I saw a couple episodes of the first season of "The Batman."
After the great Batman The Animated Series run, I guess I
concluded that "The Batman" series wasn't for me, and I didn't
watch any more episodes. Still, it might be better than I originally
thought and/or it may have gotten better as it developed.

And, now, hard up for some things to watch on DVD, I am considering
buying these. They seem to be about $11 a season, with five seasons.
I want to see the Batgirl episodes (I saw some Batgirl on YouTube
years ago).

Can anyone recommend this series?

I an recommend the Timm Batman animated series... not helpful, but I can!

I tried to watch an episode or two of "The Batman". Just didn't hold my interest and I didn't care for the extreme character redesign.

As much as I loved Batman: the Animated Series, it doesn't
have a lot of rewatchability for me. There are a few episodes
that I can watch over and over, but, in general, I want to watch
new episodes.

There are quite a few Batman: the Brave and the Bold episodes
that I haven't seen yet. If they finally release that as a complete
set, I'll get it most likely.

That was my take on it when it first appeared.
I wondered, though, if it was because I had just come off that
great run of Batman the Animated Series. Perhaps now, with
time having passed, I might be willing to give it more of a chance.

Thanks for your insight, Judge.

My take on Batman the Brave and the Bold wasn't too favorable
at the beginning, either, but I grew to really love that show.

Is the first season of that available yet? I've been curious about it.

I liked the series just enough to collect it all on dvd, but I agree with the Judge...the character redesigns are hard to take. Compared to the Timm/Dini show, "The Batman" can only pale in just about every comparison.

That said, I found the "The Batman vs. Dracula" straight-to-dvd movie to be extremely enjoyable, right up there with "Mask of the Phantasm" and "Under the Red Hood."

They might still be selling them in their individual volumes.

Was that the only movie tie in?
Likely if I take a dip into "The Batman" series, my collector's OCD
will need to get everything.

The Batman got better with each season. I wasn't overly impressed with the first year, but they seemed to take some of the criticisms to heart and as the series progressed they tweaked the character designs and added characters that improved the watchability. It really started to get better with the introduction of Batgirl, and later on Robin. I really dug the last season with all of the Justice League guest stars. Plus Gina Gershon voicing Catwoman was great casting. My advice to those turned off by the first batch of episodes is to check out the last couple of years.

Thanks, Ross. Justice League guest stars helps to sell it to me.

Yes, it's the only one.

Right now, I think, the only in-print copies are "two-fer" editions, with "Batman vs. Dracula" and "The Batman/Superman Movie" on the same disc. Used copies are pretty cheap on Amazon, though.

Thanks. I have that Batman/Superman, but I'll give eBay a look.
That Dracula movie might be a good place to start. I can buy that
without feeling the need to "collect 'em all."

"The Batman" series would be acceptable except for the score which is so distracting and annoying for me that it makes it unwatchable.

I actually like the design of Batman for this show, but the other characters just didn't work for me.

The first season, what little I saw of "The Batman" had some truly horrible writing. totally sucked. Almost close to "Teen Batman" as he was just starting up, etc. But I kept hearing that it got better with each season. Robin Joined him for season 3 and Batgirl in season four and that was touted as the best one so I bought the season, pretty cheap as it's only 13 eps and it was really good, almost up to Timm standards. Oddly enough the only episode I did not like was the intro of Harley Quinn. Written by Dini even but the whole thing seemed forced and unnatural--HQ was created specifically for BTAS and this new Joker had zero charisma/chemistry with her and they even got a voice artist that did a lame take on Arleen Sorkin who did the original voice so all in all, a disappointing ep but the rest of the season is quite good. Even the fifth season is good although not as good as 4. I'd recommend season 4 alone. AFTER buying anything and every set you can of BTAS, Batman Beyond and of course Timms' Justice League seasons. Those are must haves.

You know, this show is airing on Boomerang at 11:30 PM every night. If you get Boomerang, you could watch a few or DVR a few to check it out.

Sadly, I don't get any channels that carry super stuff.

So Batgirl showed up in season 4? I thought she was earlier than that.

I actually quite like the show. It was different, but not in any way that particularly bothered me.

What Ross said. It got better as it went along. I'd recommend it.

A good friend of mine wrote for the tie-in comic. Joker with dredlocks is weird.