Some of you will be heading out to the cinema this weekend to see the much-hyped new Wonder Woman film, and perhaps desperately trying to convince yourselves that it is in any way superior to the classic 1975 – 9 Lynda Carter incarnation (it won’t be – nothing ever will be).
If that is a struggle, you can at least be content knowing that it can’t possibly be worse than this 1967 version – a five minute presentation for a post-Batman comedy take on the character that thankfully didn’t go any further. In Who’s Afraid of Diana Prince?, Ellie Wood Walker – who’s career beyond this mostly consisted of playing passing characters without names – plays a Diana Prince who is harrassed by her mother and desperately in need of a man, and who then transforms into a Wonder Woman played by Linda Harrison, of Planet of the Apes fame. It’s awful, amateur hour stuff and it’s hardly surprising that it didn’t get any further.
In 1974, a barely recognisable Wonder Woman appeared in the form of Cathy Lee Crosby, who starred in an unsuccessful TV movie pilot. Inspired by the 1968 – 72 era of the comic book (when the costume was changed and Wonder Woman’s secret identity of Dian Price wasn’t especially secret), the film was a fairly lacklustre affair, seemingly embarrassed by it’s comic book roots. Here’s a clip:
Attempts to make Wonder Woman into a TV series finally succeeded when Lynda Carter donned the more recognisable costume for the clumsily named TV pilot The New Original Wonder Woman, which led to the popular series (originally set during WW2 for the first season, then brought up to date).Shamelessly camp, the series was hugely popular and ran for three seasons.
Of course, there was also the failed 2011 TV pilot that didn’t even get to air, showing that Wonder Woman remains a difficult property to adapt…
