A mid-season replacement show in January of 1977, The New Adventures of Batman used character designs from Filmation's earlier rendition of the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder, and while these were familiar in appearance, that is where most of the similarties between the two shows ended. By this point, Filmation had abandoned its crude, late 60s style animation for better backround art and some of the best looking television action cartoons of the 70s (i.e. Batman's sister show, Tarzan Lord of the Jungle and Star Trek). As with Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Batman featured nicely rotoscoped shots.

Significantly, Filmation recruited Adam West and Burt Ward, tv's original Batman and Robin for their voices. This had become fairly common practice for Filmation at this point. They had also recruited the original voices of actors for the earlier Star Trek and Brady Kids. Olan Soule and Casey Kasem, the voices from Filmation's earlier version of the Caped Crusaders, were providing the voices of the characters for the Superfriends, Hanna Barbera's version of the Justice League of America.

Returning to assist the dynamic duo in their fight against crime was Batgirl and Commisioner Gordon. Alfred, the duo's butler and assistant, did not return. His ommission led the way for the addition of Bat Mite, a subject of controversey among fans--to this day they seem to love him or hate him (the authors are in fact divided on his merits). Originally created for the comic series, Bat Mite was an impish creature from another planet who had super powers, but whenever he tried to use them, he usually ended up hurting the situation instead of helping it. Love or hate him, Bat Mite was lavished with attention animation wise, and in this respect, a high-point of the show, and quite humorous at times, though decidedly overly-cute in places.

The series also brought back many of the comic book villains that were seen in the 60s version. The Joker, Penquin, Catwoman and Mr. Freeze returned for more adventures, and comic book favorite Clayface was brought to the screen for the first time. Even though he was seen in the opening credits, the Riddler did not appear on this version of the show. He, along with the Scrarecrow, another villan from the 60s series, could be seen on a different network (ABC) as members of the Legion of Doom, an organization of comic book baddies that battled the Superfriends. New villains were created for the series, including Electro, the Moon Man, Zarbor, and Sweet Tooth.As was the case with the 60s version, the voices for most of the villains were supplied by one actor, in this case, Lennie Weinrib. In addition to providing the voice to Batgirl, Melendy Britt also supplied the voice of the Catwoman.

Because of restrictions on what could and couldn't be seen on Saturday morning television, the fight scenes, which were a staple of both the live action and animated Batman series of the 60s, were removed for this version of Batman. No punches or kicks were thrown by the either the heroes or villains. Instead, they all relied on various gadgets, everything from a batarang to a freeze gun.

Like many other Filmation series, each episode ended with a "Bat Message," a short segment reinforcing the moral of the story.