NBC Rejects 'Wonder Woman' Pilot

[ckal]

From the start, this project didn't seem to have almost any support from the fan base. From the costume, to the take on the character, most fans were irritated, to say the least. Now there is no longer any need to worry we would see a Wonder Woman train wreck on TV. EW learned that NBC has rejected the pilot for the super heroine. More info below:

Well that was fun (to make fun of) while it lasted. EW has learned that NBC passed on the much buzzed-about Wonder Woman pilot from David E. Kelley and Warner Bros. TV.

Kelley had penned a script that updated the comic book classic to have Diana Prince as CEO of a major conglomerate by day and a butt-kicking Amazon (with a fleet of cool planes) by night. Kelley’s take asked for lots of heart-thumping, contemporary music, and at one point the Boston Legal writer even requested a commercial-free premiere for the pilot if it aired.

Why did the ‘ol girl fail to pass muster?

NBC isn’t saying for now but scuttlebutt reveals the pilot earned mixed reviews at test screenings. And then there was all the online blow back about the costume – which seemed to de-emphasize the patriotism and play up the comic’s Greek mythology. Ultimately, the wardrobe department went back to the drawing board but that didn’t seem to save the project.

What do you think, Ledgers?

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[Purrpura Bastette]

Meh. I just don't think very many people care about Wonder Woman these days outside of those who read her comics.

[mavfan626]

well put purps

[DedmanWalkin]

So they took Diana and turned her into Batman with boobs? That is ridiculous.

[Purrpura Bastette]

Speaking of boobs, hers look incredibly uncomfortable in that bustier. There's no way she could fight crime in that and keep them in place. Idk, maybe one day we'll get to see a live action Diana. I feel sorry for the actress. She must have been so excited to be cast as Wonder Woman and now it might not even happen.

[Zoom]

I kinda feel like Wonder Woman is important for the sake of having an important female superhero. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's had her moments like in Kingdom Come or at Beetle's funeral (or "What's wrong with the way I dress?" in JLU) but overall, she doesn't hold a candle to Superman or Batman's popularity and unlike Superman and Batman, the original concept of Wonder Woman (a walking bondage fetish) isn't nearly as original as Batman and Superman's.....yet she stands next to them on the covers of tons of comics.

Then she's received power up after power up until she's almost as powerful as Superman because it's important to have a female Superhero that's almost as powerful as Superman.

Yes, she's more original than Supergirl or Batgirl and I can see how Power Girl and Black Canary aren't exactly role models but....ugh. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're going to put a character next to Batman and Superman all the time, she better be able to hold her own weight as a character and I don't feel like she does and therefore, doesn't particularly deserve her own show anyways (especially if she's just gonna be Batman with boobs and a lasso).

[NorCalCO]

I think this is a case of a good idea that was executed poorly. I wish better luck for future comic book characters that are trying to be brought to the small screen.

[Zoom]

May 13, 2011 0:18:38 GMT -5 NorCalCO said:

I think this is a case of a good idea that was executed poorly. I wish better luck for future comic book characters that are trying to be brought to the small screen.

Indeed. I hope for a live action Blue Beetle one.

[substancedii]

I would be all for a wonder women animated series.... Photos of this live action show looked cheese.... If Warner brothers wants to do a tv show they should do a crime drama based on Gotham central

[Erik-El]

Thanks a lot you whiny bitches. Now I do not have a Wonder Woman show at all.

[Purrpura Bastette]

May 13, 2011 0:33:18 GMT -5 substancedii said:

I would be all for a wonder women animated series.... Photos of this live action show looked cheese.... If Warner brothers wants to do a tv show they should do a crime drama based on Gotham central

Yes! An animated series would be so much better. A lot of young girls would probably watch it too and Wonder Woman is a great role model. And I'd definitely watch a Gotham crime show.

[Lord Barbatos]

May 12, 2011 23:47:39 GMT -5 Zoom said:

I kinda feel like Wonder Woman is important for the sake of having an important female superhero. I mean, don't get me wrong, she's had her moments like in Kingdom Come or at Beetle's funeral (or "What's wrong with the way I dress?" in JLU) but overall, she doesn't hold a candle to Superman or Batman's popularity and unlike Superman and Batman, the original concept of Wonder Woman (a walking bondage fetish) isn't nearly as original as Batman and Superman's.....yet she stands next to them on the covers of tons of comics.

Then she's received power up after power up until she's almost as powerful as Superman because it's important to have a female Superhero that's almost as powerful as Superman.

Yes, she's more original than Supergirl or Batgirl and I can see how Power Girl and Black Canary aren't exactly role models but....ugh. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you're going to put a character next to Batman and Superman all the time, she better be able to hold her own weight as a character and I don't feel like she does and therefore, doesn't particularly deserve her own show anyways (especially if she's just gonna be Batman with boobs and a lasso).

Are you Grant Morrison? lol this is exactly what he said about her in one of his FC interview.

[Lord Barbatos]

GL,Flash have already kinda replaced her,Aquaman may well to in the next 3 years.Runs away before Erik comes.

[MikeTheKiller]

Don't think they would've been able to do a wonder woman show right

[Phantom Stargrave]

Bummer... They didn't even give her a chance.

As for her weight as character, I'm just gonna copy paste this analysis from MGK:

Mark Waid, guestblogging over at John Rogers’ pad, gets it right about the basic inner story of Thor. And then someone else adds in comments:

…the most perennially troubled titles are the ones that have been the most disconnected from their simple concept. Wonder Woman is the classic example. It was a title the was gender and power. That included sex, which is why it was slowly scrubbed of its original theme. Now, it is about nothing, which is why it gets re-booted every fifteen minutes.

This is of course correct, but “gender and power” is a very generic way of talking about what Wonder Woman’s core story is about. It is about a woman in a man’s world. You don’t need to focus on sex to write that story – Buffy the Vampire Slayer covered a lot of this ground and although Buffy had her share of romance and doin’ it, most of the time that ground was mostly secondary to her story as a whole, which was often about reconciling femininity with being a kick-ass hero who was also doomed, doomed, doomed.

Now, drop the “doomed” part and you’ve got Wonder Woman. Except Wonder Woman stories are never actually about that. Has “woman in a man’s world” even been mentioned once in Trinity, which – last I checked – is ostensibly about the ideas and motivations behind Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman? No, not at all – instead we get some vague blather about Diana being a “bringer of peace,” and so forth.

And, of course, let’s be honest: “woman in a man’s world” is a hard sell in comics. Most of the readership is male and most of the creators are male, and most of them are not particularly interested in reading feminist literature unless it is disguised in some way (cf. Buffy, which is also a genre television show; ditto Xena, Warrior Princess).

I’m not sure if this is because the idea of “woman in a man’s world” is so explicitly feminist, and that men are traditionally sort of crap at writing strong feminist narratives no matter how personally enlightened on the topic they might be. (Even Joss Whedon, the poster boy for men writing strong women, has been accused – and not unfairly – of fetishizing “strong women” rather than simply writing stories about women.) But it’s a good point to remember; after all, if you are a male writer, the odds that you will be comfortable writing about Diana’s experience as a woman in a male-dominated world (and more importantly, finding that male-dominated world to be odd or irregular or irrational or improper) are just going to be lower than the odds that you will be comfortable writing Diana as a relatively asexual being.

Even Gail Simone (and I’ve quite enjoyed Gail’s run on the book thus far) treats Diana’s sexuality with relative kid gloves. I’m glad to see her starting up a romance with Nemesis – who, incidentally, is a vast improvement over douchebag Steve Trevor, who should die in a swamp – but come on, said romance has been so tentative as to almost seem editorially mandated that all pains be taken to make sure Diana doesn’t come across as a slut or something. (Because when I think “asexual society,” I think the Amazons?)

Woman in a man’s world. It’s not rocket science. It’s not irrelevant to comics readers (much as some might wish otherwise). But it’s definitely edgier territory, and there’s a political aspect to it that a lot of comics fans might not appreciate.

Also, the invisible plane. What is up with that?

[cm24]

Too bad although based on what I had seen so far, I think this was a wise decision. On the other hand, an animated show like some of the others said here, would be a very good idea.

[Lord Barbatos]

Johns is'nt exactly fond of her from what i've heard.Gail Simone is the only one i feel can do it right.

[Erik-El]

May 13, 2011 2:50:21 GMT -5 Phantom Stargrave said:

Bummer... They didn't even give her a chance.

As for her weight as character, I'm just gonna copy paste this analysis from MGK:

Mark Waid, guestblogging over at John Rogers’ pad, gets it right about the basic inner story of Thor. And then someone else adds in comments:

…the most perennially troubled titles are the ones that have been the most disconnected from their simple concept. Wonder Woman is the classic example. It was a title the was gender and power. That included sex, which is why it was slowly scrubbed of its original theme. Now, it is about nothing, which is why it gets re-booted every fifteen minutes.

This is of course correct, but “gender and power” is a very generic way of talking about what Wonder Woman’s core story is about. It is about a woman in a man’s world. You don’t need to focus on sex to write that story – Buffy the Vampire Slayer covered a lot of this ground and although Buffy had her share of romance and doin’ it, most of the time that ground was mostly secondary to her story as a whole, which was often about reconciling femininity with being a kick-ass hero who was also doomed, doomed, doomed.

Now, drop the “doomed” part and you’ve got Wonder Woman. Except Wonder Woman stories are never actually about that. Has “woman in a man’s world” even been mentioned once in Trinity, which – last I checked – is ostensibly about the ideas and motivations behind Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman? No, not at all – instead we get some vague blather about Diana being a “bringer of peace,” and so forth.

And, of course, let’s be honest: “woman in a man’s world” is a hard sell in comics. Most of the readership is male and most of the creators are male, and most of them are not particularly interested in reading feminist literature unless it is disguised in some way (cf. Buffy, which is also a genre television show; ditto Xena, Warrior Princess).

I’m not sure if this is because the idea of “woman in a man’s world” is so explicitly feminist, and that men are traditionally sort of crap at writing strong feminist narratives no matter how personally enlightened on the topic they might be. (Even Joss Whedon, the poster boy for men writing strong women, has been accused – and not unfairly – of fetishizing “strong women” rather than simply writing stories about women.) But it’s a good point to remember; after all, if you are a male writer, the odds that you will be comfortable writing about Diana’s experience as a woman in a male-dominated world (and more importantly, finding that male-dominated world to be odd or irregular or irrational or improper) are just going to be lower than the odds that you will be comfortable writing Diana as a relatively asexual being.

Even Gail Simone (and I’ve quite enjoyed Gail’s run on the book thus far) treats Diana’s sexuality with relative kid gloves. I’m glad to see her starting up a romance with Nemesis – who, incidentally, is a vast improvement over douchebag Steve Trevor, who should die in a swamp – but come on, said romance has been so tentative as to almost seem editorially mandated that all pains be taken to make sure Diana doesn’t come across as a slut or something. (Because when I think “asexual society,” I think the Amazons?)

Woman in a man’s world. It’s not rocket science. It’s not irrelevant to comics readers (much as some might wish otherwise). But it’s definitely edgier territory, and there’s a political aspect to it that a lot of comics fans might not appreciate.

Also, the invisible plane. What is up with that?

Copy and pasted outdated (likely at the time of its creation) analysis. WW post Crisis has never been a romantic interest with Steve Trevor. And Nemesis is a little douche-y as well.

I hate it when people that never read the comics of her try to analyze the character. You cannot give an accurate analysis from a wiki bio. She also has stated several times she is not a feminist nor do her views fit the description of a feminist and that is true.

[jakefury]

so basically, they changed everything about her and didn't like the result? Note to the idiots in charge-next time leave it alone and see how it turns out.

[Crom-Cruach]

May 12, 2011 22:14:12 GMT -5 ckal said:

What do you think, Ledgers?

Good.