By the time he took the role of the Riddler, Gorshin had already been in dozens of television shows and films. As well as acting, he was a successful impressionist and had appeared in Las Vegas and on the Ed Sullivan show. He agreed to do Batman only on a show-by-show basis, but when he left, in the third season, his replacement proved so unpopular that the producers were forced to bring Gorshin back. "I listened to myself laugh and discovered that the funniest jokes brought out the high-pitched giggle I use on the show. With further study I came to realize that it wasn’t so much how I laughed as what I laughed at that created a sense of menace.”

The Riddler delights in leaving Batman (Adam West) and Robin fiendish clues to his crimes and the series played up the camp potential of heroes and villains in fancy dress, with fist fights overwritten with such words as “Pow”, “Zap”, “Biff” and “Boff”. The mockery and surreal comedy struck a nerve: Batman was a big hit and merchandise ranged from bubblegum trading cards.

His manic portrayal of The Riddler in the Batman TV series was directly responsible for turning the character in the comics from a minor villain into one of Batman's top major recurring enemies. Clad in a green suit, green tights and bowler hat, all covered in question marks, Gorshin's cackling, frenzied portrayal of one of Batman's craftiest supervillains, whose catchphrase was "Riddle me this, Batman", not only set the tone for the hugely popular series, but inspired future nemeses of the "caped crusader". The rubber-faced Gorshin certainly influenced Jim Carrey's interpretation of the Riddler in Batman Forever (1995).