Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976) User Reviews

Electa-Wow

[jeremycrimsonfox · 7/10 · 28 July 2021]

I am a fan of this series, mainly because I am a sucker for superhero shows. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl is one of the many shows made by Sid and Marty Krofft, created for the Krofft Supershow. Only eight episodes were made, which were split into 16 for the Supershow, where each episode had two parts.

In this show, Lori and Judy are two reporters for Newsmaker Magazine, but when crime strikes, and they get a call from Frank, a scientist who serves as inventor and the Alfred of the series, Lori and Judy use their ElectraComs to Electra-Change into Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, spandex-clad heroines, who then use their ElectraComms and smarts to thwart the villain of the day.

So, basically, this is what we call a late attempt at making money off the success of the Batman show from the 1960's. Due to it being made for Saturday Morning (instead of primetime like the Batman), there are no fisticuffs to be seen or more serious plots. Like the other works of Sid and Marty, this is a cartoony take on the superhero genre, and that is where it can be bad to some, as it sometimes makes the show even more campier than Batman. The first episode does not show the origin story of the two heroines, which is also a downside, as we do not know how Lori and Judy got to become Electra Woman and Dyna Girl and what The Sorcerer. The first episode's villain, did to cross paths with them to want revenge. Other than that, it is a good show. Not perfect, but good.

Female superheroes

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 22 September 2017]

Electra Woman And Dyna Girl were a pair of female superheroes whose show ran back to back for a season with Captain Marvel on Saturday mornings. It was to let girls know that they too could aspire to superhero status, not something completely reserved to boys.

It also had a faint trace of lesbianism in the relationship of the two women. Both like Clark Kent work in the world of journalism, the better to hear where there might be an outbreak of evil doing something bad they would have to right.

They had as much scientific gadgetry as Batman&Robin and an Alfred type butler to take care of them in the person of Norman Alden. Wonder Woman at least in the comics never had a sidekick.

Deidre Hall before enjoying decades as a soap opera queen was a symbol of liberated women. Judy Strangis who had an innocence like quality was an able companion and sidekick. Both raised a lot hormone hackles among the pubescent and their dads.

Interesting show, I wish more episodes were done.

Electra-wow!

[zmaturin · 28 April 2001]

Of all the various Sid & Marty Krofft endeavors, "Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl" is the one that sticks out in my mind as the grooviest. By total coincidence, it's also the only one to feature foxy babes in tight costumes, unless you count that one Bugaloo. The titular heroes are two gals who fight all evil deeds. They work for a magazine, hiding the life they lead. They don't have any super powers, save for the various Electra-gadgets designed by their lumpy live-in scientist Frank. Electra-Woman and Dyna Girl live together with Frank, who never leaves their basement. Their adventures don't make any sense. They're like fever dreams, with no logic to guide them. Each episode will have Frank introducing some new invention, and then a silly-beyond-words villain (like Glitter Rock, an incredibly annoying wannabe rock-star with a green afro and hypnotic music) shows up and the only thing that can stop them is? Frank's new invention. The bad guys always hide in abandoned theaters. Dyna Girl constantly uses "Electra" as a prefix, like "Electra-wow!" or "Electra-sneaky!", which makes me wonder why she isn't called Electragirl, or at least say "Dyna-wow!" Everybody acts like they're on drugs.

But for all it's pitfalls, it's great TV. I figured out why Sid & Marty Krofft are far superior to other live-action kids programming giants like Saban: They loved what they were doing, they weren't in if for the money. They might have had crappy effects, but they loved their crappy effects! They were proud of those shots of the Electra-Car taking off- so proud that they used it in every episode! They probably thought that optic flash when the gals changed into their costumes was the coolest effect ever. It didn't matter that their stories made no sense and they used the same sets over and over. They loved this sub-Batman camp. They loved Electra-Woman, Dyna Girl, and Frank. They even loved Glitter Rock.

In fact, now that I think about it, my respect for the Krofft Empire spans their whole body of work, except for maybe "Pryor's Place". I love the nutty drug-filled antics of H.R. Puffnstuff. I love Hoo-Doo, and Sigmund, and Dr. Shrinker, and I like Magic Mongo and the Far Out Space Nuts as friends. So the next time one of your high-minded contemporaries scoffs at the oeuvre of S&MK, you can tell them that they're scoffing at love, baby, and they can scoff all they want but they'll scoff alone! Those philistines! They'll never know the touch of a felt hand puppet, the passion of an over-the-hill child star, or the fragrant odor of sweaty, under-paid dwarf in a dumb looking sea monster costume. They'll never know about back when TV was good and every show summed up it's premise in the theme song lyrics. I weep for them.

Or not. Whatever. Never mind.

70's-Pop Culture Fun!

[TopBrim · 9/10 · 31 January 2020]

I saw this show when I was growing up and wondered why there was not more. Sometime way later these episodes were brought to my attention and I took the opportunity to see what I had not finished or turned down. These two girls are appropriate and fresh with a touch of saucy personalities to make wonderful and desirable stories while being a kids' super heroine duo. I know very little about Kroft Super Shows but I was impressed enough to obtain the complete seasons of these two super beauties. They had no real super powers but had the assistance of others, making them believable and easy to relate to like Batman. The show had some basic special effects too like when the girls used their power gloves/gauntlets. These shows were wholesome and decent and never suggestive of anything that's out of place in a child's entertainment world. The girl heroines had optimistic views of the world which served as a good role model for younger viewers. I would dedicate these TV episodes to any age audience just about and for kids especially!

One of the worst shows ever!

[bonwardulr · 1/10 · 18 May 2006]

This show had low budget written all over it. Way too much overacting (especially with DynaGirl), along with the cheap sets, lame effects (even for the mid 1970s), and lame villains. I also couldn't stand the overuse of "Electra". I know catch phrases are important to a series like this, but come on! The ones I remember most are the spider woman and whoever made DynaGirl evil. These plots have been used in many superhero series. Come on Kroffts, can't you at least be semi-original? No wonder why this lasted only eight episodes. The theme song was kinda catchy, but the rest stunk. At least Deidre Hall had a career after this...

I became a man sort of

[deancapetanelis · 8 April 2005]

I have almost no recollection of any episodes of this show. Having said that I do remember that stirring feeling that my seven year old body underwent on those 8 odd Saturday mornings when Croft Supershow wasn't running Wonderbug. I didn't understand at the time why I was transfixed to the TV when it usually just provided background noise while I played with Legos. Those skin tight costumes even today shape my ideal of the female form. Well that and Linda Carters Wonderwoman. I don't know how I'd react to seeing repeats today. Perhaps I'd see them as Gatsby saw Daisy. The pale light of memory shadows all flaws. I'd probably think of them as cheesy. But damn those girls were hot!

The Distaff Batman and Robin

[Sargebri · 28 September 2003]

This show will always be to me a female version of "Batman". The only difference was that the two leads were not a rich millionaire and his teenage ward, they were a pair of reporters and their version of Alfred was the scientist who invented the special bracelets they wore. I'm just surprised that Howie Horwitz, the producer of "Batman" didn't sue over this show because of its similarities to it, especially Dyna Girl's use of phrases like "ELECTRA WOW" which could have easily been a version of Robin's "HOLY'S". Also, it is very ironic that Judy Strangis was cast in this show. Her father, Sam Strangis, was one of several directors used for the Batman series. In fact, Judy once had a cameo appearance in one episode. This was definitely one of the Krofft brothers wildest creations.

Deranged 70's Cheese Fun

[DearJohnny · 17 June 2006]

One of three segments presented on the 70's Saturday morning kidvid THE KROFT SUPERSHOW; The others were 'Wonderbug,' a Herbie The Love Bug knockoff, and 'Doctor Shrinker,' about a mad scientist who shrinks three teens. All three, if I remember right, were dumped in favor of new short features when the SUPERSHOW came back for a second season, though 'Wonderbug' might have stayed around. Only eight episodes of 'Electra-Woman And Dyna-Girl' were produced, but they're vividly, and sometimes even fondly, remembered by Generation Xers. A weird, low-budget pastiche of the campy 1960's BATMAN with a bit of Lynda Carter WONDER WOMAN thrown in, the show starred Deidre Hall and Judy Strangis as 'Lori' and 'Judy,' two magazine writers who, when trouble strikes, usually in the form of a flamboyantly costumed, wildly overplayed super-villain, become super-heroines Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl. They battled evil using their 'Electra-comps,' clunky-looking devices worn on their wrists that allowed them to fire various types of low-budget rays and kept them in communication with Frank, the crusty scientific genius who invented the Comps and manned the 'Electra-base' in Lori and Judy's basement.

What makes the show interesting and fun, if not exactly good, is the bizarre sense of conviction most of the actors bring to their roles. They all overact wildly, especially Judy Strangis, but seem perfectly attuned to the claustrophobic confines of the bizarre little world they inhabit. Despite looking like it was made in someone's basement, the show did its best to ape the fantastic comic books it copied, sending its heroines through time, into alternate dimensions, etc. Admittedly, it did it all with apparently two sets, a maximum of six actors, and a budget of twenty dollars, but it could be seen as trying to bring back the spirit of the old CAPTAIN VIDEO-type shows. Or not.

Deidre Hall in spandex!!!!!

[grendelkhan · 6 March 2003]

This Saturday morning live-action show can best be summed up by four words: Deidre Hall in spandex! All I can add to that is "Yowza!!!!"

OK, that may not be very politically correct, but for a show that seemingly had women's lib at its core, it sure seemed to spend a lot of time focusing on the attractive Ms. Hall and her sidekick in their tight spandex outfits, escaping from lame death traps, and carrying the biggest watches you'll ever see, this side of a Power Rangers show.

Like most Kroft shows, it was bright, colorful, and cheesy. The dialogue was beyond lame and the villains laughable (as in ineptly campy). The ladies did have a pretty cool car, though. The duo would be saved by some new gadget or function added to their enormous wrist devices, created by their mentor and scientist friend, Frank (Norman Alden). Ms. Hall and her friend looked fantastic, but no one could do this show with a straight face.

Always Play it Serious, Never Tongue In Cheek

[richard.fuller1 · 20 March 2005]

And there was no camp, no sneers, grins, winks, no comedy relief here.

Most Saturday morning shows which ran for only one season averaged sixteen episodes.

Electra Woman filled that requirement, but with the two parter continued next week, this resulted in eight complete episodes if shown in the half hour time slot.

When Tvland aired Electra Woman at the beginning of 2004, I recorded the shows off. They are indeed fun.

The Sorcerer would be Michael Constatine, Judy Strangis' (Dyna Girl) former Emmy award winning costar from Room 222. I think Constatine made a bit of a mini-comeback with Lainie Kazan in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Ali Baba would be Malachi Throne, he of the two part story of the original Star Trek, as well as the uncredited villain, No Face or Unface, on the sixties Batman show, as well as endless other appearances.

Ali Baba's sidekick, the Genie, would be Sid Haig, he who likewise has endless credits to his name. And check out the evil Dyna Girl in this story! Her little eyes are as big around as her nostrils! Glitter Rock was apparently a prototype for Kaptain Kool.

The Pharaoh would be Peter Mark Richman, the Christopher Plummer lookalike who likewise has endless TV credits to his name, but I saw him first as Suzanne Somers' father on Three's Company, as the Reverend Snow.

His sidekick, Cleopatra, would be portrayed by Jane Elliot, she who appeared in the Elvis Presley-Mary Tyler Moore movie "Change of Habit" and would likewise have endless soap credits to her name, among them Diedre Hall's (Electra Woman) on Days of Our Lives.

The Empress of Evil was Claudette Nevins, who, when I IMDb'd her, I learned she was in a racy little comedy show that I began to believe I must have imagined, called Husbands Wives and Lovers. Created by Joan Rivers, just imagine Knots Landing with a laugh track.

The Spider Lady would be Tiffany Bolling.

Amusing thing about Bolling. A year after she was the Spider Lady, she would appear in the twilight zone type telemovie with William Shatner called Kingdom of the Spiders. Wonder if she felt typecast?

The Spider Lady would transform into Electra Woman, and upon doing this, the duplicate would be portrayed by Diedre Hall's own sister, Andrea, rather than resort to the usual split screen effect.

For eight small adventures, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl sure was a lot of fun.

Well, for a 3 year old it was good.

[Dubya51 · 28 September 2003]

The only episode of this show I remember involved a female bad..uh...woman who had lots of spiders at her command. I know she was referred to as "queen of the spiders" and I think her name was Cleopatra, or some other historical name that really doesn't go very well with the title of arachnid all-mother.

That episode became the basis of many a Saturday afternoon. My sister and I would pretend we were trapped like Electra Woman and Dyna Girl were in this huge web with tarantulas everywhere (we were actually in a walk in closet with a tangle of old jump ropes and a smattering of plastic spiders from the dollar store).

Bout the only other things I remember about Sid and Marty Krofft is Dr. Shrinker and of course Land of the Lost. Really horribly cheesy stuff, and really strange...which probably explains why I can't remember very much of it.

Super-women!

[Mister-6 · 7 July 2000]

Only a handful of episodes were ever made for this addition to "The Krofft Supershow", but it marks a milestone in entertainment history: the introduction of Diedre Hall in her pre-"Days of our Lives" days.

Here, she portrays Lori, a career woman who, with her assistant Judy (Judy Strangis), also fight crime in the guise of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, with the help of their faithful butler Alfred...I mean, their friend Frank Heflin (Norman Alden).

Much like "Batman", EW and DG have an array of devices they use to fight crime and a vast selection of villains to fight against every episode. If memory serves, there was even a cave(!) they operated out of.

Though it reeked of '70s kiddie-show cheapness, the show had a bland kind of style as it tried to evoke the Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder while splicing in Women's Lib at the same time.

Too bad. Maybe if they had Aaron Spelling as a producer?

Four stars for "Electra Woman and Dyna Girl" - Diedre Hall's finest hour (in 1976, that is).

Good clean fun for the inner child in all of us

[dtucker86 · 13 April 2004]

Sid and Marty Krofft have been really criticized and even ridiculed in some circles for the shows that they created during the 1970s. However, I have many fond childhood memories of the happiness they gave me with shows like Lidsville and H. R. Puff and Stuff (I don't think I spelled that correctly). They even had a special on the E channel a couple years ago about Puff and Stuff and tried to say that there was a hidden message about marijuana use in it. In fact with their colorful use of puppets, wild colors and psychodelic ambiance, you could say the Krofft brothers were like Mister Rogers on Captain Kangaroo on LSD. People have said that the Krofft's were like Ed Wood. Their projects were so campy and bad that they were almost good in a sort of way. Let me come to their defense and say that even though their shows might be laughable by today's standards, what kind of standards do we really have today I ask? Especially when it comes to entertainment for our kids. Maybe when you watched Land Of The Lost and other shows you laughed at the crude special effects, cheesy costumes and sets and dialogue, but you could at least let your kids watch it. It brought them joy what is wrong with that. I was so happy when the wonderfully nostaglic TV land channel had a Sid and Marty Marathon recently. I loved watching Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters and Land Of The Lost Again (boy the special effects were just like Jurassic Park ha ha). However, finding Electra Woman and Dyna Girl was to me like Howard Carter finding King Tut's tomb. It was a lost treasure. I have always loved Diedre Hall, my favorite show with her was Our House, I had no idea she had starred in this one as well. EWADG has a tremendous cult following, its amazing because only eight episodes of this show were ever filmed. Its worth it because it reminds me so much of the Batman show I loved as a kid. Right down to the colorful villians like the Sorcerer (a wonderfully hammy Michael Constantine) to Professor Frank who was really like Alfred the Butler. Yes folks just but your brain on hold and open the heart to the inner child. Sid and Marty did a really fine thing and have nothing to be ashamed of. I cannot think of her name but the young actress who played Dyna Girl did an amazing job. She reminded me so much of Robin especially with her "Electra" phrases, the way Robin used "Holy" phrases on Batman.

what happened to campy stuff

[boykul · 17 April 2006]

Seems to me that from the early 1930s up to the late 1990s, or at least up to mid 1990s, campy stuff was everywhere. Laugh-In, variety shows, Batman, He-Man, Hanna - Barberra cartoons, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Garfield and Friends, US Acres, Josie & the Pussycats, The 3 Stooges, 2 Stupid Dogs, and that list is not even scratching anywhere near the surface of what made this some of the best decades for television and movies. Recently, people just haven't really shown much of an interest in quite possibly the best style of entertainment: CAMPY STUFF!!! While some of the weird movies and great cartoons made recently have a lot of great camp, I can only think of a few examples. Family Guy, Adult Swim, Robot Chicken, South Park, Late Night with Conan O' Brian, and the Simpsons. A couple of years ago, that show Striperella used to be on TV, but I guess they just decided to stop making new episodes or even to show reruns. (Most people can agree, probably, that anything Pam does {at least in the way of TV} will be ultimate camp because, with exceptions the people who starred in Xena and the stars of the original Batman TV series, Pam is queen of campy!) Anyways, let me just type this one other thing before I completely forget just what I am writing about: Let's help bring back camp!!! Show reruns, not show remakes!! Bring the shows back, not making some new movies from the shows!! (However, TV shows can be made into some good movies occasionally, if people follow the examples and "rules" set in place by TV show movies like The Addams Family (just the first and the second, not the horrendous "Reunion,"); The Brady Bunch Movie; and of course A Very Brady Sequel.) And finally, does anybody know where on the internet I could find a website devoted to this comic book that was kind of a spoof of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Pretty sure the two characters were Spandex Woman and Lycra Girl. I don't want a website that's just a place where you can buy different comic books. I'd like a website where you can look at the pages of the comic book and where they give a lot of different info is given about the comic book and / or of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl.

It's Electra-Crap and Dyna Garbage!

[domino1003 · 2 March 2004]

I was a child of the 70's. I was raised on Sesame Street and School House Rock. What I loved about this period was Saturday morning cartoons. Ah, what a time to be young! One of the shows I watched was Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. As a kid, I thought it was cool.

Of course, when you're a kid, EVERYTHING is cool. When you get older, everything you THOUGHT was cool is really a load of crap. When I found out that TV Land would show an episode of EW&DG, I got really excited. I canceled my plans and planted myself in front of the tv, ready to be washed in nostalgia. Instead, I spent my time cringing,laughing and screaming "NO MORE" every few seconds. Our heroes wore these devices on their wrists that would give anyone carpal tunnel syndrome, and the guy that helps them looked like he just woke up from a night of heavy drinking.

Sure, it's dated (It's the 70's, after all),and an obvious rip-off of Batman (Dyna Girl says everything with "Electa" in it!), but it is a fun time if you need a good laugh.

Nice try Kroffts.

[stephen0684 · 12 November 2005]

I saw it a few years ago on TVLand but it wasn't good. The series was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and the only person I knew was Norman Alden who was Aquaman's voice at the time. Still, the series stunk. It was about two females who are superheros. Yeah right. Still the one thing that I can say good about it is that it's no longer on the air waves. Anyway, the plot was corny, the costumes were bad, the acting was also corny but they tried. Still, I strongly advise you to watch another Crofft series but no matter what, STAY AWAY FROM THE SERIES. Sadly though the series was the Kroffts worst series along with Ruby and Spears so folks, do yourself an favor stay away from the series at all cost. You probably can see it if you want to but why bother? Final Score: an 1 out of 10.