50TH ANNIVERSARIES

 No mid-life crisis here...just these shows turning

JOANNA CAMERON DEAD AT 70

 

You can read the full story here.

She starred as Isis on The Secrets of Isis and on Shazam! (1975).

STEVE SHERMAN DEAD AT 72

 

You can read the full story here.

After a tenure as Jack Kirby’s assistant and an editor at DC Comics, he went on to work for Filmation and Sid & Marty Krofft Productions before forming his own puppet studio with Gregory Williams. They provided the O.G. Readmore puppet for ABC Weekend Specials, several of the puppets for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and the penguin puppets for Beakman’s World, one of which he operated.

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: LEN JANSON

LEN JANSON 

(Unknown) 

Notable Roles: Animator, writer, story editor, producer, director 

Janson began working at Walt Disney Productions as an in-betweener. In 1965, he became a story man and received his first screen credit in Warner Bros.’ Boulder Wham! Roadrunner short. In the following years, he partnered with fellow animator and writer Chuck Menville. Together, they produced a series of live-action short films utilizing the long-forgotten stop-motion pixilation method. Among them was the Academy Award-nominated Stop Look and Listen, which followed a day in the life of motorists who tooled around the city in invisible cars. They wrote, directed and starred in their shorts. Clips from their second film, Vicious Cycles, were used in ABC’s The New Communicators which landed them a gig making commercials for Gulf Oil’s “no-nox” gasoline. In 1969, Janson and Menville started long stints at both Filmation and Hanna-Barbera, serving as story editors and producers for several of their shows. Over at DiC Enterprises in the 1980s, Menville and Janson were offered the story editor position of The Real Ghostbusters, but they initially turned it down due to the massive workload of having to produce a syndicated and Saturday morning version of the show at the same time. Following the departure of story editor J. Michael Straczynski over creative differences in changes ABC wanted to make, Janson and Menville became the story editors for the remainder of the show’s run. They went on to write, produce and story edit for the reboot of Land of the Lost and Tiny Toon Adventures. Following Menville’s death in 1992, Janson went on to develop the Sonic the Hedgehog animated series for ABC, as well as its follow-up, Sonic Underground. He also wrote several episodes of Baywatch Nights and The Woody Woodpecker Show revival. Janson’s last credited work was on an episode of Gadget and the Gadgetinis in 2003, although he did appear in 2008 documentaries about The Real Ghostbusters. 

Saturday Credits: 

Cattanooga Cats 

Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down 

Groovie Goolies 

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1969) 

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids 

The Flintstone Comedy Hour 

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (episodes) 

Lassie’s Rescue Rangers 

Speed Buggy 

Star Trek: The Animated Series 

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch 

Hong Kong Phooey 

Korg: 70,000 B.C. 

Shazam! (1974) 

Uncle Croc’s Block 

The New Adventures of Gilligan 

The Secrets of Isis 

ABC Weekend Specials (episodes) 

Ark II 

The New Adventures of Batman 

Space Sentinels 

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle 

Tarzan and the Super 7 

Yogi’s Space Race 

Buford and the Galloping Ghost 

Jason of Star Command 

The New Fred and Barney Show 

The New Shmoo 

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo 

The Flintstone Comedy Show 

Space Stars 

The Smurfs 

Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour 

Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince 

The Biskitts 

Kissyfur 

The Real Ghostbusters 

The Little Wizards 

Tiny Toon Adventures 

Land of the Lost (1991) 

The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series 

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993) 

Dumb and Dumber: The Animated Series 

Gadget and the Gadgetinis 

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: CHUCK MENVILLE

CHUCK MENVILLE 

(April 17, 1940-June 15, 1992) 

Notable Roles: Animator, writer, story editor, producer, director 

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Menville moved to Los Angeles at age 19 with designs to become an animator. He was hired by Walt Disney Productions and served as an assistant on The Jungle Book (1967). Unhappy with his working environment, Menville got into writing and began a long partnership with his friend, fellow animator and writer Len Janson. Together, they produced a series of live-action short films utilizing the long-forgotten stop-motion pixilation method. Among them was the Academy Award-nominated Stop Look and Listen, which followed a day in the life of motorists who tooled around the city in invisible cars. They wrote, directed and starred in their shorts. Clips from their second film, Vicious Cycles, were used in ABC’s The New Communicators which landed them a gig making commercials for Gulf Oil’s “no-nox” gasoline. In 1969, Menville and Janson started long stints at both Filmation and Hanna-Barbera, serving as story editors and producers for several of their shows. Outside of television, he wrote the book The Harlem Globetrotters: Fifty Years of Fun and Games in 1978. Over at DiC Enterprises in the 1980s, Menville and Janson were offered the story editor position of The Real Ghostbusters, but they initially turned it down due to the massive workload of having to produce a syndicated and Saturday morning version of the show at the same time. Following the departure of story editor J. Michael Straczynski over creative differences in changes ABC wanted to make, Janson and Menville became the story editors for the remainder of the show’s run. They went on to write, produce and story edit for the reboot of Land of the Lost and Tiny Toon Adventures. Menville’s final project was a story for Batman: The Animated Series. However, he died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma before the script could be written. Brynne Stephens wrote the teleplay for the episode, and Menville was given story credit. His children keep the “family business” going, as Scott Menville became an actor primarily in animation and Chad Menville is an author. 

Saturday Credits: 

Cattanooga Cats 

Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down 

Groovie Goolies 

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1969) 

Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids 

The Flintstone Comedy Hour 

The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie (episodes) 

Lassie’s Rescue Rangers 

Speed Buggy 

Star Trek: The Animated Series 

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch 

Hong Kong Phooey 

Korg: 70,000 B.C. 

Shazam! (1974) 

Uncle Croc’s Block 

The New Adventures of Gilligan 

The Secrets of Isis 

ABC Weekend Specials (episodes) 

Ark II 

The New Adventures of Batman 

Space Sentinels 

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle 

Tarzan and the Super 7 

Jason of Star Command 

The New Fred and Barney Show 

The New Shmoo 

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo 

The Flintstone Comedy Show 

Space Stars 

The Smurfs 

Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour 

Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince 

The Biskitts 

Kissyfur 

The Real Ghostbusters 

The Little Wizards 

Tiny Toon Adventures 

Land of the Lost (1991) 

The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series 

Batman: The Animated Series 

SMF PRESENTS: SHAZAM!

Here's our latest infographic showing all the current depictions of the Fawcett/DC Comics character Shazam (aka Captain Marvel) and his alter ego, newsboy Billy Batson. Click the image to see the full size.

SHAZAM! (1981)

SHAZAM! (1981)

(NBC, September 12-November 28, 1981)

Filmation Associates

MAIN CAST:

Burr Middleton – Captain Marvel/Billy Batson

Dawn Jeffory – Mary Marvel/Mary Batson, Freckles Marvel, Aunt Minerva

Barry Gordon – Captain Marvel Jr./Freddy Freeman

Alan Oppenheimer – Uncle Marvel/Uncle Dudley, Tawky Tawny, Dr. Sivana, Mr. Mind, Shazam, Dr. Allirog

Lou Scheimer – Sterling Morris, Black Adam, Ibac, Night Owl

Norm Prescott - Narrator

            Five years after their original live-action Shazam! series, Filmation made a second attempt at the DC Comics-licensed superhero; however, this time they returned to more familiar territory by producing an animated series.

Mary, Billy and Freddy (top) say their magic words and transform into superheroes (bottom).

            The animated Shazam! was a lot closer to the source material than the live-action one. Billy Batson (Burr Middleton) was a TV reporter (for WIZZ instead of WHIZ) who was imbued with the powers of the ancient wizard Shazam (Alan Oppenheimer) to continue on his quest of battling evil. By saying the wizard’s name, Billy was changed into Captain Marvel (also Middleton), who possessed the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. Sharing in his adventures was Billy’s twin sister, Mary (Dawn Jeffory), who could transform into Mary Marvel with the grace of Selena, the strength of Hippolyta (not to be confused with Wonder Woman’s mother), the skill of Ariadne, the fleetness of Zephyrus, the beauty of Aurora, and the wisdom of Minerva, and disabled newspaper boy Freddy Freeman (Barry Gordon), who could become Captain Marvel Jr. (since he shared Captain Marvel’s powers, he used the hero’s name as his transformation word instead of “Shazam”). They lived in Fawcett City in the Marvel Mansion along with their Uncle Dudley (Oppenhimer, impersonating W.C. Fields), who sometimes tried to help out as the powerless Uncle Marvel. Also featured was the Marvels’ recurring friend, Tawky Tawny (also Oppenheimer): a humanoid tiger who tried his best to be part of human society.

Ibac and the Hiss-Men.

            The series made extensive use of the Marvel Family rogues gallery. The most well-known amongst these were mad scientist Dr. Sivana; the genius alien worm Mr. Mind (both Oppenheimer); and Captain Marvel’s corrupted ancient predecessor Black Adam (Lou Scheimer). Other Marvel foes included were Night Owl (Scheimer), a daring thief whose oversized eyes gave him excellent night vision; Aunt Minerva (Jeffory), a sweet-looking old lady who was actually a criminal mastermind with designs on finding a new husband; Ibac (Scheimer), a muscular brute empowered by the strength of the four most evil men in history (Ivan the Terrible, Cesare Borgia, Attila the Hun and Caligula) who, in the cartoon, led an army of humanoid crocodile Hiss-Men; Dr. Allirog (Oppenheimer), an intelligent gorilla; and Mr. Atom, an artificially-intelligent nuclear-powered robot.

            Shazam! premiered on NBC on September 12, 1981 as part of The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam. It was paired up with Filmation’s original creation Hero High, which was originally intended to feature superhero versions of Archie Comics characters before Filmation lost the license. Although Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel would appear in a couple of Hero High episodes, the Hero High cast was only featured in the 12^th and final episode of Shazam!, which was written by Hero High writer Tom Ruegger. Otherwise, Shazam! was primarily written by Dennis O’Flaherty and Paul Dini, with a story and script by Fred Ladd. The series’ music was composed by Ray Ellis (as Yvette Blais) and producer Norm Prescott (as Jeff Michael). Prescott also served as the show’s narrator. Kevin Frank, Tim Gula, Mel Keefer and Janice Stocks served as the show’s character designers, following closely off the artwork of Shazam artist C.C. Beck.

Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind often working together for evil!

            Only half as many Shazam! episodes were made in comparison to Hero High, resulting in the Shazam! feature being rerun alongside remaining new episodes of Hero High. And while Hero High saw release on DVD in 2007, Shazam! has yet to see a release beyond a series of VHS collections by Family Home Entertainment beginning in 1990. The following year, DC Comics would end its licensing agreement with CBS Publications, the then-current rights holder, and buy the characters outright.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Who’s Who at the Zoo?” (9/12/81) – Dr. Allirog allows himself to be taken in by the city zoo in order to enact his vengeance against the Marvel family.

“The Incredible Sinking City” (9/19/81) – Tired of being ignored, Mr. Mind recruits an all-worm army to cause chaos and destruction in order to be named king of the world.

“Best Seller” (9/26/81) – Ibac uses the Marvels’ cousin Freckles to entrap the Marvel Family in the past and turn them into part of his Hiss-Men army.

“Flight 601 Has Vanished” (10/3/81) – The Marvels and Dr. Sivana end up flung into an alternate dimension where they end up the playthings of a giant girl.

“Black Adam’s Return” (10/10/81) – Black Adam returns to resurrect Princess Jemia, but in failing that he takes Mary as a consolation prize.

“A Menacing Family Affair” (10/17/81) – Dr. Sivana and his family are given an amulet that gives them powers on par with the Marvel Family.

“Uncle Dudley’s Wedding Day” (10/24/81) – Aunt Minerva kidnaps Uncle Dudley to make him her husband.

“A Little Something Extra” (10/31/81) – A disguised Black Adam sends Freddy on a wild goose chase when he throws him a fake newspaper with the headline “Captain Marvel Vanishes!”

“The Airport Caper!” (11/7/81) – When Tawny fails to save animals abducted by Night Owl, it’s up to the Marvel Family to save them all.

“Mr. Atom, the Smasher” (11/14/81) – After they stop his robot army, Mr. Atom captures the Marvels with a powerful electromagnet.

“The Circus Plot” (11/21/81) – Mr. Tawny auditions for the circus while Mr. Mind concocts a worm-constructed grid that can harness the sun’s power into a powerful beam.

“Star Master and the Solar Mirror” (11/28/81) – When Star Master captures Mary and Freddy, Captain Marvel has to go to Hero High to recruit some help in stopping him.

SHAZAM! (1974)

SHAZAM!

(CBS, September 7, 1974-October 16, 1976)

Filmation Associates

MAIN CAST:

Michael Gray – Billy Batson

Jackson Bostwick – Captain Marvel (season 1-2)

John Davey – Captain Marvel (season 2-3)

Les Tremayne - Mentor

Non-comic fans who frequent social media were probably confused about all the talk of two Captain Marvel movies in the early months of 2019. Surely Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, the only film to have that title, was the only one. Right? Technically, no.

Shazam as the headliner of Whiz Comics.

Captain Marvel actually predated Marvel Comics’ version by a couple of decades. Following the success of National Comics’ (the precursor to DC Comics) Superman and Batman characters, other publishers began throwing their hats into the superhero comic market. Fawcett Publications entered into the game in 1939 and tasked writer Bill Parker to come up with several heroic characters for their debut issue, originally titled Flash Comics. Amongst his ideas, Parker created a team of six heroes that embodied the power of one of six mythological figures. Executive director Ralph Daigh decided that the six heroes should instead be combined into a singular one that could utilize each ability. Parker then created Captain Thunder, who was designed and illustrated by staff artist Charles Clarence “C.C.” Beck. Beck based his appearance on popular actor Fred MacMurray and rendered him in an almost cartoony style that became his trademark.

The Flash/Thrill Comics ashcan.

In the fall of 1939, Fawcett published a low-print run ashcan of their book for advertising purposes and to secure the trademarks. The issue was titled both Flash Comics and Thrill Comics. However, Fawcett soon discovered that it couldn’t trademark either title or “Captain Thunder” as all of them were currently in use. The book was then retitled Whiz Comics (after Fawcett’s earliest magazine, Captain Billy’s Whiz-Bang) and artist Pete Costanza suggested renaming the good Captain as “Captain Marvelous”. The editors liked the name, but decided to shorten it to “Marvel”.

Billy Batson gets his powers from Shazam.

Captain Marvel is the alter-ego of 12-year-old orphan Billy Batson (named after Fawcett founder Wilford H. Fawcett, nicknamed “Captain Billy”) who was granted power by the ancient wizard, Shazam, to continue his fight of good against evil. By speaking the wizard’s name, Billy gained an adult body with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. When not carrying on the fight for justice, Billy served as an on-air radio reporter for station WHIZ.

C.C. Beck's rendition of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson.

Captain Marvel proved to be a success. Whiz Comics #2 sold over 500,000 copies, and the character steadily grew to become the most popular character in the Golden Age of Comic Books; eclipsing even Superman. In 1941, he was spun off into his own solo title, Captain Marvel Adventures, and was gradually given a supporting cast that shared his abilities. Amongst them were the Lieutenant Marvels, a group of three boys from around the country that shared Billy’s name (and were all based on members of the staff); Captain Marvel Jr., who was disabled newsboy Freddy Freeman; Mary Marvel, Billy’s twin sister, Mary; Uncle Dudley, a con artist who ingratiated himself with the Marvel family and they allowed to pretend to share their powers as Uncle Marvel; and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, an anthropomorphic animal parody. 1941 also saw the debut of the Republic Pictures serial Adventures of Captain Marvel, making him the first superhero to be depicted in film (portrayed by Frank Coghlan,Jr. and Tom Tyler). A radio serial would follow in 1943 starring Burt Boyar.

Battle of the Supermen! Superman faces DC's version of Shazam, Captain Thunder.

Unfortunately, success came with a price. National took notice of the similarities between Captain Marvel and Superman—his basic powers, mild-mannered reporter alter-ego, overall appearance—and decided to take Fawcett to court for copyright infringement. The suit went to trial in 1948 and while Fawcett was found to be infringing, the presiding judge discovered National failed to copyright several of their Superman newspaper strips and thus abandoned the copyright. National filed an appeal on the decision and it was found by Judge Learned Hand that while the character itself was not infringing, the specific stories and super feats could be and would need to be reexamined at a retrial. Since the end of World War II, sales on comics had been steadily declining, and instead of prolonging the fight Fawcett decided to just settle the matter out of court.

A page from Charlton Comics' Hoppy reprints, with a renamed and recolored Hoppy.

Part of the settlement was that Fawcett would cease publication of the Captain Marvel family of titles. However, Fawcett decided to ultimately cancel all of their comics and shut down their entire comics division in 1953. Fawcett sold the reprint rights for Hoppy to Charlton Comics, who renamed him Hoppy the Magic Bunny (sometimes also called "Happy" or "Speedy"), and L. Miller and Son, a British publisher who published black and white Captain Marvel reprints, decided to save their comic book business by adapting Captain Marvel into the derivative superhero, Marvelman.

Superman shows no hard feelings as he unveils Captain Marvel's new book.

Captain Marvel sat out the next two decades, missing the resurgence of superhero comics. Carmine Infantino, publisher of DC Comics, wanted to inject new properties into their comics line and licensed the Fawcett characters in 1972. Because rival Marvel Comics had created their own Captain Marvel to secure the name’s trademark in 1967, DC’s revival comic was retitled Shazam! The book maintained the same continuity with Fawcett’s publications and included reprints of those stories. The new content was said to take place on Earth-S of the DC multiverse; keeping it separate from its main line. Beck was brought back to draw the first ten issues before leaving over creative differences. Although the book had a strong debut, it couldn’t match the popularity the title once had (largely due to DC’s inability to advertise it using the “Captain Marvel” name) and it ended in 1978. Further appearances of the Marvel family came as back-up features in other titles. DC also resurrected the Captain Thunder name for a one-off pastiche version of Captain Marvel in Superman #276.

Publicity shot of Gray and Bostwick.

In 1974, Filmation Associates acquired the license from DC to produce a live-action series based on the character; their first time doing so. Like most other 70s action shows, the series followed Billy Batson (Michael Gray) as he traveled around in a RV with his mentor, Mentor (Les Tremayne), encountering a rotating roster of guest-stars that required help. If Billy or Mentor weren’t enough, then Billy would exclaim “Shazam!” and transform into Captain Marvel (Jackson Bostwick) through a stock transformation sequence. As with other superhero shows of the era, there were never any supervillains featured. Instead, Captain Marvel was called upon to deal with drug dealers, car thieves, runaway kids and a host of other relevant social issues. In keeping with their pro-social stance, Filmation included a short segment at the end of each episode where a character (usually Marvel himself) would relay the overall moral for the story. Billy’s job as a radio reporter was only briefly mentioned and never seen.

Billy consults with the elders.

Unlike in the comics, Billy didn’t get his powers from the wizard Shazam, but rather from the six beings that made up his powerset: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury (voiced by producers Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott, as well as writer Marc Richards and an uncredited cameo by Adam West). The six elders would also request an audience with Billy through a device called the Eterni-Phone in the RV, and after uttering “Oh, Elders, fleet and strong and wise, appear before my seeking eyes!” Billy would be brought before them (represented by animated characters with limited movement). There, the elders would deliver a cryptic message that wouldn’t make sense to Billy until he encountered that day’s problem.

CBS Saturday morning ad for 1974.

Shazam! debuted on CBS on September 7, 1974. The series was written by Len Janson, Chuck Menville, Marianne Mosner, Jim Ryan, Bill Danch, Bill Canning, Rik Vollaerts, Jack Mendelsohn, Jack Kaplan, Donald F. Glut, Arthur H. Nadel, Paolo Orsini, Barry Greenfield, Frank Grenville, Michael Pressman, Olga Palsson Simms, Michael Sutton, Sid Morse, J. Michael Reaves, Ray Goldstone and Susan Dworski. The music was composed by Ray Ellis and Prescott (as Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael, respectively). In a 2012 interview, Gray recalled that the show was filmed a short distance from the studio and they completed an entire episode within two and a half days. Shazam! became a hit for the studio and the network. Emboldened by their success, Filmation created another superhero show starring an original creation: Isis (Joanna Cameron). The Secrets of Isis became the first with a female superhero lead character and was paired with Shazam! to form The Shazam!/Isis Hour. Isis and Captain Marvel would also cross over into each other’s shows as a result through a special arrangement with DC. 

New publicity shot of Tremayne, Gray and Davey.

During production of the second season, Bostwick, who performed most of his own stunts, was injured and was instructed by his doctors to take a few days off from filming. Producers somehow got the idea that this was a tactic to get a pay increase and promptly fired him. They felt no one would notice a change and replaced him with John Davey. Bostwick only appeared in two episodes of season two, while Davey appeared in the remainder. Bostwick sued Filmation for wrongful termination and Filmation was forced to pay his full salary for the entire series, as well as residuals for reruns. 

Billy gets new instructions in Shazam! #26 by Nelson Bridwell & Kurt Schaffenberger.

To tie into the program, DC altered the direction of their comic beginning with issue #25, which introduced Isis into the DC Universe. The next issue, Uncle Dudley was reintroduced with a new mustache and was assigned the role of Billy’s “mentor” by the wizard Shazam. He was to accompany Billy in an RV as he used the cover of being a roving reporter to pursue his arch-nemesis, Dr. Sivana, and prevent him from destroying the country city by city. Shazam also gave Billy access to the six elders to consult with whenever he needed guidance utilizing the Eterni-Phone. By the time of the comic’s final issue, which was published two years after the show ended its third and final season, the status quo was reverted back to normal with Captain Marvel working alongside the Marvel Family. The art style was also changed from a Beck-influenced one to be more representative of what was typically found in standard superhero comics.

Captain Marvel and Isis.

Following its conclusion, the show was seen in reruns on both the network and later across various cable channels. By 1991, DC purchased the rights to the character outright and the show fell under the ownership of Warner Bros.; DC’s parent company. In 2005, Warner Bros. Television released “The Joy Riders” on the 8^th volume of their Warner Bros. Television Commemorative DVD series that was released as bonus disks with various Warner releases. It was designed to tout the 50 years of Warner Bros. Television as well as promote their programs that didn’t have their own home releases yet. The episode was also included as a special feature of Wonder Woman: The Complete 3^rd Season. The rights to Isis remained with Filmation’s successors, however when the complete series was released to DVD in 2007 the set included the three crossover episodes with Captain Marvel. In 2012, Warner Archive released the complete Shazam! series to DVD, and then on Blu-ray in 2019. The series was also made available for streaming on the iTunes Store and the DC Universe service.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Joy Riders” (9/7/74) – A young man doesn’t know what to do about his friends stealing cars for joy rides.

“The Brothers” (9/14/74) – Made to feel useless because of his brother, the blind Chad runs away only to have his brother pursue him and end up bitten by a rattlesnake.

“Thou Shalt Not Kill” (9/21/74) – A woman’s niece tries to prevent the destruction of a horse as requested in the woman’s will.

“The Lure of the Lost (Part 1 of 2)” (9/28/74) – Billy and Mentor try to help Gary get himself away from the influence of a drug dealer.

“The Road Back (Part 2 of 2)” (10/5/74) – The drug dealer steals the police car that holds Gary to prevent him from going to the DA’s office with evidence against him.

“The Athlete” (10/12/74) – Two boys will stop at nothing to keep Kellie from being part of the all-boys Varsity Team.

“The Treasure” (10/19/74) – Billy and Mentor try to help stop the theft and sale of priceless Indian artifacts.

“The Boy Who said No” (10/26/74) – Mentor is robbed, and the young boy who witnessed it is warned off from confessing by the robber.

“The Doom Buggy” (11/2/74) – Don dropped out of school to work but soon discovers he’s not as smart as he thought he was.

“The Brain” (11/9/74) – Billy and Mentor try to help new kid Jim get accepted by his peers, and a tough guy decides to use that to talk Jim into a dangerous stunt.

“Little Boy Lost” (11/16/74) – Billy finds and saves a boy who runs away, and he and his father soon pay it forward by trying to rescue a puppy that fell down a well.

“The Delinquent” (11/23/74) – Even though Norm can’t swim, he decides to go on a canoe ride and ends up capsized.

“The Braggart” (11/30/74) – Braggart Alan ends up having to prove he did a dangerous stunt or else risk losing his friends.

“The Past is Not Forever (Part 1 of 2)” (12/7/74) – Jackie is accused of robbing the gas station he works at due to his criminal records and the use of the keys in the crime.

“The Gang’s All here (Part 2 of 2)” (12/14/74) – Vinnie’s desire to get even with Jackie almost results in one of them being killed at the oil refinery.

Season 2:

“On Winning” (9/6/75) – Corky feels he can’t compete with his brother and his father doesn’t love him as much because of it, so he decides to run away.

“Debbie” (9/13/75) – Billy has to help make Debbie realize when her parents warn her off certain things it’s out of love.

“Fool’s Gold” (9/20/75) – A group of boys tease an old prospector until they end up trapped in his mine.

“Double Trouble” (9/27/75) – Captain Marvel is framed for a crime and turns himself in to the police, leaving Mentor to try and clear his name.

“Goodbye, Packy” (10/4/75) – Kathy doesn’t want to set her aging wolf free, so she runs away with him and hides in a hot-air balloon.

“Speak No Evil” (10/11/75) – When a boy confesses to accidentally setting the school on fire, his fellow culprits chase him into the electrical plant.

“The Odd Couple” (10/18/75) – Dan refuses to accept Captain Marvel’s help when his plane runs out of gas, while Captain Marvel needs Isis’ help to stop a forest fire.

Season 3:

“The Contest” (9/11/76) – Glen is convinced to steal the answer to a contest for a motorcycle, and the one who convinced him looks for some payback.

“Bitter Herbs” (9/18/76) – Yale is kept out of a club because of his faith, but soon the leader of the club finds himself in trouble with a mountain lion.

“Ripcord” (9/25/76) – Young Bill, in a hurry to grow up, packs his brother’s parachute by himself.

“Finders Keepers” (10/2/76) – Captain Marvel calls on Isis to help him rescue two girls and Mentor from thieves.

“The Sound of a Different Drummer” (10/9/76) – Curtis’ friends pressure him to give up the violin and take up sports, causing him to run away and wind up in a missile testing range.

“Out of Focus” (10/16/76) – Captain Marvel and Isis have to convince a young filmmaker to give his film to the police so that a pair of thieves can be brought to justice.