Thursday, November 17, 2011

Saturday Morning's Forgotten Heroes: Electra Woman & DynaGirl (1976)

I previously have talked up, in brief, Electra Woman & DynaGirl, when discussing its parent series, The Krofft Supershow. Now, it's time to give it a little more depth.

From the start, it was obvious that Electra Woman was a distaff knock-off of Batman, which was quite the phenomenon 10 years earlier, right down to the diagonal camera angles, campy villains, and cliffhanger storylines. Appropriately, this also aired on the same network that was home to Batman, ABC.

Diedre Hall, who was appearing on NBC's Days of Our Lives at the time, and has been on and off that series in the 35 years since, played Electra Woman, with Judy Strangis, better known for commercials and voice-over work (i.e. Wheelie & the Chopper Bunch) as her Robin-esque sidekick, complete with puns. The series has another link to the voice-over biz with Norman Alden (Aquaman on Super Friends) as Frank Heflin, the duo's confidant. 

Here's the intro everyone knows:



10 years ago, the WB Network had commissioned a primetime pilot for a revival of the series. Even though Diedre Hall was still active, the producers opted for Markie Post (ex-Night Court) in the lead role. Subsequently, the pilot was rejected. Electra Woman was decommissioned after one season, so a revival 34 years later was, in fact, a major risk.

Could that be tried again? Maybe, depending on whether or not someone's willing to reset the series in modern times, with age-appropriate actresses.

Rating: B-.

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