DC History Club February Wonder Woman TV: She Changed the World Crossover now includes Polls and a Quiz


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

:notes: 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
:notes:

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

  • 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?

  • 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.

  • Suggest a discussion topic to add here.

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The 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s each saw an iconic portrayal of a member of the Trinity with George Reeves in Adventures of Superman, Adam West in Batman, and Lynda Carter in the Wonder Woman series. The following questions are based on your personal analysis of these representations and their impact.

Which lead actor had the most significant impact on our perception of their character today?

  • George Reeves - Superman
  • Adam West - Batman
  • Lynda Carter - Wonder Woman

0 voters

Which program most closely reflected the intent of the characters original creators?

  • Adventures of Superman
  • Batman
  • Wonder Woman

0 voters

Got an idea for another poll question for season 1 or for seasons 2 & 3, let me know @msgtv

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Welcome to Wonder Woman ’77, the second half of our month celebrating the history of the Wonder Woman television series. Now, we turn our focus more towards seasons 2 and 3 set in the then contemporary 1970s. This results in more than a change of time periods and supporting casts. We see Diana Prince take a more assertive and important role with her job as an agent for the IADC, a decreasing involvement in Steve Trevor in her adventures, and Diana often moving the action forward as much or more than her alter ego Wonder Woman. We’ve got some additional research, uncovered by historian extraordinaire @turoksonofstone1950, concerning Lyle Waggoner nearly becoming Batman and some comparisons to Wonder Woman’s television rivals like the Bionic Woman. You can find those added to the research wikis below. So, dig in and enjoy. Finally, we’ve got an experiment for you to try, a Wonder Woman quiz!

Discussion Topics

How did the era change effect that show? In particular, how did moving from 1942 to 1977 impact the show’s representation of Diana Prince, Wonder Woman and her adversaries?

One academic claims that Wonder Woman is a representative of ‘Restorative Justice’ a line of thought that emphasizes understanding why criminal behavior occurs in the first place, bringing victims and perpetrators together to provide a way to make both whole, and promotes rehabilitation over punishment. Is this academic over-thinking things, or is the writer on to something, what are your thoughts?

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Wonder Full Facts Quiz

So, you think you know something about Wonder Woman and 1970s television. Or maybe you don’t, but you like taking quizzes? Give our Wonder Full Facts Quiz a try. And, let us know what you think about this experiment. The answers are blurred below the quiz. Special thanks to @nu52 for help in trying to figure out how to do this.

Which one of these is a costume difference from season 1 to seasons 2 and 3?

  • Higher boots
  • Fewer stars on the shorts
  • Bigger bracelets

0 voters

Riddle me this, Frank Gorshin builds what in Wonder Woman?

  • Bombs for Nazis
  • Mind control darts
  • Androids

0 voters

Etta Candy’s rank is?

  • Lieutenant
  • Private
  • Yeoman

0 voters

At the end of Wonder Woman in Hollywood, Drusilla chooses what for a meal before returning to Paradise Island?

  • Hot dogs and ice cream
  • Chocolate soda
  • Pizza

0 voters

The metal substance that makes Wonder Woman’s bracelets is?

  • Paradisim
  • Adamantium
  • Feminum

0 voters

Formula 407 does what?

  • Makes Wonder Woman faint
  • Makes rubber as tough as steel
  • Makes Nazis into super soldiers

0 voters

What instrument does Martin Mull play as a rock star in The Pied Piper?

  • Flute
  • Electric Guitar
  • Bongo drums

0 voters

Abby and Gary Ewing from Knots Landing guest star in?

  • Time bomb
  • Girl from Ilandia
  • Séance of Terror

0 voters

Two members of the Brady family guest star in Wonder Woman, which pair is it?

  • Marsha and Alice
  • Alice and Mrs. Brady
  • Mr. Brady and Jan

0 voters

The two Brady guests appear as?

  • An assassin and Nazi spy
  • A Nazi spy and a cowgirl
  • An assassin and fan of rock flautists

0 voters

What member of IADC figures out Diana’s secret, but keeps it to themselves?

  • Steve
  • Joe
  • IRAC

0 voters

See Answers:

1 Fewer stars
2 Andriods
3 Private
4 Hot dogs and ice cream
5 Feminum
6 Make rubber hard as steel
7 Flute
8 Time Bomb
9 Mr Brady and Jan
10 An assassin and fan of rock flautists
11 IRAC

1-3 right: Need more Wonder in your life.
4-6 right: Etta’s proud of you.
7-9 right: Twirl to you transform because that’s wonderful
10-11 right: You deserve a trip to Paradise Island

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Lyle Waggoner was almost Batman

Wonder Woman Television Show Research Wiki

Casting a Wider Lasso: An Analysis of the Cultural Dismissal of Wonder Woman Through Her 1975-1979 Television Series

Wonder Woman series summary

Lynda Carter with Megan Kelly recently


Lynda Carter Interview cut from Double Dare Movie

Lynda Carter was behind the craziest stunt of 1970s television

‘Wonder Woman’ stunt-athlete Kitty O’Neil lived limitlessly

CBS Sunday Morning (1979) Meet the Wonder Woman Stunt Double Jeannie Epper (behind the scenes at Wonder Woman 6:20 mark)

Double Dare film trailer: Story of Wonder Woman stunt athlete available for free at Tubi

PBS Pioneers of Television Lynda Carter

Sensation.Comics 1
Watch the pilot then read the comic
Many scenes from pilot are direct shots of comic


https://www.dcuniverse.com/comics/book/-/34c3076b-bc76-43ce-9521-de16c88f6551

Merchandise Connect to Wonder Woman television
ExperienceTheWonder.com

The Definitive Guide to Wonder Woman Collectibles | ExperienceTheWonder.com

The definitive guide to Wonder Woman collectibles featuring rare Wonder Woman statues, action figures, dolls, toys and more with 360 degree photos, close-ups, packaging and informati

https://www.wonderland-site.com/

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Wonder Woman General Research Wiki

The History of Wonder Woman’s Secret Comic Book Identity, The Hollywood Reporter

Academic speech looks at the history of Wonder Woman’s depiction

https://people.southwestern.edu/~bednarb/su_netWorks/projects/psmith/wonderwomen.html

Diana and the Amazons in the 1940s were all made of clay and are therefore golems
haaretz.com

The secret Jewish origins of Wonder Woman

Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta? Don’t be fooled by the Greco-Roman names. Wonder Woman has deep roots in Jewish lore

Book-It Repertory Theatre – 5 Jun 14

The Golem: The First Superhero? | Book-It Repertory Theatre

https://thepatronsaintofsuperheroes.wordpress.com/tag/golem/

Not exactly on target but inreresting takes on Wonder Woman

Vanity Fair

How Gloria Steinem Saved Wonder Woman

Vulture

The Strange, Complicated, Feminist History of Wonder Woman’s Origin Story

That it has been heavily criticized, reframed, and rewritten so often reflects a failure to understand female-power fantasies on a larger scale.

Bustle

Why Women Are Crying During ‘Wonder Woman’ Fight Scenes

The scene: A besieged town on the Western Front during World War I. German soldiers are holding strong, and out of the shadows comes Diana Prince, deflecting bullets with her gauntlets and shield, bursting through walls and taking down every enemy…

Smithonian Channel Amazons and other Warrior Women

https://youtu.be/4IjYLbrO-ro

https://youtu.be/9NK2Xj6S1LQ

https://youtu.be/zQouh5yczWI

Narrated by Lynda Carter Google Play Movies
Epic Women Warriors 1.89 for episode 4.99 for three episode series

Greatest Female Warriors

https://youtu.be/mXfoWMdgQsA

Weapon of Female Samurai

https://youtu.be/eCo6-BSwdJs

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Quick Bio Leif Garrett sings a duet with himself in season 3. As a young teen my wife loved his hair. I married her anyway.

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Wonder Full Fact Wonder Woman was aired sporadically on ABC in season 1 over a 14 month period.

Season 1 Broadcast dates

Season 1

1-1 07 Nov 75 Pilot

1-2 21 Apr 76 Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther

1-3 28 Apr 76 Fausta: The Nazi Wonder Woman

1-4 13 Oct 76 Beauty on Parade

1-5 06 Nov 76 The Feminum Mystique (1)

1-6 08 Nov 76 The Feminum Mystique (2)

1-7 18 Dec 76 Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua!

1-8 25 Dec 76 The Pluto File

1-9 08 Jan 77 Last of the Two Dollar Bills

1-10 15 Jan 77 Judgement from Outer Space (1)

1-11 17 Jan 77 Judgement from Outer Space (2)

1-12 22 Jan 77 Formula 407

1-13 29 Jan 77 The Bushwackers

1-14 16 Feb 77 Wonder Woman in Hollywood

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Wonder Full Fact: Seasons 2 and 3 aired regularly and anchored CBS’s Friday night lineup.
Season 2

Seasons 2 and 3 Broadcast dates
  1. 2-1 16 Sep 77 The Return of Wonder Woman

  2. 2-2 23 Sep 77 Anschluss '77

  3. 2-3 30 Sep 77 The Man Who Could Move the World

  4. 2-4 07 Oct 77 The Bermuda Triangle Crisis

  5. 2-5 14 Oct 77 Knockout

  6. 2-6 21 Oct 77 The Pied Piper

  7. 2-7 28 Oct 77 The Queen and the Thief

  8. 2-8 11 Nov 77 I Do, I Do

  9. 2-9 18 Nov 77 The Man Who Made Volcanoes

  10. 2-10 02 Dec 77 Mind Stealers from Outer Space (1)

  11. 2-11 09 Dec 77 Mind Stealers from Outer Space (2)

  12. 2-12 30 Dec 77 The Deadly Toys

  13. 2-13 06 Jan 78 Light-Fingered Lady

  14. 2-14 20 Jan 78 Screaming Javelin

  15. 2-15 03 Feb 78 Diana’s Disappearing Act

  16. 2-16 10 Feb 78 Death in Disguise

  17. 2-17 17 Feb 78 I.R.A.C. is Missing

  18. 2-18 03 Mar 78 Flight to Oblivion

  19. 2-19 10 Mar 78 Seance of Terror

  20. 2-20 31 Mar 78 The Man Who Wouldn’t Tell

  21. 2-21 07 Apr 78 The Girl from Islandia

  22. 2-22 21 Apr 78 The Murderous Missile

Season 3

  1. 3-1 22 Sep 78 My Teenage Idol is Missing

  2. 3-2 29 Sep 78 Hot Wheels

  3. 3-3 06 Oct 78 The Deadly Sting

  4. 3-4 13 Oct 78 The Fine Art of Crime

  5. 3-5 20 Oct 78 Disco Devil

  6. 3-6 03 Nov 78 Formicida

  7. 3-7 10 Nov 78 Time Bomb

  8. 3-8 24 Nov 78 Skateboard Wiz

  9. 3-9 01 Dec 78 The Deadly Dolphin

  10. 3-10 15 Dec 78 Stolen Faces

  11. 3-11 22 Dec 78 Pot of Gold

  12. 3-12 29 Dec 78 Gault’s Brain

  13. 3-13 12 Jan 79 Going, Going, Gone

  14. 3-14 26 Jan 79 Spaced Out

  15. 3-15 02 Feb 79 The Starships Are Coming

  16. 3-16 16 Feb 79 Amazon Hot Wax

  17. 3-17 19 Feb 79 The Richest Man in the World

  18. 3-18 10 Mar 79 A Date with Doomsday

  19. 3-19 17 Mar 79 The Girl with a Gift for Disaster

  20. 3-20 28 May 79 The Boy Who Knew Her Secret (1)

  21. 3-21 29 May 79 The Boy Who Knew Her Secret (2)

  22. 3-22 28 Aug 79 The Man Who Could Not Die

  23. 3-23 04 Sep 79 Phantom of the Roller Coaster (1)

  24. 3-24 11 Sep 79 Phantom of the Roller Coaster (2)

@TurokSonOfStone1950 nice find on the stunt woman’s film. That whole area was not something I thought of before we started on this. Very cool.

2 Likes

Just watched Double Dare again

UPDATE It is free on Tubi

There are several cameos of Lynda Carter but limited Wonder Woman scenes.

The stunt double of Lynda Carter, Jeannie, comes from a family of stunt people including her father and daughter.

We see scenes of Zoe Bell as Xena.

Xena ends and Zoe is unemployed

The rest is almost more like a movie than a documentary.

Zoe goes to Los Angeles for work.

Jeannie takes he under her wings and helps trains her and they both attend events where Zoe meets people in the stunt business.

At one training location, Zoe is noticed by someone working for Quentin Tortino who is starting up the movie Kill Bill

The rest you should watch.for yourself

Astounding stuff from.the production of that movie.

Zoe Bell is sensational. You see how many skills a stuntwoman needs almost like a real.Wonder Woman. Quenton later has her star in Death Proof where three women are threatened throughout the film by a pycho He picked the wrong girls.

At 64 Jeannie still looks for work and it is obvious she would be a highly paid stunt coordinator if she was a man.

Luckily she knows all of the major stunt coordinators because she worked with them for five decades and is on the board of the union.

At the end at 64 she works on.the Fast and the Furious from which came Gal Gidot.

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From our friend @moro on Wonder Woman collectibles, including those associated with Lynda Carter

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And also from our good compadre @moro

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One thing I would like to highlight about the television Wonder Woman is that she can mimic any voice. And I believe she did it after hearing the voice(s) in question. She does it one or two more times during the first season, but AFAIK no other iteration has that ability.

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In the Megan Kelly intervirw she says

It is the amount of money she would be paid that is keeping her from being n Wonder Woman 84.

That may be reason she was not in Crisis in Infinite Earths. Her refusal to appear probably increased her chances of getting more money for the movie.

Doubtful it was Warner Brothers who objected since they asked that Esra Miller appear. It would have been great publicity for the movie if Lynda appeared as maybe Queen Hippolyta on a non DCEU Earth

These are six videos probably too inconsequential to be up top

First is if
You want to know timeline of her two husbands and who they are. In one interview up top she said she was so unhappy in her marriage that she didn’t want to leave the set.

Want to see her room of Wonder Woman mementoes including bracelets and lasso

On The Talk you see how women in the audience as well as the cast react to her.

She says her mom is half mexcan and she was raised in Arizona

Talks about the show and auditioning while being in the same room as the Charlie’s Angels actresses and just looking at them and knowing she couldn’t beat them

On her harassment and alcoholism

If you want to her sing. There are many such videos on YouTube including with her daughter.

Then

Now

It is amazing how different she looks in each video

Nowadays she looks astounding for her age and truthfully at any age.

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And, I have not seen her use her mimic power in seasons 2 or 3 and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.

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So much to look at here. Just starting, checked the links to merchandise @moro provided. These Mego dolls are something else. The Wonder Woman dolls start used for about $50 online up to over $400. I see some of the boxes have Lynda’s picture, other’s don’t. And, you can change Wondy into Yeoman Prince.
1976-mego-doll

Here’s a pic of the entire lineup. Steve looks kinda off. Interesting to me is that Mego saw more value in providing for their African-American customer base than the show did.

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Google Play.Movies
Has from Smithonian Channel
Epic Warrior Women
Narrated by Lynda Carter
Trailer at Bottom of General Wonder Woman wiki

First episode is 1.89

  1. Amazons
    Mar 19, 2018
    44 minutes

Greek travelers and writers from
the ancient world mythologized the
Amazons, but these legendary female
warriors were very real. They hailed
from the ferocious nomadic Scythian
tribes that controlled a huge swath of
Central Asia and kept the great powers of Greece, Persia, and China at bay.

With the help of recent archaeological
findings, uncover the lives of these
Amazons through the tale of a
Scythian who grows up to become a
horse warrior and leader of her tribe in
a defining battle against the Persians
in 6th century BC.

Great documentary.

It tells the story of a young girl whose tribe was destroyed until she is the leader of the tribe who had adopted her, saving her from cerain death.as a sole survivor.

The end is a battle of Amazons like Women (and Men) on horseback riding fiercely against the maaive follies of arrows from the Long bows of the Persian.Empire.

As Burt Ward might say, “Holy 300.” as the sky goes dark from the arrows hitting their targets

As for people having multiple partners William Moulton Marston did not invent the practice.

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Episode 2 is Gladiators Watched it. Think of Diana vs Conan as gladiators in the mini series but all females

I am now watching

  1. Africa’s Amazons
    Apr 2, 2018

The Agooji of West Africa were the
terrifying all-female fighting force
of the kingdom of Dahomey in the
19th century. Up to 6,000 strong
the Agooji battled to protect one
of the continent’s last independent
kingdoms, fighting as elite regiments
against colonial male armies in the
Franco-Dahomean Wars.

Witness the fascinating history of these women warriors through the story of Sukeoun, a young girl who is taken as a tribute to the king, rises to become an Agooji officer, and valiantly fights to defend her kingdom.

Wakanda Forever!

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