Trivia for
"Wonder Woman" (1976) More at IMDbPro »

• The episode of "Amazon Hot Wax" was removed from the American syndication package due to a discrepancy over the music rights (ironically involving the songs recorded by series star Lynda Carter). The episode was restored to the series for the 2005 DVD release, however.
  
  
• The only villains that appeared both in the comic books and the TV series were Fausta Grabels played by actress 'Lynda Day George' (qv,) Morgana played by Brenda Benet (who appeared in WW#186)and the Baronness Paula Von Gunther played by actress Christine Belford.
  
  
• The following women all played the Queen Mother: Cloris Leachman, Carolyn Jones, and Beatrice Straight. All were Oscar nominees.
  
  
• An episode entitled "The Velvet Touch," involving toxic makeup, was unfilmed because star Lynda Carter was a spokeswoman for Maybelline.
  
  
• Tensions between series stars Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner grew to the point that as the series went on the two stars appeared in fewer and fewer scenes together. So that Waggoner's character would have more activity on the show, producers brought in Saundra Sharp to play fellow IADC agent Eve. Waggoner was to be completely written out of the show as in the last episode of the series Diana is relocated to the Los Angeles bureau of IADC. In recent interviews, Lynda Carter has denied any tension existed.
  
  
• When western actor Roy Rogers made a guest-appearance in the episode "Bushwackers", he felt it was inappropriate for Lynda Carter to be wearing only a "bathing suit" so he had producers make her wear a solid red top and white chinos for every scene she was to portray Wonder Woman.
  
  
• In the episode "Anschluss 77" (episode 2.2) the script called for Wonder Woman to grab on to a bar under a helicopter and hold on to it as the helicopter lifted 50 feet into the air. Actress Lynda Carter's stunt double shot the scene but as the camera was so close to the stand-in it became obvious that it wasn't Lynda. As the production crew was beginning to lose their lighting, Lynda felt she could perform the stunt on her own and told her stunt double to let her go instead. She filmed the scene herself, which angered the unaware producers of the series as Carter not only didn't inform anyone ahead of time, but did not use protective wrist guards what could have held her to the helicopter should she not have the strength to hold on.
  
  
• When the son of Wonder Woman stunt double Jeannie Epper told his classmates that his mother performed on the Wonder Woman television series they did not believe him, even after showing them a photo of his mother in costume. When series star Lynda Carter was told of the situation, she took it upon herself to invite his entire class to visit the Wonder Woman set to see Jeannie perform.
  
  
• Costume designer Donfeld had originally created a red, white and blue two-piece bikini for actress Lynda Carter when she was to perform as Wonder Woman in the water. When the finished bikini did not seem to stay on the actress during the required scenes, production opted to go with the full body wetsuit instead.
  
  
• Warner Bros. attempted several spin-offs from characters in the Wonder Woman series. Actress Debra Winger was offered her own "Wonder Girl" series, but opted out as she wanted to perform in more serious roles. A similar series was proposed for actress Julie Anne Haddock for her role as the also super powered girl from the episode "The Girl From Islandia", actress Sheryl Lee Ralph who appeared in the episode "The Starships Are Coming" was approached to play another super hero, as was Bob Seagren for his role in the episode "The Man Who Could Not Die". Alas, the last three proposals never made it past the approval stage.
  
  
• There have been changes in the original DC continuity since the show went off the air. Among these changes is the fact that Wonder Woman has no secret identity and is no longer an Amazon princess; she has relinquished the title. Unlike the original Wonder Woman (i.e., pre-crisis), she also has special super-powers that make her different from any other Amazon.
  
  
• The first season of the series was set during World War II. When the series moved from ABC to CBS the next year, the entire format of the show was changed with the immortal Wonder Woman returning to civilization in the late 1970s and teaming up with the son of Steve Trevor from the first season (of course played by the same actor). Lynda Carter's costume also underwent some minor modifications with the changeover.
  
  
• The dog Tiger used in the episode "The Girl From Islandia" is the same dog named Tiger from "The Brady Bunch" (1969) and from "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters" (1973) where he appeared as Fluffy.
  
  
• Although Debra Winger made a sizable amount of money for her appearances as Wonder Woman's little sister, she actually spent most of it on buying herself out of her Warner Bros. contract as she had second thoughts on continuing to perform her contracted character of Wonder Girl.
  
  
• When football legend Bubba Smith learned that he was going to be "thrown" by Wonder Woman in the episode "Light Fingered Lady", he said, "Ain't no way some white lady is gonna f---in' throw me!" Lynda Carter proposed that if she were actually able to throw him, he would have to continue filming. He agreed and was forced to finish shooting his scenes when Carter was able to flip him in place with one try. What Bubba didn't know was that Carter and the cameraman secretly signaled each other to shoot that first humbling test flip and it ended up becoming the shot used for the episode.
  
  
• Lynda Carter unsuccessfully tested for the first Wonder Woman TV movie, Wonder Woman (1974) (TV), that starred Cathy Lee Crosby.
  
  
• The character of Wonder Girl, played by Debra Winger during the first season, first appeared in comic books in 1965, though the nature of the character is quite different in the TV series version. Today, the superhero is known by the name Troia. A new Wonder Girl was introduced in the mid-1990s.
  
  
• The first two actual episodes of the first season (the pilot was originally shown as a made for TV movie) were broadcast as TV "specials". The executives at ABC were still unsure if they wanted to commit to a full season of the series and decided to produce 2 episodes and show them as specials. When these specials generated high ratings, ABC gave the green light for the series and the remaining 11 episodes to be shown in the fall.
  
  
• Lyle Waggoner was elected mayor of Encino, California and served in this capacity during production of the series.
  
  
• During the period when the show was set in the 1940s, D.C. Comics, the publisher of the Wonder Woman comics, decided to do a tie in with the series by setting the stories in the self titled Wonder Woman comic book as well as her appearances in "World's Finest Comics" in the '40s as well. However, this was the Earth 2 version of Wonder Woman. The modern Earth-1 Wonder Woman still appeared in the "Justice League of America" comics. Also, when the show switched to the modern day, the stories in "Wonder Woman" and "Worlds Finest" followed suit and moved her back to the present day.
  
  
• The Super Loop roller coaster shown in the episode "The Phantom of the Rollercoaster" is actually called The Revolution, which had debuted in 1976 at the California amusement park Magic Mountain. Ironically, the amusement park was later owned by Warner Bros., the studio that produced the Wonder Woman television series. The park was eventually incorporated into the Six Flags company and sold to Premier Parks. Nevertheless, Gotham, the comic book area of the park, remains based on Warners' DC Comics. Rare Wonder Woman merchandise continues to be sold in Magic Mountain stores.
  
  
• Near the end of the second season, the series introduced "Rover", a small robot that became comic relief. Rover occasionally would go "Beep-beep!" to get people out of the way. The sound effect for this is the same as that used for the Road Runner in Warner Brother's Looney Tunes cartoons.
  
  
• Some of the sound effects from "Star Trek" (1966) (most notably the background soundtrack used on the Enterprise bridge) were used for various electronic and computer sound effects on this show.
  
  
• The metal from which Wonder Woman's bullet-deflecting bracelets is made is called Feminum (in the original comics it was called Amazonium).
  
  
• In the pilot and the first 2 episodes Diana's transformation into Wonder Woman was accomplished by spinning her clothes off in slow motion. This proved to be too time-consuming a sequence so from the third episode on ("Beauty on Parade"), they used the more traditional device of Diana Prince going into a spin with a lens flare and thunderclap, and voilà - Wonder Woman!
  
  
• Angela Bowie auditioned for the title character.
  
  
• Lynda Carter had $25 left in her bank account when she got the call that she had landed the part of Wonder Woman. She beat 2000 other actresses to the part.
  
  
• Joanna Cassidy was considered for the lead role.
  
  
• Lynda Carter controlled the flashes flying from her bullet-deflecting bracelets herself. She was holding a remote control device in her clasped hands.
  
  
• The TV Wonder Woman bears only a superficial resemblance to the comic book Wonder Woman. On the show, Wonder Woman's powers came from her belt. In the comics, her powers were alternately the result of an Amazon training program (1941-59) or gifts from the Greek gods (1959 on). Also, in the comics, if Wonder Woman removed her bracelets, she'd lose control of her Amazon strength and go berserk. On the show, she frequently removed the bracelets without incident.
  
  
• In the comics, Etta Candy was a college student who met Diana Prince while in the hospital for an appendectomy. She became Wonder Woman's friend after she got well. In the series, of course, she was a WAC working in the War Department. Also in the comics, Diana Prince was a US Army 2nd lieutenant working as the secretary to Colonel Darnell, the head of Military Intelligence. This was changed to a US Navy WAVE and Steve Trevor's secretary in the series. The character of General Blankenship was created specifically for the series. In the comics, Steve Trevor and Diana Prince reported to Colonel Darnell, who became General Darnell after World War II.
  
  
• Diana Prince's glasses have no lenses. They are just frames.
  
  

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