<P> By season three, ratings were falling and the future of the series seemed uncertain . To attract new viewers, Dozier opted to introduce a female character . He came up with the idea of using Batgirl, who in her civilian identity would be Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara, and asked the editor of the Batman comics to further develop the character (who had made her debut in a 1966 issue of Detective Comics). To convince ABC executives to introduce Batgirl as a regular on the show, a promotional short featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl and Tim Herbert as Killer Moth was produced . The show was reduced to once a week, with mostly self - contained episodes, although the following week's villain would be introduced in a tag at the end of each episode, similar to a soap opera . Accordingly, the narrator's cliffhanger phrases were mostly eliminated, most episodes ending with him encouraging viewers to watch next week . </P> <P> Aunt Harriet was reduced to just two cameo appearances during the third season, due to Madge Blake's poor health and the issue of trying to fit so many characters (Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Chief O'Hara and a guest villain) into a half hour episode . Another cast change for the final season was replacing Julie Newmar, who had been a popular recurring guest villain as the Catwoman for the first two seasons . Singer - actress Eartha Kitt assumed the role for season three, as Newmar was working on the film Mackenna's Gold at that time, hence she was unable to appear . In the United States, Kitt's performance in the series marked the second mainstream television success of a black female, following Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in Star Trek and continued breaking the racial boundaries of the time . Kitt's performance as Catwoman would also, later, inspire Halle Berry's portrayal of the character in the 2004 film Catwoman, in which Berry would mimic Kitt's famous purrs . Frank Gorshin, the original actor to play the Riddler, returned for a single appearance after a one - season hiatus, during which John Astin made one appearance in the role . </P> <P> The nature of the scripts and acting started to enter into the realm of surrealism . For example, the set's backgrounds became mere two - dimensional cut - outs against a stark black stage . In addition, the third season was much more topical, with references to hippies, mods, and distinctive 1960s slang, which the previous two seasons had avoided . </P> <P> Near the end of the third season, ratings had dropped significantly, and ABC cancelled the show . But NBC had agreed to take over the series and was ready to continue . Before that could happen, it was discovered that someone had destroyed the Batman sets which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, and the deal with NBC was lost . Reruns of the series have been seen on a regular basis in the United States . They are currently shown on the classic TV networks Heroes & Icons on Saturday mornings, MeTV on Saturday nights, weekdays dubbed in Spanish on TeleXitos, as well as Saturday mornings on IFC . </P>

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