Three Pretty Extensive Clips From the Failed Wonder Woman Pilot Remind Us Mostly of TV in the Nineties

Footage from failed Wonder Woman TV pilot -… by kahramanlarsinemada

So, here’s finally enough footage from Wonder Woman to get any kind of sense of the show, and my very first reaction to it is this: this might have worked if it premiered in the ’90s. (Two more videos behind the jump.)

That would have excused the laughable effects used to make that lasso (I could understand if this footage was clipped before post-production, but if this is what was actually shown to NBC execs, that is ridiculously bad), and the fight choreography, which reminded me of Xena and Hercules more than anything else.

Footage from failed Wonder Woman TV pilot -… by kahramanlarsinemada

The more I see Palicki move around in that costume, the more farcical that top becomes. If we can recognize that the stylized elements of some superhero costumes have to be replaced so that a live-action actor won’t look weird (as in the Batman movies, where his white-triangle-eyes are replaced with a combination of masks with eye holes and dark makeup around the eyes); then why is Adrienne Palicki in a costume that perpetually looks too small and unsupportive?

SUPPORT IS IMPORTANT. Sports bras are not optional equipment for women with the body type we associate with Wonder Woman.

Footage from failed Wonder Woman TV pilot by kahramanlarsinemada

Of course, the key here is that the show reminds me of ’90s action shows… without the tongue in cheek attitude. The people behind Xena and Hercules were pretty conscious that they were producing low-brow entertainment, and it was that awareness that allowed them to transcend the normal limits of the lowbrow. I’m not sure a tongue in cheek Wonder Woman would work (again), so really the show’s only other option is to make the concept work when played straight. Judging by these clips, they did not manage it.

(via Blastr.)