Electra Woman and Dyna Girl

One of three segments presented on the 70's Saturday morning kidvid THE KROFT SUPERSHOW; The others were 'Wonderbug,' a Herbie The Love Bug knockoff, and 'Doctor Shrinker,' about a mad scientist who shrinks three teens. All three, if I remember right, were dumped in favor of new short features when the SUPERSHOW came back for a second season, though 'Wonderbug' might have stayed around. Only eight episodes of 'Electra-Woman And Dyna-Girl' were produced, but they're vividly, and sometimes even fondly, remembered by Generation Xers. A weird, low-budget pastiche of the campy 1960's BATMAN with a bit of Lynda Carter WONDER WOMAN thrown in, the show starred Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis as 'Lori' and 'Judy,' two magazine writers who, when trouble strikes, usually in the form of a flamboyantly costumed, wildly overplayed super-villain, become super-heroines Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl. They battled evil using their 'Electra-comps,' clunky-looking devices worn on their wrists that allowed them to fire various types of low-budget rays and kept them in communication with Frank, the crusty scientific genius who invented the Comps and manned the 'Electra-base' in Lori and Judy's basement.

What makes the show interesting and fun, if not exactly good, is the bizarre sense of conviction most of the actors bring to their roles. They all overact wildly, especially Judy Strangis, but seem perfectly attuned to the claustrophobic confines of the bizarre little world they inhabit. Despite looking like it was made in someone's basement, the show did its best to ape the fantastic comic books it copied, sending its heroines through time, into alternate dimensions, etc. Admittedly, it did it all with apparently two sets, a maximum of six actors, and a budget of twenty dollars, but it could be seen as trying to bring back the spirit of the old CAPTAIN VIDEO-type shows. Or not.

The only episode of this show I remember involved a female bad..uh...woman who had lots of spiders at her command. I know she was referred to as "queen of the spiders" and I think her name was Cleopatra, or some other historical name that really doesn't go very well with the title of arachnid all-mother.

That episode became the basis of many a Saturday afternoon. My sister and I would pretend we were trapped like Electra Woman and Dyna Girl were in this huge web with tarantulas everywhere (we were actually in a walk in closet with a tangle of old jump ropes and a smattering of plastic spiders from the dollar store).

Bout the only other things I remember about Sid and Marty Krofft is Dr. Shrinker and of course Land of the Lost. Really horribly cheesy stuff, and really strange...which probably explains why I can't remember very much of it.

Of all the various Sid & Marty Krofft endeavors, "Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl" is the one that sticks out in my mind as the grooviest. By total coincidence, it's also the only one to feature foxy babes in tight costumes, unless you count that one Bugaloo. The titular heroes are two gals who fight all evil deeds. They work for a magazine, hiding the life they lead. They don't have any super powers, save for the various Electra-gadgets designed by their lumpy live-in scientist Frank. Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl live together with Frank, who never leaves their basement. Their adventures don't make any sense. They're like fever dreams, with no logic to guide them. Each episode will have Frank introducing some new invention, and then a silly-beyond-words villain (like Glitter Rock, an incredibly annoying wannabe rock-star with a green afro and hypnotic music) shows up and the only thing that can stop them is? Frank's new invention. The bad guys always hide in abandoned theaters. Dyna Girl constantly uses "Electra" as a prefix, like "Electra-wow!" or "Electra-sneaky!", which makes me wonder why she isn't called Electragirl, or at least say "Dyna-wow!" Everybody acts like they're on drugs.

But for all it's pitfalls, it's great TV. I figured out why Sid & Marty Krofft are far superior to other live-action kids programming giants like Saban: They loved what they were doing, they weren't in if for the money. They might have had crappy effects, but they loved their crappy effects! They were proud of those shots of the Electra-Car taking off- so proud that they used it in every episode! They probably thought that optic flash when the gals changed into their costumes was the coolest effect ever. It didn't matter that their stories made no sense and they used the same sets over and over. They loved this sub-Batman camp. They loved Electra-Woman, Dyna Girl, and Frank. They even loved Glitter Rock.

In fact, now that I think about it, my respect for the Krofft Empire spans their whole body of work, except for maybe "Pryor's Place". I love the nutty drug-filled antics of H.R. Puffnstuff. I love Hoo-Doo, and Sigmund, and Dr. Shrinker, and I like Magic Mongo and the Far Out Space Nuts as friends. So the next time one of your high-minded contemporaries scoffs at the oeuvre of S&MK, you can tell them that they're scoffing at love, baby, and they can scoff all they want but they'll scoff alone! Those philistines! They'll never know the touch of a felt hand puppet, the passion of an over-the-hill child star, or the fragrant odor of sweaty, under-paid dwarf in a dumb looking sea monster costume. They'll never know about back when TV was good and every show summed up it's premise in the theme song lyrics. I weep for them.

Or not. Whatever. Never mind.

I have almost no recollection of any episodes of this show. Having said that I do remember that stirring feeling that my seven year old body underwent on those 8 odd Saturday mornings when Croft Supershow wasn't running Wonderbug. I didn't understand at the time why I was transfixed to the TV when it usually just provided background noise while I played with Legos. Those skin tight costumes even today shape my ideal of the female form. Well that and Linda Carters Wonderwoman. I don't know how I'd react to seeing repeats today. Perhaps I'd see them as Gatsby saw Daisy. The pale light of memory shadows all flaws. I'd probably think of them as cheesy. But damn those girls were hot!

This Saturday morning live-action show can best be summed up by four words: Deidre Hall in spandex! All I can add to that is "Yowza!!!!"

OK, that may not be very politically correct, but for a show that seemingly had women's lib at its core, it sure seemed to spend a lot of time focusing on the attractive Ms. Hall and her sidekick in their tight spandex outfits, escaping from lame death traps, and carrying the biggest watches you'll ever see, this side of a Power Rangers show.

Like most Kroft shows, it was bright, colorful, and cheesy. The dialogue was beyond lame and the villains laughable (as in ineptly campy). The ladies did have a pretty cool car, though. The duo would be saved by some new gadget or function added to their enormous wrist devices, created by their mentor and scientist friend, Frank (Norman Alden). Ms. Hall and her friend looked fantastic, but no one could do this show with a straight face.