Wonder Woman: The Original Super Hero Hottie
TV- Wonder Woman is an
American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the
same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner
as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979.
It had its origins
in a November 1975 American television movie entitled The New, Original Wonder
Woman starring Carter. It followed a 1974 TV movie entitled Wonder Woman
starring blond actress Cathy Lee Crosby, who neither resembled the superhero
character nor exhibited any super powers. In this second movie, set during
World War II, Carter as Wonder Woman matched the original comic book character.
Its success led the ABC television network to order two more one hour episodes;
both of which aired in April 1976. That success led ABC to order an additional
11 episodes which the network aired weekly (for the most part) during the first
half of the 1976-1977 television season. The episodes ran on Wednesday nights
between October 1976 and February 1977.
Wonder Woman had
achieved solid ratings on ABC for the weeks it had aired during the 1976-1977
TV season. But the network was still reluctant to renew the series for another
season. Wonder Woman was a period piece, and as such, it was more expensive to
produce than a series set in the present day. Also, ABC thought that the
1940s-setting limited the possible storylines, with the major villains being
Nazis. ABC did not renew the series so Jerry Lieder, then-president of Warner
Bros. Television, went to CBS with the notion of shifting the series to the
present-day 1970s, which would cost less to produce and allow for more creative
storylines. CBS agreed and picked up the show in 1977 and it continued its run
for another two seasons. -Wikipedia
Comic Books- Wonder Woman is a
warrior Princess of the Amazons (based on the Amazons of Greek mythology) and
was created by Marston, an American, as a "distinctly feminist role model
whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality
to a world torn by the hatred of men."
Known in her homeland as Diana of Themyscira, her powers include
superhuman strength, flight (even though the original Wonder Woman did not have
this ability), super-speed, super-stamina, and super-agility. She is highly
proficient in hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. She also
possesses animal-like cunning skills and a natural rapport with animals, which
has been presented as an actual ability to communicate with the animal kingdom.
She uses her Lasso of Truth, which forces those bound by it to tell the truth,
a pair of indestructible bracelets, a tiara which serves as a projectile, and,
in some stories, an invisible airplane.
Created during World
War II, the character was initially depicted fighting the Axis military forces,
as well as an assortment of supervillains. In later decades, some writers
maintained the World War II setting, with many of its themes and story arcs, while
others updated the series to reflect the present day. Wonder Woman has also
regularly appeared in comic books featuring the superhero teams Justice Society
(from 1941) and Justice League (from 1960). Arguably the most popular and
iconic female superhero in comics, Wonder Woman is also considered a feminist
icon. She was named the 20th greatest comic book character by Empire magazine.
She was ranked sixth in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in
Comics" list.
In addition to the
comics, the character has appeared in other media; most notably, the 1975–1979
Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter, as well as animated series such
as the Super Friends and Justice League. Although a number of attempts have been
made to adapt the character to live-action film, none has yet emerged from
development hell. An animated film was released in 2009, with Keri Russell
voicing the title role. In 2011, Adrianne Palicki starred in a failed pilot for
a would-be series about the character.
In May 2011, Wonder
Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time -Wikipedia