The Women of Wonder Woman
By April Jones
HOLLYWOOD, CA – OCTOBER 22: Actress Adrianne Palicki attends Summit Entertainment’s premiere of ‘John Wick’ at the ArcLight Hollywood on October 22, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Adrianne Palicki
Back in 2010, rumors had started to circulate that Warner Bros. Television was in the process of developing a Wonder Woman TV show. Initially, all of the major networks turned it down, including NBC who eventually had a change of heart and ordered a pilot in early 2011. The show was written by David Kelley who’d had success with shows like L.A. Law, The Practice, and Ally McBeal*.
The premise of the show was that Diana Themyscira, as CEO of Themyscira Industries, manages Wonder Woman as both a one-woman crime fighting organization and a role model. In order to lead a normal life away from her high-profile roles as both Ms. Themyscira and Wonder Woman, she creates a third alter ego, Diana Prince.
Videos and photos taken on the set made their way across the internet, and most of the discussion centered around Wonder Woman’s uniform. Rather than the usual stars-and-stripes leotard, Wonder Woman was dressed in shiny sky blue pants and matching boots with a red and gold bustier. As a result of the widespread criticism, the folks at Warner Bros. changed the pants to a non-shiny darker blue and brought back Wonder Woman’s red boots.
In what would have been the pilot episode, Wonder Woman takes on Veronica Cale, played by Elizabeth Hurley. Cale is the evil force behind a mysterious and dangerous drug that gives superhuman powers to average people. Unfortunately, the show was never picked up and the pilot never aired. And even though Palicki eventually switched teams and took on a role in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., she still deserves credit for her part in trying to bring Wonder Woman back to TV.
*Trivia note: Ally McBeal starred Calista Flockhart in the title role. Flockhart now plays Cat Grant on CW’s Supergirl which features Lynda Carter, known for her role as Wonder Woman in the 1970s, in a recurring role as the President of the United States.