Batman
Penguin's Clean Sweep
TV Flash files “Penguin's Clean Sweep” as hour 114 of 120 in the TV Flash guide — Batman (1966–1968) on ABC, season 3, episode 20, aired 1968-01-25, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E20: listed hour 114 of 120 in the Batman guide, hour 20 of 26 in season 3. It aired 1968-01-25 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Nora Clavicle and the Ladies' Crime Club” (S03E19). Next is “The Great Escape” (S03E21).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Penguin has infected a bin full of money with deadly Lygerian Sleeping Sickness Germs and a parcel of it has already gone out to the National Bank. He then immunizes himself and his crew against the disease, destroying the rest of the vaccine so that nobody else can be innoculated.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Penguin's Clean Sweep sit in the Batman guide?
S03E20 is listed hour 114 of 120 — hour 20 of 26 in season 3, season 3 episode 20.
When did Batman S03E20 air?
Penguin's Clean Sweep aired 1968-01-25 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Season 1's twice-weekly cliffhangers are the full candy-colored contract: West, Ward, onomatopoeic graphics, and a guest villain. The 1966 feature film sits between seasons as a longer dose of the same style.
In the series
Why this series still plays
ABC's Batman is camp as a national style guide: Adam West's deadpan virtue, Burt Ward's earnest Robin, and celebrity villains between freeze-frame fight bubbles. Twice-weekly cliffhangers and Pow! graphics locked comic-book TV into prime time. Required viewing before you pick a side in every later dark-versus-fun Batman war.
The freeze-frame is the argument. ABC's *Batman* (January 12, 1966–March 14, 1968) does not wink after the fight; it prints the onomatopoeia on the air itself — Pow, Zap, the candy-colored grammar of a color-TV generation. Adam West plays Bruce Wayne / Batman as deadpan virtue. Burt Ward plays Dick Grayson / Robin as earnestness without an exit. Sincerity is the gag; the gag is the point. William Dozier leaned into camp until camp became a national style guide.
Filed against
- Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman
Adam West’s Bruce Wayne / Batman made ABC’s twice-weekly camp a national style guide — deadpan virtue, Burt Ward’s earnest Robin, celebrity villains between freeze-frame Pow! bubbles. Cliffhangers locked comic-book TV into prime time. TV…
- Burt Ward as Dick Grayson / Robin
Burt Ward's earnest Robin made ABC's Batman a national camp style guide — Adam West's deadpan virtue, celebrity villains, freeze-frame fight bubbles, twice-weekly cliffhangers. Pow! graphics locked comic-book TV into prime time. TV Flash…
- Alan Napier as Alfred Pennyworth
Alan Napier’s Alfred Pennyworth kept Wayne Manor mannered while ABC’s Batman went twice-weekly Pow! — Adam West’s deadpan virtue, Burt Ward’s earnest Robin, celebrity villains, freeze-frame fight bubbles. Camp as a national style guide.…
- Neil Hamilton as Commissioner Gordon
Neil Hamilton’s Commissioner Gordon kept ABC’s Batman from becoming only freeze-frame fight bubbles — 1960s camp as a national style guide, Adam West’s deadpan virtue, Burt Ward’s earnest Robin, celebrity villains, twice-weekly…