Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Finder's Keepers" (October 2, 1976)

In “Finder’s Keepers,” Billy (Michael Gray) is contacted by the Elders. They warn him that he will soon encounter a situation in which “dishonest action cannot be justified by a good deed.”  Instead, they insist, “lying always leads” to bad ends.

Meanwhile, two Catholic school girls (Carol Ann Williams, Susan Madigan) on the beach discover a  buried box of cash belonging to two criminals (Darwin Joston, Bill Dearth).  The girls, Kate and Laura, take the money, in hopes that it will help their wheelchair-bound teacher, Sister Mary Catherine (Dran Hamilton) be able to walk again.

The criminals however, pursue the girls. Laura and Kate flee onto a boat, and are menaced at sea by a shark.  Captain Marvel (John Daley) comes to the rescue, but the criminal have not yet given up.  

They abduct the two girls, and Billy knows that he needs the help of Mighty Isis (Joanna Cameron) to get the girls to safety.

I can only guess what was going on behind-the-scenes for the third season of Shazam (1974-1976), but the plot complexity of each episode -- as well as the action quotient -- is really ramped up in this final batch of episodes.  This episode features, for example, a nun in a wheelchair, a shark attack at sea, dangerous robbers, and a crossover with the Mighty Isis sister series.

Of course, it all transmit as a weird 1970s jumble. What are all the Catholic school kids and the nun doing hanging out at the beach? 

And what is Darwin Joston -- star of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) -- doing in this episode?

All kidding aside, this is an action packed episode, and it’s always great to see Captain Marvel and Isis teaming up for another adventure.  Also present is Tut, who summons Isis for Billy.

Next week:  “The Sound of a Different Drummer.”

Comic-Book of the Week: Shazam!

Coloring Book of the Week: Shazam! (Whitman)

Halloween Costume of the Week: Shazam! (Ben Cooper)

GAF Viewmaster: Shazam!

Action Figure of the Week: Shazam! (Captain Marvel; Mego)

Board Game of the Week: Shazam (Reed and Associates, Inc.)

Advert Artwork: Have A Super Year - DC 1976 (With Shazam!)

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Ripcord" (September 25, 1976)

In “Ripcord,” Billy Batson (Michael Gray) is contacted by the Elders and told that he will encounter a person who has not learned the lesson that one must know how to crawl before he can walk.  

Specifically, Billy will meet someone who is contending with “the impatience of youth.”

This person is Bill (James Daughton), younger sibling to a skydiver, Bill (Patrick Laborteaux).  Both Bill and his girlfriend, Dorothy (Susan Pratt) know how to dive and pack their own chutes.  Larry decides that he can do the same thing, and -- without telling anybody --- packs Bill’s chute for his next jump.  Unfortunately, he has packed a malfunctioning suit.

Bill jumps from the plan with the faulty suit, but Captain Marvel is there to catch him, and help Larry learn his lesson.

For the second (or perhaps third time…) on Shazam (1974-1976), Vasquez Rocks makes a guest appearance as a setting. Here, at the start of the episode, Bill, Larry, Dorothy and the dog Geronimo, climb to the summit of the rocks.  

Of course, Vasquez Rocks is the sight of the famous Gorn fight on Star Trek’s (1966-1969) “Arena” and a location well-used -- or over-used? -- by many productions from the sixties to the present.  It appeared, earlier on Shazam, in "The Treasure."

In terms of later-era Shazam episodes, “Ripcord” is the first segent of the third season not to feature both a criminal enterprise plot and the didactic teenager learns a lesson story.  As a result, it seems a bit more coherent and focused than the previous episodes.

Next week: "Finders Keepers."

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Bitter Herbs" (September 18, 1976)

In “Bitter Herbs,” Billy Batson (Michael Gray) and Mentor (Les Tremayne) get lost, and a tire on their RV blows out. Captain Marvel repairs it. 

Later, the Elders summon Billy and tell him that no one should “judge someone because he worships differently.”

After the repair, the duo continue on their journey to visit Jack Michaels, an old friend, who is also Jewish.  After their arrival, Mento and Billy meet Jack's teenage son, Yale (David Gruner), and learn that a local racist, Orin Clyde (Landen Chiles) is discriminating against the boy, refusing to let him a club called the Overlanders.  He sabotages Yale's bike, and puts salt water in his canteen in an attempt to dissuade him from sticking with the club.

Worse, as Billy finds out, Orin is smuggling stolen art across the Mexican border.  Again, it’s a job for Captain Marvel.

This episode of Filmation’s Saturday morning series, Shazam (1974-1976), takes on anti-Semitism. 

In particular, a man named Orin says of Jews that “They’re different from us,” and that he doesn’t want “any Jews” in his club. It's pretty ugly, but also true.  We all know that there are people who not only belive this kind of poison, but express their ignorant views for others to hear.

This kind of overt prejudice goes up against the words of the Elders, and the episode's conclusion is that “people must learn to understand” that not everyone is the same, or shares the same sets of beliefs.

All of this material is handled in a manner appropriate for Saturday morning entertainment of the 1970s, but like last week’s show, the episode feels the need to include a kind of criminal subplot too.  

So Orin, played by Linden Chiles, is not only a bigot, but a criminal who is smuggling art. The action scene this week involves Mr. Clyde – the bigot – contending with a mountain lion, and Captain Marvel saving him. 

The jamming together of the two plots makes for a fast-paced episode, of course, but I can’t help but wonder if the point of the show is somewhat lost.  

Bigots are bad people, but not all bigots are criminals. The truly insidious thing about prejudice is that sometimes it is expressed where and when you don’t expect it. By a family member at an event. At a friend’s house. Or by our leaders in Congress, or in the White House. 

These people are ignorant and wrong to carry such beliefs, but they may not also be a criminal, an actual law breaker.  I fear that young people watching this episode would conflate the two ideas and not understand the distinction. They might believe that only criminals are bigots, when in truth prejudice runs deep and wide across a swath of people, some of whom have never broken a single law.

Next week: “Ripcord.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "The Contest" (September 11, 1976)

In “The Contest,” the Elders contact Billy (Michael Gray) after he’s accidentally burned Mentor’s lunch. They tell Billy that sometimes a “winner loses more than he gains.”  

Billy soon learns what this means when he meets Glen (Mark Montgomery), a boy want to win a motorcycle in a contest at a local shop. Glen’s friend works with a man named Fred (Dennis Olivieri), who wants him to cheat in exchange for a favor. Glen agrees, but the favor is terrible. Fred wants the keys to the van where Glen works, at Alva Space Products.

Fred uses the keys to steal the van, and also a solar powered gyroscope for a space satellite. Captain Marvel (John Davey) comes to the rescue when the thief gets caught on an out-of-control motor boat.  Glen, meanwhile, learns his lesson and returns to the motorcycle.

“The Contest” is probably one of the most unnecessarily complex (and therefore) bizarre episodes of Filmation’s live-action series, Shazam (1974-1976). The episode jams in about twice as much narrative as usual, shoehorning together the “criminal plot” and “teenager learns valuable moral lesson” ideas/tropes into one fast-moving but convoluted installment.

Here, bizarrely, a story about a teenager wanting to win a motorcycle becomes a far ranging criminal plot about stolen space equipment, and ends with a chase on the water. The important gyroscope, meanwhile, gets tossed into the air by Captain Marvel and explodes.

All’s well that ends well, I guess…

“The Contest” also features a couple of notable guest-stars. William Campbell of Star Trek (1966-1969) fame -- the actor behind Trelane and Captain Koloth -- has a small role as a local police officer. And Walker Edmiston -- Land of the Lost’s (1974-1977) Enik, is Bob Rose, the owner of the motorcycle shop.

Both of these are nothing roles, but still, it’s more casting fire power than one sees in the typical Shazam episode.

Next week: “Bitter Herbs.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "The Odd Couple" (October 18, 1975)

In “The Odd Couple,” Captain Marvel (Jon Davey) comes to the aid of two teenagers on an out-of-control airplane.

Later, the same two teenagers trek into the woods just as a forest fire begins burning.  Realizing he can’t handle the situation alone, and remembering the Elder’s admonishment that he shouldn’t be 

prideful, Captain Marvel must team up with Mighty Isis (Joanna Cameron).

Captain Marvel’s example makes one of the teens, Don (Steve Benedict), realize that is okay to ask for help instead of blundering into dangerous situations.

Isis (Joanna Cameron) and Captain Marvel (John Davey) first join forces in “The Odd Couple,” a second season episode of Filmation’s Shazam (1974-1976).

Here, Captain Marvel needs help dealing with a forest fire, realizing he cannot handle a problem of this scope all alone.  Accordingly --- for the first time in the series -- Mentor contacts the Elders himself.  They tell him the secret identity of Isis, and where to find her.

Surprisingly, Isis knows all about the Elders, and is more than willing to help out. I would love to know how she is familiar with the Elders, and they with her, but viewers don’t get any additional details.

Once Isis is on the scene, she is able to squelch the forest fire, and save the day.  I confess: I loved seeing Joanna Cameron in full Isis regalia again, having finished reviewing that series over a year ago.  As I recall, the series grew somewhat repetitious and tiresome.  

But Joanna Cameron never did.

Next week: "The Contest," the first episode of Shazam's third and final season.

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Speak No Evil" (October 11, 1975)

In “Speak No Evil,” a trio of adolescent boys break into the school laboratory and begin to break things there.  They steal a typewriter.  And they unknowingly start a fire as well.

The fire is traced back to Paul (Danny Bonaduce), who protects his friends rather than turn them in.  

Billy (Michael Gray) gleans a sense of what is happening, because the Elders have advised him that friendship might be considered a “two-edged sword,” with both “advantages and disadvantages.”

When Paul’s friends become trapped in a power plant while fooling around, with electricity sparking everywhere, Paul seeks the help of Captain Marvel (John Davey).

Danny Bonaduce -- of The Partridge Family (1970-1974) -- guest stars in this episode of Shazam.  He plays Paul, a boy who feels peer pressure to go along with his juvenile delinquent friends as they destroy property and otherwise make mischief.

Mentor (Les Tremayne) and Billy (Michael Gray) try to get Paul to tell the truth, but he doesn’t feel compelled to do so until his friends actually get into real danger at the electrical plant. Then, he finds his courage.

This episode is all about friendship (in case you couldn’t guess), and how real friendship is about obligations as well as advantages.  It is the duty of a friend, according to “Speak No Evil,” to stop your friends from doing stupid or dangerous things.

The threat of the week, a power plant gone nuts, is visualized with special effects that resemble Star Trek's "Lights of Zetar."

Next week: “The Odd Couple”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Goodbye, Packy" (October 4, 1975)

In “Goodbye, Packy,” Billy Batson (Michael Gray) learns from the Elders that soon he will have an opportunity to “be a real hero,” and help someone who has “tampered with nature.”  The wise Elders also inform him that “nature never breaks its own rules.”

Billy comes to understand the meaning of these words when he and Mentor help a girl, Kathy Rose (Shannon Terhone) contend with her beloved -- but dangerous -- pet wolf, Packy.

Kathy is reluctant to let her beloved pet return to the wild, but Packy can no longer safely live as a pet, either.

In the 1970s, Filmation was the king of tear-jerker Saturday morning shows about children losing beloved pets. 

In “Yesteryear,” D.C. Fontana’s brilliant contribution to Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973), for instance, a young Spock had to contend with the death of his pet sehalt (a giant teddy bear/saber-toothed tiger).

Shazam’s “Goodbye, Packy” doesn’t (fortunately) feature the death of a beloved pet, but it does concern a girl having to say farewell to her pet wolf, who is no longer safe in domestic situations.  Packy is at home neither in the wild, nor at home, and so must be rehabilitated before being released into a nearby forest.

The idea here is teaching children to put the welfare of the pet ahead of their own desires. Packy deserves a happy life, and though Kathy wants that for him, she also doesn't want to lose him.

Naturally, Kathy runs away with Packy rather than surrender him. Through a series of accidents, the duo end up trapped on a hot air balloon in-flight. This plight, of course, requires Captain Marvel to come to the rescue.

In the end, rather unconvincingly, Kathy gets over Packy when her father brings her home a puppy.  

Next week: “Speak No Evil.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Double Trouble" (September 25, 1975)

In “Double Trouble,” a thief dressed as Captain Marvel (Jon Davey) robs a gas station. In truth, the impostor is wearing a Captain Marvel costume and mask.  Before long, a local law enforcement official, Sheriff Martin (Ross Elliott), has issued a warrant for the superhero’s arrest.

Meanwhile, the Elders inform Billy Batson (Michael Gray) that “all laws should be respected. Even those which seem unfair.” The young man is also told to “practice” what he preaches.

Realizing the meaning of these phrases, Billy transforms into Captain Marvel and turns himself in, spending the night in the county jail as a prisoner.

With Captain Marvel incarcerated, Mentor (Les Tremayne) and the sheriff’s son, Kelly (Jimmy McNichol) go in search of the criminal impersonators. Kelly finds the cast-off costume and mask, but it is too late: the criminals are gone.

After the robbers tangle with the sheriff, he releases Captain Marvel to save the day.

There’s actually something akin to a criminal plot in this episode of Filmation’s live-action Shazam! (1974-1976). In “Double Trouble,” Captain Marvel is targeted as a criminal, but it’s all a mistake owing to a thief wearing Captain Marvel mask and costume.

After a warrant is issued, Billy decides he must obey the law, even though it means he won’t be able to clear Captain Marvel’s name. Instead, that task is left up to Mentor.

It’s a fun episode, seeing Captain Marvel behind bars, and then, later, bending those same bars. It’s also fun to see Captain Marvel, apparently, robbing a gas station.

Actually, Davey really makes the role his own this week. Captain Marvel is on-screen more frequently than he is in many episodes, and he even has more dialogue here, too.  Davey does a good job portraying the character, essentially a paragon of virtue.  But there's something also very human about this iteration of the character.

The ending sequence of “Double Trouble” is also exciting, as Captain Marvel lands from the air into the back of a small truck in motion to stop the thieves.

Next week: “Goodbye, Packy.” 

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Fool's Gold" (September 20, 1975)

In “Fool’s Gold,” Billy (Michael Gray) and Mentor (Les Tremayne) are contacted by the Elders. 

The wise ones inform Billy that “Gold is where you find it,” and that “friendship is also a form of gold.”  Furthermore, Billy will soon encounter “someone who doesn’t know this yet.”

Their words come true when Billy and Mentor meet Seldom Seen Slim (Dabbs Greer), an old prospector near a gold mine, who is being hassled by some local kids.  The kids plot to torment his donkey, Beulah, and also steal the ores from Slim’s small shack.

But soon, the children’s attitudes change, and they start to realize that old Slim can teach them things, like about prospecting in the mine. 

Unfortunately, Slim is caught in a cave-in, leaving the kids to seek out the help of Captain Marvel (Jackson Bostwick). He uses his great strength to free Slim from the sealed cave.

“Fool’s Gold” is another inconsequential, harmless episode of Shazam (1974-1976).

Jackson Bostwick returns to the role of Captain Marvel (before disappearing again next week), and Dabbs Greer portrays a nice old codger who realizes he still has something important to offer the world. 

And, the icing on the cake is that the whole affair is shot at familiar old Vasquez Rocks.

Like last week’s show (“Debbie”), this one feels a little anti-kid, which is weird. In this case, the children torment and bully Slim until they have a change of heart.  The big lesson this week is not just for the kids, but for Slim, who sees that even though he is old, he is not yet obsolete.

Next week: “Double Trouble.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Debbie" (September 13, 1975)

In “Debbie,” Mentor and Billy are attempting to take a selfie when a message arrives from the Elders.  

They speak to Billy of a “parent’s authority,” and how that authority expresses “love.”  The Elders also warn of a person who “disrespects authority.”

These cryptic musings become more comprehensible after Billy and Mentor encounter Tom (Harry Moses) and Debbie (Cindy Henderson), two young teenagers who are nearly killed on a joy ride.  

Debbie’s mother doesn’t approve of Tom and wants Debbie to stop seeing him. Debbie sneaks out in a car, however to see him.  She defies her mother's wishes.

This time, Tom’s driving nearly gets Debbie killed by a truck…until Captain Marvel (John Davey) intervenes.

John Davey stars as Captain Marvel in this week’s episode of Shazam (1974-1976), taking over for Jackson Bostwick.  

To make things more confusing, Bostwick is back in next week’s episode (“Fool’s Gold,”) and then Davey takes over again, but for the remainder of the series.

It’s a bit of a shock seeing Davey portray Captain Marvel, especially if you are used to Bostwick’s portrayal. Davey is not fat by any means, but he is stockier; heavier built.  It’s a different look all together. Accordingly it’s a little difficult to picture the lithe Billy Batson turning into this guy; who is more like a heavy-weight boxer than a lean superhero. Davey is by no means bad in the role, but seeing him replace Bostwick, at least at first, is a jolt.

The episode Davey is premieres in is also a bit of a disappointment.  Basically, this whole episode is a plea to teenagers to just listen to their parents…because parents are usually right.  Their authority, says the episode, is just a form of love

I don’t know about this, frankly.  I’m a parent, but I still don’t care for the heavy-handedness of this message.  This is supposed to be a show for kids, working their way to adulthood. The insanely pro-parent message smacks a bit of indoctrination if you ask me.  

Shazam should be a series that always stands up for kids, and their right to explore their world.  It doesn’t need to tow any agenda for parents, so kids obey them.  

Here, of course, Debbie’s Mom is right about her boyfriend, Tom, and learns the error of her ways, even apologizing to her Mother. 

This plays more like an adult’s fantasy of parenting than what parenting is actually like.  It's a very one sided story.

The episode’s high point occurs when Captain Marvel gets to pick up a car, and move it out of the way of an oncoming truck on the highway. This seems like a relatively big-budget effect, and perhaps it was included to make Davey’s premiere memorable.

Next Week: “Fool’s Gold.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam!: "On Winning" (September 6, 1975)

The Shazam (1974-1977) episode “On Winning” begins with Mentor’s camper breaking down, after Mentor (Les Tremayne) and Billy Batson (Michael Gray) witness a dirt bike race.

Soon, the Elders call, and tell Billy about “the natural balance of love.”  They also report that “a parent’s love knows no rivalry.”  There is also a warning, however in the message: “There are some for whom winning is all.”

These cryptic words come into sharp clarity as Billy and Mentor meet up with a family on a fishing trip. The older brother, Craig (John Lupton) and the younger one, Corkey (Eric Sheq) are fiercely competitive. Corkey fears that his father, Dan (Stephen Hudis) thinks he is a loser, and loves his brother more.  He will do anything to be seen as a winner, even if it involves deceit.

When Dan is trapped on a mountainside and needs rescue, however, Corkey realizes how much his father loves him. Captain Marvel arrives just in time to save Dan, and negotiate a happy ending.

 Another Shazam episode, another family to be healed. 

After stepping-out on the formula a little bit with a look at human evil (“The Past is Not Forever”/ “The Gang’s All Here”) the series is right back to its typical fare.

In this case, that fare is a mild story about a boy who learns that he is loved, even if his older brother can do more than he can, and therefore is the focus of parental praise.

Why this story needs to be told with a superhero is a good question.  There must be a fire somewhere, with victims needing saving, right?

But Shazam and its counterpart, Secrets of Isis, are all about children reckoning with life lessons.  They are protected from harm while learning those difficult lessons by comforting and powerful adult figures, either Captain Marvel, or Isis. These figures of authority are not judgmental, and they never allow things to get too far out-of-hand.  They are a super safety note.

What I’m talking about here is children finding the freedom to explore what it means to grow up, but with those authority/parental figures exerting a kind of protective boundary for them, so they don’t get hurt.

I suppose that isn’t a terrible idea for a superhero show, but in these series we learn very little about the actual heroes. Where did the device come from, that contacts the Elders, for instance?  Who is Captain Marvel, and does he possess an identity/life beyond Billy’s calls for intervention?

These are some fascinating topics to explore, but Shazam instead remains locked in to its rigid, childish (but didactic formula).  It seems very naïve by today’s standards, for sure.

Next week: “Debbie,” and the arrival of a new Captain Marvel (John Davey)...at least temporarily.

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "The Gang's All Here" (December 14, 1974)

In “The Gang’s All Here,” Billy (Michael Gray) and Mentor (Les Tremayne) have decided to stay in a small town, to deal with the dangerous gang member, Vinnie (Jack McCulloch), who has been released from jail.

Vinnie continues to attempt to frame his sister’s boyfriend, Jackie (Greg Mabrey), a one-time convict who has gone straight and now works at a local gas station.

Billy attempts to reason with Vinnie, but there is no reasoning with the thug, and he takes Billy hostage.

Billy must escape restraint in the gang’s HQ, and call upon Captain Marvel (Jackson Bostwick) before his secret identity is revealed.

This follow-up to “The Past is not Forever” is another unusually hard-edged episode of Filmation’s Shazam (1974-1977).

Here, Billy is held against his will by gang members, and for a while it seems that the leader of the gang, Vinnie, may actually do him harm.

Furthermore, there is actual tension/suspense in the episode, arising from Billy’s predicament while he is captured and locked up in the gang’s headquarters.

All is made right by the end of the half-hour, of course, and yet this two-parter is quite memorable (in terms of the series catalog), in part because matters are actually taken seriously, and something bad could happen.

Now, that’s not to say that bad things don’t happen in other Shazam episodes.  But those “things” are usually not the result of people acting in an anti-social way.  We get mine cave-ins, avalanches, a runaway truck, snake-bites and so forth. 

But here, all the drama arises from Vinnie’s behavior, not the threat of some natural or accidental disaster. Almost automatically, that makes “The Gang’s All Here” more compelling than the average show.

Next week, it’s back to placid, un-threatening business as usual: “On Winning.”