Mulher Elétrica e Garota Dínamo

Only a handful of episodes were ever made for this addition to "The Krofft Supershow", but it marks a milestone in entertainment history: the introduction of Diedre Hall in her pre-"Days of our Lives" days.

Here, she portrays Lori, a career woman who, with her assistant Judy (Judy Strangis), also fight crime in the guise of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, with the help of their faithful butler Alfred...I mean, their friend Frank Heflin (Norman Alden).

Much like "Batman", EW and DG have an array of devices they use to fight crime and a vast selection of villains to fight against every episode. If memory serves, there was even a cave(!) they operated out of.

Though it reeked of '70s kiddie-show cheapness, the show had a bland kind of style as it tried to evoke the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder while splicing in Women's Lib at the same time.

Too bad. Maybe if they had Aaron Spelling as a producer?

Four stars for "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" - Diedre Hall's finest hour (in 1976, that is).

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.

Sid and Marty Krofft have been really criticized and even ridiculed in some circles for the shows that they created during the 1970s. However, I have many fond childhood memories of the happiness they gave me with shows like Lidsville and H. R. Puff and Stuff (I don't think I spelled that correctly). They even had a special on the E channel a couple years ago about Puff and Stuff and tried to say that there was a hidden message about marijuana use in it. In fact with their colorful use of puppets, wild colors and psychodelic ambiance, you could say the Krofft brothers were like Mister Rogers on Captain Kangaroo on LSD. People have said that the Krofft's were like Ed Wood. Their projects were so campy and bad that they were almost good in a sort of way. Let me come to their defense and say that even though their shows might be laughable by today's standards, what kind of standards do we really have today I ask? Especially when it comes to entertainment for our kids. Maybe when you watched Land Of The Lost and other shows you laughed at the crude special effects, cheesy costumes and sets and dialogue, but you could at least let your kids watch it. It brought them joy what is wrong with that. I was so happy when the wonderfully nostaglic TV land channel had a Sid and Marty Marathon recently. I loved watching Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost Again (boy the special effects were just like Jurassic Park ha ha). However, finding Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was to me like Howard Carter finding King Tut's tomb. It was a lost treasure. I have always loved Diedre Hall, my favorite show with her was Our House, I had no idea she had starred in this one as well. EWADG has a tremendous cult following, its amazing because only eight episodes of this show were ever filmed. Its worth it because it reminds me so much of the Batman show I loved as a kid. Right down to the colorful villians like the Sorcerer (a wonderfully hammy Michael Constantine) to Professor Frank who was really like Alfred the Butler. Yes folks just but your brain on hold and open the heart to the inner child. Sid and Marty did a really fine thing and have nothing to be ashamed of. I cannot think of her name but the young actress who played Dyna Girl did an amazing job. She reminded me so much of Robin especially with her "Electra" phrases, the way Robin used "Holy" phrases on Batman.

And there was no camp, no sneers, grins, winks, no comedy relief here.

Most Saturday morning shows which ran for only one season averaged sixteen episodes.

Electra Woman filled that requirement, but with the two parter continued next week, this resulted in eight complete episodes if shown in the half hour time slot.

When Tvland aired Electra Woman at the beginning of 2004, I recorded the shows off. They are indeed fun.

The Sorcerer would be Michael Constatine, Judy Strangis' (Dyna Girl) former Emmy award winning costar from Room 222. I think Constatine made a bit of a mini-comeback with Lainie Kazan in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Ali Baba would be Malachi Throne, he of the two part story of the original Star Trek, as well as the uncredited villain, No Face or Unface, on the sixties Batman show, as well as endless other appearances.

Ali Baba's sidekick, the Genie, would be Sid Haig, he who likewise has endless credits to his name. And check out the evil Dyna Girl in this story! Her little eyes are as big around as her nostrils! Glitter Rock was apparently a prototype for Kaptain Kool.

The Pharaoh would be Peter Mark Richman, the Christopher Plummer lookalike who likewise has endless TV credits to his name, but I saw him first as Suzanne Somers' father on Three's Company, as the Reverend Snow.

His sidekick, Cleopatra, would be portrayed by Jane Elliot, she who appeared in the Elvis Presley-Mary Tyler Moore movie "Change of Habit" and would likewise have endless soap credits to her name, among them Diedre Hall's (Electra Woman) on Days of Our Lives.

The Empress of Evil was Claudette Nevins, who, when I IMDb'd her, I learned she was in a racy little comedy show that I began to believe I must have imagined, called Husbands Wives and Lovers. Created by Joan Rivers, just imagine Knots Landing with a laugh track.

The Spider Lady would be Tiffany Bolling.

Amusing thing about Bolling. A year after she was the Spider Lady, she would appear in the twilight zone type telemovie with William Shatner called Kingdom of the Spiders. Wonder if she felt typecast?

The Spider Lady would transform into Electra Woman, and upon doing this, the duplicate would be portrayed by Diedre Hall's own sister, Andrea, rather than resort to the usual split screen effect.

For eight small adventures, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl sure was a lot of fun.

I am a fan of this series, mainly because I am a sucker for superhero shows. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl is one of the many shows made by Sid and Marty Krofft, created for the Krofft Supershow. Only eight episodes were made, which were split into 16 for the Supershow, where each episode had two parts.

In this show, Lori and Judy are two reporters for Newsmaker Magazine, but when crime strikes, and they get a call from Frank, a scientist who serves as inventor and the Alfred of the series, Lori and Judy use their ElectraComs to Electra-Change into Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, spandex-clad heroines, who then use their ElectraComms and smarts to thwart the villain of the day.

So, basically, this is what we call a late attempt at making money off the success of the Batman show from the 1960's. Due to it being made for Saturday Morning (instead of primetime like the Batman), there are no fisticuffs to be seen or more serious plots. Like the other works of Sid and Marty, this is a cartoony take on the superhero genre, and that is where it can be bad to some, as it sometimes makes the show even more campier than Batman. The first episode does not show the origin story of the two heroines, which is also a downside, as we do not know how Lori and Judy got to become Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and what The Sorcerer. The first episode's villain, did to cross paths with them to want revenge. Other than that, it is a good show. Not perfect, but good.