The Batman/Superman Hour

The Batman/Superman Hour is a Filmation animated series that was broadcast on CBS from 1968 to 1969.[1] Premiering on September 14, 1968, this 60-minute program featured new adventures of the DC Comics superheroes Batman, Robin and Batgirl alongside shorts from The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy.[2]

This series marked the animation debut of Batman, his supporting cast and some of their classic enemies like Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, and some villains exclusive to the series.

The success of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967 had prompted Filmation to produce a Metamorpho pilot and begin development on other similar series.[3] These plans were cancelled when CBS secured the animation rights to Batman in the wake of ABC's recent success with the Batman live action television series.[3] Going into production close to the start of the 1968 TV season, what would become The Batman/Superman Hour required Filmation to pull as many additional animators from other projects as they could spare to ramp up production.[citation needed ]

This series was the first time Olan Soule and Casey Kasem performed as the voices of Batman and Robin. When The New Adventures of Batman was produced in 1977, Adam West and Burt Ward reprised the roles they had originally played in the live action TV series. Soule and Kasem would return several times to reprise their roles in 1972's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, 1973's Super Friends, 1977's The All-New Super Friends Hour, 1978's Challenge of the Superfriends, 1979's The World's Greatest Super Friends, and starting in 1980 Soule voiced the character in the 7 minute shorter episodes that were produced through 1983. These 1980–1983 episodes aired under the generic Super Friends title. Kasem would go on to voice Robin with Adam West as Batman in 1984's Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show and 1985's The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians.

In 1969, the series was repackaged into 30-minute episodes without the Superman segments and renamed Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder. Batman would next appear in The New Adventures of Batman in 1977. In 1985, Warner Home Video released five selected episodes of the series on VHS as part of the "Super Powers" video collection. These videos were re-released in 1996 and are out of print. In 1996, episodes were included in The Superman/Batman Adventures on the USA Network. They later aired on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

The Superman portion of the program consisted of new 61 ⁄2 -minute shorts from Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman and The Adventures of Superboy.

The Batman half of The Batman/Superman Hour consisted of new shorts. One story was presented in two 61 ⁄2 minute segments and one story in a single 61 ⁄2 minute segment. Thirty-four stories were produced.