The middle 1970s was regarded "the Era of the SuperHeroine". There was a renaissance on television in the role of "the superwoman" from the flamboyant 'Wonder Woman', 'Isis', 'Electro Woman and Dyna Girl', 'The Bionic Woman' to 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Police Woman'. The 1978 Gallup Poll ranked Lynda Carter as "one of the 10 most admired women in the world." Lynda insisted, "I stay away from the word 'comic book' because nowhere on the show is there ever a comic book seen! Although I don't want to lose the fantasy flavor, the show is a real live-action thing. The show is 3-dimensional because the characters are living, breathing, human beings. Wonder Woman is definitely a fantasy . . . Here's a character who wears a crown that's really a boomerang and magic bracelets that are supposed to stop bullets and red boots. She has a rope that makes people tell the truth and a belt that is supposed to make her undefeatable away from Paradise Island." Lynda also mentioned, "Before I started the show, I saw some newsreels of the war and Nazi atrocities. I think the show is trying to say this is war and it's bad and let's not do it again. It's dramatic action comedy." In the episode "Anschluss '77" about the rebuilding of the Third Reich in South America, Barry Dennem played Adolf Hitler.
'Wonder Woman' "was originally planned as a series of specials for the 1976-77 TV season, to be plugged in whenever there was a hole in the programming. But a couple of regular shows died suddenly, so 'Wonder Woman' was pressed into regular service," the network explained. "The result is that today (back in March 1977) there aren't any more shows ready." Lynda remembered, "You see, they started out as specials and then they decided to put them on every week for 6 weeks because they had some other shows flop or fall out, I guess. So they wanted to put us on Saturday nights which is the hardest night of all . . . at 8 o'clock on Saturday night. As I understand it, we are a programming tool because we've always pulled the ratings. At least, that's my understanding. We pull such big ratings all of the time, so they put us against the hardest competition that they can."
In the 1977-79 seasons, 'Wonder Woman' changed channel, became a weekly TV series, moved out of the World War II period and moved in to the era of science fiction "to encounter all of the things that are popular with people today (in 1977). We don't want to merely deal with the Nazi threat show after show anymore." Bruce Lansbury elaborated, "We're going for what we call 'subculture' shows, so we can better appeal to adults while attracting the teen audience. We'll deal with the beach scene, the male heart throb scene and the disco scene. We have a show which Alan Bennett wrote called 'Disco Devil,' which has a villain controlling one particular paranormal who you could call 'John Travolta with the Glowing Eyes.' He can zap your memory and transfer your thoughts into his mind."
Another episode featuring a scientist who was an expert on ants, "She's a friendly villainess. She goes after people who hurt the ecology. Other times we plan to have a man who wants to hold up the television networks, and a doctor who works out of a submarine and has a particular knack with laser technology. Then there are our science fiction stories: one where a fugitive from another world seeks refuge on this planet. In another, there's a man in the future with a time machine. His evil aide arranges to be kicked into our time because she knows something that will benefit her."
Lynda believed, "They thought the World War II storylines were too limiting, with the only major villains being the Nazis. The thinking was that if we took it into the 1970s, there would be more to explore, from a creative standpoint." Of moving the series into contemporary times, Doug Cramer remarked, "It was a fresh approach, which CBS thought would reach a wider audience. Because, at the time, the other superhero shows, like 'The Incredible Hulk' and 'The Six Million Dollar Man', seemed, in comparison, more real, if you can imagine anyone saying such things about science fiction adventure shows."
When Lynda Carter played Wonder Woman, the Amazonian was 2527 years old. It was understood the origins of the Amazon people in Paradise Island dated back to 200BC. William Moulton Marston also known as Charles Moulton died in 1947. He created 'Wonder Woman' in 1941 as a comic character "with fantasy to appeal to everyone" because "comic book characters do far more than entertain. They present superhuman role models. The leaping-off point for a young person is personal fantasies. Yet they also present popular stereotypes, reinforcing positive and negative assumptions about the way people are, or should be." After Major Steve Trevor of the U.S. Intelligence Service had crash-landed on Paradise Island, Diana's mom Queen Hippolyta consulted Aphrodite and Athena, who told her Steve Trevor was fighting against "the forces of hate and oppression for America, the last citadel of democracy and of equal rights for women."
"I have this gift," Lynda shared in 1977. "When somebody needs advice, I am able to say the right thing. But you see it's not really me that's talking! I hear the words coming out of my mouth, yet I don't remember what I said afterward. It's not clairvoyance, but a truly spiritual thing." On reflection, "The power of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life is what makes the big difference between being a nominal Christian and an effective one. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit when he went back to Heaven. 'I will send you the Comforter,' He said. The Holy Spirit turns all the attention to the Lord. For me, it meant a cleansing, an inner purging. And this continues through my prayer language. It is so fulfilling. It brings my communication with the Lord so much closer. Before I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I didn't know He could reveal things from the Bible. But He does. He makes truth more clear."
"When you wear a costume," Lynda pointed out, "the reality leaves by the window and you must work strong to have realism in your performance. I liked the way that George Reeves played Superman on television - always with a wink, and not like a buffoon. It is easy to sound forgery in this kind of role, to seem ridiculous . . . Her (Wonder Woman) personality over the 3-and-a-half or 4 years that I've done the show has really developed in that I've put more and more and more of my own real life personality into the character and into her lines, everything she says and she does. Of course, I'm not Wonder Woman. I enjoy playing the character, but I think I'm probably more like Diana Prince, her alter ego. I think there's probably a Wonder Woman in every woman, you know. It's kind of a neat fantasy to live out since you could do all the things she does."
"I have this gift," Lynda shared in 1977. "When somebody needs advice, I am able to say the right thing. But you see it's not really me that's talking! I hear the words coming out of my mouth, yet I don't remember what I said afterward. It's not clairvoyance, but a truly spiritual thing." On reflection, "The power of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life is what makes the big difference between being a nominal Christian and an effective one. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit when he went back to Heaven. 'I will send you the Comforter,' He said. The Holy Spirit turns all the attention to the Lord. For me, it meant a cleansing, an inner purging. And this continues through my prayer language. It is so fulfilling. It brings my communication with the Lord so much closer. Before I was filled with the Holy Spirit, I didn't know He could reveal things from the Bible. But He does. He makes truth more clear."
"When you wear a costume," Lynda pointed out, "the reality leaves by the window and you must work strong to have realism in your performance. I liked the way that George Reeves played Superman on television - always with a wink, and not like a buffoon. It is easy to sound forgery in this kind of role, to seem ridiculous . . . Her (Wonder Woman) personality over the 3-and-a-half or 4 years that I've done the show has really developed in that I've put more and more and more of my own real life personality into the character and into her lines, everything she says and she does. Of course, I'm not Wonder Woman. I enjoy playing the character, but I think I'm probably more like Diana Prince, her alter ego. I think there's probably a Wonder Woman in every woman, you know. It's kind of a neat fantasy to live out since you could do all the things she does."
