Thursday, July 12, 2012

News: SHAZAM! (1974-76) Comes To DVD in September

Warner Archive Promo Art by Jerry Ordway (I think!)
Chosen from among all others by the immortal elders - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, Mercury - Billy Batson and his mentor travel the highways and byways of the land on a never ending mission: to right wrongs, to develop understanding, and to seek justice for all! In time of dire need, young Billy has been granted the power by the immortals to summon awesome forces at the utterance of a single word! SHAZAM!

It's been hinted at for some time, but it looks like Warner Archive, the studio's manufacture-on-demand home video label, will finally be offering to U.S. customers the complete 1974-1976 Filmation live-action series, Shazam! on DVD in September. The 18th, in specific. Retail will be $34.85. Like all Warner Archive releases, it will probably be available through Amazon a few weeks later for International customers.

This 3-disc MOD set will include all 3 season's worth of half-hour episodes featuring Michael Gray as Billy Batson, Les Tremayne as his mentor, Mentor, and both Jackson Bostwick and John Davey as the World's Mightiest Mortal, the legendary Captain Marvel.

I've been looking forward to this release for some time. Warner Archive did a terrific job with their Man From Atlantis releases, and I'm guessing they'll give this show the same care. It'll be nice to put this set on my shelves next to its companion show, Isis, too. This Saturday morning classic came in third in our recent super-heroes poll (tied with The Amazing Spider-Man), so I'm guessing a lot of  other Space: 1970 Star Kids are looking forward to it too.

It can be pre-ordered through the Warner Archive site HERE.

11 comments:

  1. This is so cool. I loved this show back in the day. Papa John's Pizza gave away a single episode DVD for a promotion back in 2005 or 2006?

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  2. I don't know about a Papa John's giveaway, but there was a single-episode DVD included in Warner's 3rd Season DVDs of Wonder Woman back in 2005.

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  3. Yup it was on The Season 3 Wonder Woman box sets back in 2005.I have mine
    Question if Shazam was on for 3 season wouldnt it be 1974-1977? not 1974-1976 unless it was a syndicated show?

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  4. Will it include the "morals" at the end of the episodes? That's the $34 question.

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  5. Anon - Seasons 2 & 3 were only 6 episodes each, so new episodes stopped airing before the end of '76. Reruns of those episodes ran throughout the seasons, though, so it's really just a matter of perspective.

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    1. Thanks for the clear up Chris you Rock!

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  6. Very excited about this release. Hopefully sales will be strong and the animated version will be released as well.

    They really should have used that poster as the cover art for the DVD. It's gorgeous!! Kind of a waste for it to be used only on a promo item that very few people will see.

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  7. Coolest Winnebago on the planet!

    Thanks for the heads up!

    B.

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  8. I always thought it was strange that Billy would need that communications dome to talk to the Elders. Gods don't need electronics, do they?

    Ah, Filmation. I miss those guys. We just need a few more releases to complete the collection of their most popular 1970s shows. Lassie's Rescue Rangers and Tarzan, chief among them. But unfortunately, those two are also licensed properties, so they're probably tied up in copyright disputes.

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    1. Warner Brothers did include a Filmation Tarzan episode in one of their "Saturday Morning Cartoons: the 1970's" volumes, so I'm hopeful that we'll see a Warner Archive collection before too long.

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    2. Lassie's Rescue Rangers shouldn't be too hard to get, but it won't come from Warner Archive; it'll probably come from a company that's licensed to do so by Classic Media and the company that own's the rights to Lassie.

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