Graphic Gore on Gotham

The "teenage Batman" show also featured teen drinking and implied drug use. Fox's Gotham is a twisted tale of a teenage Bruce Wayne, in the years before he donned the cape and cowl of Batman, undergoing an apprenticeship in fighting crime. (The series also features many of the Masked Manhunter's future foes, in their proto-supervillain days: teenage cat burglar Selina Kyle before she becomes the Catwoman; a crime enthusiast obsessed with riddles; and a stunted crimeboss who walks oddly like a penguin.) In recent weeks, teen Bruce tested his mettle against global crimelord Ra's al-Ghul; then afterward, disillusioned with his plans to fight crime, turned his back on the way of the Bat to embrace the life of a dissolute playboy teen right out of Gossip Girl -- a life that involves buying a nightclub and drinking, as his friends implicitly use drugs. But there are also bloodier scenes. In one, Selina breaks into a gang's garage and steals some loot from a car trunk. When an alarm alerts the thugs, they blame the theft on one of their own, who failed at guard duty. As punishment, the thug is held down, as the gang leader runs and motorcycle tire over his face, blood spraying out. Anyone who has seen any of the character's recent movies knows that Batman is not an Adam West-style crimebuster for kiddies anymore; Batman's adventures have become grimmer by far. But even so, this level of violence -- and the teen debauchery accompanying it -- is a new level of darkness for the Dark Knight.