Batman: The Animated Series

Hold onto your batarangs, ladies and gentlemen, because tonight's very special entry spotlights one of the best TV shows of all time. It's Batman: The Animated Series, the king of the '90s after-school block. This darkly gleaming gem of a "kids show" was well-written enough to win three Emmys (and be nominated for five more) and gritty enough that it was almost out of place at around 4 PM. It's easily the best adaptation of Batman, as well as quite possibly the best cartoon ever.

Batman has always been my favorite superhero.He has a cooler costume than probably 99% of them. He has all kinds of hi-tech gadgets, has trained himself in the martial arts, resisting poisons, and all kinds of other ninja-like abilities. His personality is also more interesting; he's flawed to the core. The whole reason he fights crime is because his parents were murdered. And unlike other superheroes, he has no powers. His life is always on the line.

But the show isn't just the best because of Batman. It also features all of his crazy enemies, plus tons of minor villains and even one-time villains. It has the best Joker that's ever been done, voiced by Mark Hamill. There's also a great Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Catwoman, and yes, even this show's version of The Penguin is better than the others, which is a hard task with such a goofy villain.

Then there are minor villains like Manbat, Killer Croc, Clayface, The Mad Hatter, and really strange one-shot characters like The Sewer King, Tigris, and Temple Fugate, who wants to kill the mayor of Gotham because he made him late to a court appointment. And many of them almost kill Batman.

The show is kid-friendly enough that I don't remember anyone dying (at least in any way other than an explosion), but they come pretty darn close sometimes. Batman also uses psychological torture by threatening to drop people off buildings.

Clayface transforming out of control.

I love the aesthetic of the show, which has been termed "dark deco" by critics. It's influenced by film noir, and as one YouTube comment I read said, "the dominant color in every scene is black." The show's setting in time is unclear; Batman has lots of futuristic weapons, but the gangsters all use old Tommy guns, and as a kid, Bruce Wayne watched an old black and white serial called The Gray Ghost that looks like it's from the 1920s.

And who can forget the excellent score of the show, which is used to great effect in a lot of the best episodes? It was composed by Danny Elfman on the opening credits. I've read that the company that released it has completely sold out of copies of this score.