Welcome
to Bionic Day!
A
friend of mine, Jonathan, recently reminded me that The Six-Million Dollar Man
premiered forty years ago this month – in 1973 – in a series of television
movies that preceded the TV series. In
fact, the first TV-movie aired on March 19, 1973. That was forty years ago yesterday. So I'm actually a day late...
As
you may recall, The Six-Million Dollar Man was based on a novel Cyborg
(1972) by Martin Caidin. Caidin’s
tale involved an astronaut/test-pilot, Steve Austin, who following a terrible
accident, was outfitted with expensive mechanical or “bionic” limbs. The book also gave Steve a radio transmitter
in his torso, a metal skull, and fingers equipped with dart guns. The novel also went into considerable detail
regarding Steve’s healing process and his slow acceptance of his new status as
less-than-fully human, as a cyborg.
The
TV series pulled back on some of the more-fantastical and emotional aspects of
the literary tale and re-parsed the tale as an exciting, action-packed entertainment for the post-Watergate age. Colonel Steve Austin (Lee Majors) was still equipped with bionic legs, one bionic arm, and a bionic eye, but he
demonstrated less hostility regarding his situation, and worked willingly for
the OSI (Office of Scientific Investigation) as a secret agent. On the program, he took his marching orders
from Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson), and was monitored by Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks).
The
series ran for five highly-rated seasons, and after beginning largely as a
vehicle for espionage stories, made the full transition to “sci-fi.” Before the end of the series’ run, Steve
faced off against a Bionic Sasquatch, a Soviet space probe, and other genre
villains.
The series proved so popular
that a spin-off, starring Lindsay Wagner, The Bionic Woman (1976 – 1978) ran
for three seasons. The Six-Million Dollar Man
also proved so successful in the ratings that knock-offs came hard and fast,
including The Invisible Man (1975) and Gemini Man (1976).
At
toy stores, Kenner capitalized on the programs’ incredible popularity with
children, and released a full line of play-sets, vehicles, and toys. Today, many of these items remain
highly-prized collectibles, in part perhaps because they represent a major merchandising effort that
precedes the Star Wars craze.
At the
same time, Charlton published A Six Million Dollar Man comic-book,
and even model kits of Bionic Adventuring were released in the marketplace. One of my earliest "collecting" experiences
involves the program. I vividly remember
buying a Six Million Dollar Man book, “The Secret of Bigfoot Pass” at a
Bookmobile event while I was in kindergarten. I loved that book.
As recently as 2007, a TV reboot Bionic
Woman tried (and failed) to recapture the glory of what media historians
might term the seventies' most popular cult television franchise.
We'll start off with "The Secret of Bigfoot," later this morning...
The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman were an important part of my '70s boyhood.
ReplyDeleteSGB