Wonder Woman Now the world is ready for... the Wonder Woman TV series thread

[Crimson]

it might have been prudent to work up to the opening claims that women are the backbone of America

I adore Lynda but, like most celebrities, it's best to ignore anything outside talking about her career. Once she accepted that she was "Wonder Woman" for life, she became spokeswoman for a kind of Spice Girls pop-feminism that goes about as deep as "Girl Power!"

There's a direct correlation between the decline in celebrity culture and social media/these kinds of longform interviews that are no longer curated by the traditional media. Celebrities no longer hide behind mystique, but they continually prove we don't need them and never did.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Once she accepted that she was "Wonder Woman" for life, she became spokeswoman for a kind of Spice Girls pop-feminism that goes about as deep as "Girl Power!"

Yes. Last time out with the series, I found even a few aspects of the official WW release's bonus feature a bit prickly when it came to the feminist angle:

Carter did lose me with her take on feminism. She's many things, but - despite her claims - she doesn't appear to be a feminist. In a few of the features she mentioned feeling sad because Wonder Woman hasn't had the joy of becoming a mother (and, by implication, a wife).

It's a little disappointing to see this is amped upfor the new interview, but thankfully there are chapter stops and descriptions on the Television Academy site so I hope to be able to cherry pick some highlights that with any luck will focus more on the series and less on the "deep" philosophical analysis.

 

[Crimson]

I found even a few aspects of the official WW release's bonus feature a bit prickly when it came to the feminist angle

I suppose if one is expected to talk about the same things for decades, one has to find some pretense of substance. Imagine having a job for 3 years 4 decades ago and that's all anyone wants to talk to you about for the rest of your life?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Imagine having a job for 3 years 4 decades ago and that's all anyone wants to talk to you about for the rest of your life?

Yes. Lynda even said something along those lines to the interviewer, which I suppose is a little disclaimer that there are only so many things that can be said about that one gig.

It is ad nauseam... It's the same old story that you've told, it feels like, and you're on to the next thing.

Memory fades over time, and after fifty years most actors, I'm sure, would end up giving story recitations on a kind of cruise control, perhaps no longer even having accurate recall of many of the events in question.

 

[Crimson]

after fifty years most actors, I'm sure, would end up giving story recitations on a kind of cruise control

Actors like Victoria Principal and Tina Louise, who mostly distanced themselves from their most famous roles, really seemed to rankle the respective fanbases but it seems like the smart path to me. Fame has always seemed like one of the rungs of Hell from my perspective, but fame tied to something from decades past is surely one of the lower rungs. Having to recount the same anecdotes over and over, or trying to spin some minor co-worker disagreement into a semblance of a dramatic feud, is awfully tedious.

I listened to a few minutes of the interview but turned it off for a different reason. The thought of her mortality pains me but, at some point in the last couple of years, she really started to look and sound like an old woman. I know she's in her mid-70s, but as of just a few years ago she seemed like a well preserved late middle age. That jump to Nancy Reagan old lady (in a giant wig) hits hard.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Actors like Victoria Principal and Tina Louise, who mostly distanced themselves from their most famous roles, really seemed to rankle the respective fanbases but it seems like the smart path to me. Fame has always seemed like one of the rungs of Hell from my perspective, but fame tied to something from decades past is surely one of the lower rungs. Having to recount the same anecdotes over and over, or trying to spin some minor co-worker disagreement into a semblance of a dramatic feud, is awfully tedious.

It really does seem like the worst thing that could happen, fame and celebrity. The downside has got to be bottomless... And what's the upside: a good table at Spago's? (Is that even still open?).

Even though Victoria's & Tina's "welcome-to-my-show" motive for avoiding most interviews about DALLAS and GILLIGAN is, in their cases, above-it-all elitism, it is the right choice. We've all heard the same Southfork stories retold endlessly to the point it feels a little necrophiliacally degrading.

One wonders why the cast still play that game today -- what's in it for them, or are they just being eternally polite and good-sported?

I listened to a few minutes of the interview but turned it off for a different reason. The thought of her mortality pains me but, at some point in the last couple of years, she really started to look and sound like an old woman. I know she's in her mid-70s, but as of just a few years ago she seemed like a well preserved late middle age. That jump to Nancy Reagan old lady (in a giant wig) hits hard.

Libra Rising vocal trill. It's why Jaclyn Smith could never play Jackie O.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I feel I've seen this - or at least some variant - before. But evidently this is a new version.

No huge surprises, and it's daft fun in the style of Top Trumps, but there are at least some outtakes (albeit very poor quality) from both series I don't remember seeing before. When I woke up this morning, I really didn't think I'd be hearing Carolyn Jones saying "Up yours", but here we are:

 

[Crimson]

Somehow I found that man's voice soothing and irritating at the same time.

The "vs" question was foregone. Even if the TV version of Wonder Woman is notably weaker than other versions, the Bionic Woman only has a few superpowered limbs.

Not sure I ever realized that WW and TBW had the same number of seasons, even though TBW had notably higher ratings.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Not sure I ever realized that WW and TBW had the same number of seasons

They were very close on episode count as well. And both switched networks during their relatively short run.

The WW season numbering still intrigues me, since The New, Original WW and the two specials that followed it (Von Gunther/Fausta) were part of the 1975-76 TV season, with the remaining 11 episodes ordered later and airing during the 1976-77 season. Something similar happened with the last three episodes of the final season, but that's a more obvious case of episodes from the same production season being held back and inexplicably airing months later.

even though TBW had notably higher ratings.

It was the same story on British TV, it seems, with BW even hitting the #1 spot here on one occasion. This was a complete surprise to me when I discovered this in recent years (probably in the BW thread when I watched that series) as The Bionic Woman had mostly gone under my radar, whereas Wonder Woman seemed more universally known (based upon my childhood world of classmates, neighbours and family, at least).

 

[Crimson]

This was a complete surprise to me when I discovered this in recent years (probably in the BW thread when I watched that series) as The Bionic Woman had mostly gone under my radar, whereas Wonder Woman seemed more universally known (based upon my childhood world of classmates, neighbours and family, at least).

TBW must have been a flash-in-the-pan, like the 60s BATMAN -- a surge in the early ratings followed by a quick falloff. WW was more of a middling success, but beloved by an important demographic: kids. That Gen X kids' nostalgia carried the show's fame further than most of its more successful peer shows.

Pity Lynda so thoroughly distanced herself from the show in the 80s and 90s, or we probably would have gotten some TV-movie reunions as with the Hulk and the bionic duo.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

TBW must have been a flash-in-the-pan, like the 60s BATMAN -- a surge in the early ratings followed by a quick falloff.

Seems it was #6 overall during its first season, dropping to #14 in the second (which is still not bad).

Episodes from the first two seasons were regularly in the British Top Twenty most-watched shows but, yes, the sole #1 occurred early on with the Angel Of Mercy episode.

WW was more of a middling success, but beloved by an important demographic: kids. That Gen X kids' nostalgia carried the show's fame further than most of its more successful peer shows.

Absolutely. I imagine The Bionic Woman was justly considered the more mature of the two series in its appeal which possibly affected when it was broadcast. Certainly in Britain I have a feeling it went out a little later in the evening when it would reach a wider audience than WW's teatime slot.

It's also helped that the character's iconography is more instantly recognisable and WW has never really been away from one medium or another in the time since (mostly comics, but still),

Pity Lynda so thoroughly distanced herself from the show in the 80s and 90s, or we probably would have gotten some TV-movie reunions as with the Hulk and the bionic duo.

And since the reunions you mentioned had an emphasis on crossovers with other characters from their universe, perhaps this could have been the chance for crossovers with other DC superheroes. I have a feeling Burt Ward might have been equally dismissive of the Batman series at this time, and I'm not sure Chris Reeve would have done it, but perhaps they could they could have settled for Helen Slater and get Adam West to do a cameo. On second thought, perhaps best would have been to go The Incredible Hulk movies route and introduce a couple of DC characters unseen in live action at that point.