Adrianne Palicki, who is best known for her TV role on Friday Night Lights, was cast in the role of Wonder Woman for an NBC pilot. It was not received well. NBC did not pick it up and the infamous pilot lives on in YouTube heaven (See below). There were many controversies that plagued the project. Super-producer and writer, David E. Kelley (LA Law, Doogie Howser, M.D., Ally McBeal) seemed an odd choice to helm an action-oriented comic book icon like WW. His initial script was reported to have scenes of Ally McBeal-type moments of stereotypical ice cream eating-while-bummed moments on the couch with her girlfriends. This is an Amazon Princess on the same level as Superman and Batman and she's been turned into Calista Flockhart. The iconic costume went through changes too. At the time the comic book version of WW was in the middle of a costume change with the addition of - GASP! - pants. They too were incorporated into the pilot but because the production was constantly in flux the costume appears to change within the same pilot. The script was reworked and rewritten going from one extreme (melancholy scenes of her break-up with Steve Trevor) to another (cursing and killing).
So perhaps we were all spared a mediocre attempt at a character that deserves so much more. Critics did however heap a ton of praise on Palicki's portrayal of Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. She brought a lot of acting credibility to the role and kept it from being too campy. I had my reservations about her initially because I wasn't sure she fit the role but I think, while not perfect, she was a worthy successor to
Lynda Carter. Luckily, for both WW and Palicki the future seems bright. Warner Bros. announced
recently that they are working on a script for a big screen treatment of WW and Palicki continues to work. She'll be appearing in the 'GI Joe' sequel and the remake of 'Red Dawn'.
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