After a nearly interminable wait, the late '60s classic, Batman: The Complete Series (starring Adam West and Burt Ward) is finally out TODAY on DVD and Blu-ray. Why the long wait? Apparently not only did it take forever to bring the episodes up to today's Blu-ray standards, but Warner Bros. had to negotiate the rights with the owners of the series, 20 Century Fox, as well as get all the surviving stars and creators to sign off on the project. But the results are phenomenal, according to those who've seen it. From the NYT:

Judging from what has been made available to the press, the remastering has restored the series with an eye-popping panache. Now, the Joker’s hair is the most vivid green. Batman’s cowl becomes a truly shocking pink when sprayed with a radioactive mist by the Mad Hatter (David Wayne). And Robin really is a red breast. The picture clarity reveals, too, that the Batsuit had nipples long before Joel Schumacher took hold of the “Batman” movie franchise in the 1990s. They’re Mr. West’s, but they’re there.

Along with every episode from the series, there are vintage screen tests, photo scrap books, trading cards, and a Hot Wheels Batmobile replica. (SQUEEE!) So they did it right! However, a very interesting sidenote to this project is how it actually met resistance from some of the biggest Batman fans. More from the NYT article:

There are said to be some fans who have sought to keep this “Batman” from home video. Bruce Timm, a producer of “Batman: The Animated Series” in the 1990s, is quoted in a documentary in the “Batman” set as saying that the feeling was that the series “ruined the public’s perception of superheroes for decades.”
....
To these hard-core comic book fans, the camp sensibility — the show’s scripts were rife with double-entendres and played with the utmost sincerity — was a blight on the superhero’s legacy. It was a besmirching that took more than 20 years, dark reimaginings of the character by the comic artists Neal Adams and later Frank Miller and two Tim Burton movies to erase.

OH PUH-LEEZE. Anyway, these stuck-up naysayers can put a sock in it, because this set looks awesome. Get it for the Bat-fan in your life in all sorts of places, including here.