September 7, 1974: "Shazam!" Premieres on CBS

September 7, 1974: Shazam! premieres on CBS, as a live-action depiction of the DC Comics superhero Captain Marvel, for Saturday morning children's audiences.

In the comics, Billy Batson is a teenage intern for radio station WHIZ -- named for his debut publication, Whiz Comics in 1939 -- who, due to his pure heart is invited by Shazam, an ancient wizard, to speak his name and accept great powers. When he says, "Shazam!", "magic lightning" strikes him and turns him into Captain Marvel, a super-powered adult.

"Shazam" spelled out the initials of the gods and heroes who contributed those powers:

* S for the wisdom of Solomon.

* H for the strength of Hercules.

* A for the stamina of Atlas.

* Z for the power of Zeus.

* A for the courage of Achilles. And...

* M for the speed of Mercury.

Some of these traits overlap: Clearly, Atlas had to have significant strength; and The Iliad calls Achilles "swift-footed." To change back into Billy, Captain Marvel says, "Shazam!" again.

Due to copyright issues, Marvel Comics holds the trademark on the name "Captain Marvel," and has used it for a succession of superheroes. So, for legal reasons, DC can use the name Captain Marvel for its character, but can't use that name as the title of any publication or video production based on him.

As a result, their comics, cartoons, and a 1974-77 live-action Saturday-morning CBS show have had to use the title Shazam! This has led to confusion, with some people thinking that the caped hero in the red costume with the yellow lightning bolt on his chest is, in fact, named Shazam.

This was not the case in 1941, when The Adventures of Captain Marvel made him the 1st superhero ever to appear in a movie. (Superman appeared in a cartoon later in the year, but not in a live-action film until 1948, with Batman debuting onscreen in 1943.) Frank Coughlan Jr. (1916-2009), a former child actor already too old to play the part, played Billy Batson, and Tom Tyler (1903-1954) played Captain Marvel.

In 2012, DC just gave up, and made "Shazam" his official name. In 2022, DC renamed him again, calling him "The Captain," so that he can once again be called "Cap" for short (as is the Marvel hero Captain America), but also allowing him to say his name without calling down the lightning that will change him back into a kid without powers.

Jackson Bostwick, then 33, played Captain Marvel. Aside from his 1970s-style hair, he nailed the look, complete with a comics-accurate costume and cape. Michael Gray played Billy, although, at 23, he was not only too old to play a teenager, but was only 8 years younger than Bostwick.

Michael Gray as Billy Batson

Les Tremayne played "Mentor," a character was created for the show. Like most superhero shows on TV to that point, none of the hero's usual villains are shown, because the costumes and the special effects would have cost too much. Certainly, Bostwick's flying sequences were no better than George Reeves' on The Adventures of Superman, 20 years earlier.

As a result, the show was given the same style as Route 66, The Fugitive, Run for Your Life, and the subsequent The Incredible Hulk: The protagonist goes around the country, helping people where he can. Eventually, the comic books tied into the TV show, adopting this theme, and Billy's Uncle Dudley became "Mentor."

Bostwick did his own stunts, and this proved to be a mistake. He got hurt, and went to the doctor on a day when he was supposed to show up for filming. The producers thought he was holding out for more money, and he was replaced with John Davey. Bostwick looked the part. Davey did not, as he was 4 years older, and a bit too chunky to be wearing tights, much like Adam West as Batman.

John Davey, 1975. A little too chunky for the role.

Bostwick sued, but the show was canceled in 1977, meaning he couldn't get his job back no matter what. So the parties settled, and he got his contract paid in full.

In the 1979 NBC special Legends of the Superheroes, Cap was played by Garrett Craig. There was a successful Shazam! cartoon on NBC's Saturday morning schedule in the 1980s. But it would take until 2019 for another live-action version, when Warner Brothers released the film Shazam! as part of the DC Extended Universe. Asher Angel, 16 at the time of filming, played a 14-year-old Billy living in the real city of Philadelphia; while Zachary Levi, then 38, played Cap.

As of September 7, 1974, Gray, Bostwick and Davey are still alive.

UPDATE: In 2023, DC released a sequel film, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Michael Gray made a cameo appearance, wearing the same red shirt he wore on CBS nearly 50 years earlier.

*

September 7, 1974 was a Saturday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* A doubleheader was split at Shea Stadium, where the New York Yankees were groundsharing with the Mets while Yankee Stadium was being renovated. The Detroit Tigers beat them in the opener, 8-3. Luke Walker outpitched Rudy May. Al Kaline, in his final month as an active player, went 0-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

The Yankees won the nightcap, 1-0. Larry Gura, later to be a Yankee nemesis with the Kansas City Royals, pitched a 5-hit shutout to beat Woodie Fryman. The Yankees also got only 5 hits, but 1 was a home run by Graig Nettles in the 2nd inning. Kaline went 0-for-4. On September 25, he got his 3,000th career hit. On October 2, he played his last game.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Bob Gibson outpitched Jon Matlack.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mario Guerrero singled Rico Petrocelli home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-0 at Atlanta Stadium (renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the next year). Jim Barr pitched a 6-hit shutout to beat Phil Niekro. Hank Aaron, in his last month with the Braves, did not play.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 6-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Dave Parker singled Richie Hebner home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Willie Stargell went 1-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4. Five days later, the Indians traded for former Oriole Frank Robinson. Twenty days after that, with the regular season over, they appointed Frank to be MLB's 1st black manager.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Dave Concepción hit home runs. Pete Rose went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bill Bonham allowed 10 hits, but kept the shutout, outpitching Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 1-0 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Al Fitzmorris allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout. Rookie George Brett went 1-for-3. Harmon Killebrew appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and struck out. Rod Carew went 2-for-5.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 8-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Nolan Ryan went the distance, striking out 9 -- and walking 7. Frank Robinson, in his last 5 days with the Angels, went 0-for-2, and was hit with a pitch.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Jeff Burroughs, on his way to being named the American League's Most Valuable Player, went 1-for-4 with a walk. Reggie Jackson, MVP of the previous year's AL season and World Series, went 0-for-4. This win closed the Rangers to within 6 1/2 games of the A's in the AL Western Division. But they finished 5 games back, as the A's went on to win their 3rd straight World Series.

And the college football season got underway that day. These were among the games played:

* Number 11 Houston were upset by Number 15 Arizona State, 30-9 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* Number 12 UCLA and Number 16 Tennessee played to a tie, 17-17 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee.

* Number 18 North Carolina State beat Wake Forest, 33-15 at Groves Stadium (now Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

* And Syracuse beat Oregon State, 23-15 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.