Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman is a somewhat forgotten show, it's not on syndication much, but it's gotten a boost from a successful release on DVD. The first season takes place in the 1940s with Wonder Woman constantly fighting to dismantle the Nazi's schemes. The following two seasons take place in the 1970s, and they will be released on DVD soon.

The show is always bordering on the level of high camp, but like most every show from the 1970s, it tells its' story in a very plain straightforward fashion. Wonder Woman comes to the aid of Steve Trevor, who can never seem to help himself (the male in distress). Someone they know turns out to be an undercover Nazi spy, who is trying to steal valuable information or hurt many Americans.

One thing that is somewhat frustrating is how many times she is taken captured. She is chloroformed too many times to count (a 70s trademark - what action show didn't over-exploit chloroform?) Of course, how the hell does Steve never recognize that Diana is Wonder Woman, even when she happens to show up in the middle of Brazil to save him? And that music while she flies the invisible airplane?...yeeeeeaassh!

The good parts of the show - Lynda Carter, first of all. She seemed to hit her stride in the part as the series continued and she is often so charming and innocent that you can't help but like her. Her values and strength of character are idealistic, but they're also missing in today's female heroes, who are so dark sometimes, they lose their charm. In many ways, watching Lynda as Wonder Woman is a breath of fresh air and of course, there still doesn't seem to be a woman other than her who could wear that outfit and pull it off. When Wonder Woman first walks on the city streets in the pilot, you don't know what to think, but Lynda plays her so innocently she's fantastic.

She is the driving force, but the innocent quality of the show (good vs. bad) is unique from today's perspective. The comic book captions at the leads of scenes give it a tie to the comics. The guest stars are often interesting and have good roles and Lyle Waggoner is consistent in a rather thankless role as Steve Trevor.

It may not hold up perfectly today, but it's a nice time capsule series and Lynda Carter does hold up well in a role she was born to play. And along with the Hulk, this was the best of the slew of comic book hero shows from the 1970s-early 80s.

The 1970's TV series "Wonder Woman" - adapted from the popular DC Comics super-heroine created by American psychologist William Moulton Marston (credited here as "Charles Marston"), his wife Elizabeth, and their mutual live-in lover Olive Byrne - is a wonderful superhero series.

One of the great things about "Wonder Woman" is that it feels like a real-life, live-action comic book. In fact, shots from each episode closely resemble panels from a comic book. The other thing about "Wonder Woman" is that it doesn't fall into the full-blown camp territory of its obvious predecessor, the 1966 "Batman" TV series that starred Adam West and was responsible for nearly ruining the Dark Knight's reputation. Yet, "Wonder Woman" also doesn't take itself all that seriously. It's just a great fun TV show to watch through and through.

In case you don't know, the entire "Wonder Woman" series takes place from World War II (1942-1945) all the way up to the modern day (the mid 1970s). During a spectacular aerial battle over the Bermuda Triangle, dashing Air Force pilot Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) is shot down and lands on Paradise Island, which also happens to be home to the Amazons, beautiful, ageless women of great strength, agility, and intelligence. Princess Diana (former Miss World USA 1972 Lynda Carter) wins the right to return him to "Man's World" (the rest of human society). And thus, Wonder Woman's career as a super-heroine begins as she and Steve take on the Nazis and their various attempts to sabotage the U.S. war effort.

The second season onward moves events up to the present, the mid-1970s, as Diana once again returns to Man's World to battle all manner of evil - terrorists, evil geniuses, your typical crooks, and even Nazi war criminals hiding out in South America. She once again teams up with Steve Trevor, or rather, Steve Trevor, Jr., the son of the lead male protagonist from the first season (who is still portrayed by Lyle Waggoner).

As the lead, the dashing and beautiful Lynda Carter IS Wonder Woman. In her civilian identity, she's bookish Diana Prince. Astute viewers will also recognize that "Diana Prince" is the secret identity, whereas Wonder Woman is the true personality (much like DC Comics' other flagship superhero, Superman/Clark Kent). Carter is an actress of amazing beauty and physicality; she reportedly performed a number of her own stunts including dangling from a flying helicopter in the second episode of the second season. It's a role that she would be forever closely linked to and it remains her most famous role to date.

Another aspect of the series that I found quite amazing was that it retains the feminist appeal of the original comic book character (Wonder Woman has been accused by social critics since the beginning of encouraging misandry, promoting bondage fantasies, and encouraging lesbianism). Because of the strong feminist appeal of the character, it was often Steve Trevor who was in distress and needed to be rescued, and not the other way around. It's a great role reversal from what is normally seen in most superhero comic book/TV series.

Lastly, I'm not ashamed to say that I became a fan of Wonder Woman largely because of Lynda Carter, who is not only striking and beautiful, but also closely resembles her comic book counterpart; I have no doubt in my mind that she might have been cast because of her uncanny resemblance to the character that she plays.

"Wonder Woman" is a classic superhero series in every sense of the word. The first season is the best, in my overall opinion of the series. It is also highly likely that this incarnation of the DC Comics super-heroine will remain the best portrayal of the character anywhere, whether it be on television or in the movies.

8/10

P.S.: I only wish that Debra Winger had more appearances as Diana's perky younger sister Drusilla/Wonder Girl.

It's too bad that "Wonder Woman" strayed from its origins after it moved from ABC to CBS. The original ABC episodes were probably some of the best efforts at bringing comic book fun to life. Once the series was moved from its WWII setting to the present, the only thing that improved was Lynda Carter's costume. "Wonder Woman" became too much of a routine type of adventure show and lost its sense of good-natured fun and camp that the WWII episodes served up (and poor Lyle Waggoner became practically non-existent as "Steve Trevor, Jr.")

Still, there is little doubt that Lynda Carter made a lasting impression as Wonder Woman. Her qualities of incredible beauty and wide-eyed innocence enabled her to make the part her own and the reason why we've never seen a big screen adapation of Wonder Woman is because Carter's portrayal still looms large even today.

Lynda Carter's portrayal of Wonder Woman was one of the best superhero performances ever. She really came across as a super-powerful female, just as Lou Ferrigno came across on The Incredible Hulk as a super-powerful green-skinned goliath. What was even better was when Debra Winger guest-starred in three episodes as WW's sister, Wonder Girl. Talk about a double dose of babeness!!!

As a young male, I found Wonder Woman entertaining for two reasons-Lynda Carter was beautiful and the show was, in my opinion, as camp and as fun as the 60's Batman show.

I think a lot of women loved Wonder Woman because she was totally independent. She didn't need a man to help her save the day. She could beat the bad guys herself.

But, back to the show itself. Throughout the show Wonder Woman faced all kinds from regular bad guys to mad scientists. The show was very tongue-in-cheek and despite the show making me realize just how much us guys need women, I enjoyed it very much. There was the type of action you just don't see anymore on TV and plenty of original humour.

Wonder Woman was indeed wonderful.