 |
| Bionic action with the feminine touch. Lindsay Wagner returns as THE BIONIC WOMAN, in this terrific three season box set. Images: FABULOUS FILMS/UNIVERSAL. |
THE BIONIC WOMAN - THE COMPLETE SERIES DVD SET (THREE SEASONS)
Starring Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers
With Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman, and Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Rudy Wells.
Available from FABULOUS FILMS
Reviewed by Scott Weller
It may have been rushed into production quicker than he would have liked, but Executive Producer Harve Bennett and his team's hard and fast work in 1973 getting the incredible bionic exploits of space pilot turned superhero Steve Austin into a weekly TV series would prove a huge success with its launch season. On the lookout to do a bigger, better year with Season Two, now that the series had a mighty spring in its step, Bennett would get some fine writing help from his friend Steven Bochco, who, though not closely linked to the show, was a strong advocate for it and had played a prior vital part in its original feature-length pilot’s success, ghost-writing the adaptation of creator Martin Caidin’s novel, Cyborg. It would be Bochco who would go on to recommend numerous aspiring writers to the hit show, whom he felt would be perfect for Bennett’s ever-needy, growing team of storytellers. One of these new disciples would be a young, very savvy gentleman by the name of Kenneth Johnson, soon to be a big thing in seventies and eighties television, who contributed the intriguing idea to Bennett of Steve getting married to an old flame, Jaime Sommers (named after a female water skier the writer knew at the time), who would later become bionic herself, in what would be his personal take on the classic BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN story. Bennett liked Johnson and the idea so much, seeing its potential, he immediately commissioned the story as a two-part episode: a first for the series.
 |
| The lovely Lindsay Wagner- a fine choice to play Jaime Sommers. |
But in the all-important role of Jaime, just who to cast? Scouting the huge roster of female acting talent currently working at UNIVERSAL (the studio makers of the Bionic series), the producers quickly discovered rising star actress Lindsay Wagner, who had made an impression recently on THE ROCKFORD FILES series and had appeared in the popular young academics movie THE PAPER CHASE. In the last stages of her contract with UNIVERSAL, the actress, who didn’t known much about SIX MILLION or watch much TV in general, signed on for the role having been intrigued by the character of Jaime and what was to be her on-screen relationship with Steve Austin (Lee Majors, whom Wagner immediately proved to have great charisma with), showing a natural flair in mixing drama and light hearted-ness, as well as looking great in her bionic running/action scenes. Filming was soon underway on what would be a life-changing experience for the young and attractive talent.
 |
| A professional tennis champion, Jaime shows her skills on and off the series. |
At first called Mrs. Steve Austin, later becoming The Bionic Woman, the full televised story has Steve coming back to his home town of Ojai, California, to see his parents and build a home and life for himself in between his spy career for Oscar Goldman and the OSI. He soon meets his former love, Jaime Sommers, a 16-year old orphan made good as a professional tennis ace, and their once young lovers relationship is rekindled, with marriage soon on the cards.
Unfortunately, fate turns for the worse. The pair taking a celebratory skydive-as you do!-Jaime is critically injured and on the verge of death when our broken man hero asks, begs, Oscar to make Jaime bionic-not just as a personal favour to him but also as a another potential agent for the OSI. Goldman, seeing his good friend on the brink of an emotional breakdown, agrees, but warns him that he might indeed have to call Jaime into duty for her country at some point, with no guarantee of her safety.
 |
| Steve Austin (Lee Majors) and Jaime - a bionic Love Story. |
As the operation to save her is declared a success and Jaime is on the mend (resulting in her receiving a bionic arm, legs and unique hearing), that “duty’ is soon initiated against a dangerous and wealthy entrepreneur out to steal American dollar currency plates. As a first-time agent, she proves herself admirably alongside her husband-to-be, but is undergoing some problems with her new additions, which soon leads to the devastating effects of a complete bionic rejection by her body and turning Jaime into a dangerous and unstable personality- ultra violent with her super-strength as she turns against Steve. Soon the strain is too much and not even bionic surgeon Rudy Wells dedicated skills can save her, as she seemingly dies on the operating table, leaving Steve guilt-ridden and emotionally fragile for a long time to come…
Truly a bionic version of the seventies hit movie LOVE STORY, with the requisite she- had-to-die-at-the-end moniker requested by the studio and TV execs (against the wishes of Kenneth Johnson, who, from the get-go, saw the potential in Jaime’s staying alive), The Bionic Woman’s incredible and immediate ratings success and popularity with the public, especially families and young children who loved the character of Jaime and her relationship with Steve, were devastated by her death, immediately demanding that she made a return. And so too did the ABC TV network showing SIX MILLION, and the board of directors at UNIVERSAL. The Bionic Woman was going to make a comeback, and not even a little matter like death was going to stop her!
 |
| Jaime begins one of her iconic 60mph bionic runs. |
 |
| And proves a marvellous safe-cracker with her enhanced hearing. |
Unfortunately, Wagner, having fulfilled her contractual obligations to UNIVERSAL, was not interested in coming back for the next two-parter resurrection being specially created for her-instead she wanted to focus on her starting movie career. It would ultimately take a huge increase of money from the studios, and seeing the story’s previous impact on people, the desire to help children who had become so emotionally upset with Jaime’s on-screen death the year before, that she agreed to return to the series. The resultant sequel launching SIX’s third season- The Return of the Bionic Woman - written and produced with skill by Kenneth Johnson, sees Steve, injured on a mission and recovering in hospital, stunned in discovering Jaime being alive and well, slowly recovering from her ordeal- her condition deliberately kept secret from him for personal and medical reasons by Oscar and Rudy, her life saved due to the miraculous cryogenic skills of one of Rudy’ s new talents. But the required brain surgery needed to save Jaime’s life in the face of her bionic meltdown has sadly left her an amnesiac, totally unaware of her prior relationship with her beloved, leaving Steve even more distraught than before, resulting in him having to do his best to try and bring her memory back without putting her back on the path to mental and bionic degeneration. At the same time, the two of them have a new mission: to stop the affairs of an American millionaire industrialist’s energy production goals in the Caribbean. Its an assignment that is ultimately unsuccessful, when Jaime begins to get some conflicting and dangerous memory traces of Steve back in her system, which results in the decision being made to separate her and Steve from missions in the foreseeable future, as it all might prove too much, and too dangerous, at least for the time being…
Another huge success with critics and viewers, relieved to see the bionic couple back together, the ratings again went through the roof, and immediately led to the commission of a weekly series of adventures for the bionic heroine, which ABC wanted quickly for the fall of 1976. Once again, Wagner wasn’t willing to return, even if for her own starring role series, but seeing that she would have a heavy say and control in the development of her character in the series and the way it was written, alongside a further huge additional salary hike, the actress was soon back on board the project.
 |
| Creator Kenneth Johnson with his bionic TV stars. |
Shaping up the series format path, creator Kenneth Johnson ultimately writes all the best episodes for the heroine in her first year, knowing his creation of Jaime better than anybody, and bringing a slightly different flavor to this particular bionic series incarnation, with storytelling that proves more subtle, though also keeping the tried and tested successful formula of bionic action and adventure (keeping her values, Jaime never likes to uses guns and puts her strengths into action only as a last resort). More importantly, Kenneth Johnson and his team of writers (alongside key directors like Alan J. Levi, Alan Crosland and Barry Crane) were determined to make the show a much more character based piece than SIX, with further relatable drama and emotional themes for Wagner to get the most out of and enjoy, as a thoughtful and perhaps more compassionate character than Steve.
 |
| Jaime becomes a teacher in the new series. |
The new series format would see Jaime out of hospital, and further brain surgery (restored from cerebral hemorrhagic incident), getting her life back together, becoming a school teacher at the Ventura air force base (whose children would include popular child star Robbie Rist) and once more living in Ojai, in a converted stable that belongs to her adoptive parents/legal guardians, the Elgins, who are also Steve’s family (played by Martha Scott and Ford Rainey), having previously appeared with Jaime on SIX and going on to appear on and off during the first two seasons of THE BIONIC WOMAN. In between her satisfying teaching work, Jaime would moonlight as a spy for OSI, recognizing the fact that she owed Oscar and Rudy so much in having saved her life, and expanding her friendly, often light-hearted character relationships with them as she settles into her bionics and the adventures to come. There’s also more humour mined from her bionics early on than Steve would have on SIX-especially showing her setting up home with her DIY skills (occasionally getting over excited and breaking the odd bit of furniture), in the kitchen and even milking a cow with her ultra fast bionic right hand! Ouch!
 |
| Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson (as her OSI boss, Oscar Goldman) make a fine pairing through the series. |
 |
| Bionic surgeon Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks) joins the series full time with Season Two. |
Soon becoming the busiest actor on the UNIVERSAL lot and surrounding areas (of which so much of it would be used as many a foreign location across the series run), Richard Anderson manages to appear across both bionic series in his vital role as Jaime’s boss. Overall, though, Oscar Goldman has lots more to do in THE BIONIC WOMAN, and has a much warmer and trusting relationship with Jaime than he has with Steve Austin. Martin E. Brooks, as dedicated bionics scientist Rudy Wells, joins the series full-time in its second year, so as to help the supporting cast filming load (helping further in Year Three are Wells assistant, Sarah (Linda Wiser), and there’s occasional appearances from Sam Chew Jr. as OSI associate Mark Russell. Additionally, the key surgeon who saved Jaime’s life, Michael Marchetti (Richard Lenz), makes a couple of guest starring appearances in the series, though their loving relationship has now become more plutonic.
 |
| The many faces of Jaime Sommers. Becoming heavenly influenced as a nun in Sister Jaime. |
 |
| Going Country in Road to Nashville. |
 |
| As a sea liner's croupier dealer in Assault on the Princess. |
 |
| And a spirited Rodeo talent in Rodeo. |
Over the course of the run, we get to see Jaime in a wide variety of guises in her spydom: she does a little bit of singing, becomes a Nun, joins the Police force, checks the patients out as a nurse, grapples with the wrestling industry, joins the Rodeo circuit, and becomes a steel worker. She even goes undercover in a beauty pageant before that other, later Bionic Woman, Sandra Bullock, did in MISS CONGENIALITY!
Varied stories amongst the usual spy missions include several personal dramas for Jaime, environmental and wildlife issues, the odd investigation of supernatural incidents, a bit of sci-fi and also a few comedy caper attempts that are very hit and miss. Even eastern philosophy, mental disciplines and spiritualism get a brave seventies look-in.
That momentous and quick decision to make the first half season reach transmission means that one or two story ideas from SIX would regrettably but necessarily have to be recycled for the new series, most notable in the episode Fly Jaime, an almost scene for scene remake, even down to the locations and stock footage re-used, of SIX’s first season episode Survival of the Fittest, with our heroine, posing as a stewardess, and Rudy Wells, involved in a plane crash on a tropical island having to fight for survival against some disguised baddies. Fortunately, such instances of repeated material are few and far between as the series continues to make its own fresh mark, often showing slightly better production values than SIX. Though the grueling six-day shoot for each episode, with only one unit doing all the filming, proved quite intense and tiring for the lead actress, and would eventually be expanded a day.
 |
| Top stuntwoman Rita Egleston doubles for Miss Wagner in one of many tricky descents. |
By now, Lindsay Wagner truly was Jaime Sommers, but there were several other vital performers linked to the portrayal. Handling a lot of her stunt work, including the often-incredible bionic leaps, was top stuntwoman Rita Egleston, whilst Inge Rosenberg was Wagner’s photo double in handling some non-dialogue shots, like running or angles showing Jaime walking or running into the distance.
 |
| Top film and TV stars would make guest roles in the series, like Tippi Hedren. |
Guests across the series would include Steve Kanaly, Rene Auberjoinois, Sam Groom, Vincent Price, Lloyd Bochner, Andy Griffith, film legend Donald O’ Connor, Don Gordon, Henry Darrow, Gavan O’Herlihy, Brock Peters (who suffers an ignanimous injury from Jaime via her throwing a projectile teddy bear at him!), Tippi Hedren, a very young child star called Helen Hunt, Norman Fell, and, in a memorable turn, Elisha Cook, playing a cat burglar who witnesses Jamie's bionics firsthand.
 |
| Credits title card for the series. |
Against another set of excellent opening titles created by bionic veteran Jack Cole, a homely and warm-hearted theme for the series would be created by respected film and TV composer Jerry Fielding, though its end credits (and lots of incidental work for many episodes) would come via Kenneth Johnson discovery, Joe Harnell. (As a side-note, Harnell's own theme for the series would appear on the opening titles of the series just once- on one of the Kill Oscar! episodes.)
 |
| Jaime has some quality time before her next mission. |
Scoring high ratings putting it in and out of the top ten, alongside SIX, THE BIONIC WOMAN’s fourteen episode debut on ABC in January 1976 was a big success, despite yet another behind the scenes rush to get the series episodes to airdate completion. Wagner as Sommers was a strong and positive role model for mothers and daughters to root for, whilst young boys and men were equally quick to enjoy her clear intelligence, charisma and sex appeal. Plans were soon afoot for season two, and the series reaching the peak of its popularity, with Johnson and co-writer James D. Parriott proving a great writing team in conjuring up a fine new selection of stories for our heroine. Amidst the continued character development, some notable guest stars and villains return from year one in some intriguing sequels, including the welcome opportunity for Wagner to play both Jaime and a doppelganger out to steal her life and identity in the memorable Mirror Image and it’s two-part sequel Deadly Ringer.
Season Two, showing the more confident Jaime, holding her own with the boys, also sees her getting a bigger and more diverse wardrobe, including lots of hats!
 |
| A fine pairing. Steve and Jaime enjoy some classic crossover episodes in Season Two. |
 |
| Jaime meets Bigfoot (Ted Cassidy) for the first time... |
 |
| ...and takes on the deadly Fembots. |
A stronger hint of fantasy action/adventure begins to emerge in the series too, especially with the iconic ratings-grabbing episodes, which saw Jaime once again teamed up with Steve- always difficult to film because of both series intense production schedules. This time, our handsome pair would take on the fierce but ultimately friendly alien robot with bionic-esque powers, the Sasquatch, whilst Jaime would mostly come to the fore against her first specially devised nemesis-the powerful and chameleon-like Fembots, who’d go on to give her quite a lot of trouble, and a resultingly serious bionic injury, during her first battle against them- in the epic three parter: Kill Oscar.
 |
| Oscar and his secretary, Callahan (Jennifer Darling) are captured in Kill Oscar. |
Oscar’s role across the two bionic series continues to gain screen-time, and he also gets a new secretary in the petite form of Callahan, played by Jennifer Darling, who becomes a very good friend to Jaime on and off the next two seasons. She also occasionally helps out Steve Austin on his series, too.
 |
| Kenneth Johnson in good times with Lindsay Wagner and Ted Cassidy. |
Despite firing on all thrusters, though, the series, by the end of the new season, had started to have some ratings decline, leading to the creative suits at ABC deciding that the bionic phenomenon was starting to play itself out. They astonishingly failed to renew THE BIONIC WOMAN for a third season with UNIVERSAL. This may have proved an incredible obstacle for any other series but both bionic series were still hugely successful with viewers, spawning a massive toy/merchandise phenomenon, whilst still getting very good TV advertising revenue. So it was ultimately no surprise that a rival channel picked up the rights to the series, with NBC commissioning a further season of 26 episodes for Jaime, which would debut from September 1977. By this point, however, both Johnson (in a supervising producer role) and Harve Bennett would depart the series after completing several early episodes. As too would Parriott. Instead, bionic series executive producing veteran Lionel E. Siegel would handle double duties on SIX and THE BIONIC WOMAN, whist other producers over the final half of the season would include STAR TREK’s original casting director, Joseph D’Agosta, Arthur Rowe (who was also a story editor on and off the entire run), Nancy Malone, and Ralph Sariego.
 |
| Season Three introduces the memorable Bionic Dog, Maximilian. |
Before departing, and recognising that the new series on its new channel would need a new kind of gimmick to help relaunch the show (especially with family audiences), Bennett would come up with the inspiring idea of giving Jaime a canine companion – and a bionic one at that- in the devoted form of Alsatian dog Maximilian (or Max for short), played by a series of stunt trained dogs over the filming period. Debuting in the series two-part opener, a kind of bionic version of Lassie Come Home, the dog shares close ties with Jaime, who nurses him back to health- primarily from early emotional damage, psychologically linked to a fear of fire. The pair becomes the very best of friends and she keeps him as her pet throughout the season, leading to some nice moments for bionic comedy and heroism. (Max later gets his own unique single episode, featuring guest star Neile-Adams McQueen, whilst Lindsay Wagner is filming back-to-back episodes to meet the behind the scenes schedules.)
 |
| Have aliens arrived on Earth? The Martians Are Coming, The Martians Are Coming. |
Despite Max’s introduction, however, the third series would suffer slightly from the lack of any more bionic crossovers-with Wagner’s series being on a rival channel, further ratings-winning adventures with Lee Majors/ Steve Austin were shot down in flames. Instead, the writers would give Jaime a new, more permanent boyfriend for a batch of episodes- NASA technician Chris, played by Christopher Stone (who had made an impression on the production team during a season one episode guest spot), as well as bringing back those dreaded Fembots in a special two-parter filmed in Las Vegas. With Johnson and Parriott’s departure from the series, the show, though still lively, lost a further bit of consistent quality in the writing stakes, with a mix and matching of differing styles most noticeable in the shows middle patch, though things would pick up towards the end, with contributions from the likes of STAR TREKs Margaret Armen and later blockbuster action movie writer Steven E. de Souza. Despite all the behind the scenes changes, star Wagner looked as relaxed and engaging as ever in her role, even when beating up sharks underwater with her bionic fist!
 |
| Back in eighties action for the OSI in the TV reunion movie, Bionic Showdown. |
Unfortunately, in a bizarre twist of fate, and despite solid ratings, the same network team that had previously cancelled THE BIONIC WOMAN on ABC had now moved over to NBC, finally doing something that no super-baddies or robots could ever do: cancel the show once and for all- a bitter blow to the cast and behind the scenes team that had been so dedicated to the series. Around the same time, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN was also starting to wind down with its final two seasons. But great shows never die- their legends just evolve and grow in stature, especially ones that so well devised and made as these two bionic shows were. By the mid to late eighties, demand was high for them to return, and Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner did just that, along with Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks, for three hugely popular TV movies, the final one of which, Bionic Ever After, happily saw the charismatic pair getting hitched!
 |
| Just Married! Steve and Jaime tie the knot in Bionic Ever After. |
Overcoming all the emotional, technological and psychological problems early on, and the various villains, murderers and aliens that had gotten in their way over the years, it was nice to see everything working out fine in the end for Steve and Jaime. Ahhhh…
Available in separate box sets or in complete collection form, the series has had a terrific digital re-mastering/makeover from the UNIVERSAL/FABULOUS FILMS-the picture quality on many of these episodes often superior to THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. There’s also a fine selection of DVD extras, including selected episode commentaries from Kenneth Johnson, James D. Parriott, Steven E. de Souza, Alan J. Levi and star Lindsay Wagner (who also does an in camera Q and A about her time on the series). Plus, photo galleries, a Season One gag reel and a documentary on the origins of the series featuring many of the cast and behind the scenes team, including Wagner, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks, former child star Robbie Rist, Kenneth Johnson, double Inge Rosenberg, directors Jerry London and Alan J. Levi.
 |
| Hang on, Jaime! Our heroine keeps attached to a departing helicopter in Fembots in Las Vegas part one. |
The Season Two batch also has a Bionic Blast featurette that looks behind the phenomenal worldwide success of the series (in France, the show is called Super Jaime!), again with cast and crew contributions, including the all-important stunt work, and the enormous array of seventies merchandise- of which one Xmas released toy-the Jaime Sommers doll- was one of the most successful ever sold in the US!
Continuing to inspire original fans and win over new generations, THE BIONIC WOMAN remains one of the seventies most fondly remembered and well-produced series, with a fine and charming lead star in Lindsay Wagner.
 |
| A big cheers to Lindsay Wagner and THE BIONIC WOMAN's enduring success. |
KOOL TV RATING (episodes and extras overall): A worthy continuance of a bionic era so beloved, and a vintage, warming slice of seventies TV Americana pie. Well worth indulging in. 4 out of 5
Here’s a look at KOOL TV’s favourite and memorable episodes…
 |
| The original Dr. Rudy Wells (Alan Oppenheimer) checks out the new Jaime Sommers in The Bionic Woman. |
THE BIONIC WOMAN
(Two parter – Season Two of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN)
A true turning point for THE SIX MILION DOLLAR MAN series as Steve returns to his hometown of Ojai and soon rekindles his love affair with ex-girlfriend now Tennis pro Jaime Sommers. On the eve of their marriage, the pair goes celebratory skydiving and tragedy strikes when she is critically injured. At the point of death, a distraught Steve begs Oscar to make her bionic. Oscar agrees to do it, but warns him that they’ll soon be a price to pay emotionally and physically for Jamie, as the bionic partnership go on a dangerous assignment to reacquire stolen dollar currency making plates from Malachi Throne’s wealthy super baddie, already setting his plan of revenge against Steve into motion…
A genuinely affecting and emotional story written by series newcomer Kenneth Johnson, quickly putting himself on the creative map for the series in combining action and character for Lee Majors to shine in, and, even more importantly, creating Jaime Sommers-the next evolution in bionics, and a heroine for women to enjoy and young girls to have a role model to root for. Lindsay Wagner makes a warm and engaging entrance into the series, working extremely well with Majors-their scenes in bionic training and action now amongst the shows finest moments, and perfect for children to imitate and recreate in school playgrounds or read about in the teenage magazines of the period.
Despite the passing of time, it’s no surprise to me at all why this story was so successful and struck a chord with the public and the behind the scenes team. Despite the genuinely sad ending to the tale, there had to be a sequel, and there was most definitely going to be a spin-off series. That little matter of Jaime dying wasn’t going to stop anything. This is Hollywood after all…
The only very mild damper to the story is Lee Majors insistence in singing a little narrative love ballad for Steve and Jaime over certain scenes. It worked for John Barry’s music score in ON HER MAJESTY’s SECRET SERVICE, but it certainly doesn’t here!
The bionic phenomenon was now well and truly cemented with this story…
 |
| All smiles for our reunited bionic couple. |
THE RETURN OF THE BIONIC WOMAN (Two-part opener. Season Three of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN)
The third and most popular season of SIX MILLION sees Kenneth Johnson return to write and solely produce the two-part adventure launching the new season, in between his busy duties setting up Jaime Sommers’ own series vehicle. In a nutshell, Steve had lost the girl, now he wins her back, then he loses her all over again!
 |
| Jaime - back from the dead! |
His legs critically injured on a mission, Steve recovers to discover that Jaime is alive and well thanks to the wonders of cryogenics and further brain surgery. Unfortunately, she no longer remembers Steve or their love for each other, which leads to emotional discomfort for our hero as Jaime has to be reeducated and trained anew in the use of her bionic skills, leading up to her important first mission against a South African power baron. Despite his unease, though, Steve is the perfect tutor. With his guidance, there’s also the chance that her cognitive memory might come back and restore their affections for each other, though a danger persists that such reawakened feelings could lead to a severe and dangerous trauma...
Resurrected because audiences demanded it, the bionic woman cheats death thanks to some clever writing from Johnson. Within the storytelling there’s also some nice, often bittersweet, character moments for Majors and Wagner to play –they even get to have a bionic pillow fight at one point! - before the finale action. Like the previous two-parter, composer Oliver Nelson delivers a sympathetic and touching score for the duo, especially for the heartbroken Steve when he discovers that his love for Jaime may ultimately never be rekindled.
 |
| Jaime becomes a glamorous bionic thief for millionaire Carlton Harris (Dennis Patrick) in Welcome Home, Jaime part two. |
WELCOME HOME, JAIME (Season One opener. Two-parter)
Undergoing a second medical operation to try to regain her long-term memories, Jaime recovers but the results are still only partially successfully- her memory of the accident that made her bionic no longer there, nor her once love for Steve Austin. Deciding to give up her life as a tennis pro, and declining Oscar’s full-time offer of joining the OSI, she decides to become a teacher of children at the Ventura Air Force base, to a group of delinquent kids who have proved themselves to be nightmares with Jaime’s predecessors in the role.
Her relationship with Michael, the Doctor who saved her life, now cooled down, and finding comfort with her legal guardians, Martha and Jim Elgin at their Ojai ranch, Jaime sets up an apartment there above an old stable, where Steve soon pays a visit. The pair ultimately become just good friends.
Just as she's acclimatizing herself to her new life, no longer phased or troubled by the last memories she does recall, Jaime is attacked by an old adversary she and Steve previously encountered in the Caribbean: the ruthless millionaire/technological acquirer Carlton Harris (Dennis Patrick), now out to use her for her bionic abilities.
Filmed pretty much back to back with The Return of the Bionic Woman, Welcome Home, Jaime is a pleasing, well written and enjoyable two-parter from Kenneth Johnson, ably directed by Alan Crosland, launching the series and the overall bionic family nature of the series, whilst showing lots of potential promise for the series ahead. Wagner handles the central star duties well and looks comfortable, though its also a pleasing and shrewd move to have Lee Majors make a guest appearance in this crucial opener.
 |
| Jaime goes into a war zone with pilot Jack Starkey (Andy Griffith) in Angel of Mercy. |
ANGEL OF MERCY
Disguised as a field nurse, Jaime is sent into the civil war zone of Costa Bravo to rescue a trapped American diplomat and his wife. She’s antagonistically helped by guest star Andy Griffith, playing an experienced but eccentric curmudgeon helicopter pilot, Jack Starkey.
A memorable first regular series episode from James D. Parriott and Alan J. Levi, with Griffith in an excellent guest turn, playing well with Wagner.
THE DEADLY MISSILES
The activation of a nearby radio-jamming device sends Jaime into an investigation of an old friend, industrialist J.T. Connors (Forest Tucker), who may have a grudge against the government for the death of his son in Vietnam. Featuring a nice guest appearance from Lee Majors as Steve Austin, this is a good yarn with some great moments, leading to a strong finale, as an injured Jaime races against the clock to stop a missile launch that will kill Steve.
 |
| Is Ann (Barbara Rush) really who she claims to be - Jaime's Mother? |
JAIME’S MOTHER
Jamie is plagued by eerie dreams/ hallucination appearances of her dead mother, Ann (Barbara Rush), who soon proves to be very much alive and well- on the run from her former spymasters, revealing a past history that her daughter had never been aware of. But is there more going on here than meets the eye?
Like mother like daughter, Rush gives a strong willed performance as Ann, in a layered script by Arthur Rowe and efficient story building from popular director Leo Penn (father of Sean).
THE JAILING OF JAIME
Oscar’s plans to make Jaime a discreet courier of a top secret deciphering machine going to the US military goes horribly wrong, leading to her being framed as a traitor. Soon arrested, she breaks out of jail and begins her quest to find the true culprits. Lots of bionic action and running in a lively script by Bruce Shelly, well directed by Alan Cosland.
 |
| A classic publicity image of Lindsay Wagner from the series. |
MIRROR IMAGE
Jaime is having a nice time in the Bahamas when she's suddenly drugged and thrown into the high seas! Escaping death, she discovers that an imposter bearing her visage has infiltrated OSI and has tried to kill Oscar. Back on home soil, Jaime poses as the imposter in order to discover her paymasters and stop them...
An enjoyable comedy thriller script from James D. Parriott and pacily directed by Alan J. Levi, giving Wagner a chance to play two versions of her character and have fun as the greedily opportunistic, chain-smoking imposter, Lisa. Don Porter features as the main baddie- a greedy scientist. Also starring later BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series co-star Herb Jefferson Jr., and John Fink.
THE GHOST HUNTER
Things that go bump in the night? Who ya gonna call?
Undercover as a nanny, Jaime is recruited into investigating strange goings on at an OSI funded Alpha Sensor project in Salem, being conducted by scientist Alan Cory (Paul Shenar), of which his daughter Amanda (Kristy McNichol) has telekinetic links.
Spooky house, check. Portrait of a dead wife whose ghostly spirit wants revenge, check. Doors and windows rattling, great. The Ghost Hunter is spooky family fun, imaginatively handled with some thrills and creeps by writer/director Kenneth Johnson.
 |
| The furry robot beast is back in The Return of Bigfoot. |
THE RETURN OF BIGFOOT
(Two-part crossover linked to Season Four of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and the Season Two opener of THE BIONIC WOMAN)
Kenneth Johnson brings Bigfoot back, this time in the possession of renegade aliens who want to take over the Earth -a splinter group from the benign observers hidden away in the Californian mountains. Seriously injured a the end of part one, Steve’s out for the count by the start of part two, and its up to Jaime Sommers to step in and get help from the remaining friendly aliens…
Stefanie Powers and Severn Dearden return in their roles as aliens, though the storyline has a new, dominant baddie in John Saxon. This sequel, again written by Johnson, is enjoyable, but not quite as satisfying as the earlier story. Part two (on THE BIONIC WOMAN) sees the story set back in the wilderness rather than in the city environs of SIX MILLION’s part one, and it’s all the better for the switchback- Jaime even has a quirkier early encounter/ fight against Sasquatch (now played by sci-fi TV series icon Ted Cassidy, who, though enormous, looks a little less intimidating physically than Andre the Giant).
 |
| Jaime enters the world of wrestling- In This Corner, Jaime Sommers. |
IN THIS CORNER, JAIME SOMMERS
Jaime gets to flex her muscles posing as a female wrester - Savage Sommers no less! - amidst a colourful band of characters, in order to find a missing OSI agent.
I wasn’t expecting much from this episode, but soon found it to be very enjoyable-certainly one of the most memorable of the run- in a light-hearted script from Robert McCullough and Kenneth Johnson that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Wagner clearly enjoys the fun, and looks great in her Pocahontas outfit and pigtails, whilst strong guest star support comes from Marj Dusay (as a Russian scientist), Norman Fell (as the wrestling manager), and Marcia Lewis as a down on her luck wrestler.
 |
| Skullduggery with Vincent Price in Black Magic. |
BLACK MAGIC
Within a creepy old estate on an old Louisiana-esque gothic island, Jaime goes gypsy as a long absent member of the scheming, back-stabbing Carstairs family, so as to discover who has the rights to a top secret formula up for sale to foreign powers. Julie Newmar brings her usual sensual bitchiness, alongside the always excellent and iconic Vincent Price in a dual role as scheming brothers. William Windom plays a greasy, seedy lawyer to the family. There's even a groundsman who looks like he's come off THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU! Everyone’s having a good time here and not taking things too seriously, and neither should you.
Absurd but Lively black comedy thriller from Arthur Rowe and Barry Crane.
 |
| Oscar is a captive of the distinctive Fembots in Kill Oscar. |
KILL OSCAR
(Three-part adventure across Season Two of THE BIONIC WOMAN and THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN Season Four)
Steve has had various memorable baddies to face these past four seasons, and now Jaime gets her own formidable foes in the shapely forms of the fearsome Fembots, created by the renegade former OSI scientist Doctor Franklin (a fine performance from the late John Houseman), used in revenge against Oscar Goldman, and also to take control of a machine complex facility capable of manipulating the world’s weather...
 |
| Steve, Jaime and Rudy face a re-animated Fembot in Kill Oscar. |
Kill Oscar is the pinnacle of both bionic series in terms of storytelling, the use of the show’s “family” of characters and its ambitious action- an exciting three-part epic concluding on a remote jungle island death trap, of which Lindsay Wagner ultimately gets the majority of the best scenes (especially her tense, almost life ending episode one showdown with the automatons-special mention must go to her excellent stunt double here: Rita Egleston), though Steve Austin’s middle entry episode has its moments, too, including some deft metal pole swordplay with two female imposters, and another fight with a robot impersonating Oscar.
More fine guest star support includes THE A-TEAM’s Jack Ging and THE INCREDIBLE HULK’s Jack Colvin.
Part Three clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ON4dh2fwQ
THE VEGA INFLUENCE
Touching down at an out of the way airbase, Jaime and Doctor Michael Marchetti discover it deserted, it's army inhabitants under the zombie-like mind control of an unusual alien life-form wrapped around an ancient meteorite, recently unearthed from its permafrost trappings by unaware scientists and now unleashed in its capabilities of taking control of the planets inhabitants. Jaime is seemingly immune to the life force due to her bionic abilities…but how to stop them?
Featuring a guest appearance from LAND OF THE GIANTS Don Marshall, this is an enjoyable variation on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS from resident writer/story editor Arthur Rowe, featuring stock footage of a mutating alien life form lifted from UNIVERSAL’s previous sci-fi movie, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN.
 |
| Jaime and Rudy test the Biofeedback Man (Granville Van Dusen). |
BIOFEEDBACK
When an unhappy OSI scientist with a top secret project defects to a higher bidder from the opposing side, Jaime has to rescue him from his unwitting mistake with the help of his brother, Darwin, who possesses unique abilities that are the opposite side of bionics but prove equally formidable- a biofeedback man capable of controlling and using his body to the best of its abilities through far eastern mental disciplines and meditation.
A story idea pushed through and liked by Wagner, the actress has solid guest star support from the extravagantly named Granville Van Dusen as the biofeedback man of the title. On-screen they make a unique action team in this ultimately high concept and enjoyable episode that is purely of the seventies, but also proves intriguing.
 |
| Courage under fire. Jaime joins the police in Jaime's Shield. |
JAIME’S SHIELD (two-parter)
Jaime has to infiltrate the Santa Regina police academy, and later goes on the beat for real at a precinct, to uncover an enemy agent planning an assassination attempt, in a enjoyable double episode from James D. Parriott, with a nice guest performance from Diane Civita, best remembered as playing Harmony in the V mini-series, playing one of Jaime's rookie cop friends.
Also starring George Maharis and Linden Chiles, efficiently directed by Barry Crane.
 |
| Jaime meets her crafty double, Lisa, in Deadly Ringer. |
DEADLY RINGER
Lisa Galloway, the duplicate Jaime Sommers seen in Season One, escapes from prison, with the real Jaime quickly kidnapped and substituted in her place for a life behind bars awaiting plastic surgery. Back on the payroll of the ambitious Doctor Courtney (Don Porter), Galloway gets to enjoy being Jaime so much she refuses to give her "life" up, given the task of stealing Rudy Wells new formula for adrenaline strength which could rival bionics. Unfortunately, taking the drug, she soon becomes addicted to its deadly mental side effects. Meanwhile, seemingly on the verge of a mental breakdown herself, Jaime makes a successful prison break and has to convince a disbelieving Oscar of who she really is…
 |
| Jaime breaks out of jail to find the imposter, Lisa. |
It seems like everyone was doing prison break stories in seventies US TV, and THE BIONIC WOMAN was no exception. But, linked to an intriguing storyline from James D. Parriott, it all works, alongside a character arc that fleshes out the intriguing villainess seen last season-Lisa Galloway, giving Miss Wagner a chance to stretch her wings again and do some more character acting, backed up with solid direction via series regular Alan J. Levi.
Look out for a guest appearance from SOAP! Star Katherine Helmond.
 |
| Rudy and Jaime, with guest star James Hong, get caught up in the world altering events of Doomsday is Tomorrow. |
DOOMSDAY IS TOMORROW (Two-parter)
Jaime versus the machine!
Desperate to bring world peace, dying scientist Dr. Elijah Cooper (Lew Ayres) has created a devastatingly powerful cobalt bomb capable of destroying the planet unless the world’s governments finally end their nuclear weapons testing. Unfortunately, a middle eastern country refuses to accept his demands, believing him to be a propaganda-ist, resulting in Jaime undergoing a danger fraught race against time to stop the launch of the bomb via Cooper’s advanced computer system- Alex 7000, a calmly assertive computer that’s a cross between 2001’s dangerously vindictive HAL and THE FORBIN PROJECT!
With a heavy moral message at its core, this is an excellent two-parter from writer/ director Kenneth Johnson, full of tense psychological drama and bionic action for Jamie, especially in the more effective part two, as she confronts the computer in a battle of physical and psychological strength. As well as Ayres, the rest of the fine guest star cast includes James Hong, David Opatashu and Guerin Barry as the voice of ALEX 7000 (later voicing a more sympathetic robot, Dr. Theopolis, in the BUCK ROGERS TV series).
 |
| Jaime faces a lethal computer in Doomsday is Tomorrow part two. |
A special mention to the excellent location footage representing the expansive and dangerous computer base and underground silo, filmed at Rocket Dyne Division and Rockwell International, California.
IRON SHIPS AND DEAD MEN
Jaime becomes a salvage worker/dockster on a decommissioned warship in order to solve the mystery of Oscar’s missing presumed dead brother, Sam, accused of being AWOL with a million dollars during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbour.
Another solid plot from James D. Parriott, nicely linked to Oscar for our heroine to flex her bionics and prove she can do anything the boys can.
Fine guest star turns include Ray Young as cat loving gentle giant- Bobby, and Stephen Eliot as a veteran dockster turned barman.
 |
| A girl's best friend. Jaime and Max in The Bionic Dog. |
THE BIONIC DOG (Season Three launcher. Two-parter)
A compassionate story of one Bionic Woman and her equally bionic dog! The dog in question being Max, an Alsatian used by Rudy Wells as the original prototype for his bionic experiments, before Jaime and Steve Austin.
Worried that its bionic implants may be going into rejection through unknown reasons, a situation that may ultimately affect her long-term, Jaime goes all Barbara Woodehouse on us and takes the dog under her wing to love it and bring it back from the brink of an emotional trauma, just as the fugitive pair are caught in a massive forest fire in the California hills!
Okay, it's a gimmick but it's a nice one for a more family orientated series. A pleasing story by Harve Bennett and James D. Parriott, directed by Barry Crane, that isn’t as cheesy as it sounds and is an effective launch for the series in its new channel home. Max proves a lovely addition to the series, seen semi-regularly- moving so fast he'd make THE LITTLEST HOBO green with envy!
.jpg) |
| Jaime becomes a showgirl in order to discover a Fembot, in Fembots in Las Vegas. |
FEMBOTS IN LAS VEGAS (two-parter)
Those dreaded, lethally curvy Fembot machines are reactivated by their late creator’s “son”, Dr. Carl Franklin (Michael Burns), who has an axe to bear in the way he feels his late father was treated by Oscar and co., stealing a new laser weapon developed in Las Vegas by Rod Kyler (James Olsen) - a Howard Hughes recluse type suffering from a disease that make him susceptible to germs.
Cue lots of android facemasks ripped off, girl fights with lots of good-looking women (including THE INVISIBLE MAN’s rather fab Melinda Fee), and Jaime becoming one of a fine parade of leggy showgirls, whilst putting up with more earache inducing electronic signals. Its got a barking mad title, but its all good colourful seventies fun, with some fine location filming showing the sights and sounds of Vegas, and ending with a requisite big explosion!
Wagner never quite understood the appeal of her robot nemeses, but the viewers certainly did after their first appearance in Kill Oscar!
 |
| Jaime (and Wagner off-screen) feels the adrenaline with Evel Knievel in Motorcycle Boogie. |
MOTORCYLE BOOGIE
Jaime has the need for speed when she inadvertently recruits stunt legend Evel Knievel into a dangerous high-risk bike mission into East Germany, so as to retrieve a stolen data tape. At first the relationship between the duo is spiky, but they soon prove a winning combination.
Forget the clichéd plot from Kenneth Johnson and James D. Parriott, Motorcycle Boogie is a fun piece of nostalgia to be enjoyed- it’s great to see two seventies icons of fictional and real-life entertainment heroism together, indulging in a bit of escapism, during a lively chase/capture/ chase romp against East German versions of the Keystone Cops!
BRAIN WASH
People tell their hairdresser more things about their lives than they do their family and friends. And Callahan finds this out the hard way, when she’s declared a traitor to the OSI after being unwittingly drugged into revealing top secret information to her top stylist boyfriend (John Bernard), who is using his saloon to brainwash clients and sell their collected details on to high bidding enemy agents.
Soon, Oscar and an on-the-run South American politician’s life are in danger, with Jaime’s secret bionic skills also compromised.
Better than you’d think idea in a lively script from James D. Parriott, with a good guest star in John Bernard.
 |
| Past and future collide in The Pyramid. |
THE PYRAMID
Investigating a mysterious signal sent to an abandoned military base, Jaime and her NASA technician boyfriend Chris (Christopher Stone) discover an alien newly awakened from suspended animation in contact with his race, now approaching Earth, but liable to cause war against the planet and destroy it unless Oscar and his ozone atmospheric recovery mission isn't ceased...
I don't quite know how it took four writers to put this bonkers adventure together, which also wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Lynda Carter episode of WONDER WOMAN, but overall it's enjoyable stuff. This is one of the first times on TV where anyone’s talked about the importance of the planet’s Ozone Layer, so kudos to the show’s writers there.
The alien force and their links to Earth’s past are also handled well enough-the idea of them with a Mayan type warrior doing their bidding is an odd but fascinating one adding to the story, and even Max the Bionic Dog gets a little moment in the sun too!
THE ANTIDOTE
Middle Eastern related terrorists poison Jaime in an attempt to find the top-secret location of Oscar Goldman, in an enjoyable little episode, which gives Chris, Callaghan and Max a showcase whilst Jaime in incapacitated and threatened with death in her own hospital bed. Max gets stuck in to the bionic action during a great sequence where it has to find the missing Rudy Wells by running through a lethal minefield and laser weapon emplacement area. Give that dog a bone!
 |
| Jaime encounters an alien girl (Helen Hunt) in Sanctuary Earth. |
SANCTUARY EARTH
A crashed weather probe brings a young alien stowaway to California, Princess Aura (played by a very young movie-star-to-be Helen Hunt), on the run from an evil empire who have sent two Max Wall lookalikes (The Hager twins) to capture her. Hunt gives a likeable performance and works well with Wagner, who gives it all some dignity, in another one of those purely of their time types of episode.
 |
| Jaime faces the end of the road in On the Run. |
ON THE RUN (Season and Series finale)
Jaime Sommers- endangered species!
Emotionally on the edge and exhausted from so many missions, Jaime quits the OSI and a saddened Oscar, wanting to get a semblance of her life back together. Unfortunately, the National Security Agency feels that Jaime’s bionics are government property, and that she’s too dangerous a security risk to let go. Our heroine soon has no choice but to go on the run from everything and everyone she loves…
In many ways the series comes full circle to the show’s origin episodes within THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, showing Jaime unstable at varying times during the episode, undergoing some trauma and the unease of having bionics returning to her psyche-that she’s losing her humanity and femininity.
Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson get some great character material to play with, the latter getting quite emotional when he shows his mettle squaring up to guest star baddie Skip Homeier.
The story may go slightly schmaltzy at the end but this is a worthy and well-written finale to the season, and, in the end, the series, from talented Steven E. de Souza. If this had been a two-parter linked to the end of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, which was also entering its final seasons stage, it would have provided a fine and memorable closure to the bionic duo’s adventures.
 |
| Back because we demanded it. Oscar, Jaime and Steve in The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman. |
THE RETURN OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND BIONIC WOMAN
(TV movie- 1987)
There’s a lot to like and dislike about this first movie bringing back our iconic bionic heroes. Primarily, though, it's nice to have the entire bionic family back, all of whom settle comfortably into their roles after years away, especially Lindsay Wagner as Jaime (who has now recovered her memories and love for Steve), and Brooks as Rudy, who looks and acts just the same as he did in his last series appearance!
Recognizing the potential of the characters resurrection, writers and producers Michael Sloan and Bruce Lansbury clearly have a lot of affection for the series, and the use of continuity is excellent (they even reference Max the bionic dog at one point!). There’s also the return of a classic series guest actor Gary Lockwood, which is great to see, and the always watchable Martin Landau, doing his best in an underwritten role, as an old foe from Steve and Jamie’s past, planning to re-launch his criminal empire, Fortress, and wanting their bionic abilities.
Though competently directed by UK TV fantasy series veteran Ray Austin (nice to see him reunited with Landau after their SPACE: 1999 days!), the negative side to the reunion is that the story’s pacing feels unusually off- there’s just too many characters vying for screen time and too much going on in an hour and a half. The filmmakers also have to shoehorn in the potential for a new series spin-off, a next generation passing of the torch which is reasonably successful, as Steve’s hitherto unknown to the audience young son (played by Tom Schanley), a hot shot pilot soon becoming critically injured himself and getting a bionic makeover - even more superior to Steve and Jaime in their abilities!
Watch out for a brief appearance from BREAKING BAD’s Bryan Cranston as an ER doctor!
 |
| Passing the torch to the next Bionic Woman (Sandra Bullock) in Bionic Showdown. |
BIONIC SHOWDOWN: THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND THE BIONIC WOMAN
(Second reunion TV movie- 1989)
Amongst the emerging spirit of Detente, The World Unity Games are in danger from a group of radical powerbrokers across both sides of the east and west, possessing a bionic agent with powers greater than Steve and Jaime.
Suspecting a traitor in the OSI, Oscar is soon kidnapped, resulting in the mature bionic duo being no longer trusted by their new superiors in the organization. With new bionic recruit Kate Mason and her boyfriend, nephew to Oscar Goldman, the quartet head to Toronto to unravel the truth and prevent a catastrophe.
Guest starring THE EQUALIZER’s Robert Lansing as Oscar’s military antagonist, General McAllister, Josef Sommer and FOREVER KNIGHT’s Geraint Wyn Davies, BIONIC SHOWDOWN is a better made, more focused second film, co-produced by Lee Majors and Richard Anderson (who also gets a bit more to do this time round as Oscar), co-written by Michael Sloan. It’s also better directed, too, by the more experienced SIX MILLION veteran Alan J. Levi. Film-star-to-be Sandra Bullock makes for a likable addition to the bionic team, with new technology from Rudy Wells. V’s Jeff Yagher starts off annoying as Jim Goldman but gets better as the film goes along. Sadly, our main bionic heroes Steve and Jaime get sidelined into the second half as the younger heroes get the limelight.
Note: Lee Majors son, Lee Majors II, appears in all three TV films as OSI agent Jim Castillian ("with two l's!”)
 |
| A happy conclusion for our heroes in Bionic Ever After? |
BIONIC EVER AFTER?
(Third and final reunion TV movie 1994)
Steve and Jaime’s long overdue wedding is temporarily put on hold when the latter’s bionics suddenly go into life threatening malfunction mode, whilst the former is soon caught up in an American embassy siege by a deranged terrorist in the Bahamas, ready to launch a stolen missile. The two incidents at first seem unrelated, but a deadly plan of revenge is being initiated against them and the OSI.
Originally to have been called Bionic Breakdown, this is an enjoyable finale to our heroes and their TV legend, directed with confidence by Lee Majors ex-assistant Steve Stafford. The plot runs out of juice pretty quickly into its second half, and the villain is noticeable pretty early on, but at least this time around our bionic couple are more centered in the story, and its proceedings, with no spin-off characters or further newbies introduced.
It’s nice to see Steve and Jaime finally married and the whole bionic era satisfyingly concluded.
With huge thanks to FABULOUS FILMS for all their help and support in the creation of this feature.
Get hold of the complete THE BIONIC WOMAN series here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bionic-Woman-Complete-Lindsay-Wagner/dp/B0073V2GQ0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1367662386&sr=8-3&keywords=bionic+woman
For more on THE BIONIC WOMAN, don't forget the hugely enjoyable Bionic Blonde blogsite: Welcome to Bionic Blonde. A no-nonsense blog site for people who *heart* Jaime Sommers, the original Bionic Woman and Bionic News | The Six Million Dollar Blog
For more on THE BIONIC WOMAN, don't forget the hugely enjoyable Bionic Blonde blogsite: Welcome to Bionic Blonde. A no-nonsense blog site for people who *heart* Jaime Sommers, the original Bionic Woman and Bionic News | The Six Million Dollar Blog
No comments:
Post a Comment