The Wonder Woman TV series, which made Lynda Carter a household name and reminted the DC character, is now half a century old. The road to that legacy was bumpy: After a less memorable made-for-TV movie with Cathy Lee Crosby in the role in 1974, ABC took another stab at the concept with Carter leading The New Original Wonder Woman in 1975. This was followed by two one-hour specials in April 1976, and then by the show’s official first season.
On the surface, the TV series may not bear much resemblance to the Wonder Woman comics of today. Nevertheless, it debuted at an important moment of visibility for the character. In the comics, As of Wonder Woman #178 in 1968, writer Denny O’Neil and artist Mike Sekowsky had depowered Diana Prince and pivoted the series into a martial arts spy thriller. And though Gloria Steinem’s Ms. Magazine featured the character on its first issue cover in 1972, the journalist and political activist found it disappointing that DC Comics had depowered the most prominent feminist superhero.
At the time of the Ms. cover, Wonder Woman was set to take a surprisingly progressive tone under sci-fi author Samuel R. Delaney. Those plans were ultimately scrapped amid the controversy surrounding O’Neil and Sekowsky’s run. Instead, long-time Wonder Woman scribe Robert Kanigher returned to the series. The character was back to her status quo, but Kanigher’s lengthy run on Diana is considered notably regressive by many readers and critics.
The depowering of Wonder Woman is generally pointed to as a clear sign that the comics had lost their way, but the series had struggled thematically for years. William Moulton Marston ostensibly created Wonder Woman as a feminist alternative to the standard superhero narrative, but the character lost direction after his death. While Superman and Batman continued to develop as distinct personalities, Diana spent years as a secondary character in her own book as her love interest Steve Trevor dominated storylines.
The Wonder Woman TV show took the character back to her early days, originally by placing her in the time period of WWII that the character was first conceived. Quickly realizing the budgetary constraints a period piece imposed on the project, the character was shot into the far-flung year 1976, where the series began in earnest. This put Diana Prince in the present day, modernizing her for viewers while taking her back to her most recognizable traits.
The TV series ended after three seasons in 1979; meanwhile, the original Wonder Woman comic series stuck around until its final issue in 1986, in which Diana and Steve were wedded. The marriage was swiftly retconned by the crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths, which in turn led to another new direction for the character with George Perez’s lauded Post-Crisis reboot.
Wonder Woman continues to undergo transformations to fit the times, but Lynda Carter’s portrayal remains iconic for its simplicity. The series introduced Wonder Woman’s famous twirl, which allowed Diana to quickly transform into the hero, and was later adopted by the comics. This version of the character also continued on in the Wonder Woman ’77 throwback comics, featuring team-ups with Batman ’66 and The Bionic Woman.
Wonder Woman is available to purchase digitall on Prime Video or Apple, and Blu-ray on Amazon.
