Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "Return of the Pharaoh"

In “The Return of the Pharaoh,” the villainous Pharaoh (Peter Mark Richman) and Cleopatra (Jane Elliott) plan to steal a relic called the Coptic Eye that is hidden in King Tut’s pyramid.

Lori (Deidre Hall) and Judy (Judy Strangis) must cut short an interview at that very pyramid (which has been moved brick-by-brick to the United States from Egypt...) to stop him. 

Meanwhile, Frank (Norman Alden) is at the Electra-Base and has come up with a new app for the Electra-Comps to help the superheroes stop the Pharaoh: Electra-vision, good for night tracking.

The Pharaoh traps ElectraWoman and DynaGirl in the pyramid and nearly drops a twenty-ton stone on them.

Later, he tries to stop them with his mummification spray, and Cleopatra threatens the heroines with her asps.

It’s campy business as usual in the final episode of the Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning series (run on The Krofft Supershow omnibus): ElectraWoman and DynaGirl (1976).

The inspiration that the series so clearly draws from Batman (1966-1968) is at its greatest here, with the return of a King Tut (Victor Buono) knock-off villain, the inclusion of the weekly cliff-hanger before a commercial break, and the villain’s inexplicable fondness for alliteration.

On the last front, the Pharaoh calls ElectraWoman and DynaGirl “despicable damsels of decency,” for example.

Perhaps realizing that the idea of a superhero-turned-villain worked so well on an earlier episode (“Ali Baba,”) this episode sees ElectraWoman hypnotized by the Coptic Eye, becoming a servant of the Pharaoh. She even paralyzes DynaGirl while under the influence.

Also (and again, like “Ali Baba,”) Frank proves helpful by acting quickly at the ElectraBase during a crisis.  He turns off ElectraWoman’s Electra-Comp. 

I have to say, it is very cool that these things have a “kill switch,” which is a function still not available on our smart phones.

Next week, I’ll begin a short stint reviewing episodes of Dr. Shrinker (1976), a series that also aired on The Krofft Supershow, alongside ElectraWoman and DynaGirl. 

Only four or so episodes are available for viewing (courtesy of YouTube), but I’ll watch and review those.

Jigsaw Puzzle of the Week: Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (HG Toys)

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl Puzzler

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl GAF Viewmster

Board Game of the Week: Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (Ideal)

Theme Song of the Week: Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976)

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and Dynagirl: "The Pharaoh" and "Spider Lady"

The next two episodes of ElectraWoman and DynaGirl (1976), “The Pharoah” and “Spider Lady” are not currently available for viewing on YouTube, alas.

But “The Pharaoh” features Peter Mark Richman as the Pharaoh, a kind of Egyptian-themed villain in the tradition of Victor Buono’s King Tut. 

His minion is the beautiful Cleopatra, played by Jane Elliott.

“The Spider Lady” features Kingdom of the Spiders (1977) star Tiffany Bolling as the titular villainess.

In this episode, if my old notes from The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television are correct, she acts as an Electra-Woman impostor so she can steal a golden silver statue.

Next week, I’ll pick up the blogging with the series’ final episode: “Return of the Pharaoh.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "Return of the Sorcerer" (November 6 and 13, 1976)

In “Return of the Sorcerer,” the super-villain Sorcerer (Michael Constantine) and his side-kick Miss Dazzle (Susan Lanier) steal Merlin’s Magic Mirror from an exhibit in the Municipal Records Building.

Crime Scope detects a “space-time disturbance of unknown origin,” and before long the Sorcerer has also stolen a priceless clock from Lori (Deidre Hall) and Judy (Judy Strangis). 

The villains contact Electra-Base and tell ElectraWoman and DynaGirl of their next target: The Crown Jewels of England.

When the heroes intervene, the Sorcerer traps the duo in another dimension inside Merlin’s Mirror. 

ElectraWoman and DynaGirl attempt to escape this bizarre nether realm, but only manage to follow their nemesis through time, where the Sorcerer plans to steal the Mona Lisa from Leonardo Da Vinci.

“Return of the Sorcerer” is a particularly strange episode of this Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning series. The Sorcerer traps the heroes in an alternate dimension, and travels through time.  

Then, Crime Scope and Frank (Norman Alden) “rip a hole” in space time to retrieve the heroes.  It’s kind of crazy, though inventive.  Suddenly, these villains and heroes have the capacity to affect all of creation, all of time and space.

Not every aspect of “Return of the Sorcerer” works well. 

For example, the alternate dimension looks more like a relatively cramped sound-stage, with the mirror exit to “reality” plainly visible in certain shots. 

And one scene just doesn’t make any sense at all.  ElectraWoman and DynaGirl are menaced by giant “clapping hands,” (really an illusion projected by the Sorcerer).  But they are deafened instantly by the sound of the clapping.  Frank tells the heroes they won’t be deafened if they don’t believe the illusion.  But ElectraWoman and DynaGirl reacted instantly to the sound, before the illusion of the hands’ presence was even seen.  Why would an illusion make them recoil in pain?  They had no chance to believe or not, their ears ‘heard’ the clapping.

The Sorcerer, meanwhile, continues to come up with alliterative names for the heroes in a turn that seems right out of the original Batman (1966 – 1968).  He calls ElectraWoman and Dynagirl “Kilowatt Cuties,” the “Clumsy, Computerized Combo” and “Diode Dollies.”

This episode marks the second and final appearance of Constantine’s the Sorcerer and Lanier’s Miss Dazzle.  It also features an appearance by a cult-TV staple, Leonardo DaVinci, who has also appeared on Star Trek: Voyager (1995 – 2001).  His famous painting, the Mona Lisa, appeared in Doctor Who’s 1978 serial, “City of Death.”

Next week: “The Pharaoh.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "Ali Baba" (October 23, October 30, 1976)

In “Ali Baba,” Lori (Deidre Hall) and Judy (Judy Strangis) are covering a scientist’s convention when they receive word from Frank (Norman Alden) in the Electra-Base that a noted Russian scientist, Namakov, has vanished along with his plane.

This is a terrifying development, because the professor was carrying his new “Metamorphis” formula with him.  This chemical can turn people and animals into their opposites.  A gentle person will become aggressive, and so on.

ElectraWoman and DynaGirl soon discover the truth.  The professor and his formula are now in the hands of the evil supervillain, Ali Baba (Malachi Throne) and his minion, a Djinni (Sid Haig).

This evil duo captures DynaGirl and utilizes the Metamorphis formula on her, transforming the energetic and kind young woman into the most evil of super-villains. 

Worse, with her knowledge of Crime Scope, Electra Base and the Electra Comps, DynaGirl could help Ali Baba take over the world.

The fate of Earth will be decided in the "final showdown" between ElectraWoman and DynaGirl.

Bolstered by a terrifying, go-for-broke performance from series co-start Judy Strangis, “Ali Baba” is another solid episode of this campy superhero series of the 1970s.  

In this story, DynaGirl is possessed by evil, and promptly makes for the most memorable and wicked of the series’ super villains thus far.  Her choices as a performer here aren't subtle or nuanced, but -- sheesh -- they're effective!  

Strangis goes bug-eyed and wears a malevolent ear-to-ear, toothy grin for her scenes as the corrupted DynaGirl. Her energetic performance is also boosted by weird pancake make-up that gives her face a ghostly, life-less tenor.  In short, this iteration of DynaGirl is really, truly, creepy.

Even Ali Baba himself is impressed.  “You’re more evil than I dared hope for,” he says to Dyna Girl, surprised.

It’s funny to consider that “Ali Baba” also features great character actors Sid Haig and Malachi Throne, in guest-starring roles…but that a little pig-tailed performer, Strangis, effectively steals the show.

“Ali Baba” also succeeds to the degree it does because the episode feels surprising, and once more, not simply formulaic. 

When ElectraWoman is threatened with being buried alive (in a chamber rapidly filling with sand…), she attempts to use her ElectraComp. 

But DynaGirl -- pretending to be her sweet self -- calls Frank in ElectraBase and tells him to de-activate it; that ElectraWoman is the one who has been changed. Thinking nothing is amiss, he complies.

Since, as I also noted last week, the ElectraComps are basically crutches for the series writers, this development makes the episode feel more dangerous than usual. 

There’s a feeling, at times, that ElectraWoman has been outmaneuvered, betrayed by her sidekick and most trusted friend.  The final showdown isn't much more than ElectraWoman and DynaGirl shooting beams at each other with their ElectraComps, but the final battle still feels epic...at least if you love Saturday morning TV shows of the 1970s.

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "The Empress of Evil" (October 9, October 16, 1976)

In “Empress of Evil,” Frank Helfrin (Norman Alden) is surprised when a new villain, the Empress of Evil (Claudette Nevins) materializes in the Electra-Base. 

The Empress commands him to summon Electra-Woman (Deidre Hall) and Dyna-Girl (Judy Strangis). They are on assignment covering a flower show (as Lori and Judy), but return immediately.

The Empress of Evil, assisted by the Great Lucrecia (Jacquelyn Hyde), plans “simply to rule the entire world,” but realizes she must remove her first and greatest obstacle: the superhero duo.  She decides on the plan of “divide and conquer,” practically ripping Electra Woman and DynaGirl apart on a molecular level.

Then, she renders the Electra-Comps useless.  Finally, the Empress reprograms the Crime Scope to self-destruct.

With time running out, ElectraWoman realizes that the Empress derives her strength from a kind of “anti-power” and that Frank’s new “electra-split” Electra-Comp app may reveal a crucial secret about the villainess’s nature.

 “Empress of Evil” is probably the best episode of Sid and Marty Krofft’s ElectraWoman and DynaGirl I’ve reviewed thus far.

This is so, I wager, because the teleplay (by Dick Robbins and Duane Poole) throws some monkey-wrenches in the by-now standard formula.

For one, The Empress of Evil has a secret nature, and is not the real threat or primary threat.  As the episode reveals, Lucrecia -- a great illusionist -- built an amazing android.  That android is the Empress.  Thus Lucrecia is the real villain, even though she appears to be the minion.

Secondly, the episode starts with an invasion of home turf. The Empress accosts Frank, revealing her abilities in the first scene, and putting ElectraWoman on the defensive.

And third, the Electra-Comps don’t work on the Empress for much of the episode.  The Electra-Comps are a bit of a crutch for the series writers, frankly. They can always get the heroes out of a jam.  Here, nothing seems to work until the very end.  It’s true that, keeping in formula, a new app saves the day at the last minute, but for much of the episode, EW and DG can’t rely on their gadgetry.

Like all episode of ElectraWoman and DynaGirl, “Empress of Evil” moves at a breakneck pace in both parts, and the result is an entertaining Saturday morning adventure.

Next week: “Ali Baba.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "Glitter Rock" (September 18, 1976)

In “Glitter Rock,” the King of Tourembourg, Alex X (Michael Blodgett) visits with Lori (Deidre Hall) and Judy (Judy Strangis) while attending his high school reunion in the States.  

He has brought with him the valuable Key of Tourembourg.  Anyone who wears the key automatically becomes ruler of the country.

Unfortunately, a villain operating out of an abandoned theater, Glitter Rock (John Mark Robinson), tricks Alex into meeting him, and steals the crystal.  

His plan, however, is not to take over Tourembourg…but the world.  Specifically, he wants to put the key’s beautiful crystal into a satellite he plans to launch, and make the world's population his slaves.

Electra Woman and Dyna Girl race to save Alex, but instead fall into Glitter Rock’s trap.  He puts them in a “tight squeeze” and the only thing can get them out of it is the new Electra-Vibe app on their Electro-Comps.

This is the episode of ElectraWoman and DynaGirl that I most clearly remember watching on the series original run in the Bicentennial Year.  I recall, specifically, Glitter Rock’s crazy outfits, and the fact that, just a few years later, Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century 1979-1981) used the same plot line in “Space Rockers.”

Because of Glitter Rock’s outrageous appearance, this episode may qualify as being one of the campier of the bunch.  That notion is amplified by Glitter Rock’s song titles and overall plan for world domination, which involves funny song titles, and a satellite launched into space.  That satellite is represented on-screen by a lunar lander model kit, commercially available at the time.

One thing I noticed watching this time is that “Glitter Rock” and indeed, many EW and DG episodes, have nary a wasted breath. There are many scenes (and camera set-ups...) but all are extremely terse and short, meaning that there weren’t a lot of lines to learn per scene.  

The short, numerous scenes give the series a kind of breathless quality that is commendable, and harks back, in a way to the serials of the 1930s.

This episode also features a good long look at the Electra Car. There’s a scene in which the heroes board the vehicle, and then we track it as it leaves the Electra Tunnel Base.

The camera-work is impressive, and the ca -- though built over the body of a boat, I think -- is still kind of cool in a retro-futuristic way.

Next week: “Empress of Evil.”

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl: "The Sorcerer's Golden Trick" (September 11, 1976)

In “The Sorcerer's Golden Trick” Lori (Deidre Hall) and Judy (Judy Srangis) are set to interview music sensation Colorado Johnson when they get news from a nearby maximum security prison that the evil villain called The Sorcerer (Michael Constantine) has escaped.

Now teamed with his assistant, Miss Dazzle (Susan Lanier), the Sorcerer breaks through Crime Scope’s frequency and informs the crime-fighting duo that he intends to steal all the gold from Fort Knox.  And he will tolerate no interference from the “voltage vixens.”

ElectraWoman and DynaGirl attempt to stop the Sorcerer, but he traps them in a cage, and forces them into a confrontation with a man-eating tiger.  The heroes survive both and use the Electroplane to stop the Sorcerer at Fort Knox…

The first episode of the 1976 Sid and Marty Krofft series ElectraWoman and DynaGirl reveals the superhero series’ huge creative debt to the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman, as well as, intriguingly, to James Bond, 007.

On the first front, we get cockeyed angles galore here, and a scenery-chewing “celebrity” villain in colorful costume…all mainstays of Batman (1966 – 1968).

On the second front, the Sorcerer in this episode decides to use the plot from Goldfinger (1964): a heist in Fort Knox.  The movie is a bit more in impressive in terms of production design than “The Sorcerer” is, for sure.  Here, a disco-ball is a major prop, for example. The Sorcerer uses it to hypnotize victims.  Also, we see a really bad miniature, at one point, of Fort Knox.

Another weak visualization in “The Sorcerer's Golden Trick” involves the tiger that poses a theat.  The Sorcerer calls it “ferocious,” but it mostly looks sleepy.

Still, there a few neat ideas here.  The Sorcerer never actually takes the gold in Fort Knox.  He just uses light and mirrors to make it appear as though the gold has disappeared.  We never learn how he plans to take it out of the Fort, but it’s a cool idea that his powers and plans are all based on utilizing illusion.

Secondly, there’s a cheap but effective visual here that is oft-repeated.  When heading down into the ElectroBase by elevator, the effects crew simply shines a light “box” at the top of the set, and follows it to ground level. When it reaches that level, the doors open, and our heroes arrive.  Yes, it’s cheap, but it visually conveys the sense that the elevator is carrying EW and DG to their base, traversing a long passageway.

Unfortunately, there’s very little logic to “The Sorcerer's Golden Trick”  The episode begins with The Sorcerer using only his powers (and no instrumentation) to break out of his maximum security prison cell. The episode ends with ElectraWoman and DynaGirl satisfied that he is back in that cell, where he belongs.

What prevents him from performing the same trick twice, and escaping another time?

The short answer: nothing. 

In a few weeks, The Sorcerer returns in an episode titled “Return of the Sorcerer.”

Next up in the canon (in two weeks): "Glitter Rock."

Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: ElectraWoman and DynaGirl (1976) Series Primer

The next Saturday morning live-action series I will cover here on the blog is Sid and Marty Krofft’s ElectraWoman and DynaGirl (1976).

The series ran on ABC in the year 1976 as part of the omnibus program The Krofft Supershow. Like Secrets of Isis (from Filmation), ElectraWoman and DynaGirl is a female driven superhero program.  

Unlike, Isis (a series which adopts the format, essentially, of the 1950s Adventures of Superman), it is clear that the inspiration for the Sid and Marty Krofft series is the 1960s Adam West Batman (1966 – 1968).

In particular, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl involves crime fighting partners, costumed super-villains, and a campy tone. 

The series follows Lori (Deirdre Hall), and Judy (Judy Strangis), reporters for Newsmaker Magazine.  

They are also, secretly, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl.  These colorfully-dressed superheroes operate from the Electra-Base, an installation deep under the suburban house they share.  They reach the base by elevator, and from surface to Electra-Base done their costumes via the wonder of instantaneous “Electra Change.”

In the Electra-Base, their friend (and Alfred stand-in), Frank Heflin (Norman Alden) tires endlessly to aid their cause.

He watches their highly-advanced Crime Scope computer for signs of criminal activities, and is constantly updating their most valuable piece of equipment with new applications.  This equipment is the wrist-watch like device called an “Electra-Comp.” 

In various episodes, the Electra-Comps are up-fitted with “Electra Vibe” applications, which can shatter matter, and the “Electra Split” function, an unstable “decoy” weapon that can double or duplicate non-living matter.  The two superheroes can also fly using their Electra-Comps, thanks to the function “Electra De-Gravitate” (seen in the segment “The Empress of Evil.”)

In terms of aping Batman, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl also possess a signature vehicle, the Electra-Car, which can also transform into the Electra-Plane.

And DynaGirl, like the Boy Wonder, is given to enthusiastic exhortations. Instead of prefacing those exhortations with the word “Holy,” however, she uses the word “Electra.” In other words, she says things like “Electra Wild!” or “Electra-Fantastic” or Electra Wow!”

Similarly, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl features a sort of spinning wheel scene transition, much like the spinning bat-wheel transition on the West series.

Unlike Batman and Robin, however, ElectraWoman and DynaGirl don’t even wear masks when changing from civilian to superhero gear, making it difficult to understand how people don’t recognize them.  On the other hand, Lori and Judy aren’t the city’s most prominent citizen, like Bruce Wayne, either.  Instead, they are journalists in the immediate Post-Watergate Scandal age, digging deep into their stories, but not drawing attention to themselves as “hero journalists.”

Despite the fact that ElectraWoman and DynaGirl lased for just sixteen fifteen minute segments (comprising eight episodes in all), the series has nonetheless become a lasting part of the pop culture firmament.  A pilot was made for a follow-up series in 2001, and in 2016, we can expect a web-series re-boot starring Grace Hellbig and Hannah Hart.  It will be interesting to see how the property is updated, and what tone it strikes.

The villains of the series are mostly bizarre, costumed freaks, who always have one and only one sidekick.  Some of these villains include the Sorcerer (Michael Constantine) with sidekick Miss Dazzle (Susan Lanier), Glitter Rock (John Mark Robison) with minion “Side-Man, Ali Bab (Malachi Throne), The Pharaoh (Peter Mark Richman), the Spider Lade (Tiffany Bolling) and The Emress of Evil (Claudette Nevins).

I’ll be reviewing each episode of ElectraWoman and DynaGirl here for the next eight weeks. Instead of breaking the segments up into part I/part II -- cliffhanger/cliffhanger resolved -- pieces (another way that the series apes Batman’s storytelling structure), I’ll be treating each 25 minute story as an entire episode.

Next Saturday we begin our "electra" journey with: “The Sorcerer.”