Wonder Woman, now the first of the superheroes, has a long and storied history that came alive with 1975’s The New Original Wonder Woman and its perfectly cast star Lynda Carter. Join the DCU Community’s World of Wonder, DC TV and Movie Club and the DC History Club as we celebrate Wonder Woman and, her alter ego, Diana Prince’s fight against the forces of evil. Participate in watch-alongs, vote in polls, join discussions, do research and read comics centered around this iconic portrayal of history’s greatest Amazon
Stop a bullet cold,
Make the Axis fall,
Change their minds, and change the world
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
You’re a wonder, Wonder Woman
On November 7th, 1975 ABC television aired the pilot episode of The New Original Wonder Woman starring Lynda Carter. Over the course of two networks, two eras, four years and sixty episodes Carter become synonymous with Wonder Woman and her alter ego Diana Prince. Despite the limitations of 1970’s television, the Wonder Womans television show managed to successfully reflect the feminist character intended by William Moulton Marston more than 30 years earlier. It is also a window into 1970’s action television and its depiction of women leads and the '70s in general.
This show is and should also be just plain fun. So, this month we will change our schedule some to reflect the two different eras of the show and have some hopefully interesting history challenges. We will focus on season 1 and the World War II era for the first two weeks with discussion and polls, then at mid-month shift to the 1970s with seasons 2 & 3. Naturally, your research and thoughts on the show can cover its entire run at any time. And, don’t forget to check in with the World of Wonder and DC Movie and TV Clubs for their crossover events. We will sponsor a watch along later in the month of a great season 2 episode.
You will find our normal research wiki directly below to add articles, interviews or videos from reliable sources. Special shoutout to our historian extraordinaire @TurokSonOfStone1950 for some very interesting resources on Wonder Woman’s history and connections to Jewish and Greek lore. Because researching one thing often leads to more thoughts, we’ve divided the research wiki threads into a Wonder Woman TV series and a Wonder Woman general.
Suggested areas of exploration include:
- Wonder Woman TV’s reflection of Marston’s feminist golden age stories.
- The development, casting, scheduling, production and other behind the scenes action getting Wonder Woman to the small screen.
- Interviews or biographies from the show’s stars, producers, writers and other contributors.
- Information or images of Wonder Woman tv tie-in merchandise
- Information on the sale/popularity of Wonder Woman and Lynda Carter posters.
- Whatever you can think of that adds to our understanding of this show.
History Challenges:
- Wonder Full Facts: Found something interesting about Wonder Woman’s television show you want to share? Post your Wonder Full Facts. See an example below.
- Quick Bios: Wonder Woman guest starred many of Hollywood’s best, and not so best, actors. Take any of appearances his give us a quick bio in your words. The less conventional the better, and bonus points for any connections to DC. See an example below
Suggested Episodes:
- Ep. 1 Pilot
- Ep. 10-11 Judgement from Outer Space parts 1 & 2 (DC Movie and TV Club Watch along)
Suggested Reading: Both the below provide the origin story that you can compare to the series pilot. The Wonder Woman #1 is a more expanded version.
Sensation #1 or
Wonder Woman #1
Discussion Topics
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Diana: Demoted and Depowered. The first season of Wonder Woman mirrors her Golden Age stories in setting, characters and threats; however, there were a number of significant changes. Discuss what changes to Wonder Woman from the show strike you as significant?
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Feminum and Feminism: William Moulton Marston was an early proponent of feminism having joined the Harvard Men’s League for Woman Suffrage in 1911. He infused Golden Age Wonder Woman stories with the language and visuals of female empowerment. In what ways did the Wonder Woman show reflect his attitudes? In what ways did it fall short.
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Suggest a discussion topic to add here.