Shazam!
Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel, from the television show Shazam! produced by Filmation.
Also known as	The Shazam!/Isis Hour
Presented by	Filmation DC Comics
Starring	Michael Gray Les Tremayne Jackson Bostwick (Season 1) John Davey (Season 2)
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
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 7, 1974 – October 16, 1977
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.

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.

[edit] Differences from source material

The television version of Shazam! departs notable 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.

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 (who owns much of the Filmation catalog), which has the "Worldwide Free TV" rights to the series according to its website (meaning it has the rights to the license the series for broadcast on television). However, it is not clear whether it refers to this series, or the animated Shazam! segments from The Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam! series from 1981.

As of July 2009, the series has not been released on home video in any country, 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 small handful of episodes appeared on TV Land infrequently throughout the 2000s, originally appearing on the "Ultimate Fan Hour" and most recently in early 2004 as part of the "TV Land Kitschen" lineup.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] External links

• Shazam! (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database
• Shazam! at TV.com
• Shazam TV Pictures
• Official Jackson Bostwick/SHAZAM! Site