How many of you out there remember this "Isis?"
...rather than this ISIS?
I don't know about you, but I prefer the first choice, thank you very much.
The former Isis was a super-heroine who did super-heroic things like helping people and fighting evil. The latter ISIS are a group of radical extremists who seem to despise Western culture.
"The Secrets of Isis" TV show ran for 22 episodes over two seasons on CBS in 1975 and 1976. It was produced by Filmation (who also did "He-Man," "She-Ra," "Shazam" and "Tarzan"), and it was aired on Saturday mornings alongside cartoons and the like.
"The Secrets of Isis" was the first weekly, American, live-action television series with a female superhero lead character (debuting September 6, 1975, predating the weekly debuts of both "The Bionic Woman" (January 14, 1976), and "Wonder Woman" (April 21, 1976), according to Wikipedia.
In the series, Isis starts out as a seemingly normal science teacher named Andrea Thomas (played by Joanna Cameron), who transforms into the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage and love when presented with an issue that a mere mortal cannot resolve.
My recollections of the show are fleeting, as I was only five when it aired, but I remember liking it for two reasons:
1. It was very much like a female version of one of my favorite shows at that time, "Ultraman," because the main character transformed herself with a phrase and a cool gadget. In "Isis" it was an Egyptian amulet, and the phrase "Oh, Mighty Isis!" In "Ultraman," it was the beta capsule and the Japanese phrase "Shuwatch!" I still, to this very day, have no idea what the hell "Shuwatch!" means...
2. Joanna Cameron was a total babe as both Andrea and Isis. Even at five years old, I knew this. I don't know what that says about me, but there you go.
Any hopes of seeing a reboot of "Isis" lie with DreamWorks Animation, who holds the rights to the series. But Grammnet, actor/producer Kelsey Grammer's production company, had reportedly licensed the rights to produce a movie based on the character, to be called "The Legend of Isis," but nothing ever came of it.
There also was an appearance of the "Isis" character on the tenth and final season of the WB network's "Smallville." In an episode titled "Isis," the character was portrayed by "Smallville" actress Erica Durance who played Lois Lane. This 2010 version saw the amulet take over the body of Lane/Durnace and update the traditional costume somewhat, but there were nods to "The Secrets of Isis" in Durance's portrayal.
Unfortunately, "The Secrets of Isis" was canceled after one full season and a truncated second season that saw the goddess sharing a good bit of screen time with Captain Marvel/Shazam.
You can check out an interview with the series star, Joanna Cameron, here. And, the very first "Isis" episode is embedded below for your viewing pleasure:
