The Pros & Cons Of NBC Picking Up 'Wonder Woman' Reboot

[Brian Damage]

It was arguably the most-talked about pilot of the 2011-12 development season, but heavy buzz doesn’t mean an automatic pickup for Wonder Woman. For one thing, a lot of that talk was negative. (What’s with the disco-style leggings?)

Since NBC’s not expected to make an official decision on the pilot until Thursday (current rumor is that the chances are slim; here’s what the network has picked up so far), we’ve decided to lend a hand by offering reasons why the network should — and shouldn’t — order the reboot from David E. Kelley.

Why a pickup is a great idea:

–Name recognition. Nothing beats a project that already has built-in awareness. It’s hard enough to break out of the crowded pack come fall; the fact that everybody’s heard about the girl with the golden lasso is, well, pretty freakin’ golden.
–Picking up Wonder Woman will make it easier to cancel Harry’s Law, Kelley’s other low-rated drama that just wrapped its first season on the network.
–One of the first moves made by new chairman Bob Greenblatt was to order this pilot, so there’s probably some incentive to make it work.
–NBC’s fall schedule would be a lot more interesting with Wonder Woman on it, especially if it were paired with Chuck (easy, Chuck fans, easy…), or, if it gets a series order, the fairy tale drama pilot Grimm.

Why a pickup is a terrible idea:

–Test screenings had mixed-to-negative buzz.
–Fans seemed to dislike the costume. Was someone in wardrobe obsessed with copying Sandy’s pants from Grease?
–The cheese factor: Modern audiences take their superheroes seriously, and the ultra-kitschy Wonder Woman — a golden lasso? Bullet-stopping bracelets? — is a tough sell nowadays.
–Decades ago, when the concept of feminism was still a national debate, the idea of a “Wonder Woman” — a tough female action hero — was a novel idea. Since then we’ve seen Buffy, Ripley, Sarah Connor and a gazillion other girls kicking butt. Who needs a babe in blue go-go boots?
–With this season’s Hawaii Five-0 and Syfy’s Battlestar Galactica standing as notable exceptions, TV remakes have a rough track record (see: Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, Melrose Place, etc).

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/11/wonder-woman-nbc/