Disc News: Holy Batman Tease!

Disc Announcements, News

Warner Brothers has a deal with Fox to release merchandise related to the Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, according to Variety.com. This means they can use the likenesses of West, Ward, Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith and Julie Newmar on clothes, toys, books and promotions. They’ll be introducing this new deal at the upcoming Licensing Expo, running June 12-14 in Las Vegas.

This would seem like the miracle that nobody expected to happen of Batman coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Batman is the most demanded show that hasn’t come out on DVD. Except it appears the deal covers everything except actual episodes of the TV show. This might be the big tease before Warner Bros. announces the home video release in the near future. Nobody thought Warner, Fox and the producer’s estate could untangle the rights mess to get this far. Home video can’t be that far away.

Adam West’s Batman is being discovered by a new generation thanks to reruns on Me-TV and cable’s Hub. There’s a market for toys and t-shirts of the more friendly version of The Dark Knight for kids and nostalgic overgrown kids. Those kids would really like the Blu-rays of the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.