Isis

Entertaining show for kids with drop-dead-gorgeous JoAnna Cameron as a teacher who changes into the goddess Isis to fight evil. The show came on the air in the mid-70's, during what was then a public uproar over violence on children's television, so Isis defeated most of her villains non-violently and offered a moral at the end of the show. The show only lasted one season but was re-run for many years after that.

The show caught on in South America when it was rebroadcast there in the 1980s, and "Isis" has many Brazilian fans.

The show is mostly valuable today for the fun cornball factor and for the fact that Ms. Cameron, who bears a striking resemblance to Catherine Zeta-Jones, was a knockout who wore short skirts and had great legs. Neo-pagans and Wiccans will find much to raise an eyebrow over, as the goddess aspect is treated with unusual respect for the time and place the show came out.

JoAnna Cameron retired from show business in the 80's and went into nursing, specializing in geriatrics. Recently she has made appearances at science fiction and TV nostalgia conventions and by all reports is still a gracious and beautiful woman.

o zepher winds that blow on high, lift me now so i can fly...she used to say that when she flew away. Did Isis ever actually fight a bad guy. Seems like she was always putting out fires and rescueing kids in 70's gear from a disabled boat! Great show, i wish i could see it again.

70s Saturday morning kid's show about a female superhero: Isis.

I had two reactions to this series so here we go:

My 1970s childhood reaction. I thought this series was one of the great wonders of the world. Isis seemed supercool to me, the series plots were fine, the action scenes were outstanding and this series was generally speaking: must-see-TV.

My current middle aged adult reaction. Today I often proudly go down memory lane and watch TV shows of my youth, and I have a great time. But I am sorry to report that this Isis series is missing a lot of the punch it had but related series of the day - Shazam! (1974-76) - still stands tall the way it did decades ago.

But that does not mean that Isis is not worth a look in this century. There are a few episodes that are still wonderful entertainment - mainly "Lucky" and "The Sound Of Silence". "Lucky" is a touching tale of a kid's relationship with his pet dog. "Silence" actually introduces science fiction into the series as a stolen force field makes trouble for all concerned.

And there were a few episodes where John Davey (Captain Marvel in Shazam!) made a guest appearance, and this was a thrill. Isis and Shazam! also shared many of the same music cues during the run of both shows. I would say the music cues were about 40% of the entertainment value in Isis.

However, the Isis series really ran into problems towards the end and the last three episodes - Year Of The Dragon, Now You See It..., ...And Now You Don't - rank as some of the worst Saturday morning TV of the 70s.

If you wish to re-visit all those old live-action 70s Saturday morning TV shows I would consider watching Shazam!, Ark 11, Land Of The Lost, Bigfoot and Wildboy...and maybe leave Isis to the end of your viewing list. Enjoy!

I remember this show like it was yesterday;a modern day high school teacher that see trouble coming and goes into a room has a secret ring on her finger and says,"Oh,mighty Isis!" and changes into a Egyptian princess named Isis with superpowers who helps out kids who get into trouble and fights off evil doers. It came on Saturday Mornings around 10:00am and I can remember this show being on. This was a dynamite show to watch by the way since it only was on for two seasons and went right off the air(and its reruns) for much of the decade(as part of the Shazam/Isis Hour). However,there was Isis who comes out at the end of the show to give a message or two about certain things(which became part of a Filmation staple and a big winner during its run on CBS). The series lasted two seasons on Saturday Mornings from September 6, 1975 until October 23, 1976 and it produced 22 episodes where CBS repeated it entirely until 1979 when it was combined "The Shazam-Isis Hour". Since the show's star was a fashion model before she became an actress,Joanna Cameron was a knockout to watch as Isis. She was beautiful. By the way,whatever happened to her after that? After her stint as "Isis" Joanna Cameron went on to star in the short-lived series based on "Spider-Man",and from there was a guest star in several television shows until she retired from show business and Hollywood altogether in the 1980's. Today,she does public appearances but she left Hollywood for the hotel marketing business based in Hawaii.

Revised on July 8, 2015

Today's tribal kiddies have nothing on Isis for piercing endurance. That woman wore earrings the size of soup tureens...and flew! How could she do that? I just don't know!

Seriously, it was a fun show, perfectly targeted for its audience.

Isis also had good advice for the kids, like "don't talk to strangers", "don't prank call the police", or "don't share needles with the junkie ho's on south avenue". She was way ahead of her time.

But I think Trinity could have kicked her ass.