Martin Caidin’s 1972 novel Cyborg inspired the 1973-78 TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, which in turn spawned the TV show The Bionic Woman.
Airing from 1976 to 1978 and starring the bright and talented Lindsay Wagner, the science fiction superhero series was popular enough to produce a Kenner doll (with its own Bionic Beauty Salon playset) a record, a metal lunchbox, two paperback novels, a Parker board game and a five-issue comic book series from Charlton (1976-77).
Nine episodes of an abortive remake were aired in 2007 and 2008, and Wagner, who wasn’t involved, put her finger on what was wrong with the project. “On a technical level, it was very good, but I don’t think they understood the show,” she remarked. “It was like a lot of things today, angry and dark.”
The original series managed to be optimistic and humanistic without being saccharine.
Watching the last episode of the first series, I was surprised to find that, unlike most American TV shows, the show did not simply break off, or run out of gas and splutter to a stop. It effectively concluded, and concluded well.
The dispirited Jaime Sommers, tired and somewhat sickened after three years of being a superspy “robot lady,” quits the secret Office of Scientific Intelligence, only to find that she can’t quit — she’s government property. They intend to jail her.
The Bionic Woman meets The Prisoner.
This cynical, realistic take on what the U.S. government would do is surprising in a 1970s adventure show. She has an ally in her dash for freedom from American law enforcement — her ex-boss Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson, who takes a break from exposition to enjoy a strong acting turn).
Jaime tells him, “I thought I was more than a pawn to you, or one of your little tools…”
“You’re hurting my arm,” Goldman says.
Ever the compassionate heroine, Jaime takes time to help the alienated son of a blind man, and finds the solution to her own personal dilemma.
Wagner had specifically asked for a concluding episode, and the writer, Steven E. De Souza, worked all Wagner’s frustrations with doing a network series into Jaime Sommers’ emotions about her spy job.
The script, and Wagner’s Emmy-winning charm and acting ability, let the series finish with class.
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