I watched Shazam just like every other kid who was glued to Saturday morning TV in the 70s. Captain Marvel was considered kind of an off-brand superhero in those days, as Marvel Comics ruled at that time- at least where I was growing up. I actually thought the concept was cool and different when it first came up, since it had someone you didn't see very often.
It was a mid 70s cheese-fest throughout. We all enjoyed it, but we weren't quite sure what to make of it. I think everybody was hoping that the show would suddenly u-turn into the old comic book style, and Captain Marvel would spend 30 minutes every Saturday in harrowing battle against some bona fide super villains. As I recall, Captain Marvel's most heroic acts were picking up a car to save a guy and scaring off a bear. The point of the whole show seemed to be to position Billy Batson as some kind of early social justice warrior prototype. That's all not really meant as harsh criticism, as those were the times. Bill Bixby's Hulk show was largely the same in that regard. Other programming was diving into social issues as well- mainly saving people from oppression by other people.
I think I saw somebody write that this show is available on DVD. If so, it's definitely worth it for any fan to run through this series and get a real feel for how Saturday morning TV was back then.
It was a mid 70s cheese-fest throughout. We all enjoyed it, but we weren't quite sure what to make of it. I think everybody was hoping that the show would suddenly u-turn into the old comic book style, and Captain Marvel would spend 30 minutes every Saturday in harrowing battle against some bona fide super villains. As I recall, Captain Marvel's most heroic acts were picking up a car to save a guy and scaring off a bear. The point of the whole show seemed to be to position Billy Batson as some kind of early social justice warrior prototype. That's all not really meant as harsh criticism, as those were the times. Bill Bixby's Hulk show was largely the same in that regard. Other programming was diving into social issues as well- mainly saving people from oppression by other people.
I think I saw somebody write that this show is available on DVD. If so, it's definitely worth it for any fan to run through this series and get a real feel for how Saturday morning TV was back then.