Shazam! 1974-76

Talking With The Elders

DC Universe made a lot of us old folks happy yesterday with the release of all three seasons of the classic 1974-76 series Shazam! starring Michael Gray as Billy Batson, Les Tremayne as Mentor, Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel during season one and partially in season two and John Davey as Captain Marvel to finish out seasons two and three. The series followed Billy and Mentor as they drove around in a motorhome looking for people to help.

I was just a baby when the original series aired, but caught up with the reruns of the show on weekday afternoons when I was a bit older. I decided to start re-watch the series last night, and am currently seven episodes into the first season.

The show has been completely remastered in HD and it looks extremely good on my television and my phone. I’ve found the audio to be a bit off at times, so I’ve been watching episodes with subtitles. I’m sure that anyone too young to remember television shows like Shazam! will probably laugh at the special effects, but the stories hold up surprisingly well. Issues like drug abuse, bullying, and discrimination are addressed and still need to be addressed to this day. The series takes a lighter approach with each issue, but still manages to drive home the point of each message.

Both Bostwick and Davey give excellent performances as Captain Marvel, and I can definitely see youngsters looking up to them and hanging on every word they say. Gray gives a solid performance as Billy Batson. His comedic timing was excellent when called upon, and he played well against Les Tremayne’s caring performance as Mentor. Both Gray and Tremayne are likeable in their roles, and while the script wasn’t always necessarily deep, they always delivered a great performance.

If you’ve never watched this series, I recommend giving it a look, especially if you have youngsters in your home. It’s warmhearted, funny, and has a good amount of light action. It also features the voice of Adam West as Hercules. He’s one of the Elders that grants his powers (and offers up wisdom) to Billy and Captain Marvel. The series also features Isis (JoAnna Cameron) in a few episodes, who had her own show entitled Isis that played back-to-back with Shazam! in the Shazam/Isis Hour.

I plan on finishing the series over the next few days and hope to see DC Universe release Isis as well. Also, DC will be releasing the Shazam film starring Zachary Levi in April of this year, and I’m definitely going to check that out. If you’re a fan of the classic series, you’ll get the chance to meet both Michael Gray and John Davey at the Lake Charles Film Festival in October of this year. I’ve already met Jackson Bostwick and I can’t wait to meet two more members of the cast of such a fun show.

As always, thanks for reading. I plan on seeing Marvel’s version of Captain Marvel on the big screen this weekend. I’ll be sure to post a review as soon as I can.