Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman. Especially when it comes to superheroics.
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- Wonder Woman 1975 Tv Movie
Last week, Supergirl became fall's highest-rated debut series, proving to the world that skirts go with capes as well as spandex tights. The CBS show was a long time coming: It's been 40 years since the premiere of TV's first, and last, major live-action superheroine series, as well as the only such show to last more than a single season. (R.I.P., Birds of Prey.)
See also: 'Supergirl' is the Superman story we've been waiting for
This is the pilot for the 1970s Wonder Woman show. I remember watching this show as a kid along with Batman and Hulk. This takes place during WW2 and I am a huge fan of this version of Wonder Woman. If I remember correctly they changed the setting to modern times (the 1970s) in the next season. This is a highly effective television pilot. Shortly after her appearance in Ms., Wonder Woman regained her powers and costume, and the classic depiction of the hero played a prominent role in ABC’s hit animated series Super Friends (1973–86). In 1975 Lynda Carter debuted as the title character in the live action Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman premiered on November 7th, 1975 in a TV movie called The New Original Wonder Woman that doubled as a series pilot. Feminism is a hot-button issue in 2015, when reproductive rights and the wage gap are still being debated — and 1975 wasn't so different. Declared International Women's Year by the United Nations, it was two years after Roe v. Wade, one year before Take Back the Night marches began, and the height of the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment.
So perhaps it's no wonder that even from a modern perspective, Wonder Woman's first flight is just as entertaining and revolutionary today as it was 40 years ago.
Though later seasons would jump ahead to the '70s, the pilot is set during World War II. It tells the story of the original Princess Diana (Lynda Carter), a young woman born and raised on Paradise Island in an all-female Amazonian civilization. When army pilot Steve Trevor crashes on the island while taking down a Nazi plane, Diana falls in love and volunteers to take him back to 'man's world.' There, she dedicates herself to fighting crime and stopping America's fascist enemies — both in her Wonder Woman persona and as Diana Prince, military secretary.
The show establishes its campy tone early, starting with its over-the-top, comic book-style opening. It's also surprisingly funny, with comedian Cloris Leachman playing Diana's mother and several winky, knowing moments.
All in all, the pilot holds up — even with four decades of context, and some measure of progress between that first airing and today. Check out the top girl-power moments from The New Original Wonder Woman for proof — then watch the full episode yourself via Amazon Prime.
Everything about Paradise Island, especially Queen Cloris Leachman
“I named this island Paradise for an excellent reason. There are no men on it.”
Though the women are somewhat scantily clad, their isolated Amazonian civilization is technologically advanced and reflects the athleticism and intellectualism of its ancient Greek origins. They value sisterhood and good deeds — and while the Queen doesn't want her daughter to go out into the dangerous, male-dominated world, she trusts Diana's abilities. Sisterhood! Even though they've also got an invisible plane that doesn't conceal its riders, which is just ridiculous.
Wonder Woman is 100% badass
Sure, she leaves home for a lame love-at-first-sight. But shortly after arriving in the U.S., Diana not only saves Steve Trevor's life again, but also foils bank robbers, gets a job in a Vaudeville-esque show and stops a machine gun-wielding Nazi spy — all in her downtime while waiting for Steve to get out of the hospital.
The show isn't afraid to show Diana being stronger, faster, smarter and more competent than everyone around her — especially the men. And especially when those men objectify her — as they obviously do when they see her barely-there outfit, explained away by her Grecian roots.
Lynda Carter's performance
Like many comic book adaptations, the show is tongue-in-cheek — especially when Carter's Wonder Woman is onscreen. She plays Diana as a dry wit who's pretty much always chill, barely sweating the bad guys or even how she'll make money in this strange new world. It's as if she knows that she's better than all the whiny men around her — but she's too nice to tell them. Also, she originated the best clothing transformation in history:
Diana can literally stop bullets with her accessories
It's apparently pretty common on Paradise Island to hold bullet-stopping contests. The Queen clarifies that only women have the speed and skill to deflect ammunition using only the metal on their wrists — and Diana, of course, does it best of all. Even when she's up against a machine gun. There's not much else that needs to be said about this. Just look at the face of a Nazi who's seen how Diana blocks bullets, but still tries shooting at her anyway:
The only competent Nazi is a woman
The pilot features a whole slew of Nazis, both in Germany and as spies in the US. But the only one who seems to know what's going on — and who actually gets away with a scheme — is Marcia, a woman posing as Steve Trevor's trusted assistant.
She uses her feminine wiles to get what she wants, and her method works. Thanks to Marcia, the Nazis are nearly able to kill Steve, bomb the US, and steal plans for a high-tech bomb. Only Diana can stop her — but Marcia's also the only opponent Diana can't take down immediately. Diana uses her lasso against Marcia, compelling her to tell the truth. It's a great scene, one between two women who are almost equally matched.
Marcia even delivers the movie's harshest insult: She calls Wonder Woman 'strangely dressed, very attractive, quite strong, and unfemininely pushy.” Coming from a Nazi femme fatale, that sounds like a ringing endorsement of Diana's brand of femininity.
Diana's big anti-Nazi speech
“The Nazis don’t care about their women. They let them fend for themselves. And any civilization that does not recognize the female is doomed to destruction. Women are the wave of the future, and sisterhood is stronger than anything.”
That's really the overall message of the show. Yes, it's campy and ridiculous and the effects are laughable. And yes, in many ways, it's outdated. But Wonder Woman also has a female protagonist who is strong, smart, and capable, who faces female foes and has female friends of the same caliber — all while interacting on an equal level with men.
The 40-year gap between superheroine TV shows means that we've been left to fend for ourselves — and it's time to bring back the sisterhood.
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Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work!Wonder Woman, American comic book heroine created for DC Comics by psychologist William Moulton Marston (under the pseudonym Charles Moulton) and artist Harry G. Peter. Wonder Woman first appeared in a backup story in All Star Comics no. 8 (December 1941) before receiving fuller treatment in Sensation Comics no. 1 (January 1942) and Wonder Woman no. 1 (June 1942). She perennially ranked as one of DC’s most-recognizable characters and a feminist icon.
Wonder Woman 1975 Movie
Marston was something of a maverick in the scientific community, and he is credited with inventing a precursor of the modern lie detector. He practiced polygyny, he believed that women would rise up to lead the world into a new and peaceful age, and one of Marston’s longtime partners was the niece of family-planning pioneer Margaret Sanger. These details, as well as Marston’s long affiliation with the woman suffrage movement, were obvious influences in the creation of Wonder Woman.
Origin in the Golden Age
Wonder Woman 1975 Movie Trailer
The details of Wonder Woman’s origin have changed many times over the years, but the basic premise has remained largely the same. U.S. Air Force pilot Steve Trevor’s plane crashes on the uncharted Paradise Island, home of the legendary Amazons. The raven-haired Princess Diana finds Trevor, and the Amazons nurse him back to health. A tournament is held to determine who will take the pilot back to “Man’s World,” but Diana is forbidden to enter. Disguising herself, she engages in the games, winning them and being awarded the costume of Wonder Woman. Diana takes Trevor back to the United States in her invisible plane, and she adopts the secret identity of Diana Prince. As Prince, she soon becomes Trevor’s assistant, and Trevor—much like a gender-reversed Lois Lane—never realizes that his coworker and the superhero who consistently comes to his rescue are the same person.
In her first 40 years of adventures, Wonder Woman wore a distinctive red bodice with a gold eagle, a blue skirt with white stars (quickly replaced by blue shorts with stars), red boots with a white centre stripe and upper edge, a gold belt and tiara, and bracelets on each wrist. The bracelets could deflect bullets or other missiles, and hanging from her belt was a magic golden lasso, which compelled anyone bound by it to tell the truth or obey her commands. Among her powers were prodigious strength and speed, near invulnerability to physical harm, and formidable combat prowess. On some occasions, she also displayed the ability to converse with animals.
Wonder Woman was popular with readers for many reasons. For a nation engulfed in World War II, her unwavering patriotism was welcome. Male readers enjoyed the adventures of a scantily clad woman who was drawn in the style of one of Esquire magazine’s Varga Girl pinups and who was often tied up by male or female villains. Critics—most notably anti-comics polemicist Frederic Wertham—would call attention to the preponderance of bondage in Wonder Woman stories, but Marston claimed such scenes to be allusions to suffragist imagery. (This defense strained credibility, however, as the concept of “loving submission” to authority was pervasive throughout both Wonder Woman comics and Marston’s personal life.) Female readers liked the series because it presented a strong and confident woman who often spoke about the power of womanhood and the need for female solidarity. In an industry where superheroines tended to be used for cheesecake titillation or as adjuncts to their more powerful and popular male counterparts, Wonder Woman stood apart.
Unlike Superman or Batman, the other members of what would come to be known as DC’s “trinity,” Wonder Woman would never develop an especially memorable gallery of villains. Among her persistent foes were the catlike Cheetah, the towering Giganta, the sorceress Circe, and the telepath Dr. Psycho, whose mental powers were a sinister inversion of Marston’s “loving submission” credo. Besides appearing in her own two titles, Wonder Woman was a featured member of the Justice Society of America in the pages of All Star Comics.
The Silver Age and television success
Wonder Woman 1975 Full Episodes
Marston wrote Wonder Woman until his death in May 1947, with Peter providing the art during most of that time. Robert Kanigher succeeded Marston as writer in 1948, but the popularity of superhero comics had sharply declined in the postwar years. The heroine last appeared with the Justice Society in All Star Comics no. 57 (February 1951), and she was dropped from Sensation Comics after no. 106 (December 1951). Sensation was subsequently turned into a horror anthology to capitalize on that genre’s surging popularity, leaving her bimonthly series as the sole Wonder Woman title. Peter was replaced by artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, among others.
Kanigher had a flair for the outrageous, and he introduced many elements into the Wonder Woman mythos that rattled longtime readers. These included adventures featuring a younger Wonder Woman (as Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot), romantic suitors such as Merman and Birdman (and their youthful counterparts Mer-Boy and Bird-Boy), and bizarre villains like Angle Man, Paper-Man, and a sentient egg (and obvious “yellow peril” stereotype) known as Egg Fu. Resistance from fans would lead Kanigher to take the unorthodox step of writing himself, Andru, and Esposito into Wonder Woman no. 158 (November 1965), so he could personally “fire” the supporting cast that he had introduced and restore Wonder Woman to her “Golden Age” roots.
Wonder Woman 1975 Tv Movie
Outside of her own title, Wonder Woman appeared as a founding member of the Justice League of America in The Brave and the Bold no. 28 (February-March 1960). In 1968 Kanigher left Wonder Woman, and creative duties were taken over by writer Denny O’Neil and artists Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano. In Wonder Woman no. 178 (October 1968), Diana Prince was stripped of her superpowers and costume, and she became an undercover adventure heroine in the model of Emma Peel from the television series The Avengers. Feminist leader Gloria Steinem featured the heroine in her classic costume on the cover of the July 1972 debut issue of Ms. magazine, and Wonder Woman’s profile grew dramatically during the 1970s. Shortly after her appearance in Ms., Wonder Woman regained her powers and costume, and the classic depiction of the hero played a prominent role in ABC’s hit animated series Super Friends (1973–86). In 1975 Lynda Carter debuted as the title character in the live action Wonder Woman. The statuesque former beauty queen so perfectly embodied the Amazon princess that, although the show ran for just three seasons, Carter would become the face of the character for a generation. Early scripts tended to be very faithful to the World War II-era comics, while later episodes, moving the time frame to the 1970s, were less faithful to their progenitors.