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Adam West's 17 Funniest Quotes As Batman

by Tom Armstrong
6 April 2014 2 Comments

POW! Forget the miserable sulking Batman of recent years, Adam West's camp crusader is still the best version of the superhero by far...

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With our modern perception of Batman as a dark, brooding figure racked with complex issues, it’s easy to forget that the name once represented the complete opposite: hilarity, kitsch and camp.

The truth is, when Batman first hit screens in the ’60s he was a very funny, very dry character. The Batman TV series, which ran for two years between 1966-68 and spawned a full length feature film, is often overlooked in this history of the Caped Crusader, but in my opinion Adam West’s portrayal has yet to be bettered.

In between the show’s kitsch sets and larger-than-life villains were subtle in-jokes and nuanced references to sexuality, all delivered in West’s expert deadpan style. His portrayal of Batman as intensely rational made the absurdity of the scripts all the more enjoyable, in a similar way to his Mayor West character in Family Guy decades later.

Here are some of his best lines…

Batman-Yellow-West

1. “It’s obvious. Only a criminal would disguise himself as a licensed, bonded guard yet callously park in front of a fire hydrant.”

2. “We’ve come a long way from the Prime Minister’s exploding cake. Or have we?”

3. “Salt and corrosion. The infamous old enemies of the crime fighter”

4. “A reporter’s lot is not easy, making exciting stories out of plain, average, ordinary people like Robin and me.”

5. “It’s sometimes difficult to think clearly when you’re strapped to a printing press.”

6. Robin: “You can’t get away from Batman that easy!”

Batman: “Easily.”

Robin: “Easily.”

Batman: “Good grammar is essential, Robin.”

Robin: “Thank you.”

Batman: “You’re welcome.”

7. “Yes, he moves very quickly for an overstuffed and unlikely Egyptian Pharaoh”

8.  Robin: “Let’s go!”

Batman: “Not you, Robin. They have strict licensing laws in this country. A boy of your age is not allowed in a drinking tavern.”

Batman-Robin-1966-TV-Adam-West-Burt-Ward-Batgirl

9.  Chief O’Hara: “Will you be wanting extra police protection?”

Batman: “No thank you, Chief O’Hara. This time I think Robin and I better go at it alone. Any large contingent of police officers might create unnecessary confusion.

10. “Catwoman, I find you to be odious, abhorrent, and insegrievious.”

11. “Robin: Where’d you get a live fish, Batman?”

Batman: “The true crimefighter always carries everything he needs in his utility belt, Robin.”

12. “It is the duty of every good citizen of Gotham City to report meeting a man from Mars in a public park”.

13.  “No, Robin. With my head sticking out of this neosaurus costume, I might not appear like an ordinary, run of the mill crimefighter.”

14. “Bartender, a bit of advice. Always inspect a jukebox carefully. These machines can be deadly.”

15. “Let that be a lesson. In future, be more careful from who you accept free lemonade.

16. (after coming through Barbara’s window): “We would have entered the building by more conventional means, but we didn’t want to startle the tenants.”

17. “That’s one trouble with dual identities, Robin. Dual responsibilities.”

Watch some more of Batman’s best bits below

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image descriptionCOMMENTS

Agent Cooper 4:19 pm, 4-Mar-2014

"They may be drinkers, Robin, but they're still human beings." "Sometimes you just can't get rid of a bomb!"

Malcolm Darer 6:10 pm, 8-Apr-2014

Once met Adam West and Burt Ward at Selfridges when I was a kid.

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