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).

45TH ANNIVERSARIES

RIP DAVID WISE

You can read the announcement here.

As a writer, he worked on Star Trek: The Animated Series, The Secrets of Isis, Space Sentinels, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, Godzilla (1979), The Smurfs, The Biskitts, The Mighty Orbots, Kissyfur, Jem, Cyber COPS, Batman: The Animated Series, Wild C.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams and Corn & Peg. In addition to writing for, he also served as story editor on Space Stars, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Conan and the Young Warriors, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) and Mighty Ducks.

40TH ANNIVERSARIES

HERO HIGH

HERO HIGH

(NBC, September 12, 1981-March 6, 1982)

Filmation Associates

MAIN CAST:

Lou Scheimer – A.W.O.L.

Erika Scheimer – Brat-Man

Christopher Hensel – Captain California

Maylo McCaslin – Dirty Trixie

Rebecca Perle – Glorious Gal

Jere Fields – Misty Magic

Johnny Venocur – Punk Rock

John Berwick – Rex Ruthless

Jim Greenleaf – Weatherman

Linda Gary – Miss Grimm

Alan Oppenheimer – Principal Sampson, Narrator, various

            Welcome to Hero High, where the heroes of tomorrow learn today.

A modern depiction of Archie's Super-Teens.

            Hero High was the idea of producer Lou Scheimer, who originally wanted to develop a series exploring the retirement years of superheroes. However, as the idea was shot down by the network, Scheimer reworked it to be about heroes learning how to be heroes in high school. With the suggestion of adding a band element, it was decided to make the show the eighth installment Filmation’s ongoing Archie franchise. The Archie kids had already been depicted as the superheroes Pureheart the Powerful and the Super-Teens in the 1960s comics, and sporadically thereafter. Unfortunately, during production, Filmation’s rights to the Archie Comics characters expired and weren’t renewed. The characters were quickly modified by Kevin Frank, Tim Gula, Mel Keefer and Janice Stocks to become completely original creations; although, their Archie influences were still evident.

The cast of Hero High.

            Hero High followed the misadventures of the student body as they learned to use their powers while foiling the occasional supervillain or two. Among the main cast was A.W.O.L. (Scheimer), who could go completely or partially invisible; Brat-Man (Erika Scheimer), who caused earthquakes or sonic blasts by throwing super tantrums; Captain California (Christopher Hensel), who had a super-shine smile an flew with his semi-intelligent surfboard, Wipeout; Glorious Gal (Rebecca Perle), who had a variety of mental powers, super strength and could fly; Misty Magic (Jere Fields), who possessed magical powers; Punk Rock (Johnny Venocour), who had sonic powers and super speed while playing his guitar; and Weatherman (Jim Greenleaf), who could control the weather and fly on clouds. Although they also attended Hero High, Rex Ruthless (John Berwick) and Dirty Trixie (Maylo McCaslin) were often the sources of trouble on the show, trying to foul-up their classmates with the dirty tricks located on their belts. 

The kids with Police Chief Hardy.

They were joined by their pet sidekicks Peter Penguin, who was an avian version of Harpo Marx, and Giggler the hyena, who shared Rex and Trixie’s dirty ways, as well as their long-suffering teacher Miss Grimm (Linda Gary) and Principal Sampson (Alan Oppenheimer). Sometimes, the kids had to aid Misty’s uncle, Police Chief Hardy, on various cases. Background characters included the aptly named Li’l Sumo, Captain Walla Walla, Kangaroo Ken, and Coach Cosmo.

            Hero High premiered on NBC on September 12, 1981 as part of The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam. It was paired up with Filmation’s animated second attempt at a show with DC Comics’ Captain Marvel, aka Shazam. As a result, characters from Shazam! would make appearances on Hero High; including Shazam (Burr Middleton) himself and his sister, Mary Marvel (Dawn Jeffory). The Filmation original character Isis (Diane Pershing), who was originally paired with the live-action Shazam! in The Secrets of Isis, also made an appearance. Hero High’s writers included Bill Danch, Robby London, Bruce Taylor, Coslough Johnson, Ron and Sam Schultz, Jack Enyart, Tom Ruegger and Misty Stewart.

Live Rex Ruthless, Glorious Gal, Punk Rock, Capt. California, Dirty Trixie, Weatherman and Misty Magic.

The programming block featured live-action wraparound segments starring the Hero High actors in full costume as their characters with the exception of A.W.O.L. and Brat-Man. The group would perform in front of an audience of kids, telling kid-friendly jokes and playing songs for them. A total of 13 original songs were made including the show’s theme, all composed by Ray Ellis (as Yvette Blais) and producer Norm Prescott (as Jeff Michael) with Dean Andre. The live segments were filmed at Filmation West, with the voice recording for the animated segments happening at Filmation East. Johnson wrote all the live segments, which were directed and produced by Arthur H. Nadel.

Isis drops by Hero High.

            It was intended for the show’s music to be published on an album with the actors going on a concert tour, but the show’s cancellation after its single season ended those plans. Three of the songs for Hero High were released the year before the show even aired as part of the album Rock ‘n’ Roll Disco by Fat Albert & The Junkyard Band, recorded by different performers. The show was nominated for “Best Children’s Television Series” by the annual Youth in Film Awards (now the Young Artist Awards), and Perle walked away with “Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series”. Berwick walked away with something a little more as he married Nadel’s daughter after meeting her at the show’s wrap party. 

Shazam helps out Capt. California and Brat-Man.

            One of the lasting influences of the show came years later when Ruegger became the steward of Warner Bros. Animation’s television renaissance. The episode “The Big Bang Theory” featured a villain named Brain, whose voice was patterned after Edward G. Robinson. The episode was written by Ruegger with consultation from Tom Minton, and it was storyboarded by Eddie Fitzgerald. Ruegger’s Brain character, along with Fitzgerald and Minton, inspired the creation of would-be world conquerors Brain (Maurice LaMarche) and Pinky (Rob Paulsen) on Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain.

The Hero High DVD.

            Hero High was released onto DVD in 2007 by BCI Eclipse LLC under license from Entertainment Rights. The set was full of extra features, including audio commentaries, spotlight interviews with some of the people who worked on the show, a documentary about Filmation, photo and art galleries, DVD-ROM scripts and storyboards, and a booklet with an episode guide and trivia. Although the full animated show was present, only 20 minutes of the live-action footage was included as a bonus feature on the set. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Art of the Ballot” (9/12/81) – Glorious Gal runs against Captain California in the school election to prove the girls are just as good as the boys.

“What’s News” (9/19/81) – Rex hogs the spotlight when a reporter comes to the school to do a story.

“Rat Fink Rex” (9/26/81) – Rex goes power-crazy after he’s made the new Hero High Honor Guard.

“Do the Computer Stomp (10/3/81) – A new computer is allowed to decide who takes who to the upcoming dance.

“Malt Shop Mayhem” (10/10/81) – The kids are made to get jobs for their training, and things don’t exactly turn out right.

“Boo Who” (10/17/81) – The kids head to a haunted house.

“Cover Twirl” (10/24/81) – Glorious Gal tries to get Captain California’s mind off of the visiting Isis.

“My Job is Yours” (10/31/81) – The kids are allowed to take control of the school for the day.

“Girl of His Dreams” (11/7/81) – Rex falls for the visiting Mary Marvel just as his powers disappear.

“The Not So Great Outdoors” (11/14/81) – The kids are forced to camp out when their bus breaks down in the woods.

“Off Her Rocker” (11/21/81) – Misty disappears after the others make fun of her botched trick.

“Follow the Litter” (11/28/81) – Rex and Trixie attempt to foil the others’ plans to clean up the school.

“Jog-a-Long” (12/5/81) – The boys and girls decide to compete in the local marathon against each other, and Rex and Trixie have plans to foul things up for them.

“He Sinks Seaships” (12/12/81) – The kids help Chief Hardy recover an ocean liner from Captain Seaweed.

“Starfire, Where Are You?” (12/19/81) – The kids search for a stolen top-secret shuttled named “Starfire”.

“The Captives” (12/26/81) – The kids have to rescue Misty Magic and AWOL from two thieves hiding in the mountains.

“High Rise Hijinx” (1/2/82) – The kids have to rescue a stolen statue from thieves held up in a penthouse apartment.

“Track Race” (1/9/82) – The kids have to rescue the governor from a sabotaged high-speed train.

“A Clone of His Own” (1/16/82) – Criminals replace Police Chief Hardy with a clone under their control.

“Game of Chance” (1/23/82) – A rigged carnival leads the way to a diamond smuggling operation.

“The Umpire Strikes Back” (1/30/82) – The kids help Chief Hardy track down a spy disguised as an empire at the baseball stadium.

“The Human Fly” (2/6/82) – The tiny Human Fly plots to steal an emerald from the museum.

“Big Bang Theory” (2/13/82) – Big Brain and Tiny plan to use explosives on bank vaults.

“Law of the Pack” (2/20/82) – The kids try to stop an evil animal trainer who steals pets and trains them to commit crimes.

“A Fistful of Knuckles” (2/27/82) – Captain Marvel helps the kids recapture the criminal they accidentally helped free from jail.

“The Blow-Way Blimp” (3/6/82) – The Chameleon steals the box office from Punk Rock’s concert.

THE SECRETS OF ISIS

THE SECRETS OF ISIS

(CBS, September 6, 1975-October 30, 1976)

Filmation Associates

MAIN CAST:

Joanna Cameron – Andrea Thomas/Isis

Brian Cutler – Rick Mason

Joanna Pang – Cindy Lee (season 1)

Albert Reed – Dr. Barnes

Ronalda Douglas – Rennie Carol (season 2)

Lou Scheimer – Opening narration

In 1974, Filmation had licensed and produced a live-action show around the DC Comics character, Captain Marvel (also known as Shazam, due to rival publisher Marvel Comics also having a character named Captain Marvel). The series proved to be a hit and was renewed for a second season. Wanting to expand on their success with the addition of a female counterpart, something unseen at that time, Filmation opted to create an original character rather than license yet another from DC. The result was Isis.

Isis and Tut.

The Secrets of Isis was developed by Marc Richards, who suggested the Egyptian theme. Initially, the series was going to have more of a mystery angle with the characters actively involved in situations as forensic investigators, but the network requested that it instead be moved to a school setting. As a result, the heroine was Larkspur High School science teacher Andrea Thomas (Joanna Cameron), a descendant of Egyptian Pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut. While on an archaeological dig, Andrea discovered the Isiac amulet which bestowed members of that bloodline with the powers of the animals and elements when exposed to the sun and the name of the goddess Isis invoked. With the words “Oh mighty Isis”, Andrea was transformed into Isis and able to access a wide array of powers through the recitation of a rhyming couplet related to the desired ability. Amongst her powers were superhuman strength, flight, control of the elements and matter, summoning of living things, divination of the recent past, and time manipulation. Although not as powerful in human form, Andrea could still communicate with her pet raven, Tut (whom Cameron hated working with and was difficult to wrangle), and was able to use light reflected off her amulet to restore lost memories. Aiding Andrea and Isis were her student assistant, Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang), colleague Rick Mason (Brian Cutler), and school principal, Dr. Barnes (Albert Reed). 

Andrea and Rick.

Isis was the first television series to feature a female superhero lead character, beating out the premiers of The Bionic Woman by four months and Wonder Woman by seven. Like most 70s superhero programs, Isis never fought supervillains. Most of the time, she dealt with problems that arose when her students or other kids made poor decisions and wound up in peril. On the rare occasion, Isis would fight legitimate thieves and people with evil intent. This allowed Isis to deliver Filmation’s customary pro-social message at the end of each episode related to the story’s plot. Because both shows were produced by Filmation, Isis and Captain Marvel (John Davey) crossed over into each other’s programs for three episodes apiece after a special arrangement with DC.

The Secrets of Isis debuted on CBS on September 6, 1975 as part of The Shazam/Isis Hour, with music composed by Ray Ellis (as Yvette Blais) and producer Norm Prescott (as Jeff Michael). Because of this branding, the show’s on-screen title was shortened to Isis. The full title, though spoken in opening narration by producer Lou Scheimer, wouldn’t been seen until the series entered syndicated reruns where the show also lost the epilogues. Isis was written by Sidney Morse, Arthur Nadel (who also directed), David Dworski, Ann Udell, Kathleen Barnes, Susan Dworski, David Wise, Chuck Menville, Len Janson, Russell Bates, Henry Colman, Robert F. Joseph, Michael Reaves, James Schmerer, Norman Cameron, Peter L. Dixon and Sarah Dixon. 

Isis and Captain Marvel together.

The series proved successful, getting renewed for a second season alongside Shazam! Inexplicably, Pang was dropped from the show and replaced by new student assistant, Rennie Carol (Ronalda Douglas). The second season ran for seven episodes and ended with the show’s first two-part episode, “Now you See It…” and “…And Now You Don’t.” The episodes introduced three crime-fighting teens who called themselves “The Super-Sleuths” that Filmation was hoping to spin off into their own series. Unfortunately, that series never materialized. 

DC's Isis comic.

Filmation didn’t give up on Isis. She made animated appearances on future Filmation projects such as Freedom Force voiced by Diane Pershing and Hero High voiced by Linda Gary. Cameron herself wasn’t done with superheroes, as she would go on to appear in the 1978 TV movie The Amazing Spider-Man: The Deadly Dust (also known as Spider-Man Strikes Back). During the second season, DC produced an 8-issue comic series very loosely based on the show prefaced by a guest appearance in Shazam! #25. That same year, Mego produced an action figure while Whitman released several puzzles. In 1977, Golden Press published a book based on the show.

Isis for a new generation.

DC acquired the rights to the character and introduced a reworked version of Isis in their maxi-series 52 in 2006. This version was Adrianna Tomaz (a play on the character’s original name) who became the wife of Captain Marvel’s nemesis, Black Adam, and attempted to reform him until their mutual death and resurrection turned them both evil. Another version of Isis appeared on the 2010 episode of Smallville called “Isis”, where Lois Lane (Erica Durance) was possessed by Isis through the amulet. Smallville’s version blended elements from both the 1970s and 52 portrayals of the character. In 2013, Tomaz appeared again as a support card for the mobile version of Injustice: Gods Among Us.

The episode collection DVD.

In 2007, BCI Eclipse released The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series on DVD. Episodes were presented in original airdate order and the exorcised moral messages were included as bonus features. The set also included the first issue of Bluewater Productions’ The Legend of Isis, which while sharing similarities to the character was actually completely unrelated. In 2008, BCI released a compilation of their Filmation box sets called Heroes and Heroines, which included the first disc from the complete series set. When the BCI set went out of print, Classic Media acquired the rights to the show and released the 7-episode collection The Secrets of Isis in 2010. The series was made available for streaming on Hulu.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Lights of Mystery Mountain” (9/6/75) – Isis investigates if UFOs are responsible for the disappearance of local residents of the mountain.

“Fool’s Dare” (9/14/75) – A young girl finds herself on the run from car thieves who use the junkyard she snuck into as a base.

“Spots of the Leopard” (9/20/75) – Isis has to prove a former jewel thief isn’t behind a recent robbery.

“The Sound of Silence” (9/28/75) – A desperate student steals Andrea’s force field device and sells it to a local crime boss.

“Rockhound’s Roost” (10/5/75) – Isis rescues a runaway boy from a bear in the forest.

“Lucky” (10/12/75) – Isis saves a boy distraught over the death of his dog at sea.

“Bigfoot” (10/19/75) – Some students head to the mountains to investigate the rumors of Bigfoot.

“How to Find a Friend” (10/26/75) – Tom’s attempt at making a new friend leads this “friend” to steal his father’s souvenir handgun.

“The Show Off” (11/1/75) – Steve’s showing off lands him in the clutches of a gorilla.

“The Outsider” (11/8/75) – Some boys who don’t like the new student attempt to frame him for the theft of a rival school’s mascot.

“No Drums, No Trumpets” (11/15/75) – After Fred takes his poor showing at the science fair badly, he, Andrea and Dorothy take a drive to a ghost town inhabited by a gang of thieves.

“Funny Gal” (11/22/75) – Isis and Captain Marvel team-up to rescue a girl who stole a boat for a publicity stunt.

“Girl Driver” (11/29/75) – A boy cheats during a safety driving competition and ends up in danger.

“Scuba Duba” (12/6/75) – A rebellious scuba student ends up trapped underwater.

“Dreams of Flight” (12/13/75) – A girl designs model planes, but the men in her life want to keep her from competing with them.

Season 2:

“Seeing Eye Horse” (9/11/76) – Andrea teaches a blind student to ride a horse to help build his self-confidence.

“The Hitchhiker” (9/18/76) – Isis saves a habitual hitchhiker from a near-fatal car accident.

“The Class Clown” (9/25/76) – Rudy’s practical jokes end up causing a deadly problem in the chemistry lab.

“The Cheerleader” (10/2/76) – A cheerleader attempts to thin the field by framing another for cheating on a test.

“Year of the Dragon” (10/16/76) – Julie is embarrassed by her father’s adherence to his old customs.

“Now You See It…” (10/23/76) – Rick is framed for stealing a weather-manipulating machine.

“…And Now You Don’t” (10/30/76) – Isis and Captain Marvel have to rescue Rick from the real thieves who want the rest of the machine’s plans.


Originally posted in 2016. Updated in 2020.