Shazam! (TV series)

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Shazam!
Bostwick-shazam-captmarv.jpg
Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel, from the television show Shazam! produced by Filmation.
Also known as The Shazam!/Isis Hour
Starring Michael Gray
Les Tremayne
Jackson Bostwick (Season 1 and first two episodes of season 2)
John Davey (Seasons 2 and 3)
Voices of Lou Scheimer (various Elders, other voice-overs)
Norm Prescott (Solomon)
Adam West (Hercules, one episode only)
Country of origin  United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 28 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Norm Prescott
Lou Scheimer
Dick Rosenbloom
Production company(s) Filmation
DC Comics
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel CBS
Original run September 7, 1974 (1974-09-07) – October 16, 1976 (1976-10-16)
Chronology
Related shows The Secrets of Isis

Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation (the animation studio's first such program), based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel.[1]

The show ran from 1974 to 1977 on CBS; from 1975 to 1977 it was known as The Shazam!/Isis Hour, and included The Secrets of Isis, about an Ancient Egyptian superheroine resurrected in the body of a schoolteacher, as the second half of the hour. Shazam! was brought back for reruns in 1980. Actor Michael Gray stars as young Billy Batson, while Captain Marvel was played first by Jackson Bostwick, and later by John Davey. Actress Joanna Cameron appeared as Isis, and her alter-ego Andrea Thomas, on three episodes of Shazam!, and Davey likewise appeared as Captain Marvel in three episodes of Isis.

Contents

[edit] Differences from source material

The television version of Shazam! departs notably from the comic book and radio versions of the character. The eponymous wizard Shazam does not appear in the series; teenage Billy instead speaks directly to the elders that empowered him via a communication device (who appear as animated characters: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury.) Instead of being based in any one particular city, Billy and his guardian "Mentor" (Les Tremayne) traveled through 1970's California in an RV. In an era before cell phones, Mentor would make phone calls from the RV on a type of mobile phone, asking a "mobile operator" to dial the number.

There were no supervillains and violence was downplayed. Billy, as both himself and as Captain Marvel, would help people out of difficult situations of their own making. As in many Filmation shows and cartoons, moral messages were contained within each episode, crystallized at the end of each episode either by Billy learning a new moral lesson from either Mentor or his empowering elders.

As in other media, when he spoke the magic word "Shazam!", Billy is struck by a magic lightning bolt and is transformed via animation and special effects into the World's Mightiest Mortal, Captain Marvel.

[edit] Current rights ownership

The rights to the series rest with DC's parent company Warner Bros., or Entertainment Rights, which has the rights to the license the series for broadcast on television. By July 2009, the series had not been released on home video, save for one episode that was released on a limited edition bonus DVD. Episode one, "The Joy Riders", was released as Warner Bros. Television Commemorative DVD Volume 8: Shazam. This DVD series was made to promote 50 years of Warner Bros. Television, and to promote other TV shows that were not yet released on DVD. It was included with the release of the third season of Wonder Woman in 2005 in North America (the episodes of Secrets of Isis in which Captain Marvel appeared were released to DVD in North America in 2007). A handful of episodes appeared on TV Land infrequently throughout the 2000s, originally appearing on the "Ultimate Fan Hour" in early 2004 as part of the "TV Land Kitschen" lineup.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Shazam! (TV series) episodes

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The History of DC Comics on TV". IGN. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/105/1059919p2.html. Retrieved 2010-10-09. 

[edit] External links
Creators:
Marvel Family:
Black Marvel Family:
Black Adam • Isis • Osiris • Sobek
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