“Holy Moley!”
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with watching Saturday morning TV shows. I remember getting up super early every Saturday, taking my pillow and blanket downstairs to the living room, and planting myself in front of our family TV set to watch Saturday morning cartoons, which included animated series and live-action programming, for hours! I especially loved the live-action series “Shazam!”, based on the superhero Captain Marvel from the DC comic book series. In honor of my recent interview with actor Michael Gray, who starred as Billy Batson in the Saturday morning TV series “Shazam!”, I have put together an informative list of trivia filled with interesting facts about the history of Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam!, from the early black-and-white movie serials to the latest big-screen films for you to enjoy!
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The TV program starred Michael Gray as Billy Batson, a teenage boy who can transform into the superhero Captain Marvel, originally played by Jackson Bostwick and later by John Davey, by speaking the magic word "Shazam!” With his guardian "Mentor" (Les Tremayne), Billy travels the country in a 1973 Dodge Open Road motorhome, looking for injustices to resolve.
The show ran from 1974 to 1976 on CBS's Saturday morning lineup. 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.
The Mentor character, as played by Les Tremayne, was unique to the TV series and did not originate from the Shazam! comics. His background, and the origin of his relationship to Billy, were never explained.
The six letters in the word Shazam stood for the six Elders who granted Billy their powers: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.
Shazam! (originally known as Captain Marvel) was the subject of Hollywood's first ever superhero film adaptation: Republic Pictures' “Adventures of Captain Marvel” in 1941.
Jackson Bostwick was fired from "Shazam!" (1974) two episodes into Season 2 and replaced withJohn Davey. Bostwick had sustained an injury during filming, went for medical treatment, and was advised to stay home a few days to recuperate. However, producers mistakenly accused him of holding out for a higher salary. Bostwick successfully sued Filmation, which was forced to pay his full salary for the entire series, including all of its reruns, on CBS.
Jackson Bostwick said that when he was fired from the series the producers explained to him that, since this was a kid's show, most viewers would not notice another actor replacing him in the role. Bostwick believed that most kids were smart enough to tell the difference, and he was largely proved to be correct.
Billy Batson's work in radio from the comics was only mentioned once in this series. A brief line spoken by Billy in its first episode explained that radio station WHIZ had sent him on a roving assignment to do stories about American youth, with Mentor as an advisor.
Because this series and “The Secrets of Isis” (1975) were produced by the same company, both series would often have crossover episodes.
In the comic book, the wizard Shazam grants Billy Batson the power of Captain Marvel, not the immortal Elders themselves as in the television series.
One of the show’s greatest achievements was giving a name to the group of gods and demi-gods (and a deceased mortal) that provided Billy with his powers. The Elders! While their visits were often maddeningly vague, the designs and animation were well done! And if you listen closely, you might be able to discern the voice of the redoubtable Adam West as Hercules!
The character Mentor was more or less based on the character Uncle Dudley in the Captain Marvel comic books. To make the connection more obvious, the normally clean-shaven comic book character grew a mustache.
Mark Harmon was in the running to play Captain Marvel prior to the beginning of Season 1 of the TV series “Shazam!”
According to Michael Gray (Billy Batson) in an interview in 2012, the series was filmed during the summertime, shot within an hour or an hour and a half from the studio in the Los Angeles Valley and they did an episode in two and a half days. Some of the crew had also worked on the TV series "Lassie".
Each episode featured an "ending moral" segment where the viewer was told the life lesson that was to be learned from watching it. For all of Season 1 (15 episodes), Jackson Bostwick dressed as Captain Marvel delivered these messages. Michael Gray as Billy Batson gave them in Season 2 (six episodes) and in one episode of Season 3 along with baseball great Maury Wills. John Davey gave them in all other Season 3 episodes.
The uncredited voices of the Elders were performed by Filmation producers Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott.
Fans of the series were always excited to see Captain Marvel change back into Billy Batson. It was a rare moment in it and it only happened four times: three times with Jackson Bostwick and once with John Davey - in his very first episode, "Debbie.”
The show was notable for giving a lot of the kid actors of the time guest spots, including the Partridge Family’s Danny Bonaduce; Jackie Earle Haley; the ubiquitous Pamelyn Ferdin, and Lance Kerwin of James at 15. And there were adult stars, too, including one of my faves, John Karlen of Dark Shadows fame and Michael Gray’s predecessor, Frank Coghlan. Jr, who played Billy Batson in the "Adventures of Captain Marvel" serial.
The vehicle used by Billy and Mentor is a 1973 Winnebago - Open Road "A class" motor home.
Development of a live-action "Shazam!" film began at New Line in the early 2000s, but was delayed for several years. The film went into pre-production in 2009, with Peter Segal as director, John August as writer and Dwayne Johnson being considered to star as the villain Black Adam, but the project fell through; Johnson acts as an executive producer on "Shazam!"
The film was officially announced in 2014, with Johnson attached to star as either Shazam or Black Adam. In January 2017, he was cast to lead a solo Black Adam development project. David F. Sandberg signed on to direct “Shazam!” in February 2017, and Zachary Levi was cast that October, with Asher Angel joining the following month.
The original film was followed by a sequel titled “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” (2023) and a spin-off film “Black Adam” (2022), both of which failed to meet the critical and financial success of the first film.
During early development, the film starring Zachary Levi was titled "Billy Batson & The Legend of Shazam."
Zachary Levi dyed his hair black for the lead role in the film version.
Henry Cavill was in talks to reprise his role as Superman from previous DCEU films for a cameo in “Shazam!”, but was unable to because of scheduling.
Michael Gray from the “Shazam!“(1974) TV series, appears as a bystander in the final battle. of “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” Gray not only has on a red and yellow shirt, his costume from that show, but he calls Shazam his original title of "Captain Marvel".
The character we now know as Shazam was originally named Captain Marvel, and was owned by Fawcett Comics. Fawcett was sued by DC Comics over the fact DC felt Captain Marvel was too similar to Superman.
After its original network run, “Shazam!” was brought back for reruns from January 5 through August 30, 1980. A handful of episodes appeared on Nickelodeon/Nick@Nite’s sister network, TV Land infrequently throughout the 2000s, originally appearing on the "Ultimate Fan Hour" in early 2004 as part of the "TV Land Kitschen" late weekend night programming block.
As of January 2023, the series is available for free streaming on Tubi.
Some facts are taken from IMDB & Wikipedia.
Don't miss the chance to listen to my fun podcast interview with actor Michael Gray on the two latest episodes of my podcast HOLLYWOOD OBSESSED! Click the links below to listen now!
Episode 93 - HERE
Episode 94 - HERE
