50 free Batman (1966 TV Series) trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The 1966 Batman was the biggest TV phenomenon of its decade: 120 episodes on ABC, twice a week for two seasons, with a rhyming two-part cliffhanger and a narrator urging you to tune in tomorrow at the same Bat-time. Adam West got the role after a Nestle Quik commercial, William Dozier decided the only way to play it was as pop-art camp, and a parade of Hollywood names queued up to play villains, from Cesar Romero's Joker to Vincent Price's Egghead. These 50 questions cover the whole run and its spin-offs: the producer who was also the uncredited narrator, why Burgess Meredith quacked, which actor replaced Frank Gorshin as the Riddler for two episodes, how Batgirl was sold to ABC, the Green Hornet crossover, the tie-in singles written by Mel Torme and Frank Zappa, the 1966 film's bat-shark repellent, and the destroyed sets that ended NBC's rescue plan. Easy questions stick to the core cast and catchphrases; the expert tier asks about auction prices, chart positions and the Godzilla crossover that never happened. Every answer is cited to a page we checked, with a short explanation. Play it solo or print it for a retro TV night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who played Bruce Wayne/Batman in the 1966 series?
Adam West
West won the role after producer William Dozier saw him play a Bond-like spy in a Nestle Quik commercial.
Q 02Who played Dick Grayson, Batman's teenage sidekick?
Burt Ward
Ward later voiced the character again on the 1977 animated series The New Adventures of Batman.
Q 03On which US network did the series air?
ABC
It ran twice weekly for the first two seasons and once a week for the third.
Q 04How many episodes were made in total?
120
That was the record for a superhero series until Smallville passed it in 2007.
Q 05Which later series overtook it as the longest-running superhero TV show?
Smallville
Smallville's tenth season took it past the 120-episode mark.
Q 06Which actor played the Joker?
Cesar Romero
Romero famously refused to shave his moustache, so it was painted over with white makeup.
Q 07Who played the umbrella-wielding Penguin?
Burgess Meredith
Meredith's trademark quack began as a way to avoid coughing from the cigarette his role required.
Q 08Why did the Penguin's actor improvise his trademark quack?
To avoid coughing
The cigarette holder was part of the costume, and the smoke kept catching in his throat.
Q 09Which actress played Catwoman in the first two seasons?
Julie Newmar
Newmar missed season three because she was filming Mackenna's Gold.
Q 10Who took over as Catwoman for the third season?
Eartha Kitt
Her casting was the second mainstream TV success for a Black woman, after Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek.
Q 11Which film kept the original Catwoman actress from returning in season three?
Mackenna's Gold
The 1969 Western starred Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif.
Q 12Who was the original Riddler, later replaced for two episodes?
Frank Gorshin
Producers said Gorshin was picked because he had been a Batman fan since childhood.
Q 13Which Addams Family star briefly played the Riddler in season two?
John Astin
Gorshin's new agents at William Morris demanded more money, so Astin stepped in for one story.
Q 21Which future Wonder Woman actor lost the Batman screen test to West?
Lyle Waggoner
Waggoner later played Steve Trevor opposite Lynda Carter.
Q 22Which head scriptwriter wrote the pilot and laid down the 'Bat Rules'?
Lorenzo Semple Jr.
Semple wrote four episodes himself and supervised the freelance writers.
Q 23Which spy novelist quit the project when he learned it would be camp?
Eric Ambler
Ambler was originally to script a TV movie that would launch the series.
Which studio produced the series for ABC?
Q 14Who played Batgirl, introduced in the third season?
Yvonne Craig
She was the first superheroine to appear in an ongoing role on television.
Q 15What was Barbara Gordon's day job in the series?
Librarian
Her crime-fighting trio with Batman and Robin was occasionally nicknamed the Terrific Trio.
Q 16Which villain did Tim Herbert play in the unaired Batgirl promotional short?
Killer Moth
The seven-minute pilot was made to convince ABC to add Batgirl as a regular.
Q 17Who played Alfred the butler?
Alan Napier
Alfred was the only character who knew the identities of Bruce, Dick and Barbara.
Q 18Which character was invented for the series so Commissioner Gordon had someone to talk to?
Chief O'Hara
DC only gave this version a first name, Miles, in the Batman '66 comics in 2013.
Q 19Who was the series' uncredited narrator?
William Dozier
Dozier was also the executive producer who decided to play the show as pop-art camp.
Q 20In what commercial did Dozier first spot his future Batman?
Nestle Quik
West played a James Bond-style spy called Captain Q in the ad.
20th Century Fox
Fox handed the project to Dozier's Greenway Productions.
Q 25Whose 1964 screening of the 1943 Batman serial helped spark the show?
Hugh Hefner
The Playboy Mansion marathon drew so much press that Columbia re-released the serial to theaters.
Q 26Who composed the famous Batman theme?
Neal Hefti
Nelson Riddle scored the episodes, but the twelve-bar blues theme was Hefti's.
Q 27How many times is 'Batman!' cried in the theme?
Eleven
The voices are a chorus of four tenors and four sopranos, not the horn section many people remember.
Q 28Which studio bassist played on the theme with the Wrecking Crew?
Carol Kaye
Tommy Tedesco played the surf-flavored guitar hook.
Q 29Which phrase did the narrator use to close cliffhanger episodes?
Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
The twice-a-week format meant 'tomorrow' was literally the next night.
Q 30What camera trick gave villains' lairs their off-kilter look?
Dutch tilt
The tilted frame was a visual pun: the crooks were crooked.