Rewatching the 70s Wonder Woman TV Show

[lorenzovanmatte]

Formicida
Wonder Woman vs Ants. Oh dear this is bad stuff although at least we have a semi-costumed villainess for once. Also it defies convention when WW just turns up at the skeet range and throws her lasso around him, you think she'd maybe try that a little more often. And he's innocent, even though he has 'evil industrialist' stamped all over him! Also WW takes the opportunity to demonstrate her marksmanship which is pretty unusual.
3/10

Time Bomb
Ted Shackleford back once more as a different character. You'd wonder if Cassandra can predict the future why she doesn't just do a little sports betting or play the stock market? If some of the future stuff looks familar they're stock shots from the classic British sci-fi series Space;1999 (no submarines in the future?) which also deals with the idea of a disasterous nuclear accident although this one hurls the moon out of orbit. Adam also mentions a nuclear apocalypse in 2007, weird we never noticed. One interesting factor is that according to Cassandra is that WW is still up and about in 2155AD. That said whilst it may mean it's out current Wonder Woman it could also mean that the role may be passed down through the centuries to other Amazons?
6/10

Skateboard Wiz
I doubt there was any craze that WW didn't jump onto during it's run. Here we have skateboards AND video games and it's pretty funny to see the ancient versions they had back then compared to what people have now. What would we have had if the series had continued into the 80s? Wonder Woman against a villain obsessed with solving the Rubix Cube? Wonder Woman trying to save a group of teenagers threatened by the holes in their jeans? A fiendish plot to destroy all the 3-inch cassettes in the world? When you're used to fantastical plots it's pretty weird to have some quite nasty organised crime stuff, arson and mobsters threatening people's famillies. The scene where the heavies try to drown Diana in the surf is also quite nasty, you really get the idea she could be in trouble before she fights them off and escapes (notably she fights them off as Diana). But of course here we have skateboarding WW and she's great, I always love it when we have a new version. We've had standard, horse-riding, swimsuit, motorbiking and now skateboarding. What more could we have? Handgliding Wonder Woman? Astronaut Wonder Woman? Arctic Wonder Woman (no, thinking about it too much covered up), Jungle Explorer Wonder Woman (break out the leopardskin), cross country skier Wonder Woman? One thing I'd have liked in the series was more continuity, like we had with Harold Farnum recurring in 2 separate eps. Here Diana goes to visit an old friend from the IADC but it's a woman we'd never heard off or seen before, why couldn't it be Steve's secretary whom we've met a few times or Jo Atkinson or someone else from a previous ep? Why can't we have recurring villains, Mariposa or the baddie from The Girl from Ilandia being two who spring to mind. Also interesting to see that Diana actually does have a life and friends outside her work and secret identity, Diana Prince is not simply a mask that Wonder Woman wears. Would always love to have seen a Superman 3/Buffy like confrontation where she get's split into her 2 different personalities. Another young girl who get's the wish fufilment of having their heroine Wonder Woman as a friend (anyone else remember the Wonder Woman sequence on 'Jim'll Fix It'?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_Gro8hRBE did she not notice that motorbike sitting behind the car?
7/10, worth it for the skateboarding outfit alone

The Deadly Dolphin
Clearly inspired by the The Day of the Dolphin, again we have swimsuit WW and her ability to communicate with animals. Believe it or not this was a real project the US Navy had in the 70s, using dolphins to research sonar and design the hulls of their submarines. Here we have WW resorting to another method for thwarting firearms, sticking her fingers in the barrel! (As Mythbusters proved, NOT a good idea). As so often is the case the villains plan seems to be unnecessarily complex, could he just hire a diver or use a motorboat against the tanker rather then going to all the trouble of kidnapping a dolphin?
7/10 largely because I'm a sucker for swimming WW

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

Stolen Faces
Another Wonder Woman double and frankly a not too convincing one. It seems that WW is not only known to the general public but they're also aware of her link to the IADC, the Dr treating the fake Wonder Woman phoning them when she's brought in. One interesting factor of this ep is that Diana actually seems to check out Roman as he walks down the corridor. Is she suspicious or interested? The plot makes absolutely no sense whatsoever but that really isn't that unusual. You think she'd have saved herself a lot of trouble by just throwing the lasso around the first impersonator and forcing her to tell her the plan. A nice little feature is Diana and Steve all dolled up at the end going out to a fancy restaraunt, a date?
5/10

Pot of Gold
Was this intended for St Patrick's Day or something? Wonder Woman goes to the UK or at least they break out the stock footage of Heathrow Airport. Quite weird to see Diana dressed as a security guard, you rather doubt you'd ever see a real security guard who looks quite like her? Actually rather like the idea that he may be a real leprachaun (about the one supernatural element Buffy lacked, none in the Buffyverse). Also quite an awesome sight to see WW actually haul a helicopter to the ground using her lasso.
6/10

Gault's Brain
Interesting concept. Quite chilling the scene where the surgeon goes to cut open the athletes skull in order to implant Gault's brain in it. Also the axe nearly hitting Diana is potentially quite gruesome and the scene where they dump her in the lake sealed in a barrel is the stuff of claustrophobic nightmares. Great performance from sci-fi legend Paul Richman ("It's a cook book!") as Dr Crippen (the same name as the infamous Dr who murdered his wife in Victorian society and was later caught alongside his mistress via the first use of a telegram in a criminal investigation). When confronted with WW why doesn't Gault's brain just use his power of telekinesis to strip her, do villains in the 70s not realise that her power rests in her belt and bracelets? Once again we have villains who escape, it would be great to see them again.
7/10

Going, going gone
The submarines are back again! The character of Lucas is also played by the same actor who was Steve Trevor in the Kathy Crosby movie. The Cold War is central again plus flying saucers which were extremely popular at the time, a mass flurry of sighting all over the world (the spinning top with a clear dome on top filmed by New Zealand film crew and examined by Arthur C Clarke especially convincing). Nuclear proliferation once more, can anyone tell me exactly what is a single engine Soviet fighter doing armed with a nuke flying so close to the Californian coast? Diana uses genuine espionage techniquies when impersonating Mrs Fox (is there a Mr Fox?), set phrases to allow two individuals to meet and recognise one another, very 'From Russia with Love'.. It's kinda lame that Smith tells everyone that she's an imposter but no one listens to him and they just go on with the auction as if nothing has happened. However I very much like do like the idea of her turning into swimsuit Wonder Woman in the torpedo tube, we really should count up the number of ways she accomplishes that (spinning in a chair, rolling down a quarry scree slope etc). Also the nuke itself looks pretty pathetic.
6/10

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

Spaced Out
It's Star Wars again! Funny to compare the very improvised, early sci-fi conventions that followed Star Wars and preceeded The Empire Strikes Back to the slick, glossy Comicon versions we have today with their fabulous guest stars, elaborate publicity events for forthcoming releases and sky high admission fees. Here of course we have Rene Auberjonois of Odo in Star Trek;DS9 fame as a thief mocking the convnetioneers but now of course he attends them as an honoured (and extremely well paid) guest! Also interesting to see the Black Avenger mobbed by the fangirls which may be a sly joke on all those lusting after WW herself (one of whom we meet here, Sly). A very different look for Diana, much softer and less career woman/sexy secretary, perhaps attempting to blend in with the other conventioneers. Apparently the studio is sponsoring 'Space Quest' an extremely popular show which they are bringing back. Of course this is exactly when Star Trek; The Motion Picture was in production. We have a sympathetic thief who Diana actually seems quite fond off and of course Robby the Robot from the Forbidden Planet/Lost in Space. If we ever have a new WW series I'd love a scene where she attends a case at a convention, accidentally enters a Wonder Woman lookalike competition and is not too happy to end up coming third (as allegedly both Elvis and Charlie both did). Especially brilliant if she was to bump onto Lyle Waggoner/Debra Winder signing autographs there. In a subtle ref to reality we have the idea that 'Robby the Robot is a lush', ironic given Lynda Carter's very public battle with alcoholism (given her amazing figure you would have thought her problem would be anorexia, able to maintain her tiny, tiny waist whilst still having a truly terrific rack). Yet much like Wonder Woman Lynda won her battle and is still the bees knees today, one heck of a milf and no mistake.
7/10

The Starships are coming
Ridiculous at first glance this ep makes a lot more sense when you think that the events of 'Mind robbers from outer space' took place in the public eye, the existence of alien life is common knowledge in the DC universe. That said the 'villain who explains the dastardly scheme before attempting to kill the hero in an unnecessarily elaborate fashion' is just terrible as Austin Powers points out to great comic effect. Ultra-right wing baddies who were common in the 70s, self-doubting America looking inwards to itself for evil after the debacle of Vietnam, Watergate and the Church Committee hearings into the CIA/FBI and their various dodgy actions during the Cold War (would love to have seen Steve Trevor hauled befiore that inquisition, "So Mr Trevor, is Wonder Woman's lariat of truth admissable as evidence under the constitution or is it an infringement of civil rights comparable to waterboarding?") . The fear of Red China (before it was replaced by capitalist-but-still-totalitarian-China) very much to the fore and the controversy surrounding Nixon's detente towards it certainly a big issue. Once again we end with Lynda Carter giving her trademarked huge smile of happiness, does anyone else do that with such radiant conviction?. Not a bad ep per se but it seems the series is still trying to ride the wave of sci-fi enthusiasm that followed Star Wars (WW alumni Roddy McDowell voicing Disney's The Black Hole etc).
7/10

Amazon Hot Wax
Very much a case of 'Lynda Carter's got a great voice and artisitc timing so let's do a musical episode '. But it's still pretty good, I really like the idea that they can find out the disappeared popstar's hideout through interpreting his album cover, more music folks should do that today (anyone else 'Quest for the golden hare?). Such a shame that this occurred in the era before mainstream TV series were obliged to do a musical episode (Xena, Buffy, Scrubs, Ally McBeal etc), some of which were pedestrian and obligatory, some of which were exemplary and superlative. Also we have 'Beverley Hills Cop' star Judge Reinhold in his first ever role as the lesser evil part of the evil duo. A hugely different image for Diana, no longer the Sarah Palin lookalike but actually someone whom you could believe was a popstar back in the 70s. Kinda weak excuse that an organisation like the IADC would be involved with something so minor as extortion in the music business, they seem to be a combination of the FBI/CIA able to operate on both US terriroty and foreign soil (or at least as long as the stock footage lasted). Rick Springfield once again in a very different role to what we've seen him in before. Steve relegated to the DC office, very much a bit player from now on which frankly I see as something of a shame, Wonder Woman would have been so much better if we'd have had some sort of romance in our favourite Amazon's life rather than have her as some sort of ultra-hot glacial eunic, just because she doesn't need men or women doesn't mean she shouldn't want them. On a more prosaic level Eric seems to hope to use the casting couch to begin a relationship with Diana but never even gets a look in, at least he appears to be placated by the magic of Diana's voice in the studio. A pretty good ep, Lynda Carter maintaning a career through her music specials long after Wonder Woman was cancelled. You often think that she was a musician who fell into being an actress than the other way around (the anti-Elvis?). The group Anti-Matter with all it's gimmicks kind of resemble the 70s supergroups KISS, Earth, Wind and Fire and The Bay City Rollers.
7/10

The Richest Man in World
Once again dealing with a 70s legend, Marshall Henshaw closely resembling reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes (Lynda Carter going on to play one of his famous girlfriends Rita Hayworth in a telemovie, you get the idea if Lynda Carter or Wonder Woman had been around a few years earlier she would have inevitably ended up as one of his extensive harem of Hollywood beauties). Hughes really did work with the real life equivalent of the IADC, the CIA in desiging and building a vessel called the Glomar Explorer which recovered half of a sunken Soviet submarine in the Pacific during the 70s. Reputedly he was so eccentric (ie mad but rich) that the Soviets bought the official cover story that the Glomar Explorer was actually intended to seek out the lost world of Altantis, the inspiration for Paradise Island. His encounter with Barney is reminiscent of the stoy of 'Melvin and Howard', an ordinary Joe encountering the richest man in the world, not realising it yet treating him decently anyway. Diana wears her fedora style hat which was fashionable at the time along with wicker furniture, elaborate curvy white limos and mainstream cinema porn such as Emanuelle and The Green Door (which Lynda Carter could easily have ended up doing had her Wonder Woman role not come along, she had $25 to her name when she won the role). Someone should really keep a track of all the stolen technology in Wonder Woman and other series of the time, it seems doubtful that the US was able to keep anything secret. The anti-missile defence system is akin to Ronald Regan's 'Star Wars' defence system which was still a work of fiction in the late 70s, not least by Clive 'Raise the Titanic' Cussler. Rather beggars belief that Diana Prince should just stumble upon Henshaw and give him a lift but that's really the least of logical problems with this ep. As with the 'Girl for Ilandia', The Bushwhackers and the 'Deadly Seance' episodes we have an orphan needing an adoptive parent and gaining them in the course of the episode.
5/10, not brilliant but ok

 

[Ye Black Knight]

Aye, for if this humble knight eve'r be'ith caught in ye lasso of this Wench of Wonder, only the deepest truths speak'eth shall I! Then, she shall know of this knight's raw, wanton lust for the Wench of Wonder!

Verily, for the Wench of Wonder be'ith a player most prominent in this knight's most erotic fantasies! Hath thou heard'eth that the Wench of Wonder doth concocted a machine of flight, solid as iron, but as inperceptable to thine sight! As if a spirit in the wind!

'Tis there that this knight's dreams soar! We share our carnal passions! Giving each other pleasures most sensuous and sinful! Our nudely forms intertwined! Our lips moaning in ecstacy! With only the gentle birds to witness our soaring, clandestine debauchery!

And whence this knight's pleasure reach'eth a crescendo, from the depths of this soul a cry: "Wench of Wonder I love thee!"



This post now conclude'th!

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

Aye, for if this humble knight eve'r be'ith caught in ye lasso of this Wench of Wonder, only the deepest truths speak'eth shall I! Then, she shall know of this knight's raw, wanton lust for the Wench of Wonder!

Verily, for the Wench of Wonder be'ith a player most prominent in this knight's most erotic fantasies! Hath thou heard'eth that the Wench of Wonder doth concocted a machine of flight, solid as iron, but as inperceptable to thine sight! As if a spirit in the wind!

'Tis there that this knight's dreams soar! We share our carnal passions! Giving each other pleasures most sensuous and sinful! Our nudely forms intertwined! Our lips moaning in ecstacy! With only the gentle birds to witness our soaring, clandestine debauchery!

And whence this knight's pleasure reach'eth a crescendo, from the depths of this soul a cry: "Wench of Wonder I love thee!"



This post now conclude'th!

You read 'The Knights of Pleasure' too, huh? "For verily Sir Lancelot's manhood was a foot long and the width of a woman's wrist"

A Date with Doomsday
Biological warfare a major concern in the late 70s as NATO and the Warsaw Pact continued their insane arms race with one another. Motorbiking WW is back again, hooray! There does seem to be a remarkable amount of motorbikes always lying around for her to ride. Did they ever produce a Motorbiking WW doll, like the famous Evel Kineval one? (alongside the classic Six Million Dollar Man doll with it's magnifying eye and no end of Star Wars stuff). More convincing disguises which seems to be something that every two-bit crook could do back then (thank you Mission Impossible). Computer dating agencies, eHarmony in it's very primitive form. We also have a villain with an agenda, just as in 'The Man who could Move the World' she's doing it in order to avenge her brother, killed by goverment incompetence. It's a humdrum episode UNTIL we get to Wonder Woman's truly thrilling last minute run to catch the test tube filled with virus which really makes this 10 times better, very cleverly cut together as this was obviously filmed in Los Angeles and then interspersed with stock footage of Washington DC. Punch the air brilliant.
8/10 for the final run alone

The Girl with a Gift for Disaster
Exactly where does Bonnies gift for disaster come from? It's never really explained. More espionage and more reclusive art collecting criminals. The ambush of the army truck is pretty lame although it is nice to see gun-toting Steve Trevor actually getting into the action for once rather than being stuck behind his desk. Mass power cuts which occasional back then and the Declaration of Independence which was on everyone's mind with the bi-centennial celebrations.
6/10

The Boy who knew her secret 1&2
More mind control from outer space in true 'Invasion of the Bodysnatchers' style. Diana Prince in a cowgirl hat which looks pretty great. These episodes are set in the town of Crystal Lake although I doubt it has any resemblance to the same town featured in the Friday the 13th series. Interestingly the aliens in this ep aren't actually evil, they're galactic law enforcers after a criminal and will free the bodies of those they've possessed unharmed once they're done. We also have a shapeshifter much like The Thing. The plot moves so damn fast it's pretty hard to keep up. Here we have Diana successfully hypnotised once more and forgetting that she is Wonder Woman. I'd love to have seen an ep where she loses the ability to transform and has to solve the case as just Diana. We have Skip at the end still in the knowledge of WW's true identity, I wonder if we'd have had a 4th season would he have come back?
7/10

The Man who could not Die
So bad it's not true. A complete reboot for the series with Steve Trevor obviously being written out and Diana moving to Los Angeles. The idea of the man who couldn't die is stupid although maybe with this formula we could have some more villains who are capable of taking on and possibly even defeating WW. The super-monkey and the annoying hustler kid who just seems to be allowed to walk around the top secret IADC headquarters at will are stupid beyond belief (I remember the actor though, James Bond the Third who would later go on to star in classic kids TV series 'The Red Hand Gang'). Diana only gets involved in the whole scheme at all though the Jessica Fletcher effect, that is the hero/heroine constantly stumbling over clues to dark going-ons without even looking for them. Diana in her fedora hat again which does look good. Reputedly by this stage Lyle Waggoner was pretty fed up with the series, I understand why, he's this classic handsome leading man and yet he's constantly relegated to being nothing more than the damsel in distress, constantly helpless and needing to be rescued. Interesting name for the villain, 'Reichman', very Nazi overtones and he's a true Reanimator style baddie. For once amazingly WW's lasso doesn't work, the serum makes Bryce immune. Interesting how modern technology is beginning to overtake ancient magic.You get the idea that maybe with Bryce they were looking to do a Bionic Woman style spinoff in reverse? (reputedly The Girl for Ilandia and Wonder Girl were also attempts at a spinoff targetting the youth market). Of course whilst he was making the series Lyle was also the Mayor of a town in Claifornia (as Clint Eastwood/Sonny Bono would also later be) so maybe he just didn't have the time to spend on the set?
1/10

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

The Phantom of the Rollercoaster
Hooray! Back to DC, back to Steve, obviously whatever went wrong in LA Diana has decided to stay in Washington (perhaps she let Bryce take over her role?). Maybe they knew that the series was ending and decided to reorganise the eps in order to have Diana and Steve go out on good terms? They actually saved the best for last with a great performance from Jared Martin (Dallas/War of the Worlds)as the twins that has real emotional reasonance. That fact that one twin was disfigured by napalm during Vietnam is pretty adult stuff and the ending as the brothers embrace once more is fantastic, brings a tear to your eye and Lynda's trademark Wonder Women enormous smile is fully justified. Obviously riffing on The Phantom of the Opera it's wonderful to see a series which features people of such stunning physical perfection and beauty as Lyle and Lynda bringing across the message that we should never judge by appearance.
Diana pretends to be a double agent and once again uses genuine espionage techniques. Motorbiking Wonder Woman once more with another conveniently placed motorcycle. More orphans and some genuinely thrilling stuff with the rollercoasters and preventing the sabotage. Diana is actually able to transform now in a spinning car.
10/10!

So Wonder Woman the series. Not really a classic although very interesting to look back upon the 70s now. I think it's success largely stemmed from the joy off seeing a comic book icon brought fairly faithfully and realistically to the screen and how utterly incredible Lynda Carter looked in the role. Plenty of room for improvement, could do with more originality, a bit more in terms of references to the wider DC universe (just a few references to Gotham or Metropolis) and some better, more formidable villains, too many two-bit gangsters in very dated looking suits. I'd also have liked WW or Diana to have some love interest. Some more storylines I'd like to have seen during the series;

1. I'd like more of Steve, he should be given a lot more to do and once in a while he should be the one to rescue Diana/WW, they should be more partners.

2. Also if Steve and Diana can't be together we should have Steve having a girlfirend of his own.

3. Diana/WW addressing some more obvious feminist issues, going undercover as the victim of a white slavery ring, helping a female electoral candidate whose campaign is being sabotaged, aiding a bunch of striking female workers to get equal pay in the face of intimidation, helping a foreign runaway bride escape her arranged marriage etc

4. Recurring villains and if possible more recurring characters, especially those who might recognise Wonder Woman from the 40s

5. More involvement from the other Amazons, especially if we could have some villainous ones as we do in the 1975 telemovie.

6. A story where she's hounded by the paparazzi, intent on getting an interview and photoshoot with 'The Real Wonder Woman'.

7. An ep where someone makes a film about Wonder Woman's life and she's far from happy at both some of the artistic liberties they take, the hapless bimbo they've got playing her and the even skimpier outfit they've got her wearing.

8. A few 2 parter eps where WW does become controlled by the bad guys and they use her to commit crime Superman 3 style, as very nearly happens in The Pied Piper, The Fine Art of Crime and The Deadly Toys.

9. Less self contained eps and more story arcs drawn across the seasons.

10. At very least a cameo from Cathy Crosby and I'd like some from Adam West and Burt Ward too and some folks from the old Superman series

11. WW's obviously been around a long time, how about we have some eps set in different eras, love to see medieval and Victorian Wonder Woman, she could go up against classic foes such as Fu Manchu and Dracula.

12. More references to the ancient Greeks and WW's origins, especially good if we have the return of Bellarophon etc

So my top ten;
1. Phantom of the Rollercoaster pt2
2. Phantom of the Rollercoaster pt1
3. The Fine Art of Crime
4. The Deadly Toys
5. The Pied Piper
6. The Bermuda Trinagle Crisis
7. Judgement from Outer Space pt2
8. Judgement from Outer Space pt1
9. Gault's Brain
10. A Date with Doomsday (but only for her heroic final run)

 

[Isub_Zero]

So your 12-points wish list... is it the way you'll want to see the new Series, if it'll ever happend, Lorenzo?

BTW... i think this last post is a good post for the original thread this thread came from.

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

So your 12-points wish list... is it the way you'll want to see the new Series, if it'll ever happend, Lorenzo?

BTW... i think this last post is a good post for the original thread this thread came from.

Yes absolutely and thank you