All 32 DC TV shows ranked from worst to best

4. Batman (1966 - 1968)

It's hard to imagine where the world of DC TV would be without Batman. The very first DC series to air on network television, it turned the Caped Crusaders into household names, introducing them and their kooky world to people of all ages, and kick-starting Batman's legendary relationship with the screen.

The show is renowned for its larger-than-life campy approach to the source material. It was very tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top, with ridiculously outlandish capers and bonkers bad guys for Batman and Robin to face off against every week. Of course it was outlandish (this is the 1960s we're talking about), but the show was also incredibly witty and deceptively clever. Batman knew its audience and how to appeal to them, all while hiding important life lessons in plain sight.

Its greatest attribute was star Adam West and how committed he was to making it all so believable. While the capers designed by The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, The Bookworm and more were indeed crazy, West played the role incredibly straight, never once hamming it up or leaning into the hilarity of it all. We don't talk about his wonderful performance enough, but Batman's success rode on the strength of it, perhaps even more so than its cartoonish appeal.

While much of its production values obviously haven't aged that well, Batman is still a beloved, and relevant part of the Dark Knight's legacy and the whole superhero genre owes it a huge debt of gratitude for proving how well these characters can work on television.