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39 Years Ago: A (Small) Bullet Deflected
So, here's one that Crypt Leak came across, following up on a lead concerning a show pitched in the late 1960s built around Wonder Woman. Moreover, he found a clip (it's a RealPlayer one) that is essentially half of the four minute pilot of a pilot. Produced by Batman producer William Dozier as a spoof-heavy pitch for a series that would have apparently been so campy as to make that era's Batman seem relatively dramatic.

Titled Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince? it's a minor bullet we (for once!) dodged by being in this timeline.
Ah, and please note that the would-be star of this show, Ellie Wood Walker - went on so such stellar roles as "Woman on freeway", "Mime #3", and who can forget her scene-stealing presence as "Adult Friend" in Shattered Spirits?

Next year's the 30th anniversary of this would-be media tragedy.

Okay, "tragedy" is quite a bit strong, but, think about it: Would there have been a Linda Carter/Wonder Woman? Okay, it wouldn't have had much impact on me, but there are no shortage of people for whom the show was a significant source of super-soft-core porn, with dominance and bondage themes.

Also, think of all the home-made movies where someone spun around in place and transformed into someone. A world of essential crap, lost!

Speaking of Lynda Carter obsessions, I don't believe there are people more obsessive than those at Wonderland.

Comments

SuperWife said…
I'd never heard of this show (or this actress), but I thought you were totally fictionalizing her career credits. When I clicked on the link, I did a spit take. She really WAS mime #3, etc. What a tragic bio!!
2:52 PM
Anonymous said…
Is this a Wonder Woman with Narcisistic Personality Disorder? She couldn't tear herself away from the mirror. The whole segment was just awful. Acting, writing, even the voice over by the Batman Announcer was crappy. Her costume didn't look like it was fitted correctly.

For the record, I never liked the REAL tv show of Wonder Woman. When I was a ki I remember getting angry that everyone had long, 1970's hair and sideburns when it was supposed to be during World War 2. That still annoys me to this very day...
3:28 PM
Mike Norton said…
SG: Sometimes life delivers all the punchlines!

Brad: To be fair, the 1967 pilot of a pilot was done to be intentionally campy. What Dozier at least didn't understand was that playing it for laughs almost always means the jokes drop like lead weights. The whole Batman craze had largely run its course by that point, and since The Green Hornet was failing in the ratings this pitch was all but lost to the ages for decades.

I wouldn't be surprised if the fashion mis-fits between the 40s and the 70s wasn't part of the reason they only spent the first season in WWII and did seasons two and three in the then-present.

If I ever saw any of the show while it was in first-run I don't believe it was in more than short bursts. I was aware it was out there, but indifferent at best. Still, it loomed large in some peoples' lives based on the reactions Lynda Carter gets even now.
4:46 PM
Anonymous said…
Did anyone notice that the reflection in the mirror was totally opposite of what it should have been? Was that supposed to be one of the jokes? I couldn't tell.

I loved the first season of the Lynda Carter WW show. It had all the soft-core elements you mentioned, and it hit the airwaves around the time I was in sixth grade. Puberty was never sweeter.

When they bumped it up to the modern age, I lost interest.

As for the hairstyle and clothing violations, you'll notice that a lot too in Happy Days, as the seasons progress. The initial season was really 70's free, but each year after that they seemed to let more modern things slip in.

Mike Leuszler
11:36 AM
Mike Norton said…
Mike: The main schtick in that horribly extended mirror routine was that there was another actress (a much more attractive one) in costume, loosely mimicking her actions a la the old Marx Bros. routine.

I don't know what the combination of things were, but aside from knowing that Wonder Woman was on the air sometime during those years I just never watched it.
4:33 PM
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