''SheZow'' is an animated superhero series and

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

. It features the adventures of a boy who inadvertently inherits the role of a

superheroine A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

, which imposes an explicit feminine theme to his costumed appearance and equipment. It began airing on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

in Australia on 15 December 2012. The series is aimed at children from 6 to 11 years old. Produced by Moody Street Kids and Kickstart Productions, it is distributed by DHX Media, and funded in part by

Film Victoria VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and events – elevating Victor ...

. It was designed by Australian artist Kyla May. , 52 eleven-minute episodes have been made, which are broadcast in pairs to make one season of 26 half-hour episodes. In a 2013 interview, Wade expressed interest in making a second season. In a 2016 interview, Wade mentioned that he went on to start season 2 production of SheZow at Hub Network with a bigger budget than the first season. However, after Hub Network went under a major rebranding to

Discovery Family Discovery Family is an American cable television channel co-owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Hasbro Entertainment. The channel was originally launched by Discovery Communications on October 7, 1996 as Discovery Kids, a spin-off of Discove ...

, Wade was informed that SheZow season 2 production came to a halt. However, Wade had mentioned that there would be a comic series of SheZow released under his own company, Obieco Entertainment. He released the debut Issue of the SheZow comic series sometime in 2015. Wade had also mentioned that the second issue would release the next year after Issue #1 on Christmas. As of September 2022, Issue #2 was never published.

Synopsis

The series' protagonist, a 12-year-old boy named Guy Hamdon, discovers the superheroine SheZow's ring of power inherited from his late Aunt Agnes; then subsequently puts it on and transforms into a female costumed crime-fighter by uttering the phrase "You Go Girl!" As it is now on his finger, and thus also cannot be removed as a result, Guy uses the power ring to become SheZow; but while it does grant him superpowers, it was only meant to be worn by a girl, so Guy must wear a female superhero costume and pretend that he is a girl while fighting crime.

Voice cast

Cast

* Jacquie Brennan as Sheila, Tara, Grilla, Null, Madame Curiador * Lyall Brooks as Brian Smirk, Tattoosalla, Coldfinger, Mocktopus, Wackerman, Senior Yo-Yo, Count Pussenbite, Mister Cylinder, Mega Monkey, Caped Koala, Crash Thunder, Aristotle, Brouhaha, Dr. Frankenweather, Fibberachee, Maj. Attitude, Manny Ken, Void, Periwinkle, Spit Bubble, Moocher, Pirate Posse, Dudley, Kelli, Captain XL, Mayor Stanley, Link, Sarcazmo, Wishington, Tad, McSniff, Legal Cat * David-Myles Brown as Guy/SheZow (Australia & New Zealand only), Moocher, Pirate Posse * Dan Hamill as Officer Boxter, Candy Rapper, Le Pigeon, Moocher, Freddie Fartonavich *

Matt Hill Matthew Hill (born January 19, 1968) is a Canadian voice actor working for Ocean Productions. Career His roles include Ed in '' Ed, Edd n Eddy'', Kevin Keene/Captain N in '' Captain N: The Game Master'', Kira Yamato in '' Gundam Seed'' and ' ...

as Maz * Diana Kaarina as Kelly * Justin Kennedy as Big Chow Slim * Elizabeth Nabben as Droosha, Aunt Agnes, Mrs. Creature, Baby Scarington, Uma Thermal * Samuel Vincent as Guy/SheZow (North America only), SheZap * Cecelia Ramsdale as Gal/DudePow, Maizy, Wanda

Crew

Terry Klassen Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor, ADR director and writer. Before animation, Klassen worked in radio in Winnipeg (CITI-FM), Toronto (Q107), Calgary (CFAC), Portage la Prairie (CFRY) and part-time at CFOX and CFMI. In animation, he is best ...

– voice supervisor * Dale Warren – voice director / sound designer / sound mixer

Development and production

The concept was originally created by

Obie Scott Wade Obie Scott Wade is an American producer, director and screenwriter. He has written for several television shows, and in 2013 created the animated television series, ''SheZow''. Career Wade worked on '' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' and ...

as a short film for Disney Channel's ''

Shorty McShorts' Shorts ''Shorty McShorts' Shorts'' was an American animated anthology series, which consisted of 4-/5-minute shorts. It aired from July 28, 2006, to May 25, 2007. Summary The host of the show is Shorty McShorts. His name is often shortened to "Shorty" o ...

'' in 2007, which in turn was based on a more adult-oriented short of his named SheeZaam. In a 2013 interview, Wade stated that the inspiration for ''SheZow'' was based on his experiences of watching

Saturday-morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the Big Three television networks, "Big Three" television networks. T ...

s and a general love for superheroes. "When I was a kid I watched a show on Saturday mornings called ''

Shazam! Shazam () may refer to: Comic book franchise * Captain Marvel (DC Comics), also known as Shazam, a superhero character published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics ** Shazam (wizard), a character from the ''Shazam!/Captain Marvel'' comics, who give ...

'' ... it was Shazam and Isis and I just thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if he accidentally said 'SHE-zam,' would he get a different costume or become a different hero?" He added that a lot of the facets to SheZow's mythology came about from the women writers on his team. "I asked the women on my team ... what would be a good weakness for a woman superhero and they all said, 'Bad hair!' ... A lot of the gadgets and jokes

or 'SheZow' Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H * Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...

came from women."

Controversy

''SheZow'' has a gender-bending character named Guy Hamdon, who transforms into the titular character. However, the show gained attention from anti-LGBT activists who claimed that Guy would "confuse children about gender," with

GLAAD GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portraya ...

saying that the show is appropriate and that the concept of a superhero having a new persona to be a crime fighter is "very familiar to children." The creator of the show, Obie Scott Wade, denied claims by those such as

Ben Shapiro Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (born January 15, 1984) is an American attorney, businessman, columnist, conservative political commentator, and media personality. At age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the United States ...

on ''

Breitbart News ''Breitbart News Network'' (known commonly as ''Breitbart News'', ''Breitbart'', or ''Breitbart.com'') is an American far-rightMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * syndicated news, opinion, and commentary website founded in mid-2007 by ...

'' on the show, stating that there was no "political agenda," and that the critics were reading "a lot into it," saying that the show focuses more on the responsibility of the protagonist and "less about gender." He also said that gender issues were not explored much in the show, and stated in another interview that "SheZow is not transgendered" but is a boy whose gender "never changes" as he is trapped "in a silly costume."

Episodes

Broadcast

In the United States, it was added to the schedule lineup of the Hub Network (now ''

'') on 1 June 2013 and aired on Discovery Family until 27 December 2015. In the United Kingdom, the series was on Kix in 2016 (later became Pop Max). It is shown on

10 Peach 10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios Inter ...

(formerly Eleven) and 7TWO in Australia. Series 1 was streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

from 2015 to 2017.

Reception

The show was considered controversial by several Christian groups for using cross-dressing and

transvestism Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

as a source of humour, with One Million Moms, an affiliate of the

American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.

being one of the groups targeting it. In response, series creator Obie Scott Wade stated, "SheZow is not transgendered. He's a boy, his gender never changes, he's just trapped in a silly costume." He also added that he does not find it child-inappropriate at all, because the idea came to him in his youth.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2070443, SheZow
SheZow
on

ABC ME ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3. Hist ...

Kix Homepage

''SheZows Final Homepage
on the Hub Network via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and s ...