The Batman has had adventures on our TV screens for over half a century, and with the world having a situation similar to Gotham’s No Mans Land or Zero Year, now might be a good time to get reacquainted with The Dark Knight's television adventures.
So for your viewing pleasure, here is every Batman TV show ranked, in accordance with their IMDB rating. In this list we are only concentrating on shows based primarily on the characters of Batman’s universe, rather than ensemble shows like Justice League and Titans.
So without further ado, here’s Gotham’s finest!
Batwoman (2019) 3.5
The first on our list is one of the newest shows and one that nobody really asked for. Whether it is the bad acting, bad writing, bad costumes or all of the above, people seem to have a real dislike for Batwoman. Maybe it lacks the charm of other CW shows such as Supergirl and Flash, maybe the obscure story of Kate Kane was never really popular, even in its comic form. Why the studio didn’t opt for a fan-favorite character like Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, Helena Bertinelli/Wayne, Stephanie Brown, or even Selina Kyle to focus a show on is anybody’s guess.
Birds Of Prey (2002) 6.4
Some of the aforementioned more popular characters in the last entry actually DID have their own show, Birds Of Prey, which ran for one season way back in 2002 (scarily, one year after the debut of Smallville!).
Taking some liberties with the character backstories and set in a world where Batman has died, the show was actually truer to the Birds Of Prey format than the film of (almost) the same name this year, following the adventures of Oracle, Huntress, and Black Canary.
The New Adventures Of Batman (1977) 7.1
Only the second Batman animated show, The New Adventures Of Batman included the vocal talents of Adam West and Burt Ward, reprising their live-action roles from a decade earlier. One person who did not return was Alfred. No, not just actor Alan Napier, but the character in general, making this the only Batman show not to feature the faithful butler in any form. Instead, we got…Bat-mite. The ’70s were a dark time for the Dark Knight.
Beware The Batman (2013) 7.3
Despite being around for only one season, Beware The Batman certainly left its mark, mainly for being the only completely CGI Batman show to date. Sadly repeats can no longer be broadcast on TV anymore after it was moved from the DC nation block to Toonami, it was barred from the air for being a financial failure. However, you can still pick the show up on Blu-ray and DVD.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold (2008) 7.3
Batman: The Brave And The Bold harkens back to the silver age of a lighter, more fun Batman, the one that was originally aimed for children before the ’80s got its grim mitts on him.
At first, the show was met with trepidation from the more serious Bat-fans, but as the series continued it won more and more folks over with its wonderful homage to a happier time. This show even got Bat-mite right!
The Batman (2004) 7.3
The Batman had a hard task of taking the baton from the beloved Bruce Timm animated Batman shows, and did so with great success, for the most part. Characters like Scarecrow, Two-Face, and Ra’s Al Ghul were restricted from appearing in the show because of their planned use in the Nolan trilogy. Obviously The Joker was exempt from the rule for being Batman’s greatest villain. Speaking of the clown prince of crime, he was portrayed by Kevin Michael Richardson, making him the only African American to play the part.
The Adventures Of Batman (1968) 7.5
The Adventures Of Batman was the first-ever animated Batman TV show and was featured as part of the Batman/Superman Hour, the later being voiced by Bud Collyer, who reprised his role as Superman/Clark Kent from the Superman radio series. After the show ended, Filmation continued to produce spots for both Batman and Superman which were incorporated into early episodes of Sesame Street!
Batman (1966) 7.5
The original 60’s series that was so prolific in many ways. Aside from the iconic music, brilliant performances, and other memorable quirks, it was the first color live-action incarnation of the dynamic duo.
It turned The Riddler from minor to major villain, renamed Mr. Zero to Mr. Freeze, and did so much more to the Batman mythos we know and love today. The surviving cast members reunited for two animated movies in 2016 and 2017, before Adam West sadly passed away.
Gotham (2014) 7.8
Gotham, starring Ben McKenzie as a young Jim Gordan and Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock started off as a promising premise. Set when Bruce Wayne was too young to take up the mantle of the bat, it was a cop show set in the twisted world of Gotham City. Sadly as the series progressed it became less and less about that and more of a villain origin showcase, making it essentially Batman without Batman, which is kind of like Batman without the point. Still, it scores highly enough to enter our top five!
Batman Beyond (1999) 8.1
From the days before The Batman to the days after, Batman Beyond follows the adventures of Terry McGinniss, Bruce Wayne’s pupil and successor. Set approximately 40 years after the “current" Batman timeline, the idea for the show came about when the higher-ups at Warner Brothers wanted a show about a teenage Batman. Many of the writers almost quit, until producer Glen Murakami came up with the brilliant concept.
Harley Quinn (2019) 8.4
The newest entry on this list and the first-ever R-rated cartoon set in the Bat universe! Harley Quinn’s very own animated show sees everyone's favorite clinically insane jester split up from the Joker and go about making a name for herself in the big city. Also featuring a rotating wheel of guest villains, the series has proven to be immensely popular in its first series, with season 2 just around the corner.
The New Batman Adventures (1997) 8.5
The second part of the original Bruce Timm produced show, The New Adventure Of Batman is pretty much just a carry on from the original animated series. With the production being shifted in a more digitized format rather than hand-drawn cells, every character had a redesign, some bigger than others, whilst heroes like Dick Grayson would graduate into Nightwing, allowing Tim Drake to pick up the mantle of Robin.
Batman The Animated Series (1992) 9.0
The most popular Batman TV show of all time should come as no surprise to anyone. Despite being a children's TV show, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and the rest of the creators treated Batman with the respect the character deserved. Using a beautiful Art deco animation style, the show hearkened to the feel of the wonderfully rotoscoped “Fleischer Superman” cartoons of the ’40s. This show also introduced the vocal talents of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and Joker, the two voices many people have in their heads when reading a Batman comic to this very day.