Wonder Woman (TV series)
Wonder Woman, known for seasons 2 and 3 as The New Adventures of Wonder Woman, is an American superhero television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. It stars Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman / Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor Sr. and Jr., and aired for three seasons, from 1975 to 1979.[1] The show's first season aired on ABC and is set in the 1940s, during World War II. The second and third seasons aired on CBS and are set in the then-current day late 1970s, with the title changed to The New Adventures of Wonder Woman.[2]
Wonder Woman
- Charles Fox (music)
- Norman Gimbel (lyrics)
United States
English
3
59 + movie pilot (list of episodes)
- Bruce Lansbury (supervising producer, season 3)
- Charles B. Fitzsimons
- Mark Rodgers
42–51 minutes
- The Douglas S. Cramer Co.
- Bruce Lansbury Productions, Ltd.
- Warner Bros. Television
- DC Comics
November 7, 1975 –
September 11, 1979
Plot[edit]
In 1942, during the Second World War, American pilot Major Steve Trevor (Waggoner) bails out during an air battle over the Bermuda Triangle, location of Paradise Island.[3] The island is home to the Amazons: beautiful, ageless women with great strength, agility, and intelligence. Amazon princess Diana (Carter) rescues the handsome unconscious Trevor and helps nurse him back to health. Her mother, the Amazon queen (Cloris Leachman; succeeded by Carolyn Jones and Beatrice Straight in later episodes), decrees that Olympic-style games shall be held to select one Amazon to return Trevor back to America. But she forbids her own daughter Diana, the princess, to participate. Diana states that since she is not allowed to participate, she does not want to be present for the games and will take a retreat to the other side of the island. The games are held with participants wearing masks and numbers, shown as Roman numerals in triangles on white sleeveless short tunic-dresses.
Among the contestants is a masked blonde Amazon. During the events, the blonde Amazon shows exceptional skills and she ties for first with another Amazon. To break the deadlock, the "bullets and bracelets" event is decided as the tiebreaker, wherein each of the women takes turns shooting at the other; the one being shot at must deflect the bullets with her bulletproof bracelets. The blonde woman wins the event, superficially injuring her opponent's arm. When she is pronounced the winner, she removes her mask and wig and reveals that she is Diana. Her mother, though initially shocked, relents and allows her to go to America.
Diana's uniform as Wonder Woman, designed by Queen Hippolyta, features emblems of America, the land to which she will be returning Steve Trevor. A golden belt will be the source of her strength and power while away from Paradise Island. She has her bullet-deflecting bracelets and also receives a golden lasso which is unbreakable and forces people to obey and tell the truth when bound with it. As shown later in flashback, Hippolyta also teaches Diana how to magically transform her clothes into the uniform.
Diana, as Wonder Woman, flies to Washington, D.C. in an invisible plane. After dropping Trevor off at a hospital, the heroine stumbles upon a bank robbery, which she stops. A theatrical agent who sees her in action offers to help make her bullets and bracelets act a stage attraction. Diana is hesitant, but needing money in this new society, she agrees.
Meanwhile, Trevor's civilian secretary Marcia (Stella Stevens) is a double agent for the Nazi Fifth Columnists. She seeks to aid top spies in killing Trevor and opposing this new threat, Wonder Woman. Her first attempt is arranging for an accomplice to fire a machine gun at Wonder Woman during her stage act. Later, as spy activities increase, Trevor leaves the hospital but gets in a fight and is captured, prompting his "nurse" Diana to come to his rescue. Wonder Woman defeats Marcia in an extended fight sequence in the War Department. Having defeated Marcia, Wonder Woman thwarts a Nazi pilot who had plans to bomb the Brooklyn Navy Yard by using her invisible plane, and she rescues Trevor. With Marcia and the spy ring defeated, the film closes as Trevor and Brigadier General Blankenship talk about Trevor's new secretary whom Blankenship selected not only for her outstanding clerical test scores, but her decidedly plain appearance in contrast to Marcia: the bespectacled Yeoman First Class Diana Prince USNR(WR), Wonder Woman in disguise.
Legacy[edit]
This portrayal of the character strongly influenced the Wonder Woman comics. Most notably, the ballerina-style spinning transformation, which was Carter's idea, was incorporated into the comics. The spin has also been used in the animated television programs Super Friends and Justice League Unlimited, etc.[17]
The 2018 journal article "Casting a Wider Lasso: An Analysis of the Cultural Dismissal of Wonder Woman Through Her 1975–1979 Television Series" argued that the show strongly adapted Wonder Woman's ideals but "was suppressed, undone, and discredited" by American culture as part of a larger legacy suppressing the character.[19]
Visiting the Wonder Woman universe and having Lynda Carter reprising her role again was discussed by showrunner Marc Guggenheim with Warner Bros. and DC Studios during development of the Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (2019–2020), but concluded that it wouldn't happen.[20] After the first screening of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film The Flash (2023) to the attendees of the Cinemacon 2023, director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti revealed that a cameo appearance of Carter's Wonder Woman was considered for the film, but was left in the "cutting floor room" due to not fitting in the story.[21]
In other media[edit]
Merchandising[edit]
Mego Corporation released a line of dolls in 1977 to correspond with the TV series in the fall. The boxes originally featured Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman on the front flap, but in 1978, her image on the box was dropped and the line was revamped with only the Wonder Woman doll being featured and revised.
The Mego dolls included Wonder Woman, Diana Prince, Queen Hippolyta, Nubia, and Steve Trevor.[22] The line also included separate fashion outfits for Diana Prince that were released in Canada.[23] Various playsets were also created but were not released for sale.[24]
DC Direct (which creates merchandise for DC Comics) released a Wonder Woman statue in 2007 which is based upon the image created by Lynda Carter.
In 2015, Hallmark released a Wonder Woman Christmas ornament bearing the likeness of Lynda Carter that also plays the intro to the television theme song.
Mattel produced a 6-inch action figure of Carter's Wonder Woman as part of their DC Multiverse Signature Collection.
Wonder Woman '77 comic[edit]
DC published ongoing comic book series set in the Lynda Carter TV series continuity. The comic was written by Marc Andreyko.[25] It was first published as digital chapters on DC Comics' website. Wonder Woman '77 Special #1 was published in May 2015. A second Wonder Woman '77 Special collecting further digital first chapters was published in September. A third special was published in April 2016. Wonder Woman teams up with Jaime Sommers in the crossover title Wonder Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman.[26][27] Wonder Woman teams up with Batman in the crossover team up Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 writing by both Andreyko and Jeff Parker.[28]
