Traveling across the country in an RV, teen ager Billy Batson and his adult companion, Mentor, would encounter various situations that would require their help. Whenever their help was needed, a flashing light on the dashboard of the RV would start beeping and blinking (Holy Batphone!) and would summon the elders (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury), who would give him some cryptic advice needed for the emerging situation. By yelling the word, "Shazam" (the word is an anacronym for all of the elders' names), Billy would turn into Captain Marvel, an adult hero with the power of flight, super speed, and super strength. As Captain Marvel, he would use his powers to capture criminals, save those in distress, and right any other wrongs that came up.
Shazam! was a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation (the animation studio's first such program), based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel. The show ran from 1974 to 1977
Shazam! proved to be a popular program of its day, and for a time the comic book was altered to match the format of the series. Michael Gray found himself typecast after the series ended production, and had trouble finding acting work, leaving the profession until the late 1990s.
