When / why did they switch from 1940s setting to 1970s setting?
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FlyboyLA — 10 years ago(February 10, 2016 03:36 AM)
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. -
DrakeStraw — 10 years ago(February 10, 2016 11:14 AM)
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?
DrakeStraw
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grendelkhan — 10 years ago(February 10, 2016 02:40 PM)
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! -
joe_538 — 9 years ago(September 30, 2016 09:47 AM)
I 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.
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professor_of_gamez — 10 years ago(February 13, 2016 09:47 PM)
Thanks 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. -
persen1 — 10 years ago(February 17, 2016 05:59 AM)
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. -
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amazonprince71 — 10 years ago(February 28, 2016 07:29 AM)
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 thoughtmaybe 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. -
dolores_claiborne — 9 years ago(July 03, 2016 02:51 PM)
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.