WONDERLAND • The Ultimate Wonder Woman Site

	She of the red-white-and-blue patriotic skin-tight costume is not an American citizen, but actually hails from a mythical realm. She left to confront the threats facing the world as they presumably one day threaten the wonders of her homeland, Paradise Island. It is just a rumour that she used her magic lasso, which forces people to tell only the truth, on a certain President in 1974 and thereby changed the course of a nation's history.

	Wonder Woman premiered in the comics pages in 1941. She is the creation of psychologist Charles Moulton (the pen-name of Dr. William Moulton Marston), who felt a heroine was needed to balance the plethora of male heroes dominating comics. Based somewhat loosely on Greek mythology, the Amazon princess of Paradise Isle divided her time between combatting Mars, the God of War, his minions, and, of course, the Axis menace that threatened the world at this time. (Mars backed the Nazis, while Aphrodite backed the Allies). Wonder Woman even graced the daily newspapers for a while, in a strip written by Moulton and illustrated, like the comic, by H.G. Peters.

Over the next few decades, Wonder Woman continued in her own DC title (one of the few characters, with Batman and Superman, to have her own title to run continuously from the Golden Age on), going through various changes as the book's writers and editors saw fit. In 1974, Len Wein undertook to wrap up 30 years worth of continuity problems, a remarkable task when you consider how confusing matters had become by this point. It was around this time that Wonder Woman first came to prime time television.

At the height of Batman's TV popularity, that shoe's producer, Bill Dozier, considered undertaking a comedic Wonder Woman series, but dropped the idea after the demise of his short-lived Green-Hornet show. In 1974, a pilot finally aired on ABC, scripted by former Star Trek story editor John D. F. Black, and starring tennis star Cathy Lee Crosby as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Perhaps inspired by Wonder Woman's early '70s comic book incarnation as a powerless heroine (a la Diana Rigg on The Avengers TV show), this plodding 90-minute telefilm did not lead to a series.

In November 1975, Wonder Woman got a second chance. Quite sensibly, the producers of this version paid closer attention to the original source material, and worked, this time, from a script by Stanley Ralph Ross, one of the writers for the Batman TV show. This new pilot introduced Lynda Carter in the title role, with Lyle Waggoner (late of the Carol Burnett Show) as airman Ste Trevor, and Cloris Leachman as the Queen of Paradise Island. The plot actually retold the comic book origin of Wonder Woman, a fairly unusual move for a television adaptation.

When Steve Trevor is washed ashore on Paradise Island, a sanctuary for women, the Queen holds an Olympic-type contest to determine which of her subjects shall venture forth, as Wonder Woman, into the outside world to return Trevor to his rightful place and restore the island to its original purity. Forbidden to compete by her protective mother, Princess Diana dons a wig and mask, easily sweeping the competitions.

Once out in the world, she gets caught up in Nazi intrigue. Seeing the state of the world, she opts to stay and battle the forces of evil... and to keep an eye on Steve, who frequently needs rescuing. As Diana Prince, she works for military intelligence, which gives her access to vital information; when danger beckoned, a quick spin would unleash Wonder Woman, whose strength, speed and magic bracelets could take on any threat.

The program's run on ABC was unusual in that Wonder Woman, despite the pilot and 14 episodes, never was officially a series. On the strength of the pilot's ratings, tow hour-long episodes appeared as specials in the 1975 season. Eleven more were produced for the 1976 season, but the show never had a time slot to call its own. Instead, ABC used it to shore up the schedule whenever other shows were cancelled or replaced. In a surprise move, the show -renamed The New Adventures of Wonder Woman- resurfaced in 1977 on CBS.

The ABC episodes, despite their irregular scheduling, were marked by a great deal more wit and humor than those that followed the network switch. The tongue-in-cheek approach to WW II, combined with a whimsical period nostalgia, in many ways worked better for the series than the later, contemporary setting. Golden Age characters like Etta Candy (series regular Beatrice Colen) and villainess Baroness Paula von Gunther (Christine Belford) provided a link with the archetypal comic book origins of Wonder Woman.

After Wonder Woman faced off von Gunther, the Nazis were quick to come up with a woman warrior of their own, and abducted Wonder Woman to Germany to battle "Fausta" (April 28, 1976), played by Lynda Day George. Christopher also appeared in the episode.

In Beauty on Parade (Oct. 13, 1976), a travelling beauty pageant masks a gang of Nazi saboteurs. Dick Van Patten and Anne Francis were the guest stars.

The show even created at least one new character who seemed almost as if she should have originated in the comics -Diana's younger sister Drusilla, also known as Wonder Girl. In a two-part episode (The Feminum Mystique, Nov. 6 and Nov. 8, 1976), Nazis (Including John Saxon) kidnap Drusilla to learn the secret of the Amazons' magic bracelets. Carolyn Jones (Morticia of The Addams Family) played the Queen this time around, while Wonder Girl was portrayed by then unknown actress Debra Winger (seen most recently in a brilliant performance in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky).

The episode broadcast Dec. 18, 1976, Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua, pitted the star-spangled heroine against a Nazi-bred killer gorilla.

In the Pluto File, Irish agent Sean O'Fallon (Robert Reed) steals a secret plan for the artificial creation of earthquakes, all the while unaware he's been infected with the bubonic plague.

Last of the $2 Bills featured James Olson (The Andromeda Strain) as a Nazi mastermind bent on disrupting the U.S. economy with an influx of imitation $2 bills.

Shades of Klaatu! A two-part episode Judgment From Outer Space featured Tim O'Connor as an alien emissary sent to pass judgment on the warring populace of Earth. The alien Andros is kidnapped by Nazis, sending Wonder Woman to the rescue. Veteran character actor Kurt Kasznar also appeared in this episode.

In Formula 407, Nehemiaff Persoff portrays a scientist who has developed a formula to make rubber as strong as steel. Wonder Woman and Steve track enemy agents to South America in search of the formula.

Wonder Woman In Hollywood, aired Feb. 16, 1977, marked Wonder Woman's final ABC appearance. Returning American war heroes, in Hollywood to film their own adventures (one is Robert Hays), are abducted by Nazis. Debra Winger and Carolyn Jones take their final bows as Wonder Girl and the Queen, respectively.

On Sept. 16, 1977, the CBS series premiered with The Return of Wonder Woman. After decades back on Paradise Isle, Princess Diana ventures forth into man's world once more, this time to combat international terrorism. Somehow becoming an agent for the Inter Agency Defense Command, she finds herself working for Steve Trevor Jr., played, oddly enough, by Lyle Waggoner.

The second episode, Anchluss '77, found the show working the Nazi menace out of its system, as Wonder Woman finds herself in what is basically a retread of The Boys From Brazil: Nazi scientists in South America trying to clone Hitler.

The WW II angle was explored a bit further in The Man Who Could Move The World, in which a Japanese man utilizes telekinetic powers to avenge himself on Wonder Woman, who injured him during the war. The ABC series avoided using Japanese villains, and sensibly so, considering the ugly stereotypes forced upon that nationality during the war years. Here, the shift to modern times enables the show to deal with this side of the conflict of the '40s with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

Further episodes, now appearing weekly, drew Wonder Woman into more science fiction-oriented plots. The Bermuda Triangle Crisis took Wonder Woman and Steve, Jr . into that mysterious region in search of a missing spy plane.

In Knockout, Wonder Woman scours Los Angeles for traces of the missing Steve Jr.

The Pied Piper starred Martin Mull as a rock star who uses subliminal musical tones that hypnotize his female fans and leads them to pull off heists for him. The Queen and the Thief and I Do, I Do feature various shades of international intrigue, while The Man Who Made Volcanoes was none other than Roddy McDowell, a mad professor with explosive plans for the world!

Alien do-gooder Andros returns, portrayed by one Norman Rambo (!), in a two-part episode, Mind Stealers From Outer Space. The title says it all.

The Deadly Toys are the handiwork of Frank Gorshin, Batman's original Riddler, and look enough like certain government officials to facilitate the theft of top secret plans.

Unfortunately, in dropping the camp element and concentrating on straight adventure, the series lost a great deal of its original charm. Dull story lines did nothing to alleviate this problem, and the ratings began to take a nose dive. In the middle of the season, Bruce Landsbury took over production duties and boosted the action content of the stories. He even hired famous stunt performer Kitty O'Neill to cover Lynda Carter's more Hazardous bits of business. This mid-season gearshift boosted ratings enough to warrant renewal, but the 1978 season was to be the last.

Shooting for a younger audience, Wonder Woman's last season kicked off with an episode in which teen heartthrob (where is he now?) Leif Garrett played a dual role: a teen heart-throb who is kidnapped and the double who replaces him. Other episodes featured strangely familiar plot ideas: The Deadly Dolphin was right out of Mike Nichols' film Day of the Dolphin, while Gault's Brain featured John Carradine as the voice of a dead billionaire's disembodied brain.

Mime team Shields and Yarnell, then at the height of their popularity, appeared in an episode wherein a female scientist (Lorene Yarnell) is endowed with the proportionate strength of an ant, in addition to the ability to control ants in large numbers. (At least she didn't shrink as well...)

Despite the show's fading originality, and its accompanying descent into banality, Wonder Woman still managed to attract guest celebrities. Some of these, like Wolfman Jack and Dick Butkus, were not exactly known for their acting skills. All in all, the celebrity list this season is much shorter, featuring Ron Ely (TV's Tarzan), Hemione Baddely, Eric Braden, and an up-and-coming Ed Begley Jr.

One episode featured another celebrity guest star: Robby the Robot, of Forbidden Planet fame. The episode Spaced Out (Jan. 26, 1979) took place at a science fiction convention where a stolen laser component is concealed in the first prize for the best costume. While Rene Auberjonois (who once provided the voice of Spider-Man on a justifiably obscure '70s rock album, in addition to roles in Brewster McCloud and Benson) and others seek this particular McGuffin in the bizarre ambience of a fan convention, Robby himself (as reconstructed by Bill Malone) acts as the contest emcee. Inside the cramped robot suit, providing both movement and voice, was none other than special effects expert Robert Short, whose most recent credits include the creation of the costume for The Flash TV series.

Although Wonder Woman's general level of quality may have declined in this period, the show's ratings were actually higher than at any comparable period during the previous season. This might seem an improvement in terms of the network's bottom line, but CBS decided to cancel it anyway, consigning the 65-episode series to syndication limbo.

Whatever the show's fluctuations, the one constant was Lynda Carter, who consistently played the role with great aplomb. A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Carter actually idolized, during her childhood, the role she would eventually make her own. Voted Most Talented Student at her high school, she first pursued a career in singing. Returning home in 9172, she won the Miss Arizona title and was named Miss USA in 1973.

After failing to capture the Miss World title in London later that year, she moved to Los Angeles to study acting with Stella Adler and others. Guest shots on Starsky and Hutch and other series preceded Wonder Woman.

When the Cathy Lee Crosby TV movie bombed, ABC execs went overboard looking for an actress to play the definitive version of the character, and found her in the person of the tall brunette from Arizona. Although her heigth had often seemed an awkward asset to Carter in her earlier years, it and her figure were what drew her to the attention of the show's producers.

Ironically, Carter herself seemed less than impressed with her figure and became something of a fitness buff in preparation for her role. Certainly she was physically suited for the character; there have never been any complaints about Lynda Carter not looking like Wonder Woman! While some superhero shows (specially more recent ones) strove to avoid the look of someone running around in brightly colored tights, Wonder Woman did just the opposite, undoubtedly winning the appreciation of both adult and adolescent males nationwide. In this sense, Lynda Carter was the perfect embodiment of the superheroine mystique.

Since the demise of the series (the last episode aired May 29, 1979), Lynda Carter has concentrated on her singing career. She has appeared in a number of splashy, Las Vegas-style variety specials in recent years.

Lyle Waggoner seems to have slipped into a state of semi-retirement.

Ed Begley Jr., who portrayed an occasionally recurring role during the show's run on ABC, has since gone on to success on television (St. Elsewhere) and in films (She-Devil, Scenes From the Class Struggle in Berverly Hills).

Debra Winger (Wonder Girl during the CBS run) was soon to catapult to fame as John Travolta's co-star in the popular Urban Cowboy. She has achieved great accolades for her performance opposite John Malkovich in The Sheltering Sky. Other notable films include Terms of Endearment, Legal Eagles and Black Widow.

The whereabouts of Gargantua the Gorilla are not presently known.