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Serial and Year: ISBN 0-8118-3111-6 / 2000.
I remember the day I got the news. "Hello, Wonder Woman!" said my agent. And so began my odyssey with the ultimate female archetype-strong, smart, capable, kind, and beautiful as Aphrodite.
Wonder Woman is to me-as she is to so many women of all ages-a symbol of all the glorious gifts that reside in the spirit of Woman. She is dashing and dazzling. Yet her truest power and beauty come from within. The magic tools she brings to the fight-the bracelets, the lasso, the invisible plane are only as good as her own ability, confidence, and courage to wield them. In that regard, perhaps she is not so different from you and me. We all show one part of ourselves to the world, while we hold close the ultimate power within us. Only when we trust in ourselves do we reach our fullest potential. Wonder Woman was created as a counterpart to Superman, a comic book for young girls to read. It was 1941. World War II was upon us. For the first tune, women were working full-time jobs traditionally reserved for men. Campaigns like "Free a. Man to Fight" and the celebrated
Rosie the Riveter encouraged women to cast off their aprons and take to the factory floors. When the war ended, the men came back to their jobs, and most women went back to their homes. But in their hearts, there was no going back to the old days or the old ways. Their sense of power and potential-the Wonder Woman within-had emerged and could no longer be repressed.
Those early Wonder Women whispered to their daughters, "You can be anything you want to be," and in so doing, raised the consciousness of a new generation of women. They helped us believe in our own unique powers, our hidden strengths, our intellect and instincts-and encouraged us to let our own unexpressed self soar.
Now we are supporting our own daughters as they reach for new heights in new times. For we are all works in progress, forever evolving, helping blaze and brighten the trail for those to come.
And the Wonder Woman in each of us is even better than the original. For we are also mothers, girlfriends and wives, givers of life and love-roles that Wonder Woman, for all her adventures, was never able to play.
Lynda Carter
(...) When ABC broadcast a completely different pilot film in 1975, they were almost obliged to set it apart with the campy title The New, Original Wonder Woman, but in fact it was altogether less self-conscious and more authentic than its predecessor. Set in World War II, the movie was based on the first comic book stories and generally treated the material without condescension (although Cloris Leachman as Queen Hippolyte was inclined to mug). The screenplay was by Stanley Ralph Ross (who also got a development credit on the subsequent series); he had contributed twenty-seven scripts to the old Batman program, and was disappointed when executive producer Douglas Cramer cut a lot of the jokes out of the Wonder Woman pilot.
Yet Cramer seems to have had good judgment, as he also demonstrated when it came time to cast the title role. Lynda Carter, a former Miss World USA, was just getting started in Hollywood when she was chosen, and it was quite a break for a newcomer, despite the obvious concerns about typecasting. "To tell you the truth I couldn't pay my next month's rent when I got the part. So I was thrilled to have a pilot of my own, starring, playing double roles. It was great," Carter recalled. "I don't think the network wanted me because I was an unknown. Doug Cramer had to fight; he said he wouldn't do it if I wasn't cast in it, from what I understand." Her most obvious asset was her statuesque beauty (even Gloria Steinem described Wonder Woman as beautiful), and Carter made a striking Amazon with her light eyes, dark tresses, and long legs. Although the show's publicity invariably announced that she was six feet tall, it wasn't strictly accurate, Carter admits today. "All I need is three-inch heels, you know, but I'm really five feet nine inches."
Lynda Carter cut an impressive figure in a well-designed costume, but what made her a successful Wonder Woman was the way she wore it. The ability to appear relaxed, confident, and natural while dressed in an outrageous outfit is something that not even the most acclaimed actors can easily achieve, but Carter had the poise and imagination to pull it off. "When I was a kid I read the comic books along with the rest of them, but what I didn't want to do was to play it too tongue-in-cheek," she said. "I played the humor in a very human way, and it's sort of a dry way. I tried to play her like a regular woman who just happened to have superhuman powers."
Despite the well-received and popular pilot, ABC wasn't quite sure how to proceed and scheduled a couple of Wonder Woman specials before committing to a series. Still set in World War II, one episode presented Wonder Woman's old foe Paula von Gunther (Christine Belford), but the same theme was better served by the follow-up, featuring Lynda Day George as "Fausta, the Nazi Wonder Woman." George was effective as a villain converted by female solidarity, and even Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) was given a heroic role to play. ABC finally began airing a regular, hour-long series in October 1976. The period setting was unusual, the show opened with an infectious theme song, and the comic book origin was cleverly but unobtrusively suggested by devices like drawings that changed into film, or lettered captions that appeared in a corner of the screen to establish new locations. This was a solid series, but ABC let it lapse after one season.
Aphrodite must have intervened, because after ABC dropped Wonder Woman, CBS picked her up. This kind of move from one network to another is rare enough to be considered a minor miracle, but the amazing Amazon pulled it off and carried on for two more seasons. The CBS version was set in the 1970s, and opinion is divided about whether that was an improvement; today the "modern" segments seem more dated than the period pieces. "I think I was much better in the part when it was modernized," said Carter; she also got more screen time since most of the supporting cast was dropped (Lyle Waggoner returned as his own son, who was soon relegated to a desk job). "I really loved doing the stunts," said Carter. "Eventually I became an honorary member of the Stunt Woman's Association." Both versions continue to play today, twenty five years after Lynda Carter first donned her tiara, and given the comparative power of TV over comics, this must be considered the version of Wonder Woman that made her a permanent part of popular culture for the average American.
"I think that Wonder Woman struck a chord that no one intended," said Carter. "It wasn't as though the producers, or the writers, or certainly me or anyone else really thought it would be as beloved a character as it has become. I still have a huge fan base all over the world. And I think the reason is that she represents everything good in a woman: strength, beauty, intelligence, and compassion. She was like the ideal woman. I'd like to believe that I had something to do with it, but I think it's a phenomenon unto itself. I don't know that I will ever play a character that has as great an impact as Wonder Woman did." (...).
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