Believe it or not, as campy as Batman (1966) could be, it did manage to squeeze out some little gems.
- In the Joker's first appearance, a newscaster describes his young son asking him about Batman in a way that mimics a child asking about Santa Claus. Batman and Robin refer to that later on to motivate themselves. Saccharine or not, it's touching.
- Upon escaping yet again from an over-the-top Death Trap, Batman and Robin have this exchange:Robin: Wow, Batman, I actually have to admit that for a moment, I really was scared. I really thought that was the end of us.
Batman: I was never scared, Robin.
Robin: Really?
Batman: No, not once. Have you ever noticed, Robin, that no matter how many traps, no matter how many perilous situations our enemies put us in, we always manage to escape? Have you ever wondered why that is?
Robin: Because we're smarter than they are!
Batman: I prefer to believe it's because... our hearts are pure.- As corny as that line is, Adam West just says it in such an awwww inducing way.
- There's another in the same episode, and equally strange for this version of her, Catwoman listens with some sympathy to the current life of an armored car driver called Ralph whilst in disguise, and hands him $100 from her ill-gotten gains to help his burgeoning family. It's an unusual act of generosity for any arch-criminal in this series.
- At the end of each King Tut episode, there would be Professor McElroy's timid confusion and regret as he revived from a bout as King Tut (as well as Batman's genuine sympathy for the good professor). Fans of the series often forget that Victor Buono was a talented dramatic actor as well as a comedic actor, and he usually put his dramatic prowess to use for those few moments as Professor McElroy, all the more jarring for the contrast.
- During a verbal confrontation with the villain Egghead, Robin indulges in an "egg pun". When Batman praises the pun, Robin looks away from Egghead directly up at Batman, happily flattered.
- In "Batman's Anniversary/A Riddling Controversy," Professor Charm gets three million dollars the Riddler steals from charities to develop research, angry that his past as a high school dropout prevents the Gotham Science Board from granting him membership. At the end of the story, Charm returns the cash to police headquarters, admitting he can't live with the guilt of taking money meant for starving children. He's stunned when Batman says that, thanks to Bruce Wayne, the Gotham Science Board will give Charm membership after he finishes his jail term.Charm: Remarkable man. Do you know who he is, under the mask?Gordon: To us, Professor, who he is is nowhere near as important as where he is. At all times.
- The episodes even help demonstrate the sheer love the people of Gotham hold for Batman, and vice versa. Gordon and O'Hara surprise Batman with an anniversary party. And the Caped Crusader is nearly in tears he's so touched. Even better, the party reveals that they've gathered $200,000note to donate to Batman's favorite charity. And that's just the first Batman anniversary party that the Riddler chooses to steal from.
- Even though the series from the 60's was campy, it had a genuinely sweet moment. When a villainess (played by Zsa Zsa Gabor) assumed that Robin must be Batman's son, Batman stated that though Robin was not his son, he would be proud to call him such.
- "They may be salvaged
". This line gives another reason why Batman doesn't kill. It's not because he's afraid of Jumping Off the Slippery Slope nor because he wants them to go to prison. It's because he hopes that they can reform. - Commissioner Gordon spends several seconds fondly petting a kitten Catwoman sends to his office.
- When Batman and Robin seemingly have a Face–Heel Turn and then die, Gordon insists on giving them a funeral with full police honors.
- In the episode featuring Louie the Lilac (played by Milton Berle), Batman and Robin come to sympathize with the hippies who are camping out in Gotham Central Park. Considering a lot of mainstream television of the time took shots at hippies on a regular basis, having Batman of all shows be sympathetic to them means a lot.Batman: Please be gentle with your visitors, Commissioner. Although it may not be understood by more literal minds, in their own way they’re doing what they can to correct the world’s woes with love and flowers.
- Similarly to the hippies, the Mad Hatter's appearance in Season 2 had the entire world think the Dynamic Duo was killed in action. We get scenes of various locations around the world receiving the news and being devastated...including the Soviet Union, in the middle of the Cold War. It goes to show how idealistic this interpretation of Batman is; the entire law-abiding world is united in their respect for the Caped Crusader, regardless of political tensions.
- This exchange between Batman and a young boy:Andy: I want to be like you! A caped crime-fighter!Batman: Being a hero or a crime-fighter isn’t what counts the most, Andy. It’s being a good citizen. And if that’s what you meant, that is the highest compliment you could pay me.
- In the pilot, Batman arrives at Gordon's office only to realize that there's a no parking sign, and obediently starts to look for a parking spot before the cops tell him not to bother. It's a nice early Establishing Character Moment of both Batman and Robin's respect for the rules and the respect and trust that the people of Gotham have for them.
- In "Batman Stands Pat", Batman apologizes to a sculptor for how his studio got wrecked during Batman's fight with the Mad Hatter and offers to stay behind and help him clean it up. The sculptor replies that Batman's investigation is more important, but thanks him for the offer, and makes an appointment to sculpt Batman at a later date.
- After Zelda the Great kidnaps Aunt Harriet, she's quick to release her after finding out that the money she stole earlier isn't counterfeit after all. Rather than greedily continue holding out for the ransom in addition to the money she already has, Zelda releases Harriet at once, with an evident sense of relief.
- In her fourth episode, a disguised Catwoman has a friendly conversation with an Unwitting Pawn armored truck guard (a Family Man) and gives him $1,000 after he drops her off.
- Chandell's prison concert, which hints that he might redeemed, while several of the people who betrayed and tried to kill him are shown being moved by his music.
- King Tut shows some doting affection for the scarabs he hatched for his latest plan in "The Pharaohs in a Rut," and mourns having to sacrifice them.
- At the end of "Ma Parker," the heroes suspiciously inspect a package that Ma Parker's children ordered for her after the family took over the prison. It turns out to be flowers for Mother's Day.
- Batman and Catwoman's entire conversation at the end of "The Bat's Kow Tow." She can't bring herself to shoot him and calls him the only person she loves. They then mutually flirt before she tells him how to return the voices that she stole as part of her scheme. She also briefly considers being The Matchmaker for her henchwoman and Robin before deciding that Robin is too young.Catwoman: "Well, it was a good plot while it lasted?"Batman: [with enthusiastic admiration] = "Yes, Catwoman, one of your very best!"Catwoman: [flattered] = "Thank you!"
- He even holds her hand for a moment when he praises her, and when he asks her how to undo the "voice theft", he speaks to her as though she were a respected peer.
- The Puzzler salutes Batman for being able to identify one of his Shakespeare quotes from memory at the end of "The Duo of Slumming." In that same episode, he also has a good Even Evil Has Standards moment when he derides the idea of selling a Cool Plane to a hostile foreign power.
- "That Darn Catwoman":
- While Catwoman mocks her henchgirl Pussycat's rock-and-roll ambitions, the rest of her Mooks are supportive and volunteer to serve as her audience.
- An inventor decides not to market his latest invention (a perpetual motion device) after his valet points out that it would put millions of people out of work. The valet's unquestioning certainty that the inventor will take that viewpoint implies that the inventor turns down lucrative opportunities on a regular basis when they might harm others.
- An Arab prince weighs himself every year and gives the orphans of his country his weight in money.
- After Catwoman's latest failure to reform, the progressive-minded Warden Crichton has a Cynicism Catalyst. Both Catwoman and Bruce Wayne assure him that he has genuinely reformed many prisoners, and that the recurring rogues are the exceptions instead of the rule.
- The flirtation between Outlaw Couple Shame and Calamity Jan is genuinely endearing. She has a Humble Goal of buying a ranch in the country with the profits from their heist. Jan also insists on rescuing her mother Fanny after the older woman is arrested, and despite his Obnoxious In-Laws relationship with Fanny, Shame agrees to this without any visible resentment to make Jan happy.
