All the window-cameos from the old Batman TV series

In this compilation video, Loomyaire compiles all fourteen of the "window cameos" from the Adam West Batman TV series, in which real-life personages and characters from other TV shows popped out of windows while Batman and the Boy Wonder were scaling a building-face and traded Laugh-In style quips with the heroes. Included in the video are appearances by (in order) Jerry Lewis, Dick Clark, Green Hornet (Van Williams) and Kato (Bruce Lee), Sammy Davis Jr., Jose Jimenez (Bill Dana), Howard Duff as Detective Sam Stone on "Felony Squad," Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer), Lurch (Ted Cassidy), Don Ho, Andy Devine as Santa Claus, Art Linkletter, Edward G. Robinson, Suzy Knickerbocker and Carpet King (real name unknown).

The Complete 14 Batman Window Cameos (Thanks, Bloo!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Comics • Copyfight • happy mutants • Old school • tv • video • youtube

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The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

http://www.google.com/profiles/moneta.mace Mace Moneta

Cyril Lord was Carpet King, I think.
- rainycity1 !!
  
  Yes, I agree.
  http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=36757.0
  - Froggy Infrogmation
    
    Yes. I presume that was for the UK viewers on ITV, as he was and is little known in the USA.
    - http://devojane.blogspot.com devophill
      
      Pretty much nobody in the US knew who he was, but he installed carpet at the show’s producer(William Dozier)’s house, therefore an odd cameo.
James B

I recall mamma didn’t want me watching Batman (or Lost in Space) , because they were too violent. But there were only 3-1/2 channels then, so I watched it every day anyway.

And watching these clips, I notice a similar dynamic between Batman and Robin, as between Adam and Jamie on Mythbusters.
http://twitter.com/amanicdroid Mari Lwyd

They spoon so beautifully. Like long time lovers comforted by the close presence of each other ;_;
- chaopoiesis
  
  …and interesting that the sidekicks invariably assume the pole position.
Tim Noble

I love how practically every guest is unable to make the slightest effort at keeping the illusion of the horizon intact. Criminy, can I get a director?
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  It was supposed to be obviously fake. Besides, it was the 60s; everyone was drunk.
  - http://twitter.com/AwesomeRobot AwesomeRobot
    
    hah yeah, drunk.
http://twitter.com/Bog_woppit Christine Turner

Why are we walking like this?
The Hamster King

Ah, the good old days! When Batman was written to appeal to adults!
MrRocking

Nice!

Edward G. Robinson still had buckets of screen presence.

Oddly enough I want to watch Kick-Ass….
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Edward G. Robinson still had buckets of screen presence.
  
  Yeah, but where are Hillary Brooke, Elisha Cook, Sir C. Aubrey Smith and Freddie Bartholomew?
  - MrRocking
    
    Dammit this led me to Des O’Connor then a brick wall.
    
    As if history had just wiped it from existence.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      Nobody can seem to find a recording of it. I can’t even find the full lyrics.
unit_1421

The lawsuit involving Cyril Lord Carpets is pretty interesting.
Paul Renault

That ‘rope’ must be made from spider silk, it’s sooo thin!
Donald Petersen

How ’bout that. I grew up watching these (in 1970s reruns), and I’m pretty sure I remember seeing them all, but as a kid I had no idea that any of these were celebrity cameos. I just thought they were random citizens of Gotham.

I suppose if I’d seen any episodes in the years between, say, 1979 and now, I’d have realized why these were always so awkward, and who the hell these people were.
bcsizemo

All I can hear is Mayor West…

-It’s like when someone says, “Good news everybody!” I automatically hear it in Professor Farnworth’s voice.
- sean
  
  The pervasive effect of the Media! What is sad is that whenever I look at a full moon, the theme music to “The Honeymooners” swells up in my brain. “Dah dah DAH dah- dah da dah…
digi_owl

The bat must have upgraded his kit, these days his lines come with a winch able to pull him to the roof in seconds.
BombBlastLightingWaltz

Bruce Lee looks great as Kato and Sammy Davis Jr. is a natural infront of the camera.
http://nawel.tumblr.com Nawel

good to see there’s another guy who still remembers the days when there were 2 or 3 channels on TV :)
- Eat Bacon
  
  haha, I’m with you! We had a whopping four channels when I was growing up. CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS. I still remember the excitement when the new channel came out on UHF, (channel 15) giving us five to watch.
  - http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael
    
    I miss seeing static.
    
    Blue-screens are so cold….
- Paul Renault
  
  I don’t have cable and I only get four channels.
  
  That, and Netflix.
  - J_france
    
    (slightly off topic)
    
    Wait, what…surely the US has worthwhile free to air digital multicasting by now?
sean

Boy was that show lame. They didn’t even try. I cannot understand its current hallowed place in the “Pantheon of Cool Things Deserving of Worship”, and I was 11 when it came out. You’d think I’d be one of those people that get all googy about it. I guess you must need that irony thing to appreciate it.
- Suburbancowboy
  
  You sound like you’re fun at parties.
  - sean
    
    It’s got nothing to do with parties. Try watching a couple episodes- bet you haven’t. Give me “Green Acres” any day.
    - Little John
      
      “Why, of all the—”
- James B
  
  It was all about the car and the theme song.
  - http://devojane.blogspot.com devophill
    
    Every time I saw that opening, I’d get excited for a Batman cartoon, only to be let down every time. :(
- http://www.xradiograph.com/ OtherMichael
  
  Pow! Sock! Biff!
Brainspore

I can’t wait to see who they get to do this gag for “The Dark Knight Rises.”
- http://2012diaries.blogspot.com/ tristan eldritch
  
  Probably Noam Chomsky or Slavoj Zizek.
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    I will continue to hope for Ruth Buzzi.
    - Bloo
      
      Yeah and I hope Batman (or Robin) says “hey lady, want to see my walnetto?”
http://2012diaries.blogspot.com/ tristan eldritch

Speaking of Caped Crusading, how about this early precursor to Eminem’s “Stan”, written and arranged by Frank Zappa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjoLQbJCPTI
- joeposts
  
  That was awesome, never heard it before. “I hope you know this is a girl writing.” lol.
  
  I didn’t really understand the old Batman TV series until I saw the TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt. Then it all made sense. It was the sixties!
petsounds

Strange, the flute flourish before Mr. White Guy Playing Stereotype Mexican popped out sounded oftly like the intro to Star Trek (TOS) and I thought Captain Kirk would show up.
Preston Sturges

Slightly off topic, here’s Julie Newmar having the time of her life running across roof tops as Cat Woman. No body doubles there thank you very much! Notice how fast she makes it up three flights of stairs in heels. Easily the most athletic person ever on the show (except BrueLee’s cameos) Julie would have easily kicked Adam West’s butt in a standup fight.

http://youtu.be/JUZmKNfyVd0
- Dave Jenkins
  
  at 1:43, Robin asks Batman what they should do (after Catwoman sez to ‘come and get her’):
  ROBIN TO BATMAN: “What now, Mon Ami?”
  
  Yeah, they knew.
  - Preston Sturges
    
    I loved the scenes of her running on the roof, because she danced on Broadway and in the movies and was a ballerina. First she runs near the edge of the roof pretending to be off balance, and it’s dance improv. Then she run across the roof and jumps over some small thing and her back foot kicks up waist high, ballet style. If she had been 6 inches shorter, she could have been a major star.
    
    Here she is in the movie version of L’il Abner
    http://youtu.be/QPzvv2v2keI
darkjayson

Watch any old clip of adam west as batman, him saying a pun, batsunglasses comes out and on, yeahhHHHHHHHHHH
http://www.youtube.com/user/ziccup akbar56

very off topic but related to the “every instance of” category: every mention of “Double O” from every single James Bond film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ7SwhNteyw
(full disclosure: I edited this)
Bob Knetzger

Holy time machine, it seems like yesterday…

Adam West is so perfect in his deadpan, earnest delivery; “STATLEY Wayne manor!”

Also really love the go-with-it campy hokeyness…and the kooky details like the artificially stiffened batcape, but with the telltale tips hanging ‘down.’
http://boingboing.net/ The Life Of Bryan

You’d think with all that climbing they wouldn’t have such scrawny legs.
Suburbancowboy

They were awful nice to Colonel Klink, considering they knew exactly who he was. Wouldn’t Batman have captured him, and had him tried for war crimes?
- Dave Jenkins
  
  I thought about that, but Clink wasn’t a Nazi, he was Luftwaffe– the German Air Force. Relatively, they actually acted with some honor, insisting in controlling the POW camps instead of the Gestapo (anticipating that POWs would need to be exchanged for their German flying brethren caught in the UK).
  
  Moreover, Batman was such a good detective, that he knew Clink was Hogan’s greatest asset.
CyberIstari

Given the comics of the time… the series doesn’t look THAT much more campy. (Though I have a low tolerance for both.)
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  It was pretty campy. It wasn’t until I grew up that I understood why one of Catwoman’s henchmen was named Spade.
ArimasuKa

“You dipped your dipthong.”
This is now my favourite Batman quote. If I knew how to type a heart I would type it.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  If you’re using Windows, Alt plus 3 on the number pad. ♥
  - Andrew Kane
    
    Alt codes are cool, but somewhat OS-specific and don’t work everywhere.
    Another way is to use “character entities” → HTML, Unicode, or whatever…
    
    Do &hearts; to get ♥
    
    Of course, these don’t work quite everywhere either, but are useful if you use a lot of different computers ☺
http://profiles.google.com/carboncow robert feller

freaking awesome…sad thing is as a kid I don’t recall any of these…I guess this went over my head. Can someone confirm if these were all actors with current shows on the same network…thus the cross marketing? I had to look up several of these people as their stardom didn’t hold up…so since some of them seem B or D actors, they had to have shows then…right?
- Preston Sturges
  
  Not all of them had shows at that time, there were character actors, comedians, celebrities. Sammy Davis had talent (beside being Sinatra’s “black friend”), but he was a Vegas celebrity and variety show singing guest.
  I thought Vincent Price made an appearance also?
  Anyway, it was one of those shows where celebs would show up like “Space Ghost Coast To Coast” or “Tim and Eric Awesome Show” or the guest voices on “Robot Chicken.”
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    It seems weird to me that there’s only one woman.
  - http://devojane.blogspot.com devophill
    
    Vincent Price was on the show playing the villain Egghead.
Andrew Kane

☹
CLamb

It seems the Gotham City building code only allows one type of window.
http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop

In “Batman XXX: A Porn Parody,” Ron Jeremy makes a window cameo.

The production values lead me to think the porn parody had a bigger budget than the original show.
http://twitter.com/pcweenies Krishna M. Sadasivam

Thanks for bringing back some great memories. The Green Hornet and Kato cameos were great. Was this before or after their cross-over appearance with the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RF6KIZL33HXKRAHHJPTKXMFHNU russ

For best effect, turn your screen on the side.