The role of the Dark Knight was a highly coveted one in the 1960s. Of course, no one truly understood just how popular the 1960s Batman television show would be, but the show’s quirky tone attracted more than a few well-known actors.

But according to The Official Batman Batbook by Joel Eisner, there was one comedic actor who made it far enough to test on camera against Adam West, who would eventually win the role of Batman.

However, Dozier maintained that while Waggoner was talented, he had his heart set on West for the part.

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“We made a test of him [Adam] and Lyle Waggoner,” said series creator William Dozier. “The only reason we also tested Lyle Waggoner is that I knew from my experience with the networks that you have to give them a choice.”

“You can’t just say, ‘This is the guy.’ You say, ‘Here are two guys. We like them both, but we like one much better than the other. We want you to see them both.’ They say, ‘Which one do you like better?’ We said we liked Adam West better, and then they would say, ‘Oh, we do too.’ But if you didn’t give them another choice, they’d say, ‘Can’t you test someone else, too?’ So, that’s the way their heads work and always have, and I suppose mine worked that way, too, when I was a network executive.”