The Batman tek's rating:

The Batman, on The WB (s1-3) / The CW (s4-5)
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A 2004-2008 Saturday morning Batman cartoon. The show starts three years after Bruce Wayne first donned the cape and cowl, becoming Batman, beginning his quest against crime in Gotham City. At this point he's still generally considered an urban legend by the general public, and that's how the police want it. They also consider him a vigilante, and want him caught. Detective Ethan Bennett, and old friend of Bruce's, has been assigned a new partner, Detective Ellen Yin, formerly of the Metropolis PD, and together they've been charged with the task of catching the Batman. The show will of course also be introducing all the members of the Rogue's Gallery. Some of them are at least tolerable versions, others just totally suck. Oh, and at the end of season 1, Ethan is transformed into Clayface (a new take on an old Bat-villain). Kinda reminds me of Bruce's friend Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face in other Batman incarnations.... I can't think of anything to say about season 2 at the moment. But in season 3, we get to see Commissioner Gordon supporting Batman, and also his daughter, Barbara, becomes Batgirl, the Batman's occasional sidekick. And in season 4, Dick Grayson's parents are killed by mobster Tony Zucco, and Dick becomes Bruce's foster son, and also becomes Robin, Batman's sidekick.

Anyway, I find myself fairly disappointed with the show, but not quite enough to stop watching. My opinion of the show probably unfairly suffers because of my higher expectations for anything Batman. I might like it better if this were the first and only incarnation. Or not, it's hard to say. Some episodes are better than others, anyway. You should also see the DVD movie The Batman vs. Dracula, which I like better than the average episode of this series.... Though to be fair, the series did generally improve as it went on. By the fifth and final season, I liked it a good bit better than I did in season 1. In fact I'd say each season was a bit better than the one before it, though every season had some episodes that were particularly good or... blah.


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