176. "Wonder Woman Theme Song" by Charles Fox (composer) and Norman Gimbel (Lyrics).
No television show introduction was enjoyed by all of my brothers and sisters as much as the opening comic book sequence and theme song to the first season of Wonder Woman. And the theme song was also cued up anytime Diana Prince took off her hat, flipped her hair out to its full length, and started spinning round and round until her costume blasted into place. In later seasons, the television studios thought they would spice things up a little bit and change the lyrics or the music, but none of the other three versions of the theme song were ever as good as the original.
In the 1970s, if you had asked all the children in the the U.S. to vote on who was the woman they would most like to be when they grow up, Lynda Carter would have won by a landslide. Even though the show only lasted three seasons in the 70s, I think it has had a huge positive impact on our culture and the way we think about women today. That's because Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman was exciting and inspiring and powerful--everything we look for in a superhero.
The music in the show also reflected those qualities. It was composed by Charles Fox, who wrote the music for many other memorable television show themes, including Love American Style, Happy Days, Lavern and Shirley, the Love Boat. He had a few Top 40 hits with "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Roberta Black and "Ready to Take a Chance Again" by Barry Manilow. He also scored a lot of films, including Foul Play, 9 to 5, and...Strange Brew! Beauty, eh?!
Now, since this top 200 list is being published in the onternet, available for anyone to read, I would like to take this opportunity to write a quick letter of thanks to Lynda Carter, just in case she happens to read this.
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Dear Lynda,
I would like to thank you very much for your excellent portrayal of Wonder Woman. As a 10-year-old boy, you inspired me and all of my brothers and sisters to be better people and to respect and honor the power that women have to change the world. Now, as an adult, I pass on my appreciation for your work to my nieces and nephews. Last year I gave one of my nieces a Wonder Woman t-shirt. When she wore it to school the next day, all of the kids and all of the teachers told her how much they liked it. I know that is because when they see that Wonder Woman logo on the shirt, they're thinking of you. And my niece feels empowered when she wears the shirt, not because she thinks the shirt has any special power, but because the shirt lets the world know that she is ready to show us all of the strength, talent, and beauty that is inside her. Thank you for making that possible!
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