This has been a great week for super hero stuff DVD-wise. Over the past few days I’ve had the chance to review the first season of “Lois & Clark” as well as the third season of “Wonder Woman.” It is the latter that I’m going to talk about this time around. Since the inception of the super hero into literature, it has been somewhat of a ‘man’s world.’ The majority of heroes are just that…heroes. There was a time you had to look long and hard to even find a heroine. These days, there are certainly a lot more of them, I’m sure thanks to the advent of the feminist movement (not to mention the fact that some guys really get a weird kick out of seeing well-drawn super heroines… but I steer way clear of those guys…).

Though there have been heroines before Wonder Woman, there is no doubt that she is probably the most well known. As a comic book character, she has been around for quite along while, and grounding her origins in ancient mythology certainly didn’t hurt her popularity. But what really made her stand out was her ability to stand toe to toe with her male counterparts. She was all woman, but could whup the tar out of the bad guys with the best of them.

When the time came to create a television version of the super heroine, I can’t imagine how much trouble the ‘suits’ went through to try and cast just the right actress. But for once I have to hand it to them, they made the perfect choice in Lynda Carter. Despite the apparent semi-cheesy value “Wonder Woman” had, Carter carried herself with poise and made young guys like me believe she was the real deal. Physically she was tall and beautiful, cutting a perfect figure in a nearly impossible to wear costume. Her acting was better than average, and she played well as both Wonder Woman and Diana Prince (her secret identity). She even made co-star Lyle Waggoner (yes… the same Lyle Waggoner of “The Carol Burnett Show” fame) look good.

When the series first aired, the producers wisely chose to set the time period in the 1940’s, much like the original comics. After the end of the first season, the series switched networks and they switched to more modern day setting, which was met with mixed reactions from audiences. Personally I didn’t care, I just wanted to see Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman for the next 10 years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be as the third season turned out to be its last. They justified Waggoner’s continued presence by making him the son of “Steve Trevor’, the character he played in the first season.

Warner Brothers has already released the first two seasons of the series (which I really need to get my hands on), and are now delivering the third and final season in a 4-disc DVD set of all 24 episodes. In some ways, it was probably a good idea to end the series when they did, but only because the third season had episodes that threatened to surpass all levels of the minimal campiness it had enjoyed previously. Some of the ‘gadgets’ were a little hokey, and alternative costuming was questionable.

Now this isn’t to say the third season was in any way bad, most of the episodes are actually quite good. There are even a couple I would almost consider to be amongst the best of the series. “A Date with Doomsday” and “The Who Could Not Die” are two that come to mind.

As with most of the better DVD sets, this third season of “Wonder Woman” includes a couple of great extra features. The first is a commentary by Carter on the season opener “My Teenage Idol is Missing”, which offers a very lively and entertaining listen. The other is a featurette on the character of Wonder Woman as a feminist icon.

The quality of the transfer on the DVD ranges from fair to good, but though they are not perfect, they are still a darn sight better than the VHS versions that were released a few years back.

Warner Brothers is also celebrating its 50th Anniversary in Television and is releasing bonus discs with episodes of some of their more popular series. This set includes a DVD with an episode of “Shazam.” (Remember that one kiddies?)

“Wonder Woman” was a favorite series of mine way back when I was younger. My wife seems to think it just because Carter was so extraordinarily beautiful and was the subject of boyhood fantasies. However true that may be, my enjoyment of the show also stemmed from how well she portrayed the character and how fun it was overall to watch (with the exception of the few 1st season episodes that featured Debra Winger as her younger sister). Lynda Carter will always be Wonder Woman to me, boyhood fantasies notwithstanding.

Episodes:
My Teenage Idol is Missing
Hot Wheels
The Deadly Sting
The Fine Art of Crime
Disco Devil
Formicida
Time Bomb
Skateboard Whiz
The Deadly Dolphin
Stolen Faces
Pot of Gold
Gault's Brain
Going Going Gone
Spaced Out
The Starships are Coming
Amazon Hot Wax
The Richest Man in the World
A Date with Doomsday
The Girl with the Gift for Disaster
The Boy Who Knew Her Secret part 1
The Boy Who Knew Her Secret part 2
The Man Who Could Not Die
Phantom of the Roller Coaster part 1
Phantom of the Roller Coaster part 2

Starring: Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner
Extras: Commentary by Lynda Carter on the Episode “My Teenage Idol is Missing”, “Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Feminist Icon”
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Mono
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 6/7/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
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We'll give Wonder Woman: Season 3 a B.