 Adventure
FIRST TELECAST. December 18, 1976
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| LAST TELECAST. September 11,
1979
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 BROADCAST
HISTORY |
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| Dec 1976-Jan
1977, ABC Sat 8:00-9:00
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| May 1977-Jul
1977, ABC Sat 8:00-9:00
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| Sep 1977-Feb
1979, CBS Fri 8:00-9:00
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| Aug 1979-Sep
1979, CBS tue 8:00-9:00
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| CAST |
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| Yeoman Diana
Prince "Wonder Woman' (Lynda Carter). |
| Maj. Steve
Trevor / Steve Trevor, Jr. (Lyle Waggoner). |
| Gen.
Blankenship (1976-1977) (Richard Eastham). |
| Corp. Etta
Candy (1976-1977) (Beatrice Colen). |
| Joe Atkinson
(1977) (Normarnn Burton). |
| Eve
(1977-1979) (Saundra Sharp). |
| Voice of
I.R.A. (1977-1979) (Tom Kratochzil). |
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| Wonder Woman,
based on Charles Mouton's comic-book superheroine of the 1940s,
developed gradually into a regular TV series. It was first seen
as a TV movie in March 1974 (with Cathy Lee Crosby in the title
role), then in another try in November 1975 (with Lynda Carter),
then in a series of specials called The New Original Wonder
Woman beginning in March 1976. After popping up in various spots
all over the ABC schedule, it had a short consecutive-weeks run
in December 1976-January 1977. Finally, in the fall of 1977, it
moved to CBS and became a regular weekly series.
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The show was
comic-strip, pure and simple, set in the 1940s. Wonder Woman
came from a "lost" island where a band of Amazon women
had fled ca. 200 B.c. to escape male domination by the ancient
Greeks and Romans. On Paradise Island they found the magic
substance Feminum, which when molded into a golden belt gave
them superhuman strength and in golden bracelets could deflect
bullets. it didn't help their love life much, though, so when
Major Steve Trevor of the U.S. army crash-landed on the island
during World War II, Wonder Woman fell in love and returned with
him to the U.S. in the guise of his secretary. Major Trevor did
not know of her powers, but when trouble threatened, Yeoman
Prince could disappear for a while, and whirl herself into
Wonder Woman! She then reappeared, clad in sexy tights and
draped in a cape that looked something like the American flag.
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Her opponents
were mostly Nazi agents, plus a few aliens from outer space, all
of whom were dispatched in slam-bang-biff-pow style. Once the
Nazis even found and occupied Paradise Island in their quest for
Feminum, and they had their own Wonder Woman in Fausta. Seen
occasionally on Diana's side was her younger sister, Drusilla,
the "Wonder Girl" (Played by Debra Winger).
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When the
series moved to CBS in the fall of 1977 there were a number of
changes made. The title was now The New Adventures of Wonder
Woman and the period was contemporary, rather than World War II.
The heroine returned to America to fight terrorists and
subversive elements for the Inter-Agency Defense Command (IADC),
where her boss was Joe Atkinson. Working closely with her was
Steve Trevor, Jr., the son of the Major Trevor with whom she had
been associated during World War II. Since she had not aged at
all-residents of Paradise Island had life spans measured in
centuries, not decades-and Steve, Jr., was a dead ringer for his
father, the couple seemed virtually unchanged. Eve was Steve's
secretary. By the end of 1977 Mr. Atkinson had been phased out
of the show and Steve had been promoted to Diana Prince's boss,
leaving her to go alone on missions. A primary source of
information for all IADC agents was the Internal Retrieval
Associative computer. This wonderful device, called IRA by the
staff, could actually communicate by voice with the agents.
Despite the fact that Diana was no longer wearing glasses to
conceal her real identity, as she had done in the ABC version of
Wonder Woman, only IRA knew who she really was.
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Lynda Carter,
who portrayed Wonder Woman, did fit the part. A former
"Miss World-U.S.A.," she was very athletic, tall (5'
10", not 6' as some publicity releases claimed), and
extremely wellendowed.
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