Wonder Woman: Phantom of the Roller Coaster (Part 1)

"Phantom of the Roller Coaster (Part 1)" is the twenty-third episode of the adventure fantasy series The New Adventures of Wonder Woman and the fifty-ninth episode of the series overall. It was directed by John Newland and written by Anne Collins. It first aired on CBS on September 4th, 1979. In this episode, Diana Prince goes undercover as a double agent to infiltrate the privatized espionage racket of Harrison Fynch who has his sites set on setting up a base of operations at the Fun Universe amusement park. The park's owner, David Gurney, refuses to sell to Fynch, so Fynch makes plans to sabotage the park's most popular ride, the Super Loop. Meanwhile, a teenage orphan visitor gets lost within the underground tunnels of the park and comes upon a disfigured "phantom".

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode has been made available on disc four, side B of the Wonder Woman: The Complete Third Season DVD collection as well as the Wonder Woman: The Complete Collection boxset edition.


 * Production code number: 166847.


 * This is the first of a two-part episode.


 * Chronologically, this episode is meant to take place prior to "The Man Who Could Not Die", which was to serve as a launchpad for a fourth season that never materialized.


 * Actor Michael Kopcha also played a first mate in the episode "The Girl from Ilandria".


 * This is the only known television work for actress Judith Christopher.


 * Wonder Woman wears her blue one-piece lycra bodysuit in this episode during the motorcycle chase scenes. This is similar to the costume she wears during underwater or diving excursions.

Allusions

 * Rover's "Beep Beep" noise is the same sound made by the animated character the Road Runner. The Road Runner is part of Warner Bros.' Looney Toons cartoon franchise and is often portrayed outsmarting his nemesis, Wile E. Coyote.

Bloopers

 * During the first action sequence when Wonder Woman is chasing the thug, Lynda Carter's stunt double is very noticeable.


 * Inconsistent behavior: Wonder Woman kicks a jeep off the side of the road down a ravine. This could very likely have killed the driver, which seems unduly aggressive of Wonder Woman and very uncharacteristic.