Wonder Woman (TV series)

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Wonder Woman
Lynda Carter in Season One costume as Wonder Woman.
Genre Fantasy / Drama
Creator(s) William Moulton Marston
Starring Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, Norman Burton
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 59
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC - Season 1
and CBS - Seasons 2 and 3
Original run November 7, 1975 – September 11, 1979

Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book character Wonder Woman (which was co-created by William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth (Sadie) Holloway Marston). It starred Lynda Carter as Princess Diana/Diana Prince.

It aired on two American networks between 1975 and 1979. During its original run the series was extremely popular. It is also the title of a TV movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby, loosely based upon the character, that aired in 1974.

Contents

[edit] Early attempts

The Lynda Carter series was actually the third attempt at mounting a live-action series based upon the superheroine.

[edit] Who's Afraid of Diana Prince?

Screen captures of the pilot
Screen captures of the pilot

The first attempt to translate Wonder Woman to the small screen occurred in 1967, when the success of the Batman television show led to a flurry of copycat series. Greenway Productions, the company behind the Batman show, produced a four-and-a-half-minute Wonder Woman test film subtitled Who's Afraid of Diana Prince? starring Ellie Wood Walker as Diana Prince, Linda Harrison as Diana's Wonder Woman alter ego, and Maudie Prickett as Diana's mother.

As with Batman, the reel took a comic slant on the character, although while the Batman character himself was played straight, in the proposed series Diana Prince (not Wonder Woman) would have been the focus of the comedy. Diana, an awkward and rather plain young woman, lives with her mother close to an U.S. Air Force base. She is madly in love with pilot Steve Trevor, and believes Steve is also madly in love with her Wonder Woman alter ego (a fact consistent with the early comic books). Much of the film consists of her mother berating Diana about not having a boyfriend. When her mother leaves the room, she changes into her Wonder Woman costume and admires her reflection in a mirror. What she sees is not Diana Prince, but rather a sexy super-heroic figure (played by Linda Harrison) who proceeds to preen and pose, in the process becoming somewhat grotesque and exaggerated, ultimately becoming little more attractive than her Diana alter-ego.

This, presumably, was to be the basic gimmick of the show. Diana believes that as Wonder Woman she is irresistible to men, but the reality is far different. Steve Trevor is never seen in the pilot, but the assumption is that, had the show gone into production, he would have spent much of his time avoiding the romantic advances of the title character. The pilot ends with Diana climbing out a window, giving a goofy giggle, and flying away.

Writer Stanley Ralph Ross said, years later, that he felt the people at the head of the production lacked the enthusiasm for a female-centric show to make the pilot a success. This pilot episode was never broadcast, and the project was taken no further. The pilot has been circulated on the Internet and is of interest to Planet of the Apes fans for the early appearance of Linda Harrison who would later go on to play Nova in the first two films of that series.

[edit] Animation

Wonder Woman's first actual broadcast appearance was as a guest in a Brady Kids cartoon in 1972, entitled "It's All Greek to Me".[1][2] (Her sister Wonder Girl had already appeared on television in a series of Teen Titans cartoon shorts, part of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure cartoon show.) The Brady kids meet Diana Prince and together they find themselves transported back in time to the Trojan War, where Wonder Woman must come to their rescue.

At roughly the same time, other DC heroes were trialed in cartoons which saw them teamed up with the likes of Scooby Doo, in what is assumed to have been a move to test the waters for a full blown superhero cartoon show. Shortly thereafter Wonder Woman was included in the Super Friends cartoon series, which eventually enjoyed a long and successful run.

[edit] False start: The Cathy Lee Crosby film

Cathy Lee Crosby in the first Wonder Woman film.
Cathy Lee Crosby in the first Wonder Woman film.

Wonder Woman's first appearance on TV screens in live-action form was via a television movie made in 1974 for the ABC Network, starring athlete-turned-actress Cathy Lee Crosby as a blonde non-superpowered Amazon, pitted against a debonair villain played by Ricardo Montalban. This version owed little to the classic Wonder Woman comic book character, and leaned more towards the "I Ching period" abandoned by the comic book some years before in which Diana abandoned her superhero life and became a secret agent à la Emma Peel. In the closing action sequences, Wonder Woman wore a red tunic with star-spangled blue long sleeves, blue tights and boots, but this is far from a traditional superhero costume. The pilot instead sets the character up as more of a Bionic Woman style secret agent. And while in the first two acts she doesn't don her 'costume', everyone seems to know she's Wonder Woman.

This pilot was screened, but reportedly generated little interest from the public. It has been sold around the world as a stand-alone TV movie, and occasionally crops up in TV schedules.

[edit] Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

[edit] The New Original Wonder Woman

Though not successful at the first attempt, ABC still felt a Wonder Woman series had potential, and within a year another pilot was in production. Keen to make a distinction from the last pilot, the pilot was given the rather paradoxical title The New Original Wonder Woman. This pilot is available in its original length on the first season DVD, instead of the re-edited version of it which runs 60 mins. and was featured as the pilot when the series debuted a year later. This version is also the one shown on reruns. On the DVD version, however, the 1975 pilot movie title is changed to simply 'Wonder Woman', and the bullet-deflecting animated sequence is replaced by the lasso toss in the animated introduction and the rest of the television series.

Scripting duties were given to Stanley Ralph Ross, who had worked on Greenway's unbroadcast Wonder Woman pilot reel, but this time he was instructed to be more faithful to the comic book and to create a subtle "high comedy". Ross set the pilot in World War II, the era in which the original comic book began. Thanks to a generous budget and more relaxed shooting schedule, the feature length pilot was able to attain a level of polish and special effects beyond that of regular episodic television at the time.

Some of these effects, such as the expensive full sized invisible plane prop and the stunt bracelets (designed to carry small explosive charges for Wonder Woman's iconic 'bullets and bracelets' encounters) were then able to be carried forward into the series proper.

After an intensive talent search, a former beauty pageant winner from Arizona named Lynda Carter was chosen to play the lead role. For the key role of Steve Trevor, the producers chose Lyle Waggoner, who at the time was better known as a comedic actor after several years co-starring in The Carol Burnett Show. He was also known to Ross as having been one of the leading candidates to play Batman a decade earlier.

Although the pilot followed the original comic book closely, in particular the aspect of Wonder Woman joining the military under the assumed name, Diana Prince, a number of elements were dropped, presumably for practical reasons. The character of Etta Candy was no longer an obese member of Holliday College (the Holliday Girls never featured in the show), but a mature work colleague of Diana Prince. The ancient myths and legends which informed many of the early Wonder Woman comic book stories were lost too, in favour of more conventional stories involving Nazis. And, on a minor note, Steve Trevor was no longer blonde, but dark haired.

One change which was later to become synonymous with the show was the twirling transformation which dissolved Diana Prince into Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter claims to have suggested the move herself, having studied dance as a child. Coincidentally, this slow motion dissolve is similar to the illustrated "running" change sequences in the comic books of the era, in which Diana would peel off her uniform and add her tiara and boots. In both versions she is left with her outer uniform to stow somewhere.

Wonder Woman also had the ability to impersonate anyone's voice, which sometimes came in handy over the phone.

[edit] Pilot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

During World War II, a pilot, Major Steve Trevor, bails out during an air battle over the Bermuda Triangle, home of Paradise Island. The island houses Amazons, beautiful, ageless women with great strength, agility, and intelligence. Amazon princess Diana rescues Trevor, and proposes a contest to return him to America, where she will remain to help the Allied forces. Her mother, the Amazon queen, is dead set against Diana being the one to go. So Diana enters the contest in disguise (blond wig), and ties for first. The play-off is bullets and bracelets, where each of the two in take turns at shooting at the other, who must try to deflect the bullets. Diana successfully deflects all the shots at her, but her opponent deflects a few but is injured by one. So Diana wins, and then removes her wig and reveals her identity, and proclaims her loyalty and love to her people, her queen and mother. So her mother agrees to send her with her blessing.

Her costume is designed to feature American emblems in the hope that she will be accepted in her new home, and her golden belt will be her source of strength and power (the television Wonder Woman's need for this belt to retain her powers away from Paradise Island was a key dissimilarity to the original conception of Wonder Woman in the comics, who had natural as opposed to artificially-induced strength). She retains her bracelets, which deflect bullets, and also receives a golden lasso, which is indestructible, and forces people to obey and tell the truth when bound. Diana is now known as "Wonder Woman," and flies to Washington, D.C. in an invisible plane. After dropping Trevor off at Walter Reed Hospital, the heroine stumbles upon a bank robbery, which she stops. A promoter who sees her in action invites her to take her Bullets and Bracelets act on the road as a theatrical attraction. Diana is hesitant, but she needs money in this society, so she agrees.

Meanwhile, Trevor's civilian secretary, Marcia (guest star Stella Stevens), is revealed as a double agent for the Nazis. She seeks to aid top spies in killing Trevor and opposing the new threat, Wonder Woman, although her first attempt — arranging for an audience member to fire a machine gun at Wonder Woman during her stage show act — backfires when the Amazon easily deflects the multiple bullets. Later, at the hospital, Diana disguises herself as a nurse in order to keep an eye on Steve. As spy activities increase, Trevor leaves the hospital and is captured, prompting his "nurse" to do a slow-motion spin in the hall where she slowly peels off uniform parts and replaces them with her Wonder Woman costume, before heading off to rescue him.

Wonder Woman defeats the villainess and the spies, breaking up the spy ring. A memorable cat fight sequence features hand-to-hand combat, slapping, kicking, and even a little slapstick, between Carter and Stevens. The fight was considered a milestone in TV action, and would later be used as a reference when planning similar fights on the soap opera Dynasty years later.

[edit] Season 1

The pilot film, aired on November 7, 1975, was a ratings success, and ABC quickly authorized the production of two one-hour specials which aired the following April. Technically speaking, these three productions were the show's first season.

These episodes scored strong enough ratings that ABC commissioned a further 11 episodes for the 1976-77 season, several of which were used to fill in for the Bionic Woman television show, after production had to be suspended while its star, Lindsay Wagner, recovered from a car accident. Notably, two stories (one of them a two parter) introduced Debra Winger as Wonder Girl, in one of her first on-screen roles.

Few changes were made between the pilot episode and specials and the series itself. The most memorable change, indeed what became the 'signature moment' of the show, was the introduction of an explosion effect to the twirling transformation, to change Diana Prince into her super-heroic counterpart. When trouble raised its ugly head, dowdy Diana Prince would slip away to a quiet spot, look around nervously as she removed her glasses and hat, then spin with arms outstretched, to be engulfed in a ball of light and transformed into Wonder Woman. This magical sequence, which appeared at least once in most episodes, clearly left an impression on its audience, as it has been referenced and parodied repeatedly ever since. In recent years, it has been incorporated into both the comic book and animated versions of the character.

In the original pilot and specials this sequence was performed by fading between two synchronized shots, both filmed with an over-cranked camera to create a slow motion effect. A twirling Diana would gradually dissolve into Wonder Woman. But this sequence was too expensive, in time and money, to maintain. A camera would need to be 'locked off' (secured in place), and Carter's costume, make up and hair altered between shooting the two segments which made up the sequence. (The costume was so form fitting that merely getting Ms. Carter into it took some effort - she had to be sewn into the upper part each time.) The "thunderclap" was added in order to mask the join between the two segments, allowing each segment to be shot independently, without need for a locked off camera, at more convenient points in the shooting schedule.

The new transformation also made the sequence move faster, and allowed for a fast-action cliffhanger change. Also, from a scripting viewpoint, as accessories vanished as part of the sequence, Wonder Woman gained the ability to spin in a variety of locations, with or without a closet or locker to stow her clothes, since her street clothes now simply disappeared when she changed. Carter also slightly changed her habits regarding this sequence; in several early episodes Diana was usually shown checking to make sure her tiara and belt were present following the transformation. This procedure was dropped as the sequence was streamlined.

Another change involved the relationship between Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman. Although Carter and Waggoner had, initially, good chemistry, it was decided to play down the romantic aspects and, ultimately, the characters remained simply good friends. A departure from the comic book is that Diana is not a Lieutenant Nurse in the Army, and is not operating under her own investigative authority. The television version has her (more accurately, in step with the Navy's mobilization of women during the war) as a Yeoman First Class (Petty Officer).

The series also began at a time when violence on television was under intense scrutiny. As a result, Wonder Woman was no longer shown punching or kicking people the way she did in the early episodes (see, for example, the catfight described above). The character would usually be shown pushing and throwing enemies, or using creativity to get them to somehow knock themselves out. Despite the wartime circumstances, the character never resorted to deadly force (the only exception occurs in the pilot film when she sinks a Nazi submarine with an explosive plane, although the fate of the sailors aboard is never actually specified).

Wonder Woman herself was occasionally defeated by the Nazis, but she always came back in the second half of the show to save the day. Among the things the Nazis used on her were chloroform and poison gas. Her enemies also occasionally stole away her belt (leaving her without her super strength), her lasso, and her bracelets (leaving her defenseless against gunfire), but Wonder Woman always recovered the respective stolen component by the end of the episode.

[edit] Season one episode synopsis

  1. Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther — Steve is being framed for a series of sabotage incidents by a Nazi spy ring, whose leader Baroness Von Gunther, porttrayed by Christine Belford, is being held in a maximum-security prison. The Baroness insists she's not in charge of the ring and is reforming herself, but it's all a lie. Wonder Woman is determined to expose the Baroness's plot. Helping her out is Tommy, the prison warden's son. Based on a plot from a 1942 comic book, only the warden's son was fascinated with cowboys, and the magic lasso.
  2. Fausta The Nazi Wonder Woman - Fausta Grables, portrayed by Lynda Day George, a German Olympic champion turned Nazi agent, plots to capture Wonder Woman and study her. Wonder Woman does get captured but she manages to escape Germany. Unfortunately, Steve has come to rescue her and gets captured himself. Wonder Woman must then go back to Germany, rescue Steve and convince Fausta to turn away from the Nazi's path. Based on a 1943 comic book plot.
  3. Beauty On Parade - Diana enters a beauty contest to expose a saboteur ring of radar scanning equipment, which is led by the pageant's musical director. Guest stars: Anne Francis, Dick Van Patten. Introduction of the "exploding" change sequence.
  4. The Feminum Mystique, parts 1 and 2 — The American army is about to unveil their first jet fighter and the Nazis are determined to steal the plane and study it to build a jet fighter of their own. Meanwhile, Diana's little sister Drusilla, portrayed by Debra Winger in one of her first roles, arrives from Paradise Island for a visit and gets caught up in the Nazis' plot. Captain Radl (John Saxon), the lead Nazi, also wants to find out the source of feminum, the metal used to make Wonder Woman's bracelets. He kidnaps General Blankenship, who is taking Drusilla for a drive in Washington, DC. Drusilla discovers that she can spin into costume like her sister and turns into Wonder Girl, with a similar costume. She tries to rescue the General, but is chloroformed and taken prisoner. Peter Knight, an engineer secretly working for the Nazis, gains Drusilla's trust and tricks her into revealing the location of Paradise Island where the feminum is located. The Nazis stage an invasion of the island and Diana must abandon the search for her sister to save her fellow Amazons. Drusilla manages to escape her captors and heads for Paradise Island. She and her sister manage to save the island and the Nazis are turned over to the custody of the American army. [In this episode, it is taken for granted that all of the Amazons can stop bullets with their bracelets, although in the pilot episode this was clearly an exception for top Amazon athletes.] Then Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl must head back to America to prevent a Nazi spy from stealing the jet fighter.
  5. Wonder Woman Vs. Gargantua — Erica Belgard, portrayed by Gretchen Corbett, an animal behaviour specialist and Nazi agent, kidnaps a super-strong gorilla named Gargantua from his jungle home in order to recapture a defecting Nazi agent who is in American custody. Erica soon decides to use the gorilla's strength to defeat and capture Wonder Woman.
  6. The Pluto File — An Irish terrorist named "The Falcon", portrayed by Robert Reed using a posh English accent, steals a formula designed to produce man-made earthquakes in order to level Washington, DC. Wonder Woman and the formula's inventor must work together to stop him. The Falcon is also carrying the bubonic plague and must be quarantined. Also guest stars Hayden Rorke as the top scientist.
  7. Last of The Two Dollar Bills — Wonder Woman and Steve investigate a Nazi plot to flood the American economy with counterfeit $2 bills in order to destabilize the American war effort. This involved plastic surgery to make Nazi agents impersonate a key officer in the mint and his fiancée.
  8. Judgement From Outer Space, parts 1 and 2 — An alien named Andros, portrayed by Tim O'Connor, arrives on Earth to study it and to convince the intergalactic council that the planet should not be destroyed because of World War II. The American government first suspects Andros of being a Nazi spy, and the Nazis want to use Andros's powers for world domination. Wonder Woman and Andros must work together to prove America's intentions are peaceful, as Andros at first is not sure if either side is right (mentioning the internment of "Americans of Japanese descent" in reply to Wonder Woman's charges against the Nazi racial policies). If Andros were killed, the aliens intended to destroy the planet. But after Wonder Woman is prepared to risk her life to save him, and Trevor demonstrates that the Allied cause is just, the aliens relent. Andros invites Wonder Woman to accompany him in space, but she replies that she is needed on earth. Andros promises to return to see her in 50 years.
  9. Formula 407 — Diana and Steve head to Argentina to pick up a formula from a scientist. The formula can make rubber tires as strong as steel. The Nazis want to steal the formula to use it on their truck tires. A Nazi agent who is secretly involved with the scientist's assistant directs his half-a-dozen henchmen to kidnap both the scientist's daughter (to obtain the formula) and Steve (to take him back to the Fatherland for interrogation). Wonder Woman must find the girl and rescue Steve before the agent takes the formula back to Germany.
  10. The Bushwhackers — Wonder Woman journeys to Texas where Nazi agents are stealing cattle being raised for the American government. The cattle ranch's owner and his several adopted orphan kids try to assist Wonder Woman in her efforts to stop the Nazis. Wonder Woman's magic belt is stolen by the rustlers, who lock her in an abandoned jail cell, and the orphan kids retrieve her belt and come to her rescue. Roy Rogers, who guest-starred on this episode, insisted that lead star Lynda Carter wear a light sweater and pants for the episode, saying he didn't feel comfortable with the idea of a grown woman wearing nothing but a bathing suit the whole time. This change of clothes led to the concept in seasons two and three of the diving suit, cycling suit, and skateboard costume.
  11. Wonder Woman In Hollywood — Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl work together to stop a Nazi agent turned film producer from taking Steve and several other soldiers back to Germany to put them in a propaganda film that will destroy America's image as a peace-loving country. Guest star: Christopher Norris.

[edit] The New Adventures of Wonder Woman

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Despite strong ratings, ABC stalled on commissioning a second season causing the show's frustrated production company Warner Bros. to offer Wonder Woman to CBS. While ABC dithered, CBS took the series on condition that the setting be switched to the modern day. Changing the title to The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, the series was nudged away from sophisticated humour towards a more conventional action/adventure take.

Diana Prince, ageless due to her Amazon nature, returns from Paradise Island after a 35-year absence to become an agent with the Inter-Agency Defense Command (IADC), a CIA-like organization fighting criminals and the occasional alien invasion. Infrequent references to her World War II experiences were made in early episodes.

[edit] Season 2

Changes in the first CBS season included Wonder Woman's costume being updated and made sexier, while her invisible plane became a jet aircraft, though it only appeared a couple of times. Waggoner still appeared as Wonder Woman's friend Steve Trevor; however, he was now Steve Trevor Jr., the lookalike son of the heroine's World War II ally. The episode "Bermuda Triangle Crisis" revealed that Trevor Snr. had died some years earlier when his plane crashed in the Bermuda Triangle. (The episode does not explain the circumstances of his death, but one suggestion is that he might have been searching for Paradise Island.) As with the first season, the producers chose to downplay and later drop any suggestion that Steve and Wonder Woman were anything more than friends.

As with the introduction of a younger sister (Drucilla aka Wonder Girl) from season one, the initial episode of season two expanded Diana's family bloodline to include a cousin named Evadne. Like Drucilla, Evadne attempted to fill the role of Wonder Woman but failed to complete a required test in order to do so.

Further changes were introduced after only the first few episodes of this new run. Beginning with the episode "The Man Who Made Volcanoes", the opening title sequence, with its memorable "Wonder Woman... Wonder Woman..." lyrics and comic book graphics, was changed to an instrumental and more traditional "action scenes" opening. Another change was to allow Diana Prince to operate away from Steve Trevor and give her a slightly less stuffy look. (This may have been to further exploit Carter's looks, as Diana typically got twice as much screen time as her super heroic alter ego.)

As the season progressed, Diana Prince continued to lose much of her plain-Jane-ness, as she swapped the hair bun for a pony tail, and other off-the-face styles, got a hip new wardrobe, drove a distinctive Mercedes/Benz sports coupe, and only infrequently wore her glasses, usually as a fashion accessory for driving. Her secret identity as Wonder Woman somehow remained intact even though she often took her glasses off in the presence of Steve Trevor and others, and wore form-fitted scooped neck blouses, revealing her physique to be the same as Wonder Woman.

Trevor was promoted to a desk job midway through the season, leaving Diana to go out on missions alone in most episodes. By this time, Diana was no longer simply Trevor's assistant, but was now a notable solo agent with a growing list of enemies. She also became more self-sufficient outside of her costume, not always turning into Wonder Woman when things got tough. Often, Diana only becomes Wonder Woman momentarily to rescue herself (from fire, a tunnel, imprisonment in a spinning chair) from precarious situations, or to accomplish feats impossible as Diana when investigating (breaking in and taking secret microfilm, evading an eyebeam security system).

In many ways the second and third seasons bore more similarities to the late 1960s version of the comic book than did the 1974 Cathy Lee Crosby telefilm. The series also stopped making reference to Paradise Island and the fact that Diana is hundreds of years old. The espionage angle, ties to the comic book characters work for the Army during the 1950s, and is generally considered more interesting than the comic book stories featuring her as a UN employee. In addition, unlike the first season, Wonder Woman's sources of power (her belt, bracelets, and lasso) were never stolen by villains in any of the CBS episodes (Seasons 2 and 3).

Several other changes occurred as the second season progressed. Joe Atkinson (Norman Burton), a weathered IADC agent, was dropped after the ninth episode, as was a regular segment showing Diana, Steve and Joe receiving orders from a (Charlie's Angels) "Charlie"-like character who is heard but never seen. (Though never stated, the voice is presumed to have been that of the U.S. President.) Midway through the season, this was replaced with regular briefings by IRAC (or more familiarly, "Ira"), IADC's super-intelligent computer, who manages to deduce Diana's secret identity. In order to give Steve Trevor (and Lyle Waggoner) more to do, and add multi-racial chacters, Saundra Sharp joined the cast as Eve, Steve's assistant (the job held by Diana at the start of the season). Near the end of the season, in the episode "IRAC is Missing," a tiny robot called Rover was added for comic relief. An offshoot of IRAC who performs duties such as delivering coffee and sorting mail, Rover speaks with a high-pitched voice, occasionally makes "Beep Beep" sounds (borrowed from the Road Runner cartoon series) and, like IRAC, is aware that Diana Prince and Wonder Woman are one and the same.

The character of Wonder Woman also became less innocent and more serious in the second season, although her fights still consisted mostly of jumping and pushing people. The character still maintained her no-kill policy, although there were exceptions: in the episode "Anschluss '77" she destroys a clone of Adolf Hitler, and another episode made reference to a villain who was believed drowned following a previous unseen encounter with Diana/Wonder Woman.

Multiple costumes are introduced. Wonder Woman still wears the red-white-and-blue cape for special events or appearances from the first season, but without the skirt. A diving costume is introduced, a navy-blue lycra body suit with matching gloves, gauntlet style bracelets, flat boots, and a flexible tiara is featured whenever aquatic activity is necessary. The same costume, with low-heeled boots and a gold helmet, is used to ride motorcycles. In early appearances, Diana was unable to change directly to these costumes--she had to appear as Wonder Woman first, and then spin again, or do a long, continuous spin, as seen in "Light-Fingered Lady".

[edit] Retconning and continuity speculation

With a show which changed as much as Wonder Woman, there is inevitably potential for continuity errors and deliberate subtle reinventing of key backstory elements which underpin the show. While many changes are deliberate (occurring as a result of production decisions to re-focus the show) many are accidental, while others can actually be explained away by simply revisiting the source material.

One area which has caused a small amount of debate concerns a short conversation between Diana Prince and the villain of an early CBS episode, "The Man Who Made Volcanoes", when they are introduced:

Diana:    Arthur Chapman?
Chapman:  [To henchman] Leave us, I believe you have some communication to arrange?
Chapman:  [To Diana] Well Diana... It's been a long time, two years.
Diana:    I should have guessed it.  You've come a long way in two years.
Chapman:  NSA, before that the Science Resource Commission.
Diana:    And before that the old OSS with Joe Atkinson.

If the line "It's been a long time, two years" refers to a previous meeting, there would need to be a two year stretch between the end of the first CBS episode and this one. (Confusingly, the villain doesn't mention working for the I.A.D.C., and in the very next scene the aforementioned Joe Atkinson has to be told who Chapman is by Steve Trevor.) Later episodes further contradict the dating of "Volcanoes", suggesting early CBS episodes occur out of chronological sequence. The final episode broadcast, the two-part "Phantom of the Roller-Coaster", takes place four years after Diana joined the I.A.D.C. suggesting the two seasons actually reflect four years worth of activities, which could support the two-year-gap theory. However, further complications are caused by a sequence in "The Return of Wonder Woman", in which Diana uses the IRA computer to create a back-story supporting her new identity. IRA is told Diana is twenty-five years old, studied at Berkeley University. Her records were inadvertently destroyed, but confirmed by I.A.D.C. interview with university officials. She was (crucially, from a continuity standpoint) transferred to her current post after three years in an overseas division of the I.A.D.C. Amusingly, she sets herself at a very high Government pay level, but it appears offhand.

To address unanswered issues from the original pilot, Diana has rare ancient coins from the Queen to sell, in lieu of her first paycheck, so that she can rent a furnished apartment (oddly, with Grecian statuary) and buy a new wardrobe of schoolmarm type dresses. These scenes firmly establish how she created her false identity, unlike the original, where she poses as a nurse and later a Yeoman with no explanation given.

In the second season some retconning of Wonder Woman's backstory also occurred. In the first season, it was established that Diana had never left Paradise Island nor encountered a man before the events that took her to America during World War II (towards the end of the pilot episode however Diana drops a strong hint that she has first-hand experience of ancient Rome and Greece). During the second season several references were made to men the Amazons encountered centuries earlier and one episode "Diana's Disappearing Act" strongly implied that she might have actually been active as Wonder Woman (or some similar heroic guise) as early as the 19th century when she encounters the descendant of a villain she apparently fought a century earlier.

A third-season episode also revealed that Wonder Woman will still be active in the mid-22nd century; this same episode ("Time Bomb") made the grim revelation that in the Wonder Woman universe, Earth will endure a nuclear war sometime prior to the year 2007. The episode does not change this aspect of the future, suggesting Diana has grim times ahead.

[edit] Season 3

With the beginning of the third season, further changes were made to target the show at a teenage audience. The title theme was reworked again to give it a disco beat, the use of gimmicky little robot 'Rover' was increased for comic effect and episodes began to revolve around topical subjects like skateboarding, roller coasters and the environment. One episode even featured two songs from Lynda Carter's album released the previous year, Portrait. Eve also disappeared from the cast although she is mentioned once or twice.

Wonder Woman was also allowed to become a bit more physical in the third season and could now be seen throwing the occasional punch or kicking. The writers also came up with several unusual ways for Diana to execute her spinning transformation, one of the most notable occurring in the episode "Stolen Faces" in which Diana makes the change while falling off a tall building.

Diana's powers were also increased, particularly in the third season episode "Deadly Dolphin" in which she is shown communicating telepathically with animals and generating "bursts" of some sort to scare away a killer shark.

At CBS, the show continued to gather a strong audience. In the final episode produced, the writers attempted a "relaunch" of sorts by having Diana reassigned to the Los Angeles bureau of IADC with a new supporting cast and Steve Trevor, whose presence had decreased throughout the season, was finally written out of the series. One account published in TV Guide puts this down to off-camera friction between Waggoner and Carter - although this seemingly originates from a single and rather dubious behind-the-scenes source.[citation needed] The stars themselves have never publicly suggested their working relationship was anything but healthy, although Waggoner did state during an interview that on the Wonder Woman series there was only room for one star. Waggoner did not participate in the recent DVD release of the series. It should be noted that during the filming of the third season, Waggoner was serving as mayor of Encino, California and was naturally required to devote time to his civic duties, suggesting another reason for his decreased presence and eventual departure from the series.

Actress Saundra Sharp, who was included as a series semi-regular, provided an interview for the August 2004 issue of Back Issue Magazine. In the interview Sharp was asked about her experience working with fellow actress Lynda Carter. Her response was, "I got a lot more work days than were originally intended because whatever was going on in her life at that time, she had a habit of not showing up for work. It was about business once she got there. We did what we had to do." Regarding her experience with Waggoner, whom she filmed the majority of her scenes with, she said, "He's a very, very special person, very gentle. Not at all what you might expect from someone who's had as many credits as he did, and as big as he is. He's a very quiet, very sweet man. A grand gentleman. I enjoyed working with him."

This new take on the format lasted for merely a single episode ("The Man Who Could Not Die"), which set up an assortment of new supporting characters, including Bryce Candall, an indestructible man (the titular character of the episode) who might have become a love interest for Diana, as well as a streetwise teenager named T. Burton Phipps III who for some unexplained reason is allowed to hang out at the I.A.D.C. Also added to the cast was a chimpanzee who like Bryce, is also indestructible.

Despite the relaunch, "Man Who Could Not Die" was not actually the final episode broadcast when it aired at the beginning of the 1979-80 TV season. It was followed by a final two-part episode ("Phantom of the Roller Coaster") that was actually produced earlier in the season and once again featured Waggoner. CBS ultimately decided to strengthen its sitcom offerings and Wonder Woman was suspended from the network schedule, though it was never formally cancelled.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] Season 1(a) (1975-1976) - ABC

  1. The New Original Wonder Woman (November 7, 1975) - two-hour telefilm
  2. "Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther" (April 21, 1976)
  3. "Fausta: The Nazi Wonder Woman" (April 28, 1976)

The first "season"; consisted of three specials.

[edit] Season 1(b) (1976-1977) - ABC

  1. "Wonder Woman" (1976) (re-cut version of the pilot with new introduction)
  2. "Beauty on Parade" (October 13, 1976)
  3. "The Feminum Mystique, Part 1" (November 6, 1976)
  4. "The Feminum Mystique, Part 2" (November 8, 1976)
  5. "Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua!" (December 18, 1976)
  6. "The Pluto File" (December 25, 1976)
  7. "Last of the Two Dollar Bills" (January 8, 1977)
  8. "Judgement from Outer Space, Part 1" (January 15, 1977)
  9. "Judgement from Outer Space, Part 2" (January 17, 1977)
  10. "Formula 407" (January 22, 1977)
  11. "The Bushwackers" (January 29, 1977)
  12. "Wonder Woman in Hollywood" (February 16, 1977)

The first two seasons are generally considered to be a single set of episodes and this is reflected by the North American DVD release considering the episodes to be one season.

[edit] Season 2 (1977-1978) - CBS

  1. "The Return of Wonder Woman" (September 16, 1977) - 90-minute episode
  2. "Anschluss '77" (September 23, 1977)
  3. "The Man Who Could Move the World" (September 30, 1977)
  4. "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis" (October 7, 1977)
  5. "Knockout" (October 14, 1977)
  6. "The Pied Piper" (October 21, 1977)
  7. "The Queen and the Thief" (October 28, 1977)
  8. "I Do, I Do" (November 11, 1977)
  9. "The Man Who Made Volcanoes" (November 18, 1977)
  10. "Mind Stealers from Outer Space, Part 1" (December 2, 1977)
  11. "Mind Stealers from Outer Space, Part 2" (December 9, 1977)
  12. "The Deadly Toys" (December 30, 1977)
  13. "Light-Fingered Lady" (January 6, 1978)
  14. "Screaming Javelin" (January 20, 1978)
  15. "Diana's Disappearing Act" (February 3, 1978)
  16. "Death in Disguise" (February 10, 1978)
  17. "I.R.A.C. is Missing" (February 17, 1978)
  18. "Flight to Oblivion" (March 3, 1978)
  19. "Seance of Terror" (March 10, 1978)
  20. "The Man Who Wouldn't Tell" (March 31, 1978)
  21. "The Girl from Islandia" (April 7, 1978)
  22. "The Murderous Missile" (April 21, 1978)

[edit] Season 3 (1978-1979) - CBS

  1. "My Teenage Idol is Missing" (September 22, 1978)
  2. "Hot Wheels" (September 29, 1978)
  3. "The Deadly Sting" (October 6, 1978)
  4. "The Fine Art of Crime" (October 13, 1978)
  5. "Disco Devil" (October 20, 1978)
  6. "Formicida" (November 3, 1978)
  7. "Time Bomb" (November 10, 1978)
  8. "Skateboard Wiz" (November 24, 1978)
  9. "The Deadly Dolphin" (December 1, 1978)
  10. "Stolen Faces" (December 15, 1978)
  11. "Pot of Gold" (December 22, 1978)
  12. "Gault's Brain" (December 29, 1978)
  13. "Going, Going, Gone" (January 12, 1979)
  14. "Spaced Out" (January 26, 1979)
  15. "The Starships are Coming" (February 2, 1979)
  16. "Amazon Hot Wax" (February 16, 1979)
  17. "The Richest Man in the World" (February 19, 1979)
  18. "A Date with Doomsday" (March 10, 1979)
  19. "The Girl with a Gift for Disaster" (March 17, 1979)
  20. "The Boy Who Knew Her Secret, Part 1" (May 28, 1979)
  21. "The Boy Who Knew Her Secret, Part 2" (May 29, 1979)
  22. "The Man Who Could Not Die" (August 28, 1979)
  23. "Phantom of the Roller Coaster, Part 1" (September 4, 1979)
  24. "Phantom of the Roller Coaster, Part 2" (September 11, 1979)

The final three episodes technically aired at the very start of the 1979-1980 season but were produced at the close of the previous season, so they do not constitute an abbreviated fourth season.

In addition, the final five episodes were aired out of sequence. The two-parter "Phantom of the Roller Coaster" should come before the two-parter "Boy Who Knew Her Secret" as the conclusion of the latter has Diana stating that she's about to relocate to Los Angeles, which leads directly into "Man Who Could Not Die" which, as stated above, was a relaunch episode.

[edit] DVD Releases

Warner Home Video has released all 3 Seasons of Wonder Woman on DVD in Region 1.

Cover Art DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete 1st Season 14 June 29, 2004
The Complete 2nd Season 22 March 1, 2005
The Complete 3rd Season 24 June 7, 2005

[edit] Trivia and goofs

  • DC Direct (which creates merchandise for DC Comics) is releasing a Wonder Woman statue which is based upon the image created by Lynda Carter in April 2007.
  • The episode "Time Bomb" made use of special effects footage shot for the British science fiction series, Space: 1999, most recognizably a shot of Moonbase Alpha.
  • Diana Prince, in the comic, was a nurse, and very similar in appearance to Princess Diana. Wonder Woman pays for the nurse to travel to meet an estranged boyfriend in South America, and assumes her identity. This is only hinted at in the pilot: we are left to wonder how Diana Prince become a Yeoman First Class WAVE.
  • In the first season, Major Trevor states several times that Nazis captured in America along with their American helpers would be interned for the duration of the war. But in real life, they would have been executed as spies and traitors.
  • In early transformation sequences using the stop-crank method, bracelets are left off.
  • Carter performed many of her own stunts early on, including a famous shot from the second season suspended under a helicopter. Later, Carter would only perform judo or close-up, less-risky stunts, such as light diving, vaulting, or flips/throws, due to her insurance with the studio.
  • Carter's hair was difficult to set after shooting scenes with it in a bun as Diana Prince. For this reason, and for continuity, various wigs and hairpieces were utilized after the pilot until mid-way through the second season. Diana's change to a ponytail made it easier to style Wonder Woman's hair.
  • Due to Carter's hairstyle change to a low bun, her character of Yeoman Prince rarely wears her uniform cover (hat) correctly when outdoors, often carrying it with gloves and her purse, instead of wearing it, per Navy standards.
  • Costumes for the pilot and first season were often from Warner Brothers costume archives, including costumes for Stella Stevens and Christine Belford worn by Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck. Lynda's costume as Diana Paradise in the beauty contest, a cherry-print dress, is from "The Misfits," and was worn by Marilyn Monroe.
  • Special effects noises for vaulting, super-strength, and tiara-throws were added after the first two specials, and continued, although vaulting changes to a loud screech mid-way through season two.
  • The thunderclap as part of the change sequence must only be for "viewers" at home. The first time it is utilized, it is in a barracks full of sleeping girls. Other times, it is in adjacent rooms, where the noise would be noticed.
  • After the change to the ponytail, Diana's hair, when braided or pinned, still falls to the ponytail before the change explosion occurs, for the first few episodes. This is abandoned later.
  • Wonder Woman was rarely over-powered when in costume, against her will, after the first season. (During a Season 2 episode entitled Murderous Missiles, she changes into her Wonder Woman costume and confronts some nefarious individuals but is rendered unconscious by the effects of their sleeping gas. She ends up chained by her captors on the floor of an abandoned jail.) She is left at times to choose between allowing harm to others or capturing thugs. She is shown as vulnerable usually in the guise of Diana Prince, who often doesn't have time to change when capture is imminent.
  • The source of Wonder Woman's powers outside Paradise Island in the TV series was her magic belt; when it was removed she was powerless. This was different to the comics where she was naturally superpowered as an Amazon but could lose her power only when chained by a man. (Presumably this change was done to sidestep the potential for 'bondage' scenes as in the early comics by William Moulton Marston which were controversial even in the 1940s).
  • Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford team up with great chemistry on Wonder Woman. Van Ark is cast in a guest role on Dallas, intended to serve as a spin-off vehicle. When the actor chosen to play Gary Ewing in the spin-off of Knots Landing, was unavailable, Wonder Woman was viewed at Lorimar to help in screening Shackelford for the part.
  • The character, in the comics, doesn't defy reality in changing her appearance quickly. The 1940s era Diana Prince has a very similar hairstyle to Wonder Woman, only with ends secured in a loose roll. The later 1940s and 1950s-1970s character wore her hair longer and loose, just the same as Wonder Woman, even though this wouldn't have been appropriate in the military.
  • Debra Winger does not list her role in her filmography, and is negative if questioned about Lynda Carter. Carter, on Larry King Live, stated she was pleasant to her young co-star, and was shocked at Winger's statements.
  • When asked if she made a profit from the 1977 Mego Wonder Woman dolls on The Late Show hosted by Joan Rivers in 1986, Lynda Carter stated: "I think that you're probably familiar with a problem in Hollywood, and that is that they market you and they use you. They did a mask of my face and put it on the doll and they put my name on for the first run of it. And then they took my name off and said they didn't have to pay me anymore. So it's the kind of thing that you can be used SO much in this industry. I make nothing. I don't even make anything from the reruns. Don't ever settle for net profits. It's called "creative accounting".

[edit] References

  1. ^ It's All Greek to Me. TV.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
  2. ^ TV show. WonderWomanOnline. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.

[edit] External links

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