hasslein

^Awesome. I ordered mine a couple of days ago, no email.

mythmaker18

So, anybody get a chance to watch any of the episodes yet? Comments?

I just received mine at lunch today! Hope to take it for a spin tonight!

Larry50

I just got the set and looked at Disc 1 episodes.The episodes
run 21 minutes and change.These are the syndicated versions like
the Secrets Of Isis set.Video quality is better than the bootleg set
I had.I was hoping for uncut episodes.

mythmaker18

It's not exactly as cut-and-dried as that.

If you select the episodes individually, they play without the morals. If you want to view the episodes with the morals intact, the main menu has an option that says "Special Feature: Play All With Morals". Bear in mind, though, that most of the morals (though not all) are of lesser picture quality than the episodes themselves, which is the reason their inclusion is considered a special feature than as the default method of viewing.

All of the Season 2 morals, however, exist on WB's 16mm masters and are the same visual quality as the rest of the episode.

Also, it's a neat idea that they decided to leave intact that "Shazam/Isis Hour" bumper (the one with the 'clouds') before the beginning of all the season 3 shows and two CBS voiceovers (on season 2 episodes 1 and 3) asking you to 'stay tuned an exciting episode of "Isis" coming up next. They could just as easily have snipped these off/overdubbed with the generic theme leaving us none the wiser.

SkullOrchard

So, does anyone have a definitive answer regarding whether or not these are the uncut versions?

mythmaker18

As I said in the post right above yours, you can play the episodes with the moral tags included within the episode by using the "special feature: play all with morals" menu choice.

I don't know of anything else (besides the morals) that anyone could think would have been edited out of the episodes, and since there is a menu choice to include the morals within the episodes, that equals "uncut" to me. Some of you will probably argue that WB should have made watching with morals the only choice, but due to the varying picture quality, there were people at WB who didn't want the option to watch them within the episodes "at all"! It took a certain dedicated faction at WB (with input from some of the fans) to get them to allow that "play all" option. I wish BCI had done the same with Isis.

I've have Shazam! in my collection since the mid 1990s (those earlier copies were "off-CBS" recordings). There's nothing missing as far as I can tell. Heck, even the commercial break bumpers are intact ("we'll be right back to Shazam! after these messages" and "and now, Shazam! in every single episode). Those if you out there claiming these are "edited", tell me, what's missing...

Apart from Season two, WB had to use lower-quality sources for the morals, because they weren't included on the set of masters that Filmation handed them back in the '80s. It was either than or not include them at all, so WB have tried to do right by the fans and give them the complete episodes, in the best quality possible.

For anyone who's had a bootleg or off-air set of recordings, WB's set is a definite step up in quality. Have the prints been remastered? Like most WB Archive stuff, probably not a lot (they're visually on about the same level as the TV Land broadcasts, but without the digital compression, etc), but they look way better than bootlegs, and I'd wager they look better than they ever would have back in the '70s on CBS.

b2net

Pressed or DVD-R?

The Valeyard

mythmaker18

If you order from WB themselves, you should be able to get pressed discs while they last. I can't imagine anyone receiving burnt discs this early on, unless they ordered them from Amazon, who, if I understand correctly, fulfill (burn) WB Archive orders themselves.

The Valeyard

It looks like the WB website has TWO Shazam! releases. The WB Archive exclusive cover and the regular cover. You may want to get the exclusive cover to up the odds of getting pressed discs.

Regular Cover

Exclusive Cover

b2net

Thanks.. I missed your earlier Post about it being pressed Discs .. I just got mine.. haven't opened it yet.. I got the Exclusive Cover.. Used the $10 & FS Insider coupon.. Now I am even more happy with this purchase..

ytrez

Got it on Saturday and watched the first episode on Monday before the hurricane took my power out. I loved every cheesy second of it but my 13 year old laughed at the crudely animated elders, Billy's pronunciation of Mentor so it sounds like a name, the bad acting, hokey lesson, poor flying, and people's inability to figure out that they kid with the red shirt riding around in a Winnebago with a lightning bolt on the front is really Captain Marvel. I'm going to make the bastard watch every episode now.

hasslein

Filmation has the best music...

SkullOrchard

If Billy Batson was wearing a yellow shirt while saying 'Shazam!', would Captain Marvel's costume be yellow too?

ytrez

Nope.

PhantomStranger

In the comics now, they've turned Billy into a jerk. I was really hoping they would also include the later animated Shazam series from Filmation in this set.

hasslein

My first set, disc 3 had a big chip out of it, the replacement set finally arrived. I forgot about the second, pot bellied Captain Marvel! HA!

mythmaker18

I'd say they'll put them in a set by themselves.