever be as good as TAS? Granted TAS was a very good and well done show. I believe you are going to in for a lot of disappointment if you keep comparing shows to the Greatest show ever and not letting them stand on their own merits.

[the_ultimate_evil]

The judgment thing goes both ways especially when no one in this thread has given a reason as to why they don't like a particular series. :P

TUE only commented that he didn't like the designs and didnt go on much else. There's not much you can say to sway someone's opinion on art especially when they do art all the time...or did. Anyway, I'll probably check out the finale as the team up based episodes seem to be good.

i still do art just don't post it here anymore.

seriously,  the last two seasons were great!
definitely portrayed Batman much better than how he was in a majority of the JLU episodes,   and it actually reminds me more of his earlier TAS series.

I think some people shouldn't be so quick to judge other cartoons.  Granted the designs were different, but seriously, what's wrong with that?

Our superheroes have been reimagined by soo many artists, designers, creators and writers over the decades, that I seriously cannot understand people getting offended by officially sanctioned representations of the character.

anyway i have every right to judge the cartoon the same as you. and yes before you say it i did watch it hell i even own the batman vs draucla due to a review saying it was like red rain( bloody liars) but to say that the old fall back of others have been redesigned is a cop out, plain and simple

yes other have been redesigned but at least keep elements of the orginal and its idea. but come one seriously when was the last time the joker looked like a kung fu dragon ball reject or the riddler take fashion tips from a hot topic employee.  i'm not talking about how the characters act( robert england as the riddler was a brilliant idea though they seemed to have used the arnie play book when writing for mr.freeze) but the designs. they are simply pathetic and you can say its just my opinion but for once i seem to be in the majority.

[BentonGrey]

So Benton, what you're saying is nothing has been as good OR will ever be as good as TAS? Granted TAS was a very good and well done show. I believe you are going to in for a lot of disappointment if you keep comparing shows to the Greatest show ever and not letting them stand on their own merits.

Yeah, I pretty much view Batman:TAS as the perfect show, which is, of course, only my opinion.  I would, however, defend it as the perfect version of Batman (at least when not subjected to the limitations that live action place upon comic book characters).  Now, even though I love TAS unconditionally, I still enjoy tons of other shows, and I could even enjoy The Batman if it were done BETTER.  You see, the key here isn't just that The Batman is done differently than TAS, or even that it's not as GOOD as TAS, (because, frankly, no-one other than the original crew could match what they accomplished and even they dropped the ball somewhat with The New Batman Adventures) but that the show just isn't that good on its own merits.  I've enjoyed the occasional episode, I named a few in my previous post, and if they were all of that level of accomplishment, not stellar but pretty entertaining, I'd like the show, despite it's differences from TAS.  It would still be inferior in comparison, but at least it would be consistently watchable.

I had a friend visit me a few weeks ago, a fellow who is decidedly NOT a comic fan.  He always sort of sneers when I talk about comic-y stuff, but I had been telling him for months about how TAS would change his mind.  When he finally made it up here, we watched a few episodes, and he was blown away.  We also watched an episode of JLU, and he found himself entertained, despite his best efforts to mock it.  That Saturday morning, I was watching The Batman, because Hawkman had been advertised as the guest star.  Well, let's just say that my friend was less than enchanted.  I have thicker skin when it comes to most comic themed things, and I can tolerate more goofiness, so, as I've said before, I don't hate The Batman, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as anything special.

[thalaw2]

I agree.  I'm searching high and low for Batman TAS on DVD, but I wouldn't bother to buy The Batman. 

Batman TAS was so good that it stopped my ex from watching Oprah....LOL!  Oprah and Batman were on at the same time back then and we would fight about which to watch.  She even mocked me in public, once when we were on vacation at a hotel.  Anyway, the day she gave in and watched Batman with me she was blown away.  And we never fought about watching Batman again.  The show was that good!

[Protomorph]

I enjoyed the Batman vs Dracula film, but I admit I haven't seen the series.

[steamteck]

It's been 5 seasons already?!?!?!  Good grief!

I suppose most of us old skool Batman TAS fans wouldn't be lift an eyebrow if The Batman was taken off the air....but we'd wet ourselves with glee if it TAS was put back on.

That'd be me!

[Talavar]

I've tried to enjoy _The_ Batman on several occasions, and every time I just ended up wishing Batman TAS/Superman TAS/Justice League/JLU were still in production, and then going to watch one of those shows on DVD. 

Now, I don't think the Timmverse shows were perfect (some of the weaker episodes of Batman TAS skirt perilously close to cornball in my opinion, & the first season of Justice League was a huge step down from the rest of the Timm shows) but they sure were good.  _The_ Batman started out bad and climbed up to tolerable, but why settle for tolerable when I've got my DVDs?

[bredon7777]

Sadly, the Spidey show they're replacing it with is much worse.

The Batman started off slow, but grew into something worth watching.

[BentonGrey]

Well, I'd hardly say that.  The Spidey show seems pretty good.  It's not quite as serious as the 90's one, but it also doesn't seem to have all of the limitations that one had.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

[Tomato]

I'm just going to tack on my impressions of "The Batman" while I'm finishing up my lunch... My first impressions, and I don't think many here will refute my reasoning on this, is that the fundimental theory behind the show was somewhat flawed. "The Batman"s premise had to do with the "Batman Begins" movie being successful, and WB wanting to capitalize on what was obviously our desire for a younger, more hip Batman (Completely ignoring the fact that it actually had more to do with seeing the Batman character before he had become uber at everything in existence) and obviously that meant casting him into the Jackie-Chan faux anime mold, making all his skills exaggerated and removing any sense of him still learning anything whatsoever. And of course, giving him so many gadgets as to remind me of the old Shark repellant spray insanity. Not to mention the villains... TUE, you mentioned DBZ as being somehow at fault for Joker's look... no. I watch DBZ. It's not even remotely responsible for THAT.

But anyway, that's why I didn't bother with it initially. Saturday is my day off, and the idea of watching Anime-Wannabe Batman was not worth getting up earlier then noon.

However, on a whim I tacked the DVDs onto my netflix list (because I am a geek, and the idea of not having seen every recent comic-related this is wrong, somehow) and watched it. And if it were some new superhero or Jackie chan related thing, it'd be a very good show. But it isn't that. It isn't even really Batman eithor. It's a mangled, Anime-lite version of Batman that only vaguely resembles the original.

Now don't get me wrong, I like the show. Joker's butt-ugly design aside, the idea of having villains, specifically Joker, who could face Batman on somewhat even physical footing was very cool (Actually, I wish they would start to impliment something like that in the comics, Batman is too over-powered at physical fighting to have villains who really aren't). But after years of watching the Timmverse, it just wasn't Batman.

[Previsionary]

I tried to watch the finale of the show today...I fell asleep in the first 5 minutes...so, either I was tired or...an alien ate my brain. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to watch the finale...maybe one day. :P

[herodad1]

i'd like to see a timmverse style justice society of america with NO superman,batman ect.just the old characters..dr midnite,sandman,wildcat,alan scott gl,dr fate,the atom,helmet head flash, and hourman.