Primetimer June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Welcome to the 1970s, Wonder Woman! It's full of dueling robots and flute-playing rock stars! Read the story Link to comment
StatMom June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 OMG The Pied Piper one! That is some pure 70s ridiculousness. Hypnotized Jan Brady looks a lot like regular Jan Brady. (Eve Plumb -- whatevs.) Link to comment
Latverian Diplomat June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Parents, when you give a kid a name like Hamlin Rule, you've pretty much set him on the rode to cheesy sound based super-villainy. Nominative Determinism is not just something that happens to "other" familes. 1 Link to comment
DeathQuaker June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Steve spends most of the time being irrelevant or trapped in an abandoned prison cell while Diana gets on with the plot. This really summarizes the entirety of Steve Trevor, in any universe. One of my favorite parts of this era of Wonder Woman is how he very slowly gets written out as the showrunners realize how pointless he is. The "Return of Wonder Woman" story is a weird one in that it starts off somewhat well grounded. There's some requisite magic plastic surgery that makes someone look AND SOUND exactly like another person (see also several episodes of the "Bionic Woman") but the root of the plot--U.S. wants to help build a nuclear plant in GenericLatinAmericanNation and terrorists want to hijack it to take and use the nuclear bits for nefarious purposes--is actually surprisingly down to earth and almost sensible for a 70s action show. I think that's why they threw in the nuclear robot at the end, to reassure people not too much had changed. ;) "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis" frustrates me because it sets up this huge dilemma for Diana -- if she helps her allies, her allies are going to start testing nukes unwittingly right next to Paradise Island. If she doesn't, terrorists are building an army unwittingly right next to Paradise Island. And she asks Mom for advice and her mom is just like "Whatevs, it will work itself out." Which turns out to be true. But after setting up the dilemma, and ALMOST needing to have some character development happen, she kind of forgets about it and it does indeed work itself out. I'm not sure why they set up that whole angle if it was going to end up having no impact on the plot whatsoever. The Pied Piper episode creeps me out because I can't help but wonder what else he forced all those bikini clad chicks to do with his *cough* magic flute. Although as far as how feminist the episode being, Wonder Woman manages to beat a guy who uses his *cough* magic flute to subjugate women and even talks him into being remorseful, so I think that counts. They are way too forgiving of him at the end though (much as I like the fact that Wondy is generally a forgiving person)--I guess because he DIDN'T use his mind control ray and matter disintegration device to, say, break into Fort Knox or something, which Diana points out. Also, the Wonder-transformation-by-spinning-chair deserves a shoutout. 1 Link to comment
Monty June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 I would have included the spinning chair (for people who haven't watched it and therefore are wasting their lives: Diana is trapped in a recording studio and tied to a swivel chair while hypnotic flute music is played at her. So she spins around on the chair to turn into Wonder Woman and then fights a guy) but there's just SO MUCH in the Pied Piper episode to get to. Link to comment
DeathQuaker June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Fair enough! It's hard to include everything when you have Disco Martin Mull terrorizing Jan Brady. 1 Link to comment
Snookums June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 Oh, Pied Piper! So much groovy slang and bodysuits and Martin Mull taking that part seriously, which is right and proper because it was the only possible way to survive filming it. And frankly, his point about being robbed blind by record companies and their predatory contracts was decades ahead of its time (that's why he was robbing the venues he played--for revenge.) Oh please, please, do the one where Diana has to "marry" a state official to uncover the source of a White House leak! It's called I Do, I Do, and her bridal gown is worth a recap all on its own. Link to comment
LAFR June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 I miss the little heart to say how much I love these reviews. I seem to recall a lot of mute kids in the 70's. Link to comment
Kat June 10, 2015 Share June 10, 2015 the one where Diana has to "marry" a state official to uncover the source of a White House leak! It's called I Do, I Do, and her bridal gown is worth a recap all on its own. That wedding gown is one of my favorite Diana Prince outfits. I so loved when this show moved to "present day". Diana dressed exactly like my own mom - awesome culottes and boots; THOSE GLASSES. Everything was on point. I loved the D.C. apartment that she lived in that was supposed to be in Georgetown. I'll definitely be rewatching a few of these episodes along with you Monty. And thank you so much for that Wonder Woman Wetsuit gif! 2 Link to comment
Trini June 11, 2015 Share June 11, 2015 Just wanted to say, I'm loving these recaps! I'll have to get around to actually watching this, even though I'm getting completely spoiled -- or properly warned! :-) Link to comment
Adira June 12, 2015 Share June 12, 2015 How did I miss that these recaps were going on?? I used to watch these Wonder Woman reruns when I was a kid!! Link to comment
Ubiquitous July 13, 2015 Share July 13, 2015 I would have included the spinning chair (for people who haven't watched it and therefore are wasting their lives: Diana is trapped in a recording studio and tied to a swivel chair while hypnotic flute music is played at her. So she spins around on the chair to turn into Wonder Woman and then fights a guy) but there's just SO MUCH in the Pied Piper episode to get to. So... does Diana involuntarily turn into Wonder Woman whenever she is twirled along her vertical axis? Link to comment
Monty July 13, 2015 Share July 13, 2015 So... does Diana involuntarily turn into Wonder Woman whenever she is twirled along her vertical axis? I don't think so, but by the third season they've introduced a few unusual changes. There's one where she's falling off a building as Diana and spins into Wonder Woman in mid-air. And in one I watched this week, she actually gets interrupted in mid-spin, which I thought was neat. 1 Link to comment
Ubiquitous July 13, 2015 Share July 13, 2015 I don't think so, but by the third season they've introduced a few unusual changes. There's one where she's falling off a building as Diana and spins into Wonder Woman in mid-air. And in one I watched this week, she actually gets interrupted in mid-spin, which I thought was neat. I recall at least one time Diana was put in a barrel and rolled down a hill, causing her to become Wonder Woman. Link to comment
MarkHB July 14, 2015 Share July 14, 2015 I don't believe she was ever involuntarily turned into Wonder Woman (or back into Diana), so my assumption is that there had to be intent to make the transformation on her part. Link to comment
Ubiquitous July 15, 2015 Share July 15, 2015 So why did they chose Martin Mull, of all people, to play the Pied Piper? Did they already do the one with Lief Garret? Link to comment
MarkHB July 15, 2015 Share July 15, 2015 Mull was fairly hot at the time, being in the midst of the Mary Hartman / America 2-Night era, and he also had some experience as a musician. Of course, they didn't require him to do a very good air flute during production. Link to comment
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