Television. One DVD at a Time.

"Oh, zephyr winds which blow on high, lift me now so I can fly." - JoAnna Cameron as science teacher Andrea Thomas taking flight as her secret identity, Isis

The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series DVD Review

By Jude Clement

Thousands of years ago, an Egyptian sorcerer gave his queen a necklace, proclaiming that "with this amulet, you and your descendents 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 gazelles, and command the elements of sky and earth." In the mid-1970s, high school science teacher Andrea Thomas (JoAnna Cameron) finds the amulet on an archeological dig and discovers that she is a descendent of the queen. By uttering the phrase "Oh mighty Isis...," she morphs into a tunic-wearing superhero able to fly, stop time, look into the past, levitate cars, and all kinds of other neat stuff. She uses these skills to fight crime, right wrongs, and keep her students out of danger. She keeps her identity a secret from her friends and colleagues, including fellow teacher Rick Mason (Brian Cutler, Emergency!), boss Dr. Barnes (Albert Reed, Airport), student Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang, season one only), and student Renee Carroll (Ronalda Douglas, The New Odd Couple, season two only).

Each episode features an After School Special-like moral or two. Friends can't be bought, only earned, and you shouldn't play with guns ("To Find a Friend"). Be careful if someone dares you to do something, because it's usually wrong ("Fool's Dare"). Practical jokes may seem harmless, but they might actually hurt others ("The Lights of Mystery Mountain"). Showing off? Not so good ("The Showoff"). Just because you don't come in first, you aren't a loser ("No Drums, No Trumpets"). Well, not necessarily. Sexism is bad, and you can't win by cheating (both "Girl Driver" and "Dreams of Flight").

A couple of episodes almost feel like After School Special parodies. Take "The Seeing Eye Horse" which is about-you guessed it-a seeing eye horse. Or, in this case, a seeing eye pony since he appears to be about two feet tall.

Some episodes are just downright weird, even for a series about a science teacher endowed with the magical powers of an Egyptian goddess. Take the two-part series finale "Now You See It..." and "...And Now You Don't!," for example. When Rick Mason is arrested after being framed for stealing the secret government project he has been working on, Renee turns to her friends the Supersleuths for help. The Sleuths, former students of Mr. Mason, are now seemingly employed by a Busch Gardens stage show. Or rather, they spend their days solving crimes. It's not terribly clear what they do or how exactly they do it.. Ranji (played by, well, Ranji) is a Sunjaya look-alike who sings goofy folksongs while performing magic and playing the guitar. C.J. Howe (The Kentucky Fried Movie's Evan Kim) is a kung fu expert. Feather (Phyllis' Craig Wasson) is a hippie throwback who is also the supposed brains of the group. These episodes also feature useless appearances by Captain Marvel (John Davey) who, when called upon by Isis for help, seems to be wandering around in a field. These episodes were obviously meant to be a pilot for a Supersleuths series, but they are so nonsensical that viewers were luckily spared a full series.

Several episodes feature '70s semi-icons. Mike Lookinland (The Brady Bunch) appears as a teen desperate to make friends ("To Find a Friend"). Debralee Scott (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) plays a girl who fears that her father-just released from jail-is back to his thieving ways ("Spots of the Leopard"). Christopher Norris (Trapper John, M.D.) is a student trapped in a ghost town ("No Drums, No Trumpets"). Barry Miller (Fame, Saturday Night Fever) appears as an extremely careless driver ("The Hitchhikers"). Laurette Spang (Battlestar Galactica) and Colleen Camp (Clue) appear in an episode about cheating ("The Cheerleader"). Michael Blodgett (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls) plays one of the bad guys in the above-mentioned "Now You See It..." and "...And Now You Don't!" Also be on the lookout for Thomas Carter (The White Shadow) in "Rockhound's Roost."

Also making appearances are themes that touch on the '70s zeitgeist: UFOs ("The Lights of Mystery Mountain"), Bigfoot ("Bigfoot"), C.B. radios ("No Drums, No Trumpets"), and the danger of hitchhiking ("The Hitchhikers"). Groovy!

The 22 episodes that make up The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series are divided onto three discs. The discs are housed in two slim, clear keepcases, one of which holds two discs. The front covers feature publicity shots of JoAnna Cameron as Isis. The back covers include episode titles, episode numbers, and more publicity and behind-the-scenes shots. The interiors of the cases include large photos of the series' cast. The two keepcases slide into a well-designed cardboard sleeve which showcases the cast.

The menus are simple to navigate. Viewers can play all of the disc's episodes, pick an individual one, or use the scene selection menus to jump to a specific scene.

Video and Audio

Isis' powers apparently don't extend to the audio and video quality of her TV show. The video is muted and muddled. The audio is inconsistent-blaring one second and soft the next. Still, this is probably as good as it will ever get.

English and Spanish audio tracks are included.

Extras

Three episodes include isolated music and effects tracks: "Funny Gal," "Now You See It...," and "...And Now You Don't!".

One episode, "Dreams of Flight," includes a commentary track with producers Lou Scheimer and Dick Rosenblum, writer David Dworski, and first assistant director Henry J. Lange, Jr. Moderated by author Andy Mangels, this track reveals, among other things, that JoAnna Cameron was cast for her legs.

The remaining extras are found on disc three. First up is a collection of interviews with the cast and creative team. Producer Lou Scheimer (6:10) recalls that living in a home dominated by women, it was natural that he would pitch a series in which a female was the hero. Fellow producer Richard M. Rosenbloom (6:44) remembers that two episodes were shot each week during the California summer to take advantage of the long days. Members of the cast take center stage next: Brian Cutler (21:21), Joanna Pang Atkins (25:59), and Ronalda Douglas Lombardo (19:34). Cutler was the first actor cast in the series and confronts the "Lois Lane" issue. Pang first thought that the show was called Ices and tried to convince the producers that her character shouldn't wear pigtails in every episode. Isis was Douglas' first professional acting gig. Writers David Dworski (8:24), Michael Reaves (6:39), and David Wise (6:38) follow. Dworski and his writing partner/wife began their relationship with Filmation on Ark II. Reaves got his first writing gig on Isis and went on to write for many of Filmation's animated shows. Because Wise lived in San Diego, he often worked out of a camper. Designer Bob Kline (7:17) recalls that part of Isis' costume elements, obtained from a costume house, were actually used in The Ten Commandments. Finally, assistant director Henry J. Lange, Jr. (10:54) remembers that when scouting locations, people were thrilled to let the Isis team film in their backyards because of their fondness for Filmation's live-action shows.

"Bonus Episode The Freedom Force Starring Isis: 'The Plant Soldiers'" (10:50) is an animated segment from the 1978 series Tarzan and the Super 7 which features the characters of Isis, Hercules, Merlin, Super Samurai, and Sinbad. This segment is sort of silly-it could be called "When Plants Attack"-but fans will want to give it a look.

"Rare Footage: Morals, Commercial Bumpers, and Alternate Credits" (10:38) is a treasure-trove of footage cut from the series in the 1990s-corny morals that ended the episodes, episode previews, and bumpers that led into and out of commercials. The video quality of these is poor-the original footage was chopped out of the masters and discarded, and the DVDs producers had to scrounge these from various sources. These are great, though, so don't miss them.

There are four full navigable "Image Galleries" focusing on promotional photos, behind-the-scenes photos, memorabilia, and images from Blue Water Productions' "The Legend of Isis" comic book. The comic book portion is hard to see and nearly impossible to read, but the photos and other images are fun. Dig that scary Isis Halloween costume!

Viewers with access to a DVD-ROM drive can pop disc three into their computer to view several more extras-including scripts for each episode. These are in the .pdf format which requires Adobe Reader (available as a free download from adobe.com). Chances are, you won't end up reading all of the scripts, but it is a sign of how detailed and well-produced this set is that they are even included here.

Summary

The Secrets of Isis: The Complete Series is corny, goofy, and strange. And if it doesn't take you back to your childhood, nothing will.

7/23/07