Am watching the show for the first time ... on MeTV. First few episodes I watched were set in the 70s (must have been near the end of the run), now they are playing the first couple of episodes.
Thanks.
The show started off in November 1975 as a 90 minute double feature Friday night movie. It was paired with the Sally Struthers TV movie "Hey I'm Alive." It was titled "The New, Original Wonder Woman" (it was given this title to separate itself from the 1974 flop starring Cathy Lee Crosby) and took place during WWII. The ratings were very successful that they repeated the pilot the following month in a condensed 60 minute run. It was followed by two additional specials in early 1976. In the fall of 1976, it went to series, but ABC wanted to continue airing the show as specials with no set schedule. These WWII episodes, 11 in total that season, still brought in great ratings and Wonder Woman aired semi-regularly on Wednesday nights at 8pm while The Bionic Woman was forced to halt production after star Lindsay Wagner was injured on set.
At the end of the 1976-77 season, ABC refused to give Wonder Woman a permanent spot for the next season, so Warner Brothers shopped the series to other networks. So, CBS came along and committed to 22 episodes for the 1977-78 season. However, due to the high production costs of the series with the WWII sets, CBS wanted to update the series to the current times of the 70s. Plus, they felt that there'd be more interesting stories to tell. Hence, the series was renamed "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman." Diana Prince went from working for the War Department to the IADC (Inter Agency Defense Command) and would work under Colonel Steve Trevor, the son of the late General Steven Leonard Trevor. The series lasted two seasons on CBS.
The show started off in November 1975 as a 90 minute double feature Friday night movie.MeTV recently skipped over that series pilot. Is it possible that the rights to the series don't include rights to that one because it is classified as a movie?
I doubt it; might have been a time issue. It is included on the dvd set, as well as the unedited episodes.
I never particularly cared for the modern revamp. The period setting was more interesting and it worked better for the campier aspects. You could forgive some of the silly dialogue as being the way people talked back then. Also, it gave Wonder Woman a steady opponent, in the absence of real comic villains. Only Baroness Paula Von Gunther made the transition, though Giganta (an ape evolved into a strong woman) was sort of adapted. We didn't get Cheetah, or Dr Psycho, though. I do wish they had brought back Von Gunther and Fausta.
Fortunately, Ah keep mah feathers numbered for just such an emergency!
I totaaly agree....the 1st season set in WWII totally rocked....loved Debra Winfer as Wonder Girl as well....
shareI like the 1940s setting, but the constant Nazi villains would have gotten old after a while. They didn't really bother with independent criminals or have the nerve to feature Japanese spies or saboteurs in the first season.
shareThanks for the interesting and complete info.
Wonder why they felt the need to explain that it was Trevor's son, and yet (I am guessing) no explanation was made as to why Wonder Woman hadn't aged 30 years during the transition, lol.
There was really no reason to answer the question of why Diana (Wonder Woman) had not aged a day, that was revealed in the pilot why.
Paradise Island is located inside the Bermuda Triangle and on the island time practically is standing still.
Once Diana (Wonder Woman) returned to Paradise Island after the end of the first season, she stopped aging.
There was no reason to explain why Wonder Woman didn’t age but how did they explain (in story) why her secret identity didn’t age? What I mean is did Diana pretend to be her own daughter or niece? My guess is that Steve Trevor Jr. (among others) would remember that his father had an assistant Yeoman Diana Prince.
shareInteresting. I only watch this show when I catch it and I could never make heads or tales of what was going on. Thanks for the info.
"I said no camels, that's five camels, can't you count?"
The Queen said Diana "could" revert to an ordinary human being if she left Paradise Island but it's never stated that she does lose her immortality, just her powers when she leaves Paradise Island, hence the belt.
I also thought...maybe she just stopped aging upon her return to Paradise Island after she left the US in 1945 but in Season 3 it's pretty much established that Wonder Woman is active 200 years in the future so I think we are to assume immortality is the only power she doesn't lose in her Diana Prince Persona.
Also, guys, Lynda was a star after the first season. She had everything to do with it being updated to the '70's for the second season. She hated the plane and silliness after a while, and wanted Wonder Woman to be more modern.
Also, Lindsay was injured in a car accident, not "on set." Just clearing that up from above.
I assume it was cheaper re set costuming/detail. They did not have to pay 'close' attention to period design at all hence lower production costs.
shareThey changed when the series moved over from one network to another. The reason was almost certainly budgetary. It's a lot easier and cheaper to film a movie or TV series in a contemporary setting than to make it a period piece. When you set something in the past, you have a lot of extra expense to make sure all the costumes, hairstyles, vehicles, store fronts, props, and countless other details are all period correct.
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