Sunday 26 November 2017

Forget Gal Gadot. Let's celebrate the real Wonder Woman.


As everyone knows, Steve Does Comics has always been the world's main bulwark against despotism, and this week has been no exception, with it over-seeing yet another of its votes upon which the fate of civilisation itself might hang.

And that was the vote to discover just who had the most groove; the Bee Gees or Michael Jackson.

Millions voted and, after consultation with the UN electoral observers, I can proudly announce that the results of the poll are as such:

  • Michael Jackson. 5 votes.
  • The Bee Gees. 8 votes.
  • "I can't decide." 1 vote.
  • "Neither of them have the levels of groove that I have." 4 votes.

And so it's official. The Bee Gees were groovier than Michael Jackson. In fact, according to the poll results, they were a hundred and sixty percent groovier than Michael Jackson - and that's an awful lot of groove to have.

But what could be groovier than even that?

Batman could.

After all, he was the man who invented the Batusi, surely the greatest dance of all time and one that I still insist on performing every time I go down the disco.

But Batman almost wasn't the only super-doer to be given the TV treatment back in the grooviest decade of them all because, powered by the triumph of that show, William Dozier, its executive producer and narrator, decided to have a second stab at success by launching a Wonder Woman show.

And that show is posted above, in the form of a 1967 five minute try-out that was made to see if it could tickle the fancy of studio executives and lead to an entire series being commissioned.

Amazingly, it couldn't.

I wish I could claim the world missed out on a golden opportunity to thrill to the adventures of Diana Prince long before Lynda Carter, Gal Gadot or even Cathy Lee Crosby came along but such a claim would be madness as, quite frankly, it has to be the worst five minutes of television I've ever seen.

For a show that was designed to cash in on the success of Batman, it seems strange that, other than Dozier's narration, he imported nothing of the feel of the Batman show. Instead, we get a weird low-level sitcom that would even insult the intelligence of someone who thought On the Buses was the height of Wildean wit.

Oh well, at least its failure to be commissioned means that its star Ellie Wood Walker escaped a fate worse than death.

Oddly enough, her reflection in the try-out was played by Linda Harrison, perhaps best known as Nova in the original Planet of the Apes movie, which meant she went from playing a reflection to playing a woman who probably wouldn't recognise her own reflection. Acting, it's not always a dignified profession.

7 comments:

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Five minutes of my life I can never get back Steve.

To think I could have been catching up on Len's Masters In Rhyme rather than watching that toot.

Steve W. said...

The great thing about having watched that clip is that you can now know that anything you watch from this point on is guaranteed not be the worst thing you've ever seen.

Warren JB said...

"...it seems strange that, other than Dozier's narration, he imported nothing of the feel of the Batman show. Instead, we get a weird low-level sitcom that would even insult the intelligence of someone who thought On the Buses was the height of Wildean wit."

I'm not seeing the distinction.

Aggy said...

Oddly tonight I watched the Batgirl "pilot" worth a watch (it's awful)...

Charlie Horse 47 said...

That is some weird Wonder Woman... I can't believe people got paid $$$ to create that!

Anyhow, it is quite obvious that Groucho and Harpo's mirror scene in Duck Soup is way more satisfying than Wonder Woman's.

But after seeing your pole and your audience's preference for the BGs to the J5, I will take nothing for granted!

Well, on the bright side, we put up the Charlie Brown (Snoopy actually) clock that plays a Christmas tune on the hour, every hour, assuming there is light in the room. Go Snoopy!

Steve W. said...

Warren, I think we should take the view that, "Batman," was suitable for people who thought, "Are You Being Served," was the height of Wildean wit and, "Wonder Woman," was suitable for people who thought, "On the Buses," was the height of Wildean wit.

Aggy, I shall definitely watch that Batgirl pilot and post about it if appropriate.

Charlie, in Britain, Christmas officially begins when we hear Noddy Holder shout, "It's Christmaaaaaaaaas!" at the end of Slade's 1973 hit single, "Merry Xmas Everybody." So far this year, I have yet to hear it on the radio. I hope I don't miss it this year or I won't be able to celebrate Christmas.

TC said...

Holy...freaking...crap.

1966 was one weird year.