The Secrets of Isis

The Secrets of Isis is the syndicated title of a live action CBS television series produced by Filmation in the 1970s originally titled Isis that appeared during the Saturday morning cartoon lineup. The show was also aired in various countries around the world. As indicated on commentary in the 2007 DVD release of the series, and supported by examining broadcast premiere dates, The Secrets of Isis was the first weekly American live-action television series whose lead character was a female superhero, debuting September 6, 1975 and predating the weekly debuts of both The Bionic Woman (January 14, 1976) and Wonder Woman (April 21, 1976).

Premise
The Secrets of Isis (also called simply Isis) starred JoAnna Cameron as Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who found an ancient mystical amulet on an archeological dig in Egypt. The amulet belonged to Hatshepsut, an Ancient Egyptian Queen, and it gave the wearer the powers of Isis. Whenever Isis was needed, Andrea would reveal the amulet and recite an incantation ("O Mighty Isis!") and she would be transformed into the goddess Isis.

The show co-starred Brian Cutler as Rick Mason, Joanna Pang as Cindy Lee and Albert Reed as Dr. Barnes, the principal of Larkspur High School, where Andrea and Rick worked and Cindy attended as a student. In Season 2, Ronalda Douglas joined as Rennie Carol, replacing Cindy. Guest stars on the show included Mike Lookinland, Debralee Scott, Leigh McCloskey, Phil Bruns, Mark Lambert, Steven Paul, Thomas Carter, Colleen Camp, Johnny Doran, William Engesser, Laurette Spang, Tommy Norden, Russ Marin and Christopher Norris.

Three episodes of the series featured crossover appearances by Captain Marvel of the show's companion series, Shazam! and Cameron likewise appeared as Isis in three episodes of the other series. (As of 2013, the complete Shazam! series is only available as a print-to-order DVD set, via the Warner Archive label, on WBshop.com.)

Most storylines involved Isis coming to the rescue of high school students who find themselves endangered due to unwise choices. A notable exception was the two-part series finale "Now You See It..." and "...Now You Don't," which had an espionage-related plotline, revealing that Rick Mason has been working secretly for the government on a weather-making machine. This same two-parter introduced a trio of crime-fighting teens dubbed "The Super-Sleuths," and according to the DVD notes, was intended as a backdoor pilot for a Super-Sleuths series that never materialized. It's not known whether this sudden change in direction from school-related plotlines to more traditional superhero adventures would have continued had production not been discontinued.

The Secrets of Isis often broke the fourth wall with Isis/Andrea winking at the camera or otherwise acknowledging the audience at pertinent moments. Each episode featured a closing segment with Isis directly addressing viewers to impart a moral lesson derived from the action of the day's episode.

History
Isis aired on CBS from September 6, 1975, to September 3, 1977 (15 episodes in first season, seven in the second, totaling 22 original episodes), as part of the Shazam/Isis Hour. The success of the show led to syndication of the series the following year as The Secrets of Isis, reruns of the 22 previously produced episodes. The character also appeared in three episodes of Shazam! Isis later appeared in animated form (voiced by Diane Pershing) on Filmation's Tarzan and the Super 7 show in 1980, as part of a segment called The Freedom Force, as well as a guest appearance on the cartoon Hero High (voiced by Linda Gary).

The show's introduction began with the narrator's explanation of how Thomas found the amulet, saying:

''"O My Queen," said the royal sorcerer to Hatshepsut, "with this amulet, you and your descendants are endowed by the goddess Isis with the powers of the animals and the elements. You will soar as the falcon soars, run with the speed of gazelles, and command the elements of sky and earth." Three thousand years later, a young science teacher dug up this lost treasure and found she was heir to The Secrets of Isis. And so unknown to even her closest friends, Rick Mason and Cindy Lee (later Rennie Carol), she became a dual person — Andrea Thomas, teacher, and Isis, dedicated foe of evil, defender of the weak, champion of Truth and Justice.''

The series was a spin off from a comic book produced by DC Comics. Although Isis is often cited as a DC creation, the series is one of the very few Filmation originals (most of their creations were adaptations of previously existing material); the character was created specifically for the television series and was only later adapted for comics. The TV character later appeared in animated form on other series. A considerably reworked version of the character (though still connected with Captain Marvel and given the name Adrianna Tomaz in honor of the television character's secret identity) was introduced in the 2006 comic series 52 and its novelization by Greg Cox. Although this version of the character started as a hero, she later became a villain following the events of 52.

In 2006, BCI, an American distributor of DVDs, announced it had acquired the rights to release the series in North America, which occurred on July 24, 2007. The episodes on the DVD release are presented in their "known original airdate order." Additionally, BCI was able to recover a number of segments from the original broadcasts in which Isis broke the fourth wall to deliver a moral relating to each episode; as noted on the DVD notes, these segments were removed from the prints for syndication and the original footage has been lost. The visual quality of these segments is not as good as the episode footage because these "morals" were sourced from a variety of home-videotaped sources, including transfers of old 16mm prints and off-air Betamax and/or VHS recordings from the 1970s. Because BCI was unable to recover all of the moral segments—in addition to the quality concerns and the fact that BCI company policy is to leave their masters "as they are" without any additions/subtractions—they were not presented at the end of the episodes. Rather, the ones that were recovered were included as a bonus feature instead. Conspicuous by her absence in the DVD commentaries and interviews is Joanna Cameron herself, although she was approached by the bonus content producers.

The DVD includes the first issue of The Legend of Isis, a comic book published by Bluewater Productions, that debuted in 2007. This version of the character was created by Bluewater's founder, Darren G. Davis, and previously appeared in Image Comics. In this version of the story, Isis is a warrior from Ancient Egypt who is transported through time to the 21st Century, where she befriends a police detective. Aside from similarities in costume, this version of Isis has little connection to the TV version.

Grammnet, the production company owned by Kelsey Grammer, has reportedly obtained the rights to produce a movie based on the character to be called The Legend of Isis.

Isis appeared in the tenth and final season of Smallville's fifth episode, "Isis". Portrayed by Smallville actress Erica Durance, this version saw the amulet take over the body of Lois Lane. However, there were nods to the Shazam!/Isis Hour and the modern character in Durance's portrayal.

The rights to the Isis series are now held by DreamWorks Animation.

Powers and abilities
Isis displays a virtually unlimited array of superhuman powers and abilities. Usually she invokes these powers through incanting a rhyming couplet, for example, taking flight by reciting "Oh zephyr winds which blow on high / Lift me now so I can fly." Among her many powers, she exhibits superhuman strength, lifting large rocks and fallen trees. Isis can command the elements of earth, air, fire, and water, and can control the weather. She can control the molecular density of her body and other matter, passing herself through walls and in one instance causing a car to pass unharmed through a road grader. She can divine the recent past, which is manifested for the viewer in the jewel of her diadem. Isis can cause living things including trees and animals to appear and disappear at will. She can increase localized gravity and stop and reverse the flow of time.

Isis has limited superhuman abilities in her Andrea Thomas form. She is able to communicate telepathically with her pet bird Tut and in one instance the reflection of light off of her amulet restored a forgotten memory to a person.

Chronological List of Crossover Episodes with Shazam!

 * Shazam! - Season 2: "The Odd Couple" (10/18/75)
 * The Secrets of Isis - Season 1: "Funny Gal" (11/22/75)
 * Shazam! - Season 3: "Finders Keepers" (10/2/76)
 * Shazam! - Season 3: "Out of Focus" (10/16/76)
 * The Secrets of Isis - Season 2: "Now You See It..." (10/23/76)
 * The Secrets of Isis - Season 2: "...Now You Don't" (10/30/76)

DVD release
BCI Eclipse LLC (Under license from Entertainment Rights) released The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on July 24, 2007. The 3 disc set includes many special features. As of 2009, this release has been discontinued and is out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations. Beginning in the fall of 2010, the series could be seen on Netflix's "Watch Instantly" streaming service. (Note: The streaming was discontinued in early 2011 and the individual DVD discs had to be placed in the customer's mailing queue. Of late, a search of Netflix for "The Secrets of Isis" yields no results, leading one to believe that Netfilx has completely taken this series out of its line-up.)

The series was re-released once again on DVD as a single disc set from Classic Media on September 6, 2011.