markus010167

not a bad film, but i did notice they used a lot of b.g. score from the animated Star Trek series, as did Oliver Twist, in which Davy Jones voiced the Artful Dodger. for some reason during a certain piece, i keep expecting to hear, "Scotty, beam us aboard, now!". go fig. but again, this was out the same time the cartoon Star Trek was on the TV. the songs (some anyway) were a bit odd at times. for the most, it was in line with the novel. i first saw this in '81 on an afternoon show on NBC; it was hosted by Melissa Sue Anderson from Little House on the Prairie. i think they showed Oliver Twist as well, though i do recall it being on Showtime a lot in the early '80s.

the cartoon Shazam! was better the live action one because it was based solely from the comics. also noticed the music from the 1st series was in this one as well. in fact when i see the older show and hear the music, sometimes i think of the animated series. too bad Uncle Dudley and Mentor never met in the show , you know. Cap sounded a bit like He-Man and Mary sounded like She-Ra; i thought they were voiced by the same folks, but they're not. too bad they didn't have them and Isis side by side; that would have been cool. imagine that; Andrea Thomas and the Batsons and Freddy Freeman transforming into Isis and the Marvels at the same time. oh well. it was still a good show; i'm surprised this is not on DVD yet. when in doubt, say the magic words: Shazam! Captain Marvel!

This show was good for what it was. Too bad Filmation couldn't afford to get the rights to Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. Instead, they created the Isis series. That would've been cool to see Billy & Mary Batson, Freddy Freeman, and Mentor and/or Uncle Dudley. Imagine seeing one or all of the Marvels transforming and on occasion working with Isis. Interesting points: John Davey (Captain Marvel #2) left show business in the early 1990's and is currently in the real estate field in northern California; Les Tremayne (Mentor) passed away in late December of 2003, Michael Gray (Billy Batson) is the owner, along with his wife, of a floral shop in L.A., Jackson Bostwick (Captain Marvel #1) is basically the only one still in the business. Joanna Cameron (Isis) left the business in the 1980's , was in the medical profession (a registered nurse) for awhile, and as of recently, is a hotel marketing manager in Hawaii. The show's budget per episode was $70,000 with a crew of about 80 people.