Saturday, February 04, 2017

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Shazam: "Finder's Keepers" (October 2, 1976)


In “Finder’s Keepers,” Billy (Michael Gray) is contacted by the Elders. They warn him that he will soon encounter a situation in which “dishonest action cannot be justified by a good deed.”  Instead, they insist, “lying always leads” to bad ends.

Meanwhile, two Catholic school girls (Carol Ann Williams, Susan Madigan) on the beach discover a  buried box of cash belonging to two criminals (Darwin Joston, Bill Dearth).  The girls, Kate and Laura, take the money, in hopes that it will help their wheelchair-bound teacher, Sister Mary Catherine (Dran Hamilton) be able to walk again.

The criminals however, pursue the girls. Laura and Kate flee onto a boat, and are menaced at sea by a shark.  Captain Marvel (John Daley) comes to the rescue, but the criminal have not yet given up.  

They abduct the two girls, and Billy knows that he needs the help of Mighty Isis (Joanna Cameron) to get the girls to safety.


I can only guess what was going on behind-the-scenes for the third season of Shazam (1974-1976), but the plot complexity of each episode -- as well as the action quotient -- is really ramped up in this final batch of episodes.  This episode features, for example, a nun in a wheelchair, a shark attack at sea, dangerous robbers, and a crossover with the Mighty Isis sister series.

Of course, it all transmit as a weird 1970s jumble. What are all the Catholic school kids and the nun doing hanging out at the beach? 

And what is Darwin Joston -- star of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) -- doing in this episode?

All kidding aside, this is an action packed episode, and it’s always great to see Captain Marvel and Isis teaming up for another adventure.  Also present is Tut, who summons Isis for Billy.


Next week:  “The Sound of a Different Drummer.”

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