Hero High Title Card
The Kid Superpower Hour with Shazam! series, which aired in 1981 on NBC Saturday mornings." It was made by Filmation Productions and it was a whole hour.
It featured two segments, "Hero High" and "Shazam!"
These cartoon segments are interspersed with live-action segments[1] that introduced the music and joke telling of the rock group hero-high.
From time to time the characters of one show would appear in the other. Isis from The Secrets of Isis also made a guest appearance in animated form on Hero High.
First Segment: Hero High[]
The Hero High segment focused on the adventures of super powered teenagers in high school that are learning how to be superheroes. They have all the typical teenage activities, rivalries and events, but modified for their powers and skills.
Cast[]
Hero High Opening Intro Filmation
Hero High Intro
Shazam! -1981 Intro-
Shazam! Intro
- Norm Prescott as Mr. Samson (the elderly principal)
- Linda Gary as The Narrator / Miss Grimm (the teacher)
The seven main students were:
Good Teens:
- Christopher Hensel as Captain California
- Becky Perle as Glorious Gal
- Jim Greenleaf as Weatherman
- Jere Fields as Misty Magic
Rotten Teens:
Additional characters:
- Lou Scheimer as A.W.O.L. (a kid who could disappear) -[?]
- Erika Scheimer as Bratman (little boy who cried and threw super tantrums)
- Peter Penguin (a trench-coat wearing bird ala Harpo Marx) -[?]
- Giggler the hyena (who hanged with Rex & Trixie) -[?]
- Police Chief Hardy (Misty Magic's uncle who ran the police force) -[?]
Second Segment: Shazam![]
Shazam! Title Card
The companion segment, Shazam!, focuses on the adventures of the Marvel Family.
This version of Captain Marvel stayed true to its comic roots. Billy Batson was a boy broadcaster who works with his twin sister, Mary Batson.
Together they were given the powers of six great gods and heroes and whenever they say the name of the ancient wizard, "Shazam", they are transformed into the mightiest mortals. So amazing and sudden is the change that most people don't even realize what has happened.
Billy draws on the power of:
Mary draws on the power of:
- Selena - Grace
- Hippolyta - Strength
- Ariadne - Skill
- Zephyrus - Speed
- Aurora - Beauty (invulnerability of body)
- Minerva - Wisdom (invulnerability of mind)
Billy and Mary Batson and their friend, Freddy Freeman, are ordinary kids who have a wonderful secret and a great responsibility – to battle the sinister forces of evil. For Freddy to transform into Captain Marvel Jr., he must say the name of his favorite superhero, "Captain Marvel" to call the magic lightning. Together with Billy and Mary, they fight the threats to the world.
Cast[]
Good Guys:
- Burr Middleton as Billy Batson / Captain Marvel
- Dawn Jeffory as Mary Batson / Mary Marvel
- Barry Gordon as Freddy Freeman / Captain Marvel Jr.
- Alan Oppenheimer as Tawky Tawny (a talking tiger in a business suit)
- Alan Oppenheimer as Uncle Dudley
Main Villains:
- Alan Oppenheimer as Dr. Sivana
- Alan Oppenheimer as Mr. Mind
- Lou Scheimer as Black Adam (the renegade Marvel)
Episode Guide[]
Notes[]
- There were two cartoons per week, one at their high school while another had them solving cases with Chief Hardy.
- There's also 4 live action segments featuring the seven Hero High characters.
- One would be the song of the week while
- The other three would be sketches that had corny jokes (think of it as either Laugh In Jr. or Hee Haw Jr.)
Trivia[]
When Filmation had this idea, they wanted to use the Archie characters & title it Super Archies (Punk Rock & Misty Magic would've been the outside characters). But they lost the rights to Archie, they had to restructure the show.