Batgirl: 1967 Pilot

"You are no longer alone, Caped Crusaders!"

I should really have blogged this before I started Season Three of Batman, but it’s only since I started that I became aware of the existence of this interesting little seven minute pilot. It seems the second season of Batman had been shedding viewers and that Batgirl was the proffered solution to its ills- and this was made to highlight the undoubtable awesomeness of Yvonne Craig.

It’s only a quick little vignette, really, and made for a very specific purpose; I’m not going to review it as such. The plot is simply to introduce us to Barbara Gordon and have her assist the Caped Crusaders in dealing with a crime taking place in the library which doesn’t overly stretch the budget.

Yvonne Craig’s performance is fully-formed, as is the character. The secret costume changing room is in the library, though, rather than in Barbara’s apartment, and her mask looks different, and rather less comfortable.

The only thing worth mentioning, of course, is the fairly rubbish villain: Killer Moth. The format doesn’t exactly allow this briefly seen baddie to shine, but there’s one more baddie from the comics to have appeared on television, sort of, although we don’t get to see his modus operandi as a kind of Batman for criminals.

This is a very interesting little novelty if you can hunt it down, and takes only seven and a bit minutes to watch.