Wade’s The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Page III

My The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Episode Rankings

Wade’s Ranking	The Six Million Dollar Man episode	The Bionic Woman episode
#1	“The Seven Million Dollar Man” (2x05)	“Doomsday Is Tomorrow” (2x13 & 2x14)
#2	“The Bionic Woman” (2x19 & 2x20)	“The Ghosthunter” (1x13)
#3	“The ESP Spy” (2x18)	“Kill Oscar” (2x05 & 2x06)
#4	“Kill Oscar” (4x06)	“The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man & the Bionic Woman” (REx01)
#5	“The Secret of Bigfoot” (3x16 & 3x17)	“The Return of Bigfoot” (2x01)
#6	“The Return of the Bionic Woman” (3x01 & 3x02)	“Fembots in Las Vegas” (3x03 & 3x04)
#7	“The Bionic Criminal” (3x09)	“Deadly Ringer” (2x15 & 2x16)
#8	“Return of the Robot Maker” (2x15)	“Sanctuary Earth” (3x16)
#9	“The Golden Pharaoh” (3x18)	“The Night Demon” (2x20)
#10	“Death Probe” (4x13 & 4x14)	“Mirror Image” (1x12)

Notes on favorite episodes

The Six Million Dollar Man

#7

“The Bionic Criminal” (3x09)

“The Bionic Criminal”—sequel to the second-season “The Seven Million Dollar Man”—originally aired on November 9, 1975 & guest stars Monte Markham (reprising the role of Barney Miller, although his name was changed to “Hiller” in this episode, presumably to avoid confusion with the comedic TV police captain portrayed by Hal Linden), Donald Moffat [who guest starred in another episode of The Six Million Dollar Man—“Nightmare in the Sky,”—The Thing (1982), Popeye (1980), Housesitter, & all 13 episodes of the TV version of Logan’s Run], & Maggie Sullivan (who made several TV guest appearances, including an episode of Quark).

“The Bionic Criminal” was written by Peter Allan Fields, who wrote or co-wrote four episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man (including “The Seven Million Dollar Man”), three episodes of Star Trek: TNG (including “The Inner Light”), & 10 episodes of Star Trek: DS9 (including “Blood Oath” & “Crossover”), in addition to writing for The Man from UNCLE, Xena: Warrior Princess, & Knight Rider.

“The Bionic Criminal” was directed by by Leslie H Martinson, who also directed two episodes of the Batman series as well as the 1966 Batman film, 11 episodes of The Roy Rogers Show, 24 episodes of The Mickey Rooney Show, 18 episodes of Maverick, nine episodes of 77 Sunset Strip, nine episodes of Mission: Impossible, 11 episodes of Love, American Style, six episodes of The Brady Bunch, eight episodes of Mannix, three episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man in all, five episodes of Wonder Woman, one episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, four episodes of Dallas, 26 episodes of Small Wonder, the 1967 Raquel Welch film Fathom, & many more films & television episodes alike.
“The Bionic Criminal” marked the final guest appearance of actor Alan Oppenheimer in the role of Dr Rudy Wells.

#8

“Return of the Robot Maker” (2x15)

“Return of the Robot Maker” first aired on January 26, 1975. The episode was co-written by Del Reisman who wrote or co-wrote three episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man; Reisman was the story editor for The Twilight Zone. Phil Bondelli directed “Return of the Robot Maker.” Bondelli, who directed eight episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man in all, also directed two episodes of SWAT, two episodes of The Bionic Woman, two episodes of Charlie’s Angels, two episodes of Switch, 23 episodes of CHiPs, & four episodes of TJ Hooker.
In “Return of the Robot Maker,” Steve’s friend & fellow OSI field agent, Barney Barnes, gives Steve several pieces of equipment, which Barney has invented. Needless to say, all of the items come in handy during the episode, particularly a lightweight bulletproof vest, which allows Steve to play dead during a crucial scene.

“Return of the Robot Maker” marks the third & final appearance of Henry Jones (Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid) as Dr Chester Dolenz, “the Robot Maker.”

“Return of the Robot Maker” marks the first of two occasions on which Steve battles a robotic duplicate of Oscar.

#9

“The Golden Pharaoh” (3x18)

“The Golden Pharaoh,” which aired on February 8, 1976, was written by Paul Schneider, who wrote three episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man in all. Schneider also wrote two episodes of Star Trek: TOS—“Balance of Terror” & “The Squire of Gothos.”

Farrah Fawcett guest starred on four episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, one episode in each of the show’s first four seasons. In the first-season episode “Rescue of Athena One,” Farrah played astronaut Major Kelly Woods. In the second-season episode “The Peeping Blonde,” Farrah played reporter Victoria Webster. In the third-season episode “The Golden Pharaoh,” Farrah played gambling addict & gold digger Trish Hollander. In the fourth-season episode “Nightmare in the Sky,” Farrah reprised the role of astronaut Major Kelly Woods.
Two aspects of Farrah’s role in “The Golden Pharaoh” are noteworthy. First, it was her last appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man prior to the debut of Charlie’s Angels. (“Nightmare in the Sky,” aired just four days after the Charlie’s Angels series debut—six months after the pilot aired.) Second, of the three characters portrayed by Fawcett on The Six Million Dollar Man, Trish Hollander is the one with whom Steve seems to be the most intimate.

Aside from her well-known role on Charlie’s Angels, Farrah also had a semi-regular part on the David Janssen action/suspense series Harry O. Additionally, Farrah appeared in two episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, one episode of The Partridge Family, two episodes of The Flying Nun, & two episodes of Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law (co-starring Lee Majors), as well as the SF films Logan’s Run & Saturn 3.

#10

“Death Probe” (4x13 & 4x14)

The two-part, fourth-season episode, “Death Probe,” aired on January 9 & 16, 1977, was written by Steven E de Souza [who also wrote or co-wrote screenplays for 48 Hrs, Die Hard, Judge Dredd, & The Flintstones (1994 film), as well as episodes of The Bionic Woman, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Gemini Man, Lucan, & Knight Rider], & was directed by Richard Moder, a prolific television western/SF/action director, who directed 14 episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man (including, “The Seven Million Dollar Man,” “The Bionic Woman,” & “The Return of the Bionic Woman”) & 6 episodes of Wonder Woman.

“Death Probe” guest stars Beverly Garland (who had recurring roles on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Remington Steele, & My Three Sons & starred in the 1957-1959 series Decoy) & Jane Merrow (who made guest appearances on many shows, including The Saint, The Avengers, Mission: Impossible, Police Woman, The Incredible Hulk, & The Greatest American Hero) reprising the role of Irina Leonova from the first-season episode “Doomsday & Counting.”
“Death Probe” was a climax of sorts for The Six Million Dollar Man. It was the last truly epic & well-remembered episode & marks the beginning of Steve’s downward spiral into irrelevance.

The Bionic Woman

An overnight success, The Bionic Woman was #5 in the Nielsens after its debut season & #14 as a sophomore. Strangely, however, ABC elected to cancel the show after two successful seasons. NBC picked up the series for a third season. Richard Anderson & Martin E Brooks continued their roles on The Bionic Woman on NBC as well as maintaining the parts on The Six Million Dollar Man on ABC & are believed to be the first actors to do so. Lee Majors, however, did not make any guest appearances on the spin-off show in the third season. In general, the third & final season NBC episodes were of lower quality than those of the first two seasons.

Jaime Sommers was the third live-action female super-hero (to use the term somewhat loosely) introduced on American television, the second with her own series, and the first super-heroine with her own show in primetime. And The Bionic Woman had far better ratings than her predecessors (Batgirl & Isis), as well as her contemporary (Wonder Woman). I would, however, disagree with the frequent contention that Jaime was the first strong, female lead in a successful series. That distinction goes to Sgt Pepper Anderson (Angie Dickinson) of Police Woman. Police Woman debuted six months before Jaime even appeared on The Six Million Dollar Man & ran for four seasons, although it never broke the Nielsen top 10.

The cost of Jaime’s bionics is never disclosed, although Oscar says once that she was less than $6 million, because the parts are smaller than Steve’s. This, of course, is a ridiculous argument. While mass-produced items or products made from expensive materials may increase in value proportionately with their bulk, this is not usually the case with custom-made products or high-tech devices. Indeed, the cost of electronics is often inversely proportional to the size, & Jaime’s ear is not nearly as sophisticated a device as Steve’s eye. Furthermore, as indicated by the text that flashes onscreen during the opening titles sequence, Steve’s arm & Jaime’s arm both require 1,550 watts of continuous power to operate, & both are catalog #2821/WLV. Steve’s & Jaime’s legs also have the same technical specifications.

Changed Premises

The creators/producers of The Bionic Woman, for whatever reason, changed two premises set forth in The Six Million Dollar Man episodes introducing the character of Jaime Sommers immediately upon launching The Bionic Woman as a weekly series.

In The Six Million Dollar Man episode “The Bionic Woman,” Jaime is a ranked professional tennis player, and Steve, when trying to persuade Oscar to authorize her bionic reconstruction, states that her profession would make an excellent cover for an OSI agent. However, the first episode of The Bionic Woman, while acknowledging Jaime’s former profession, has her become an elementary school teacher.

In The Six Million Dollar Man episode “The Return of the Bionic Woman,” Jaime experiences recurring bouts of pain related to her previous rejection of her prosthetics & her amnesia. She & Steve determine that these episodes are caused by her exposure to her past—i.e. her hometown of Ojai & Steve himself. The OSI & ABC separated her from Steve (sort of) by assigning her to California & giving Jaime her own show. But where does Jaime take up residence? In Steve’s boyhood house in Ojai!

Notes on favorite episodes

The Bionic Woman

#1

“Doomsday Is Tomorrow” (2x13 & 2x14)

#2

“The Ghosthunter” (1x13)

#3

“Kill Oscar” (2x05 & 2x06)

“Kill Oscar,” the only three-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man or The Bionic Woman & the last crossover between the two shows, was written by Arthur Rowe who wrote seven episodes of The Bionic Woman in all. “Kill Oscar” (part I) aired on October 27, 1976, while “Kill Oscar” (part III) aired on November 3, 1976.
“Kill Oscar” establishes that Rudy’s security clearance is level 7. Level 6 is required for people to know about bionics. The security clearance level of Steve & Jaime themselves is never revealed. “Kill Oscar” further implies that the security clearance applies only to the government department for which the person in question works. This, however, is not the implication of several earlier episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man.

Jaime achieves a speed of 55 MPH on a treadmill in the first part of “Kill Oscar,” according to Rudy’s dialogue, although the highest speed indicated by the digital speedometer is 53 MPH. The highest speed achieved by Jaime in her introductory epsiode “The Bionic Woman” was 40 MPH.

This episode reunites Lindsay Wagner with John Houseman, who played her father in the 1973 film The Paper Chase. Jack Colvin, who guest starred in The Six Million Dollar Man episodes “Look Alike,” “Hocus-Pocus,” & “The Dark Side of the Moon,” appears only in the first installment of “Kill Oscar.” Colvin is perhaps best known as Mr McGee in The Incredible Hulk.

Franklin’s sudden nobility at the end of “Kill Oscar” (part III) is a bit hard to swallow.

When Steve destroys an antenna in “Kill Oscar” (part II), the fembots with which he had been fighting begin wandering around aimlessly, as if they require constant input from Franklin to act purposively. However, when Rudy intentionally disrupts Franklin’s signal to the Oscar robot in the same episode, the robot continues to fight with Steve. Similarly, in all three installments of “Kill Oscar,” fembots man the controls in Franklin’s headquarters & seem capable of independent initiative.

At one point Jaime incapacitates one of the fembots with a hurled rock. The rock tears a gaping hole in the back of the fembot’s black jumpsuit. Later, when Jaime dons the fembot’s clothing to disguise herself, the hole has vanished.

#4

“The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man & the Bionic Woman” (REx01)

The first reunion show of the franchise aired on May 17, 1987—nine years (almost to the day) after the cancellation of The Bionic Woman, which was cancelled just two months after The Six Million Dollar Man. “The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man & the Bionic Woman” was directed by Ray Austin, who, oddly, although his experience as a television director is extensive, including episodes of such series as The Saint, The Avengers, Wonder Woman, Space: 1999, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, & Zorro (1990-1993), never directed an episode in the bionic franchise. “The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man & the Bionic Woman” was written (& executive produced) by Michael Sloan, who also, although he wrote teleplays for an episode of Switch, an episode of Columbo, 22 episodes of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, four episodes of Battlestar Galactica, & all three of the bionic reunion films, never wrote an episode of The Bionic Woman or The Six Million Dollar Man during their regular series runs.
After Steve’s son, Air Force pilot Michael Austin, becomes bionic, a digital speedometer shows him running on a treadmill at 289 mph. This represents an improvement by more than a factor of four over Steve’s top speed of 66 mph on the original series, assuming this is Michael’s top speed—unclear, because the camera cuts away from the readout as it is changing.

William Campbell (Klingon Captain Koloth & Trelane from Star Trek: TOS) makes a guest appearance as Air Force General Forest.

The villains of the piece, Lyle Stenning & John Praiser (an OSI double-agent), are played by Martin Landau (Mission: Impossible & Space: 1999) & Gary Lockwood, who—in addition to his roles as Enterprise first officer Commander Mitchell in the second Star Trek: TOS pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before” & ill-fated Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey—also made two guest appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man as hit man John Hopper & one guest appearance on The Bionic Woman (“The Night Demon”) as a different character.
Stenning is the head of the paramilitary, criminal organization called Fortress. In fact, at the beginning of this film, Stenning is in prison, put there by Steve, according to Oscar. Also, according to Oscar’s dialogue, Steve & Jaime have both faced off against Stenning & Fortress in the past. This is a retcon. Neither Fortress nor Stenning appeared in the 99 episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man (nor in the three pilots), nor in the 58 episodes of The Bionic Woman. Unlike James Bond & other secret agent franchises, the bionic duo did not regularly skirmish with recurring criminal groups with acronym names...
“The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man & the Bionic Woman” also features Lee Majors’ actual son, Lee Majors II, as OSI agent Jim Castillian—ironic in light of the film’s main storyline being Steve’s reunion with his son, played by Tom Schanley.

#5

“The Return of Bigfoot” (2x01)

“The Return of Bigfoot,” which aired on September 22, 1976, was written by Kenneth Johnson, creator of The Bionic Woman & writer of third-season The Six Million Dollar Man episode “The Secret of Bigfoot.” “The Return of Bigfoot” was the first multi-episode crossover between the two series. “The Return of Bigfoot” guest stars Stefanie Powers & Severn Darden, reprising their roles from “The Secret of Bigfoot.” “The Return of Bigfoot” also guest stars Sandy Duncan, John Saxon (who had previously appeared as the robot in the first-season The Six Million Dollar Man episode “Day of the Robot”), & Ted Cassidy, who assumed the role of the Sasquatch from Andre the Giant.
Amazingly, “The Return of Bigfoot”—its plot brimming with aliens, robots, cyborgs, & time travel—appeared on network television fully eight months before the theatrical release of Star Wars.
“The Return of Bigfoot” has a wonderful scene in which Jaime, courtesy of her bionic ear, eavesdrops on a conversation Steve has with Oscar & Rudy. As Steve weaves his fantastic tale of aliens, Bigfoot, panaceas, time travel, & induced amnesia, Lindsay Wagner gives an entertaining performance portraying Jaime’s doubts at each “whopper” Steve tells.

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