JOEY DIGUGLIELMO
| 11.19.2008
GAY GENERATION X-ERS in the mood for fun, quick reads will get a kick out of two new books in “The Q Guide” series devoted to ’70s TV favorites “Wonder Woman” and “Charlie’s Angels” — as long as you keep your expectations in check.
“The Q Guide to Wonder Woman” is out this month, following the July release of “The Q Guide to Charlie’s Angels.” Both are by author Mike Pingel, and follow previous “Q Guides” like “The Q Guide to the Golden Girls,” “The Q Guide to Designing Women” and “The Q Guide to Sex and the City.”
The books feature interviews with participants (many obscure), quirky facts and trivia notes, and complete episode guides for each series. Despite their popularity and groundbreaking statements on feminism, neither “Charlie’s Angles,” which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1981, nor “Wonder Woman,” which ran on ABC and CBS from 1975 to 1979, are regarded as great shows.
Nobody argues they belong in the league of, say, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Yet they’ve become cult hits among gay fans, so these are delightful reads.
BUT BOOKS DEVOTED TO TV shows have been researched much more exhaustively in other instances. Some of them blow the "Q Guide" books away. And while it would be fun (and satisfying in an obsessive kind of way) to see “Wonder Woman” and “Charlie’s Angels” get that level of attention, to see them honored even in Q Guide format is a good start.
Pingel does a decent job excavating little-known factoids that should surprise even aficionados — like who knew Charlene Tilton (Lucy on “Dallas”) auditioned for the Wonder Girl (Wonder Woman’s kid sister) role but lost out to Debra Winger (a tidbit not even mentioned during special features on the “Wonder Woman” DVDs)? Pingel wisely sticks to discussions of the TV show, where others devote most of their space to Wonder Woman's comic book origins.
Since the ostensibly gay connections to both "Charlies Angels" and "Wonder Woman" were relatively few — the strongest gay ties have come from fans and legacy — Pingel “gays it up” with Q&As with celebs like Lady Bunny and Chi Chi LaRue, asking them about their favorite aspects of the shows. Cute idea, but it ends up feeling like filler, especially when “Queer as Folk” actor Peter Paige can’t remember a single episode of “Charlie’s Angels.”
ARTWORK FOR THE BOOKS is hit-and-miss. Artist Glen Hanson, who does the gay-themed “Chelsea Boys” comic strip, is responsible for the gorgeous (and dead on) caricatures that grace the covers of both books.
Wonder Woman, especially, has been drawn a zillion times, so it’s refreshing to see the Lynda Carter incarnation get the full-blown caricature treatment. Another gorgeous drawing by Mark Pallia is inside.
But the inside photos are all black and white and are relatively few. The most interesting are shots of Pingel, who’s unabashed in his geeky fandom, with the stars of both shows.
So while there are deficiencies — a closer eye on typos being the most glaring — to nitpick too extensively is to miss the point. Pingel doesn’t try to pass these off as scholarly, definitive works. The books work because they’re as fun and kitschy as the shows themselves.
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