December 20, 2010
If It Ain’t Broke, TV, Please Don’t fix It.
Remember this theme song?
Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
All the world’s waiting for you,
and the power you possess.
That promises a heck of a lot. Oh sure, she’s fighting for her rights, but if she can make a hawk a dove, and stop a war with love, then a little thing like making a liar tell the truth is nothing. Especially if she can make the Axis fold. Oh, I’ve got a feeling she’s going to win those rights.
In your satin tights,
Fighting for your rights
And the old Red, White and Blue.
Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman.
Now the world is ready for you,
and the wonders you can do.
Make a hawk a dove,
Stop a war with love,
Make a liar tell the truth.
Wonder Woman,
Get us out from under, Wonder Woman.
All our hopes are pinned on you.
And the magic that you do.
Stop a bullet cold,
Make the Axis fold,
Change their minds, and change the world.
Great as that song is, couldn’t they have avoided You’re a wonder, Wonder Woman? Or was that just inevitable? And doesn’t In your satin tights/Fighting for your rights send a mixed message?
Everyone remembers this show, It was a hit and has a place in TV history. Wonder why?
Yeah, who doesn’t love Lynda Carter?
In all seriousness, Wonder Woman was a good show, with action and humor. It was entertaining and fun. It was goofy like the A-Team, in that a million shots would be fired and not a single person would get hit, but if Wonder Woman threw an ice cream cone some Nazi would get blinded. However, would you have watched it if this was Wonder Woman?
Um, right. That’s Cathy Lee Crosby as “Wonder Woman.” Somebody thought this would work. She had no powers but wore a snazzy Olympic jumpsuit and, in her pilot, fought Ricardo Montalban so give her a ten point “Chrysler Cordoba soft Corinthian leather” bonus.
Enough of that. Let’s see Lynda Carter again.
Cathy Lee Crosby wasn’t the first time they tried to bring Wonder Woman to the small screen. During the Adam west Batman era they tried to do a campy batman-esque version, and actually shot a short pilot. Here is Linda (Planet of the Apes) Harrison as Wonder Woman:
Hmm. Let’s go back to that theme song.
Fighting for your rights
And the old Red, White and Blue.
Or was that “flirting” for her rights?
And I’m not too confident she could make the Axis fold either.
But she could probably distract a bank robber from his poker game.
Anything I can say about the five-minute pilot would be understatement. See it for yourself:
I said that Linda Harrison starred but she really only appears when the ugly duckling looks in the mirror. Oh, I mean Wonder Ugly Duckling. She may have the strength of Hercules, but she has the confidence of a caterpillar.
I don’t know if I should feel happy that the pilot wasn’t picked up or angry the pilot wasn’t picked up. Who knows what a full season of that would have been like?
But even when they got it right they got it wrong. We all remember Wonder Woman stopping bullets,
note the wimp behind the pole
but do you remember the Wonder Woman Diving Outfit?
Or Lynda Carter in the Wonder Woman Motorcycle Outfit?
Or the Wonder Woman Skateboard Suit?
Hey, even an Amazonian princess has to wear pads and a helmet.
And from only a couple of episodes, who recalls Debra Winger as Wonder Girl?
OK, so network TV had a few stumbles getting Wonder Woman on the screen, and even after they made it, there were a couple of missteps. In the end, this is a 1970’s TV classic, and Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman a real 1970’s TV role model.
And if you still have any doubts, here she is, Lynda Carter, with Mr. Blog Hall of Famer Bruce Vilanch.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
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