The televised series of "The Green Hornet" was created and produced by William Dozier, the owner of Greenway Productions, for ABC. It ran from 1966 to 1967 and was then cancelled after that one season. Van Williams played the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee played Kato. Dozier was also the creator of the more popular "Batman" television series. Even though he had the Green Hornet and Kato appear on "Batman" three times, they never acquired a large audience. It was due in part to Bruce Lee's portrayal of this character, that the Green Hornet became more well-known, and that martial arts became more popular in the United States in the 1960s.