MovieChat Forums > Shazam! (1974) Discussion > Should've worked much better

Should've worked much better

posted 18 years ago by khaosjr
2 replies | jump to latest

You know what I always thought would've been a great variation on this theme?

Had Filmation brought Remo "the Destroyer" Williams and Chiun, Master of Sinanju, to Saturday morning TV in a format such as this one.

Let's face it. Chiun and Remo were already "on walkabout" all over the American continent: serving the public trust, protecting the innocent, upholding justice, and all that good stuff. Moreover, the timing would have been perfect, since Warren Murphy and the late Richard Sapir had just started writing the DESTROYER novels in the early-to-mid-1970s.

And so, if they could've found some really suitable actors to portray the two leads (I was thinking of John "Roper" Saxon as Remo and Joseph "Doctor No" Wiseman as Chiun), such would have resulted in that rarity: a Saturday Morning TV series which parents or elder siblings could sit through with the youngsters, and not be humiliated to talk about it afterward.

Finally, instead of a "moral," just have a sort of "history lesson" at the end...wherein Remo and/or Chiun explains briefly about whatever corner of America today's story took place in. (Hey, it worked for Zorro and the Lone Ranger.)

Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong.

How about you, folks?

[–] solex10 17 years ago

Yeah, right-a Remo Williams animated show; Ha Ha!

The character is the biggest right-wing fantasy yet-a man with incredible powers who kills all guilty criminals that the POTUS thinks 'got away with it.' Nothing like Batman or Superman, oh no; just a killer.

There is no way a show like this would have worked on TV back then; the concept would have to be completely toned down until it was nothing more than a Saturday morning version of Kung Fu (in fact, they might as well have just done that anyway); Chiun would not be as nasty as he is in the books, and Remo would be more heroic and boring; CURE would be a nice guy organization instead of the more extreme Double-0 section it is in the books; and fans of the original books would be crying and hollering blue murder at how their favorite character had been (plus, before I forget, 'The Destroyer' couldn't be used as a title for the show; it'd have to be called The Adventures Of Remo Williams!) Also, the origin story would have to be changed, since having him be set up and then executed would be a lot for kids to take.

All in all, an idea that Filmation wouldn't want to risk developing, I don't think. Better to have it developed in Japan as an anime show with all the blood and thunder intact, like Golgo 13.

Of course, that's just my opinion: I could be wrong.

[–] grendelkhan 16 years ago

Definitely not a property Filmation would have pursued, let alone a network would buy. If Batman couldn't throw a punch, do you really think an assassin would play? Besides, check out Filmation's body of work. They were definitely not politically conservative.