"Shazam!" (1974) TV series 1974-1977

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Robert Chenault
Robert Douglas

Writers:

Susan Dworski (writer)
Donald F. Glut (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

7 September 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A young boy, able to transform into the superhero Captain Marvel, travels the country fighting evil.

Plot Keywords:

Superhero | Shazam | Based On Comic Book | DC Comics | Based On Comic

Cast

Michael Gray	...	Billy Batson (28 episodes, 1974-1976)
Les Tremayne	...	Mentor (28 episodes, 1974-1976)
Jackson Bostwick	...	Captain Marvel (17 episodes, 1974-1975)
John Davey	...	Captain Marvel (11 episodes, 1975-1976)

Runtime:

30 min (28 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Filmation Associates

Trivia:

The character Mentor was more or less based on the character Uncle Dudley in the Captain Marvel comic books.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the camera shot was Billy and Mentor driving in their motor home, the motor home's windshield is always one large piece. In all camera shots of the motor home actually driving on the road, the windshield is a split version in two pieces.

Quotes:

[Opening title narration]
Narrator: Chosen from among all others by the immortal elders - SOLOMON, HERCULES, ATLAS, ZEUS, ACHILLES, MERCURY - Billy Batson and his mentor travel the highways and byways of the land on a never ending mission: to right wrongs, to develop understanding, and to seek justice for all! In time of dire need, young Billy has been granted the power by the immortals to summon awesome forces at the utterance of a single word!
Billy Batson: SHAZAM!
Narrator: A word which transforms him, in a flash, into the mightiest of mortal beings, CAPTAIN MARVEL!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Soundtrack:

SHAZAM

Saturday Mornings fakeness at its best

This show was part of my 70's childhood,but still it was the most fakeness live action series ever depicted for the minds of the Saturday Morning youth. The series was called "Shazam!",and it was produced by Filmation Productions and it was on CBS-TV from 1974-76 and continued in repeated episodes throughout the rest of the decade. Even though,it was part of Captain Marvel was played by two different actors(Season 1-3 by Jackson Bostwick,and in Seasons 3-4 by Bruce Davey who went on to do a numerous array of TV shows and specials) the special effects were some of the hokeyest ever where in one scene our hero is flying through the air(but WE kids know he was connected to a wire with a fan blowing through him under a very low budget of lets say,around 50 to 70K),and others(like they travel the country in a Winnebago in the same exact neighborhood where they last were just up the block from the previous episode) that were a laughing stock. But lets just say that the series from the early 70's has found a home,and its part of TV Land's late night line-up for LOST forever series and sitcoms. Catch it on TV Land!

NOTE: Coming soon to TV Land,more of the best/worst of the live action Filmation genre series from the 1970's continues including LOST shows like "Isis"(starring former Vogue 70's fashion model Joanna Cameron in her first and ONLY TV "Saturday Morning" series),"The Adventures of Thunder","Ark II","Jason of Star Command",and "Space Academy"(which stars Jonathan Harris of Lost In Space,James Doohan of Star Trek,and Pamela Ferdiyn of Lassie). Don't Miss It!