Wonder Woman (1975-1979):  I love the whole feel of this show.  First of all, they're using the "real" Wonder Woman.  They're not trying to give us some alternate version of the character we already liked in the first place.  Wonder Woman looks just like she did in the comics and is the same basic character in personality.  It's slightly comedic, which makes it kind of hokey in a fun way.  This show is definitely not idiotic like the earlier "Batman" TV series and certainly not a spoof of the beloved Wonder Woman character from comics.  This is by all intents and purposes a good-time superhero show for young and old.

    The pilot episode was much goofier than the rest of the series.  The camp was toned down greatly by the first episode of the regular series and pretty much disappeared completely.  The first season on ABC, as you might know, had Wonder Woman in the WWII era (1942).  The show moved to CBS for Seasons 2 and 3.  For these last two seasons, Wonder Woman was brought into present-day (then the 1970s) to fight crime.  Both formats of the series had their charms.  I am glad, though, that they modernized it after the first season.  There was only so much they could do with Nazis.  I do wish, though, that they would've done some things to bring back certain good things about the first season.  For instance, it would've been neat to see Etta Candy in the 1970s, thirty-some years older than she was as we knew her.  They could've worked her in as a guest star for a few episodes here and there.  Especially since she was Diana's buddy.  That would've been neat to see.

Fun Fact #1:  Wonder Woman's Missing Season:  Contrary to popular belief, the live-action "Wonder Woman" TV show starring Lynda Carter actually had four seasons, not three.  In 1975, the television pilot aired, called "The New Original Wonder Woman".  After the pilot, the first three episodes of the television series were shown from 1975-1976.  These first four efforts all had the official title of "The New Original Wonder Woman" and were shown on TV as specials.  The series was picked up again from 1976-1977.  Since there were so few shows in the first actual season, the pilot and first three episodes are lumped together with the 1976-1977 season and generally considered the "first season" of Wonder Woman.  What became known as the second season of the show (1977-1978) was actually the third, and what became known as the third season of the show (1978-1979) was actually the fourth.

The actual first season of Wonder Woman (aka "The New Original Wonder Woman") included these episodes:

"The New Original Wonder Woman" (pilot)
Episode 1 "Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther"
Episode 2 "Fausta:  The Nazi Wonder Woman"
Episode 3 "Beauty on Parade"

Fun Fact #2:  Wonder Woman's Identity Crisis:  Everyone knows the show as "Wonder Woman", but when it first began the pilot and the first three episodes were called "The New Original Wonder Woman".  Sound odd?  In 1974, a "Wonder Woman" TV movie was made starring Cathy Lee Crosby, professional tennis player.  This show was nothing like the Wonder Woman we know and love.  Wonder Woman was blonde, skinny, and wore a disco-like outfit.  Those are just a few of the differences from the "real" Wonder Woman.  The TV movie, although quite good, proved to be a dud.  In 1975, a TV pilot and series was proposed, this time featuring the classic version of the Wonder Woman character.  Lynda Carter got the role this time (she actually lost out to Cathy Lee Crosby the first time around.  Can you imagine that?).  So this TV pilot wouldn't be confused with the earlier bomb, it was called "The New Original Wonder Woman" to state that it was a "new" and completely separate show featuring the "original" Wonder Woman.  The pilot and early episodes were called "The New Original Wonder Woman".  When the second season started in 1977, its official name was "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman", but everyone considered this to be the legitimate Wonder Woman show and it was always referred to by fans as "Wonder Woman".

Fun Fact #3:  Steve Trevor's Middle Name:  His middle name is Leonard.  We learn this in the pilot episode from 1975.

Fun Fact #4:  Wonder Woman's Different Costumes:  The costume Wonder Woman wore in her first season (1975-1977) is different from the costume she wore in her second and third seasons.  These are often referred to by fans as the ABC and CBS costumes.

Fun Fact #5:  Etta Candy:  Wonder Woman's secretary pal Etta Candy, played by Beatrice Colen, did not appear in the pilot episode, but did appear in all episodes of the "first" season from 1975-1977.

Fun Fact #6:  General Blankenship:  General Phil Blankenship, Steve Trevor's boss, was first played by John Randolph in the pilot episode, then by Richard Eastham in the "first" season on ABC.

Fun Fact #7:  Comic Book Villains:  The only villains from the comic books that appeared in the series were Baroness Von Gunther and Fausta Grabels.  Respectively, they were in the first and second episodes of the regular series "Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther" and "Fausta:  The Nazi Wonder Woman".  I'm not sure why they didn't use more villains from the Wonder Woman comics.  The first season could've used more intriguing villains.  The second and third seasons were set in present-day, so they could get away with more sci-fi type of villains and did on many occasions.

Fun Fact #8:  The Queen:  Wonder Woman's mother, the Queen, is never called Hippolyte in the series.  However, this is what she is called in the comics and in actual Greek mythology.  I refer to her many times as Queen Hippolyte in these pages.

Cloris Leachman was the first to play the Queen in the pilot episode from 1975.

Carolyn Jones played Queen in Season 1 for these episodes:
#4 "The Feminum Mystique Part 1"
#5 "The Feminum Mystique Part 2"
#13 "Wonder Woman in Hollywood"

Beatrice Straight played Queen in these episodes from Seasons 2 and 3
Season 2 Episode 1 "The Return of Wonder Woman"
Season 2 Episode 4 "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis"

Fun Fact #9:  Diana Prince's Age:  As Diana Prince, Wonder Woman passes herself off as being 25 years old.

Fun Fact #10:  Wonder Woman's Age:  In the pilot episode, Wonder Woman does not know her age.  However, in the first episode of Season 2 ("The Return of Wonder Woman") she tells us that she is 2,526 years old.  Since this was in 1977, we can assume that she was 2,491 years old back in 1942 when the first season's adventures took place.

Fun Fact #11:  Wonder Girl:  She was in just three episodes of the first season, but is remembered fondly by fans.

    Drusilla's Age-  From her very first appearance, Drusilla (in her mortal identity) passes herself off as 15 years old.

    Knocked Out-
    Season 1 Episode 4 "The Feminum Mystique Part 1"--  Wonder Girl is chloroformed.
    Season 1 Episode 5 "The Feminum Mystique Part 2"--  Wonder Girl is chloroformed.

    Lasso Use-  Wonder Girl does not use her lasso even once!