Shazam was an acronym for the strange and generous television series of the 1970s

The new DC superhero movie Shazam! opens this weekend, featuring Zachary Levi as a young Billy Batson who turns into a costumed superhero in red and gold when he pronounces the magic word. The hero's failure to find a catchy name is one of the movie's jokes (the BDMI simply mentions it as Shazam). But sooner Shazam! fans of the whistling Comics, the 1940s series, and the 1970s television series know that this hero had a different (and familiar) name.

This guy was known as Captain Marvel and in the 1970s at least his counterpart Billy Batson (played by Michael Gray) had a whole team of Olympian advisers. Shazam! ran on Saturday morning, a rare live-action series in the middle of a sea of ​​cartoons, alongside a counterpart of the female goddess, The secret of Isis. Billy had a pretty cool concert, touring the country in a Winnebago with his advisor known as Mentor, played by Les Tremaine (they could not have given a better name than Mentor? Helping people. And when times were tough, Billy said the magic word ("Shazam!") To become Captain Marvel (Superman), similar to Superman, or called the gods from which he took his name: Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury , calling them with the immortal line, "Oh, elders, float and strong and wise, appear before my eyes that seek!" secular wisdom. Other shazams relied primarily on the Shazam magician, but Billy in the 1970s, had a whole team.

Shazam! from 1974 to 1977, and as it is the 1970s, most episodes had a distinct effect. ABC special after school atmosphere. Antisemitism, drugs, a high school girl trying to be part of the boy's university team: This SHazam! privileged domestic issues of the day instead of epic confrontations between good and evil. So, if you look closely, you might hope that the future Rorschach, Jackie Earle Haley, is a young delinquent, or James at 15 's Lance Kerwin, teenager blind. Each episode ended with a message from Captain Marvel or another character highlighting the not-so-subtle message of the episode ("Before we can love others, we must first love ourselves.")

The special effects, of course, pale compared to the current Shazam!, Especially the flight sequences. But hey, Captain Marvel had at least one name and could still stop a plane with his bare hands. Pious Shazam fans can find clips on YouTube (including Isis crossovers), then surprise their friends with the knowledge of the names behind the Shazam! acronym.