Looking back on it now, it is easy to see the attraction of this
unique show that oozed '70s culture, but was set in the 1940s. While
trying to stop a Nazi plane from reaching the U.S., Major Steve
Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) is shot down, landing on mythical Paradise
Island. The uncharted island is the hidden home to the lost tribe of
eternally young Amazon women. The Amazons take in the Major and
nurse him back to health. During his recovery he attracts the
sympathy and interest of Princess Diana (Lynda Carter, former Miss
USA 1973) who is intrigued by the man from the mainland and his
tales of the evil Nazis. She decides she must follow the Major back
to the U.S. and join the forces of good against the tyranny of evil.
So begins the saga of the beautiful Amazon Wonder Woman, armed with
super strength, bulletproof bracelets, and the unbreakable,
"truth-telling," golden lasso. What sets season 1 apart from the two
subsequent seasons is that the pilot and each of the 13 episodes
take place during World War II, corresponding to the original comic
stories. In this season we see Wonder Woman battle spies, uncover
Fausta the Nazi Wonder Woman, stop thieves trying to steal the
secret substance of Amazonian power (Feminum), wrestle a
Nazi-trained circus gorilla, and rescue an interplanetary visitor
held captive by the Third Reich--all of which are priceless.
Included with the pilot episode is an extremely fun commentary
track by Lynda Carter and producer Douglas C. Kramer. Also added on
the DVD set is the making-of featurette "Beauty, Brawn and
Bulletproof Bracelets." Yes, it is very campy, cheesy, dated, and
filled with double entendres and subtle innuendos. But below the
surface, there is something special that makes the show timeless and
a pleasure to watch. Calling Wonder Woman: The Complete First
Season a time capsule would be an understatement. But a time
capsule in the most wonderful sense of the phrase. --Rob Bracco
|
# |
Title |
Writer(s) |
Director |
Original airdate |
Production code |
| Pilot |
"The New Original Wonder Woman" |
Written by:
Stanley Ralph Ross |
Directed by: Leonard Horn |
November 7,
1975 |
|
|
Princess Diana volunteers to return Steve
Trevor to Washington, D.C. after he crashes his airplane on
Paradise Island. Upon arriving in Washington D.C., she
establishes the secret identity of Diana Prince and begins
working for Steve Trevor. Note: This two-hour
made-for-television film along with the first two episodes
constituted a "mini-season." |
| 1 |
"Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther" |
Written by:Margaret Armen |
Directed by:
Barry Crane |
April 21,
1976 |
166532 |
|
Steve is being framed for several incidents
of sabotage. He suspects
Baroness Paula Von Gunther (Christine Belford) an
imprisoned Nazi spy. The warden's son Tommy, an avid fan of
detective fiction, assists Wonder Woman. Note: This
episode is based on a plot from a 1942 comic book, only the
warden's son was fascinated with cowboys and the magic
lasso.[citation
needed] |
| 2 |
"Fausta: The Nazi Wonder Woman" |
Written by:Bruce
Shelley & David Ketchum |
Directed by:
Barry Crane |
April 28,
1976 |
166531 |
|
Fausta Grables (Lynda
Day George) captures Wonder Woman using chloroform and
takes her to Germany to study her. Steve launches a mission
to rescue her but is captured himself shortly after Wonder
Woman orchestrates her own escape. Wonder Woman returns to
Germany to rescue Steve and convince Fausta to abandon the
Nazi cause. Note: Fausta Grables first appeared in
Comic Cavalcade #2 Spring 1943 issue in a story entitled
Wanted by Hitler, Dead or Alive.[1]
This episode also marks the introduction of the
red-white-and-blue, star-spangled cape that Wonder Woman
adopts throughout the series for formal occasions. |
| 3 |
"Beauty on Parade" |
Written by:Ron
Friedman |
Directed by: Richard Kinon |
October 13,
1976 |
166601 |
|
Diana enters a beauty contest to expose a
sabotage ring of radar scanning equipment, which is led by
the pageant's musical director. Guest stars:
Anne Francis and
Dick Van Patten. Note: This episode introduces of
the "exploding" change sequence. |
| 4 |
"The Feminum Mystique Part 1" |
Teleplay by:Jimmy
Sangster Story by: Barbara Avedon &
Barbara Corday |
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein |
November 6,
1976 |
166602 |
|
The American army is about to unveil their
first jet fighter and the Nazis are determined to steal the
plane and study it to build a jet fighter of their own.
Meanwhile, Diana's younger sister Drusilla (Debra
Winger) arrives from Paradise Island for a visit and
gets caught up in the Nazis' plot. Nazi Captain Radl (John
Saxon) also wants to find out the source of feminum, the
metal used to make Wonder Woman's bracelets. He kidnaps
General Blankenship, who is taking Drusilla for a drive in
Washington. Drusilla discovers that she can spin into
costume like her sister and turns into
Wonder Girl. Wonder Girl tries to rescue the General but
Captain Radl chloroforms her. Note: this was one of
Debra Winger's first acting roles. Also guest stars:
Carolyn Jones as
Queen Hippolyta (although is never referred to by
name). |
| 5 |
"The Feminum Mystique Part 2" |
Teleplay by:Jimmy
Sangster Story by: Barbara Avedon &
Barbara Corday |
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein |
November 8,
1976 |
166603 |
|
Peter Knight, an engineer secretly working
for the Nazis, gains Drusilla's trust and tricks her into
revealing the location of Paradise Island. The Nazis stage
an invasion and force the Amazons to mine feminum ore.
Wonder Girl escapes and as Drusilla exposes Peter as a Nazi
spy. Learning Diana has returned home, Wonder Girl returns
to the island and she and Wonder Woman engineer the capture
of all of the invading Nazis. Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl
then return to America to prevent the theft of the jet.
Guest starring
Carolyn Jones as Queen Hippolyta. |
| 6 |
"Wonder Woman vs. Gargantua" |
Written by: David Ketchum & Tony DiMarco |
Directed by: Charles R. Rondeau |
December 18,
1976 |
166606 |
|
Erica Belgard (Gretchen
Corbett), an animal behaviour specialist and Nazi agent,
kidnaps a super-strong
gorilla named Gargantua from his jungle home in order to
recapture a defecting Nazi agent (John
Hillerman) who is in American custody. Erica decides to
use the gorilla's strength to defeat and capture Wonder
Woman. Also guest stars
Robert Loggia as Hans Eichler. |
| 7 |
"The Pluto File" |
Written by: Herbert Bermann |
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein |
December 25,
1976 |
166605 |
|
Irish
terrorist "The Falcon" (Robert
Reed) steals a formula designed to produce man-made
earthquakes in order to level Washington, DC. Wonder Woman
and the formula's inventor must work together to stop him.
The Falcon is also carrying the bubonic plague and must be
quarantined. Also guest stars
Hayden Rorke as the top scientist. |
| 8 |
"Last of the Two Dollar Bills" |
Written by: Paul Dubov & Gwen Bagni |
Directed by:
Stuart Margolin |
January 8,
1977 |
166604 |
|
Wonder Woman and Steve investigate a Nazi
plot to flood the American economy with counterfeit $2 bills
in order to destabilize the American war effort. The Nazis
hatch a long-range plot taking several months to implement,
as plastic surgery and vocal training is used to transform
two Nazi agents into the bureau chief of the US DC Mint and
his fiancée, a waitress and restaurant owner. Guest starring
Barbara Anderson. |
| 9 |
"Judgment From Outer Space Part 1" |
Written by: Stephen Kandel |
Directed by:
Alan Crosland |
January 15,
1977 |
166608 |
|
An alien named Andros (Tim
O'Connor) arrives on Earth to study it and to convince
the intergalactic council that the planet should not be
destroyed because of World War II. The American government
first suspects Andros of being a Nazi spy and the Nazis want
to use Andros's powers for world domination. Wonder Woman
and Andros must work together to prove America's intentions
are peaceful, as Andros at first is not sure if either side
is right (mentioning the
internment of "Americans of Japanese descent" in reply
to Wonder Woman's charges against the Nazi racial policies).
While exploring the Library of Congress, Andros is stripped
of his powers and captured by the Nazis. Wonder Woman tries
to save him but faints after being hit by gas. The
intergalactic council decrees that if he is killed the Earth
will be destroyed. |
| 10 |
"Judgment From Outer Space Part 2" |
Written by: Stephen Kandel |
Directed by:
Alan Crosland |
January 17,
1977 |
166609 |
|
Wonder Woman journeys to Germany to rescue
Andros. After seeing that she is prepared to sacrifice her
life to save him, and when Steve Trevor demonstrates that
the Allied cause is just, the aliens relent on their threat
to destroy the planet. Andros invites Wonder Woman to
accompany him in space, but she replies that she is needed
on Earth. Andros promises to return to see her in 50 years. |
| 11 |
"Formula 407" |
Written by: Elroy Schwartz |
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein |
January 22,
1977 |
166607 |
|
Diana and Steve head to
Argentina to pick up a formula from a scientist. The
formula can make rubber tires as strong as steel. The Nazis
want to steal the formula to use it on their truck tires. A
Nazi agent who is secretly involved with the scientist's
assistant directs his henchmen to kidnap both the
scientist's daughter (to obtain the formula) and Steve (to
take him back to Germany for interrogation). Diana,
witnessing the abduction, spins into costume and tries to
intervene, only to be chloroformed by the Nazis. She awakens
tied up in a room with Steve. Wonder Woman and Steve break
free to find the girl before the agent takes the formula
back to Germany. |
| 12 |
"The Bushwackers" |
Written by: Skip Webster |
Directed by:
Stuart Margolin |
January 29,
1977 |
166610 |
|
Wonder Woman journeys to
Texas where Nazi agents are rustling cattle being raised
for the American government. The cattle rancher (Roy
Rogers) and his several adopted orphan kids try to
assist Wonder Woman in her efforts to stop the Nazis. Wonder
Woman's magic belt is stolen by the rustlers, who lock her
in an abandoned jail cell, and the orphan kids retrieve her
belt and come to her rescue. Note: Roy Rogers
insisted that Lynda Carter wear a light sweater and pants
for the episode, uncomfortable with the idea of a grown
woman wearing nothing but a bathing suit the whole time.[citation
needed] This change of clothes led to the
concept in seasons two and three of the wetsuit, motocross
suit, and skateboard costume.[citation
needed] |
| 13 |
"Wonder Woman in Hollywood" |
Written by:
Jimmy Sangster |
Directed by:
Bruce Bilson |
February 16,
1977 |
166611 |
|
Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl work together to
stop a Nazi agent turned film producer from taking Steve and
several other soldiers back to
Germany to put them in a
propaganda film that will destroy
America's image as a peace-loving country. Guest
starring
Debra Winger,
Christopher Norris and
Robert Hays. |
