do you think BTAS is a kid show?

[Justice League 2000]

most of the episodes were to adult and its nothing wrong with to adult episodes. and they were a lot of mob bosses in BTAS.
and do you think kids get exposed of BTAS episodes?

[Marc]

Well, Batman: TAS premiered when I was just starting high school, so I wasn't a little kid. Back then it started out on prime time Sunday nights on FOX. I still remember watching that first episode, "On Leather Wings".
So in answer to your question, no I do not consider Batman: TAS to be a kid's show. My father enjoyed that show almost as much as I did. When WB took over, that's when the target audience got lower and lower.

[Nightwing]

Hehe, I'm glad you didn't, but the FOX censors sure did. :p Getting on to the WB lightened that up a bit though.

Great question. I consider it a show that both parents and kids would and should watch together, because doing so would give them both something out of it. But generally speaking, you're absolutely right. It really isn't a "kids" show.

In fact, Ya know what cheeses me? At a local Sam Goody in the mall when I was looking for the first BTAS DVD, I saw the JL, ROTJ, and UNCUT ROTJ DVDs all in the SPECIFICALLY TITLED "KIDDIES SECTION." Ugh! After ALL that censoring nonsense (hehehe, censoring-nonsense, kind of redundant) it's all just plopped together. I hope that shows it's more the parents' job than it is of the creator(s) or store.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I always figured that you could divide stuff the good stuff "for kids" into two broad categories:

1. Stuff that's targeted at adults, but which kids can watch, understand, and enjoy

2. Stuff that's targeted at kids, but which adults can watch and enjoy.

In fantasy fiction, Tolkien would be the former while J.K. Rowling is the latter. This broad categorization omits stuff like Sesame Street, which manages to appeal to both groups equally, and Barney the Dinosaur or Fight Club, which are solely aimed at one audience only.

I think BTAS tends to fall more into the first category than the second, even during the TNBA days. While some of the episodes may have a somewhat more kid-friendly bent, I'd point to "Over the Edge," "Growing Pains," "Mean Seasons," and even "Mad Love" as aimed squarely at the adults in the audience.

I'm still not sure which bucket I'd put Batman Beyond in. While they aimed at darker themes, I thought they often handled them in juvenile ways. The major exception would be Return of the Joker, but I don't think that's for kids at all.

-- Ed/Ace

[Joker85]

You know, this really is an interesting question. I was 7 when BTAS first premiered, and watched every episode, enjoyed them, and never really thought about it. I just thought it was a cool show. Now, when I go back and watch them, I pick up more things and have started to realize that this is really more of an adult show. Alot of the episodes deal with issues I don't think kids would really understand(I certaintly didnt!) I appreciate alot of the episodes now, more than I did then. So, to answer your question, I think that both Kids and adults can enjoy it, but older people(adults, teens,etc...) can get more out of it, and enjoy it more, on a different level.

[Barb Gordon]

How about this: It's a big kid show. I think that works. Sure it may be, or at least censors wanted it to be, geared toward a younger audience....but the people really enjoying it were teens and adults who are "big kids" at heart. I think the only sterotypical thing that made TNBA and BTAS a kids show was that it was a cartoon. Other then that, I think older people were the ones that would understand everything.

~Barb

[ZorBrak]

I'd say it's a show for those with a creative mind and imagination, and frankly most adults don't have the imagination or creativity alot of kids do.

[Patrick Bateman]

No. To me, it's never been a kid show or an adult show, it's just a show for Bat-fans young and old alike. Batman has one of the most diverse fanbases because everyone can find something appealing about it. So really, I think the creators never had age in mind, but because it was animated, it gets labeled as a kiddie show.

[James Harvey]

Originally posted by Batman Year One
No. To me, it's never been a kid show or an adult show, it's just a show for Bat-fans young and old alike.

That's probably the best answer - becuase it's true. The show does play on many different levels, and it makes it appealing to all different age levels. One of the best things about the show, besides the stellar writing, animation, etc...:), is that every demographic can experience it on their own level. It plays differently for everyone, and the various ages here at this board is a good example of that. It's a show that can appeal to everyone, given the chance.

[Maxie Zeus]

I agree that BY1 nails it.

Anyway, I think that the whole distinction between "children" and "adult" literature or entertainment is bogus, and even harmful. Children do not have distinctively "childish" tastes. (Anyway, lots of adults have "childish" tastes, too, if we mean a taste for things that appeal to silly and immature sensabilities.) Like adults, they enjoy quality material that pushes them just hard enough intellectually and emotionally, but which does not make inordinately onerous demands on them. A movie like A Beautiful Mind stands to children the way a movie like L'Age d'Or stands to most adults, as too obscure to be accessible. But that's the only difference. But just because some things are too "heavy" for them to pick up does not mean that there is a special class of things that are "suitably" made for them.

What most people mean by a "kid" show or book is either (a) something that won't contain material that will cause a lot of embarrassing questions or cause embarrassing behavior (like sex and graphic violence), or (b) is so totally innocuous that it would bore a grown-up. I suppose by that BTAS is a kid's show by the first standard, but not a kid's show by the second. But they're both silly ways to try to classify it. And people make themselves look foolish, and wind up making crappy and incoherent books and movies, because they are trying to think in a "child"-like way when they make things for kids.

[Zoddman]

I definitely agree with Batman Year One also. It IS for the Bat-fans, young and old. Kids can enjoy it, adults can enjoy it, everybody's happy.

[TimTwoFace]

I'd call BTAS an "educated children's show", meaning that all ages can watch it (as it's top quality and doesn't talk down to anyone), and it's still suitable for small children. Children aren't stupid - they can appreciate more dramatic, "talking head" shows (like I AM THE NIGHT, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE) just as much as they can appreciate action-packed episodes.

-Tim

[James]

LOL. Funny this. Well it is design under the perameters of kids TV so yes it is. That's it's mandate, to conform to the standards of a kids TV show.

However it has been graced by a silly mistake by Warners and that's to follow and exploit the original films success. A mistake? Well for WB which has as much guts as an single cell organism, it has let out the chance for fans in the industry to let lose and give everyone a show! They've tried dumbing it down, but the creators still manage to create quality episodes.

Even in a more watered down format as Batman Beyond, they pulled no punches in the first episode pilot and even in it's climax of ROTJ..

... and there seems to be no stopping them. In regards to an episode of Justice League there was a piece of dialogue which made my jaw drop. When the Flash declared that he was the fastest man alive and Hawkgirl retorted, 'perhaps thats why you have trouble getting a girlfriend...' :o ahem.... there are no doubts some serious adult elements in the Bat Crew's work!

[adoptedBatpuppy]

No, my grandpa watches it, and his 70.

[JusticeLeagueLegion]

Originally posted by CaptainInfinity
Well, Batman: TAS premiered when I was just starting high school, so I wasn't a little kid. Back then it started out on prime time Sunday nights on FOX. I still remember watching that first episode, "On Leather Wings".
So in answer to your question, no I do not consider Batman: TAS to be a kid's show. My father enjoyed that show almost as much as I did. When WB took over, that's when the target audience got lower and lower.

"On Leather Wings" was the first episode that BT&Co. produced, but not the first one aired. It was "The Cat & The Claw" Part One...at least that's the first one I remember seeing...and I'm pretty sure it was the premiere day...but it aired as a "sneak peek" the Batman: The Animated Series. Of course, maybe you aren't from the US, so maybe it aired at a different time, but anyway, I consider Batman: TAS an "everybody show," I don't think it's a "kids show" in the least bit...like some arrogant people seem to think, it's for whoever's interested...after all, I liked Star Trek since I was three years old and you don't consider that a kids show do you? It really ticks me off when people actually get enough nerve to say Batman or Superman or Batman Beyond or Justice League is for children.