I can still smell the reek that emitted from my computer screen, after watching that crap.
This was a pilot, written by someone who clearly had not the slightest bit of knowledge of Wonder Woman’s backstory. And it would not have been hard to learn, DAVID E. KELLEY!!!
I won’t go into how Kelley could’ve picked up an old comic book or even Wiki’d the character or just asking some friggin’ body about the heroine. The lack of knowledge about this superhero, was compounded by the fact that Kelley seemed to be still stuck in the late 80’s and 90’’s, when it came to plotting and subject matter. Additionally, there was the feeling that the actual pilot, was written by someone who had never penned a one hour script for television. The beginning, middle and end all blurred together.
The actress that played the title role, was a lovely woman named Adrienne Padalicki, formerly of ‘Friday Night Lights’ fame. As I said, she was lovely, but not beautiful enough to be Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. The role called for a tall actress, which Ms. Padalicki is, but with the looks of someone like maybe Angelina Jolie or Catherine Zeta Jones.
‘Smallville’ is one of the few successful shows about a DC comics character, that has graced the small screen in recent years. So when I first heard of this Wonder Woman project, I had some reservations. The character would have to be changed up some, to become a success for modern day TV.
And David E. Kelley did try and modernize this character--to the point of disbelief. He didn’t seem to have a clue as to how a ‘secret identity’ works. He didn’t seem to have a clue that in order for this show to be successful on a major network, he would have to pull in viewers that were not necessarily familiar with Wonder Woman. That meant explaining her background some. There was no attempt to do that at all.
Then there was the costume! Lord in the morning! That tiara looked like a craft project from some children’s storyhour, and those bracelets of hers looking cheaper than hell! Not to mention that Mr. Kelley, in one of the most barbarous slips of the pilot, made it clear that he had no concept of what Wonder Woman’s magic lasso is used for.
I hope that the reekfest that I viewed and that every network alive, that smartly passed on it, did not doom this character’s chances of becoming a live action television show in the near future. I think it still could be. But hopefully next time, ‘Wonder Woman’ will be entrusted to someone within the television industry, that at least cares enough to do their homework on this powerful member of the Justice League.
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