Wonder Woman (TV series): Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| (7 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 9:
|Series theme}}
'''''Wonder Woman'''''
The movie-length pilot episode and first season aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], and were set during [[World War II]].
From the second season, the series moved to [[CBS]], was retitled ''The New Adventures of Wonder Woman'', and the setting moved to the present day (i.e. [[The Seventies]]). Wonder Woman, being an ageless Amazon, hadn't aged a day, while Lyle Waggoner switched to playing the [[Identical Grandson|remarkably familiar-looking]] Steve Trevor Jr.
Line 17:
An unrelated failed [[Pilot Movie]] was broadcast about a year earlier, in 1974, starring Cathy Lee Crosby as a non-powered Wonder Woman in a very loose adaptation (verging on [[In Name Only]]). Even earlier, in the mid-1960s, William Dozier produced a five-minute ''Wonder Woman'' screen test which portrayed Diana as living with her mother.
A 2011 TV pilot was passed on by [[NBC]]. Adrianne Palicki, known for her role in ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]'', was to be the new Wonder Woman but a poor pilot doomed the effort and the fanbase wasn't pleased with [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|the many changes]] that ''radically''
{{tropelist}}
* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The TV show simplified the comics (none of Wonder Woman's supervillains ever appeared, for example) but still had a charm of its own.
* [[Advanced Ancient Acropolis]]: Paradise Island is an uncharted island within the Devil’s Triangle.
* [[Appropriated Appellation]]: At the pilot:
{{quote|'''Queen Hippolyte:''' ''Go in peace my daughter. And remember that, in a world of ordinary mortals, you are a Wonder Woman.''
'''Princess Diana:''' ''I will make you proud of me... and of Wonder Woman.''}}
* [[Arch Enemy]]: None of [[Wonder Woman]]’s villains in the TV series ever recurred, but
{{quote|'''Marion Mariposa:'''
'''Diana Prince
'''Marion Mariposa:'''
'''Diana Prince:'''
'''Marion Mariposa:'''
* [[Audible Gleam]]
* [[Audible Sharpness]]: Wonder Woman's TV series' tiara [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EykZgkC8l58 makes a strange sound] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qahSU4RYblY when she uses it as a boomerang]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsrOK8fkcWE Her lasso of truth makes an "snap" sound when she lassoes someone, and there is always a peal of thunder when Diana Prince] [[Everything's Better with Spinning|spins]] [[
* [[Badass Damsel]]: Well, ''yeah'', this is Wonder Woman here. She tended to be captured and tied up a lot, but always fit this Trope in the end.
* [[The Baroness]]: Baroness Paula Von Gunther, though given the child-friendly tone of the show they obviously couldn't show any of the less savory aspects of the trope. She did like tying people up, though.
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Mei Ling and Lin Wan in "The Man Who Made Volcanoes".
Line 39 ⟶ 40:
* [[The Cast Showoff]]: Carter sang two songs in the episode "Amazon Hot Wax" that were taken from an album, ''Portrait'', that she released in real life around that time.
* [[Cat Fight]]: Occasionally.
* [[The Champion]]: Invoked by Queen Hippolyta: The Amazon winner of a tournament will escort Steve Trevor to his country. Subverted because this is less for his safety
{{quote|'''Queen Hippolyta:'''
'''Princess Diana:'
'''Queen Hippolyte:'
** Princess Diana
* [[Changing Clothes Is a Free Action]]: This [[Wonder Woman (TV series)|adaptation]] introduced the world [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL9L_uYASrU to the way] Diana Prince could [[Everything's Better with Spinning|spin]] to change her clothes, and even Wonder Woman could change back into Diana Prince (in the episode "The Feminum Mystique Part 1").
* [[Clark Kenting]]: Notably averted at [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Dsdp_7bxIc "Mind Stealers from Outer Space Part 1"] when the Skrills, an [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|alien race]] who steals minds to sell them into slavery, discovers easily Diana Prince's secret with only a slide projector:
{{quote|''Unquestionably, the same human''.}}
* [[Cliffhanger Copout]]: The episode "Phantom of the Roller Coaster Part 1" ends with Diana Prince (Wonder Woman's depowered [[Secret Identity]]) inside her car looking back, just before an enormous truck smashed it... [[No One Could Survive That|with her inside]]. "Part 2" begins with [[Wonder Woman]] outside the car lassoing the perpetrators.
* [[Combat by Champion]]:
* [[Crap Saccharine World]]: Queen Hippolyta claims [[Hidden Elf Village|Paradise Island]] is a Utopia because it is a [[Lady Land]]. Once Princess Diana [[Gender Rarity Value|had seen a man for the first time, she dares to disagree:]] Paradise Island is a [[Crap Saccharine World]] for the very same reason.
* [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]: Two, actually. When she did "bullets and bracelets" against a machine gun. (In a theater, and she got a well-deserved hand.) Also, when she stopped a jet from taking off by holding onto its wing.
Line 54 ⟶ 55:
* [[Cultural Posturing]]: Queen Hippolyta remembers that women were slaves for the Romans and the Greeks. After some thousands of years being an immortal, she is not fond of any culture in the patriarch world:
{{quote|'''Queen Hippolyta:''' ''… We are stronger, wiser and more advanced than all those people in their jungles out there. Our civilization is perfection!''}}
* [[Cute Kids and Robots]]: The later seasons (the "Diana Prince, Superspy" era) had occasional appearances by an annoying little droid that communicated in beeps ([[Looney Tunes|and not just any "beeps" either]]). It looked kinda like the bastard lovechild of [[Star Wars|R2D2 and that little mousebot that Chewbacca scared off with a roar]].▼
* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Queen Hippolyta knows that Steve Trevor will be worshiped by the Amazons at Paradise Island. To avoid that, she plans to send one of the amazons with him to his own country. And then:
{{quote|'''Princess Diana:''' '' But all the girls will want that task.
Line 68:
* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Especially in the first season, Wonder Woman didn't entirely know how the world outside Paradise Island worked, and did things like reading books on slang so she could blend in better.
* [[Friend to All Living Things]]: Definitely present in this portrayal of the character. If you want Wonder Woman to stay out of your secret compound, you'll need more than guard dogs. [[Speaks Fluent Animal|On one episode, she could mentally communicate with pigeons]].
▲* [[
* [[Gainaxing]]: There's a reason some say ''the [[Baywatch]] run" was invented by this series. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSR6isVJaEA Observe].
* [[Gender Rarity Value]]: The unconscious Steve Trevor is the only man that had reached the [[Lady Land]] / [[Hidden Elf Village]] Paradise Island in millennia. There was fear that he would become worshiped, so [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] Queen Hippolyta declares an amazon will escort him to his country.
{{quote|'''Princess Diana:'''
* [[Gentleman Thief]]: Evan Robley in "The Queen and the Thief".
* [[The Glasses Gotta Go]]: Steve's inability to see that Diana was gorgeous was largely due to her glasses.{{context|reason=The listed description doesn't match this trope.}}
Line 79 ⟶ 80:
* [[Identical Grandson]]: After disappearing from "man's world" after [[World War II]] ended, Diana meets Steve Trevor Jr. in the first episode of the second season, "The Return of Wonder Woman", a [[Setting Update]] in [[The Seventies|1977]] (which was then the present day). At first, she is confused, thinking he hadn’t aged, but given she is an [[Complete Immortality|immortal amazon warrior]], Queen Hippolyta explains the concept of "sons" to her.
* [[Indy Ploy]]: In "Light-Fingered Lady", Diana poses as a thief to infiltrate a gang of criminals. They say she can earn their trust by stealing some plans they need. She uses her powers as Wonder Woman to complete this theft, but is caught doing so by one of the criminals, who was following her to make sure she was who she said she was. Thinking fast, Wonder Woman tells him she is on the trail of her criminal alter-ego, and when he won't tell her where she is, she locks him in a closet. Then she goes back to her street clothes and frees him, and the fact that she completed her mission even while Wonder Woman was supposedly after her convinces most of the group she's legitimate.
* [[In Name Only]]: The Cathy Lee Crosby [[Pilot Movie]] featured a non-powered blond Wonder Woman in a track suit. While it does mention Diana's Amazon home and invisible plane, it generally plays more like a superspy knockoff of the British series ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' than a superhero story.
* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl]]: It never occurs to Wonder Woman that she is basically wearing a strapless bathing suit everywhere she goes (well, except in water), or that there is anything wrong with this.
* [[Instant Costume Change]]: A few simple twirls turns Diana into Wonder Woman. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ecux9dlr-I Nobody put a better spin on this Trope] than Carter did.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: Happens a lot. If someone is participating in a crime and seems to not really want to do it, or better yet does anything to thwart the rest of the criminals, they will never be punished at the end for the crimes they committed.
** Also some villains escaped: Marion Mariposa in "Screaming Javelins", Count Cagliostro in "Diana's Disappearing Act", Bleaker in "The girl from Ilandia", and... [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Harlow Gault's brain]] in "Gault's Brain".
* [[Knockout Gas]]: Season 1 episode "Judgment from Outer Space Part 1": Wonder Woman is taken down by knockout gas.
* [[Lady Land]]
* [[Large Ham]]: Mariposa in "Screaming Javelins".
* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Her super-strength was obvious (notably when she stopped a tank in its tracks). Her super-speed was implied by feats like catching a bazooka shell in her hand, and her tendency to run rather than use a car when she needed to get somewhere quickly.
** In "Death in Disguise", {{spoiler|she runs forty-seven miles in less than four minutes}}.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Invoked by Queen Hippolyta:
{{quote|'''Queen Hippolyta:'''
* [[Meganekko]]: Diana Prince had very large... glasses.
* [["Mission Impossible" Cable Drop]]: Wonder Woman did something like this in the episode "The Queen and the Thief", hanging from a rope tied to her ankle so she could get into a safe in the middle of a room with an explosive floor. One wonders how many takes were ruined by Carter falling out of her top, because [[Theiss Titillation Theory|she looked about a centimeter away from it]] the whole time.
Line 97 ⟶ 99:
* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: {{spoiler|"Just George," who turns out to be the mastermind in "The Murderous Missile"}}.
* [[Outside Ride]]: Wonder Woman (naturally) in "Mind Stealers From Outer Space" and "Death in Disguise".
* [[Power Glows]]: There is always one of those just when [[Secret Identity|Diana Prince]] [[Everything's Better with Spinning|spins]] to [[Changing Clothes Is a Free Action|
* [[Pretty in Mink]]
* [[Proud Scholar Race Guy]]
* [[Reluctant Warrior]]: Partly as a result of [[Executive Meddling]]. The producers didn't want Wonder Woman to be too violent, thinking that it would alienate viewers, which is why you're more likely to see her tossing a heavy man into a pile of cardboard boxes than punching him in the face. Also see [[Heel Face Turn]] above.
* [[Retool]]: Besides the update to the 1970s at the beginning of the second season, there was a planned retool that showed up in one episode of the third season (which should have been the season finale but was shown out of order). Diana was transferred to the Los Angeles branch of the IADC, with a new boss and supporting cast. The show never got a fourth season, so that was all we got.
* [[Robot Master]]: Hoffman in "The Deadly Toys".
* [[Scullery Maid]]: Diana in "The Queen and the Thief".
* [[Series Continuity Error]]: The pilot establishes that Paradise Island, in 1942, is a [[Hidden Elf Village]] of [[Hot Amazon]]s who had never seen a man in a thousand years. Princess Diana is elected [[The Champion]] to travel to
** At the pilot and the first episodes, Wonder Woman uses spinning to change clothes into her costume. Later episodes show how she changes by spinning with [[Audible Sharpness]] and [[Power Glow]]. At "The Feminum Mystique Part I", Wonder Girl remembers Queen Hypolita teaching Wonder Woman how to change his clothes with [[Audible Sharpness]] and [[Power Glow]] before leaving Paradise Island.
* [[Setting Update]]: The first episode of the Second Season, "The Return of Wonder Woman": Wonder Woman disappeared when [[World War II]] ended, but another plane incident at Paradise Island forces her to return to man's world, by which time it's now:
Line 114 ⟶ 116:
* [[Stage Magician]]: Several in "Diana's Disappearing Act".
* [[Stunt Double]]: Fairly easy to spot, even from behind; the stunt doubles did not have Carter's wasp waist.
* [[Stupid Evil]]: Diana has fought her share of [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]s in her time, but Colonel Kesselman (from "Fausta, the Nazi Wonder Woman") pulls double duty, being a Nazi ''and'' a misogynist - making him double-stupid. His attitude towards women causes him to treat Fausta like garbage, refusing to believe that using the lasso of truth on the heroine can gain any productive information (scoffing at the idea of her claims that a woman can be as powerful as a man and the idea of Paradise Island, even though he's watched the films of what she can do), and simply out of a desire to prove he's right, he ''gives Diana back her lasso and belt!'' Naturally, she breaks free of the her restraints, and takes Fausta down. Oh, and while that's happening, his only means of calling for backup is a rotory phone - even when you consider how [[Technology Marches On]], that was rather poor planning.
* [[Think Unsexy Thoughts]]: After immortal Princess Diana of [[Lady Land|Paradise Island]] invokes [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]] when he sees a man for the first time, her mother hilariously invokes this trope:
{{quote|'''Queen Hippolyta:'''
* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: The bad guys in many episodes, including Fausta, one of only two villains from the comics to appear in the seires.
* [[Twinkle Smile]]
* [[Undercover As Lovers]]: In "I Do, I Do", Diana and Christian Harrison pose as newlyweds because they suspect someone has been manipulating the wives of high government officials to gain information, and Christian works in the White House.
Line 122 ⟶ 126:
* [[Voice Changeling]]: Wonder Woman displayed this power occasionally.
* [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]]: In the pilot, the reason why Steve Trevor cannot stay any in [[Lady Land|Paradise Island]].
{{quote|'''Princess Diana:'''
* [[World War II]]: The first season.
* [[You Cloned Hitler]]: "Anschluss '77".
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:The Seventies]]
[[Category:Action Adventure Series]]
[[Category:American Series]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 1970s]]
| |||