Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superheroine of
the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve
Trevor Sr & Jr, the show originally aired from 1976 to 1979.

In early 1942, during World War II, American pilot Major Steve Trevor (Lyle Waggoner) bails out during an
air battle over the Bermuda Triangle, location of Paradise Island. The island is home to the Amazons:
beautiful, ageless women with great strength, agility, and intelligence. Amazon princess Diana (Lynda
Carter) rescues the handsome Trevor and helps nurse him back to health. Her mother, the Amazon queen
(Cloris Leachman; succeeded by Carolyn Jones and Beatrice Straight in later episodes), decrees that
Olympic-style games shall be held to select one Amazon to return Trevor back to America, but she forbids
her daughter Diana, the princess, to participate. Diana states that since she is not allowed to participate,
she does not want to be present for the games and will take a retreat to the other side of the island. The
games are held with participants wearing masks and numbers (shown as Roman numerals in triangles on
white sleeveless short tunic-dresses). Among the contestants is a blonde Amazon. During the events, the
blonde Amazon shows exceptional skills and she ties for first with another Amazon. To break the
deadlock, the “bullets and bracelets” event is decided as the tiebreaker, wherein each of the women takes
turns shooting at the other; the one being shot at must deflect the bullets with her bulletproof bracelets. The
blond woman wins the event, superficially injuring her opponent’s arm. When she is pronounced the winner,
she removes her mask and wig and reveals that she is Diana.

Carter’s acting career took off when she landed the
starring role in The New Adventures of Wonder
Woman as the title character and her secret identity,
Diana Prince. The savings her parents had set
aside for her to pursue acting in Los Angeles were
almost depleted, and Carter was close to returning
to Arizona when her manager informed her that she
had won the part. Her earnest performance
endeared her to fans and critics, such that Carter
continues to be closely identified with Wonder
Woman.

The series lasted for three seasons. As it was
winding down, while referring to the feedback she
had received for her posters, Carter told US
magazine:

“I never meant to be a sexual object for anyone but
my husband. I never thought a picture of my body
would be tacked up in men’s bathrooms. I hate men
looking at me and thinking what they think. And I
know what they think. They write and tell me.”

In 1985 DC Comics named her as one of the
honorees in the company’s 50th anniversary
publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for her work
on the Wonder Woman series. In 2007, toy
company DC Direct released a 13″ full-figure statue
of Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman, limited to
5,000 pieces; it was re-released in 2010. Also in
2010, DC Direct began selling a 5½-inch bust of
Carter’s Wonder Woman to celebrate the DC
Comics’ 75th anniversary.