The headpiece of Batgirl's costume was painful for Yvonne Craig to wear, so when Batgirl joined the "Batman" TV series, the design was modified. According to Adam West, had a "Batgirl" series been produced, the plan was for the show to air prior to "Batman" with cross-over story-lines between the two programs.
Killer Moth was the villain featured in Batgirl's first comic book appearance.
While there was a previous Bat-Girl in the comics, she was Batwoman's sidekick, Betty Kane, the niece of Kathy "Batwoman" Kane. Those characters were created in response to Fredric Wertham's accusations of homoerotic subtext between Batman and Robin in Seduction of the Innocent, but were abandoned in 1964 as being too silly. However, William Dozier and Howie Horwitz approached DC about creating a new Batgirl who was Gordon's daughter, and Batgirl's costume on the TV show was inspired by Carmine Infantino's rendering of the character in Detective Comics #359.
Due to the declining ratings of Batman, particularly the Wednesday installment, which when ABC announced its schedule for fall 1967, Batman was only airing on Thursdays. Partially to blame was Lost in Space, which aired opposite the Wednesday installment on CBS. Dozier explained that "they both appeal to the same audience. We estimate that 60 per cent of our viewers are in the 4 to 12 age bracket." As producer Howie Horwitz aptly put it "we were a victim of our own format." In an attempt to reinvigorate the show Dozier decided to add a new character for Batman's third season. Yvonne Craig would play Commissioner Gordon's daughter Barbara, a librarian whose alter ego was superheroine Batgirl. Batman was widely watched by young boys and Dozier was of the opinion that a strong female character could bring in an equal number of young girls. Horwitz explained that the character was added to "give the little girls and big boys someone to identify with," alluding to Craig's obvious attractiveness, but pointed out that Batgirl wasn't intended as a love interest for Batman, who was "too square" and didn't have time for romance; conceivably there could be sparks between Barbara Gordon and Bruce Wayne, however, though that never happened.
In the presentation film, Batgirl is never seen punching anyone. Instead, she uses a rolling globe or a falling bookcase to incapacitate the Killer Moth's henchmen. She's allowed to get in a few kicks here and there but nothing more. Of course, the same could be said for April Dancer on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., who often left the fighting to her male partner, or any of the female security guards on Star Trek, who could kick an alien but never punch them. During the 1960s, it seems, women weren't allowed to punch because as Yvonne Craig pointed out in interviews, that wouldn't be feminine.