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Bionic Six
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Bionic Six was an American/Japanese animated television series from the 1980s produced by TMS Entertainment and distributed by Studios USA and MCA Television (later renamed NBC/Universal Television).
The main character, 'Bionic-1', was a machine-enhanced human being using bionic technology, much like The Six Million Dollar Man.
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Encyclopedia
Bionic Six was an American/Japanese animated television series from the 1980s produced by TMS Entertainment and distributed by Studios USA and MCA Television (later renamed NBC/Universal Television).
The main character, 'Bionic-1', was a machine-enhanced human being using bionic technology, much like The Six Million Dollar Man. On a vacation in the Himalayas, Bionic-1 and his family were testing out some new ski equipment. They were attacked by aliens and during the battle, in which Jack revealed his abilities to his children for the first time, there was an avalanche and the Bennetts were all buried alive under radioactive snow. All, but Jack (whose bionics made him immune to the radioactivity), were thrown into paralytic comas. Unsure how to save them, Bionic-1 brings the family to Professor Sharp's lab. Sharp deduces that giving everyone the bionic treatment would cure them of the radioactivity too. Each family member was given a specific bionic power, and they formed a team named Bionic Six.
Characters
The Bennett family included Jack, Helen, Eric, Meg, JD, and Bunji. Each member wore a special ring and a wristcomp (a mini-computer hardwired into the wrist), which they used to activate their Bionic Powers.
- Jack Bennett was a test pilot who enjoyed cooking. His codename was Bionic-1 and his powers included super sight, optic beams and enhanced hearing. John Stephenson provided his voice.
- Mother-1 was the codename of Jack's wife, Helen Bennett, and she possessed psychic powers. She could also create optical illusions/holograms. She was voiced by Carol Bilger.
- Eric Bennett was Jack & Helen's blond, athletic son. His codename was Sport-1 and his power was electromagnetics. He could attract or repel metallic objects with tremendous force, or even rip them apart. This force was directional and - by varying the shape of his hands, or by using one or both arms - Sport-1 could adjust the strength of attraction/repulsion. He frequently used a baseball bat to return attacks to their source. At local Albert Einstein High School, Eric was in the eleventh grade and captain of the baseball team. Moreover, he often worked various baseball expressions into everyday conversation. He was voiced by Hal Rayle.
- Jack & Helen's daughter and youngest child was Eric's sister, Meg Bennett, an excitable and somewhat-ditzy girl who loved music...and who said "So-LAR!" (another word for "awesome") a lot. She also made frequent use of the prefixes "Mega-!" (as befitting her first name) and, less frequently, "Ultra-!" Her codename was Rock-1 (as in "rock and roll") and she could shoot sonic beams from blaster units mounted on her shoulders. (The blaster units were only visible while she was in "bionic mode.") She could also run at incredible speeds (even faster than the rest of the team). At AEHS, Meg was in the tenth grade. She and Eric were Jack & Helen's sole biological offspring. Meg was voiced by Bobbi Block.
- JD Bennett was Jack & Helen's intelligent, adopted African-American son. He enjoyed boxing. His codename was IQ and he had super-strength and super-intelligence. (JD was the only member with a codename that didn't include the number 1.) At AEHS, JD was in the twelfth grade. What his initials stood for was never clarified. He was voiced by Norman Bernard.
- The last Bennett, Bunji, was Jack & Helen's foster son. He was placed under their guardianship after his own father disappeared. Bunji was a cute, but troublemaking, Asian-American karate enthusiast. His codename was Karate-1 and he had martial arts skills, made more formidable with his bionics (some sources claim his enhancement was even stronger legs). At AEHS, Bunji was in the ninth grade. He was voiced by Brian Tochi, of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Space Academy fame.
- F.L.U.F.F.I., a gorilla-like robot made by Professor Sharp, who lived with the Bennetts. He looked and acted a little dumb, but was quite helpful to the Bionic Six...whether he was helping the Bennett kids with their homework, or assisting the adults with a perilous scientific experiment. Unfortunately, FLUFFI had one serious weakness: a craving for aluminum. If he wasn't fed regularly, he'd think nothing of eating the Bennetts' pots and pans. As with JD, what FLUFFI's initials stood for was only speculated on, never revealed throughout the series.
Enemies
Like any great superheroes, the Bionic Six had an archenemy in the form of Dr. Scarab (real name Dr. Wilmer Sharp, he is Amadeus Sharp's older brother), a large, evil and occasionally comical man who yearned for the secret to eternal life. He assembled a rag-tag team of ex-convicts and psychiatric patients and gave them bio-mechanical powers. He was voiced by Jim MacGeorge. His henchmen are described below:
- Glove - Named for his blaster glove. He always schemed to replace Dr. Scarab. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
- Madame-O - A blue-skinned femme fatale who wore a full face mask and used a "harp" weapon to fire sonic blasts. She was voiced by Jennifer Darling.
- Mechanic - A dimwitted, brutish type man who used various mechanical tools as weapons. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
- Chopper - A chain-wielding thug who always sounded as though he were revving up a motorcycle. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
- Klunk - An inarticulate monstrosity that appeared to be made of living glue. He was voiced by John Stephenson.
Whenever Scarab and his team were disguised and felt ready to remove their disguises, they slammed their fists to their chest insignias, exclaiming "Hail Scarab!" (Scarab, however, exclaimed, "Hail me!"). Doing so also served another purpose--the activation of a temporary strength enhancement.
In addition to his henchmen, Scarab also used robots, which he called Zyphrons, in his fight against the Bionic Six.
Episode List
Season 1 (Spring 1987)
- Valley of Shadows (19 April 1987)
- Enter the Bunji (19 April 1987)
- Eric Bats a Thousand (26 April 1987)
- Klunk in Love (26 April 1987)
- Radio Scarab (3 May 1987)
- Family Affair (3 May 1987)
- Happy Birthday, Amadeus (10 May 1987)
- Brain Food (10 May 1987)
- Just a Little Handicap (17 May 1987)
- Bionics On! The First Adventure (17 May 1987)
- Back to the Past (1) (24 May 1987)
- Back to the Past (2) (24 May 1987)
- Fugitive F.L.U.F.F.I. (31 May 1987)
- Nick of Time (31 May 1987)
- Youth or Consequences (7 June 1987)
- Extra Innings (7 June 1987)
- Return of the Bunji (14 June 1987)
- Crown of the Scarab King (14 June 1987)
- 1001 Bionic Nights (21 June 1987)
- The Perceptor File (21 June 1987)
- Masterpiece (28 June 1987)
- House Rules (28 June 1987)
Season 2 (Fall 1987)
- Holidaze (8 September 1987)
- Nightmare at Cypress Cove (9 September 1987)
- Music Power (10 September 1987)
- The Hive (11 September 1987)
- Mindlink (14 September 1987)
- I Compute, Therefore I Am (15 September 1987)
- Pass/Fail (16 September 1987)
- Born to Be Bad (17 September 1987)
- A Clean Slate (1) (18 September 1987)
- A Clean Slate (2) (21 September 1987)
- Spin Out (22 September 1987)
- The Man in the Moon (23 September 1987)
- The Case of the Baker Street Bionics (24 September 1987)
- Now You See Me... (25 September 1987)
- Crystal Clear (28 September 1987)
- You've Come a Long Way, Baby! (29 September 1987)
- Up and Atom (30 September 1987)
- Home Movies (1 October 1987)
- Scarabscam (2 October 1987)
- Kaleidoscope (5 October 1987)
- Once Upon a Crime (6 October 1987)
- Mrs. Scarab (7 October 1987)
- The Secret Life of Wellington Forsby (8 October 1987)
- The Fungus Among Us (9 October 1987)
- Bottom of the Ninth Planet (12 October 1987)
- Triple Cross (13 October 1987)
- I, Scarab (1) (14 October 1987)
- I, Scarab (2) (15 October 1987)
- Scabracadabra (16 October 1987)
- The Glitch (19 October 1987)
- A Matter of Gravity (20 October 1987)
- The Elemental (21 October 1987)
- I Am the Viper (22 October 1987)
- Shadow Boxer (23 October 1987)
- Call of the Bunji (2 November 1987)
- A Super Bunch of Guys (3 November 1987)
- The Monkey Has Landed (4 November 1987)
- Ready, Aim, Fired (5 November 1987)
- Love Note (6 November 1987)
- Bone of Contention (9 November 1987)
- Junk Heap (10 November 1987)
- The Return of Mrs. Scarab (11 November 1987)
- That's All, Folks! (12 November 1987)
Action figures
Produced by LJN in 1986, the line consisted of 13 figures, five vehicles and one playset. These figures and vehicles were made up of plastic and die-cast metal with some of the figures having see through limbs. F.L.U.F.F.I. the robot ape was hard to find early in the series' release, but was easy to come by later on as the line lost popularity. Today, the line remains moderately collectible with the playset and vehicles being the hardest to come across.
Trivia
In Germany, most of the family's codenames were changed. Mother-1 became Bionic-2, Rock-1 became Rocky, Sport-1 became Baseball
and Karate-1 became Kamikaze. Bionic-1 and I.Q. stayed the same.
Alan Oppenheimer, the actor who provided the voice for Professor Sharp, was the first (of two) to play Dr. Rudy Wells in the The Six Million Dollar Man TV series.
Jennifer Darling (Madame O's voice) played Peggy Callahan (Mr. Goldman's assistant) in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series.
Carol Bilger (Helen Bennett/Mother-1) also provided the voice of Professor Sharp's computer.
Bobbi Block (Meg Bennett/Rock-1) also played the voice of Roxy in the animated series Jem.
In the episode "I, Scarab: Part 2" Professor Sharp forms a new Bionic Six, created entirely from guest stars on other episodes. They are Kaleidoscope (a bionic thief who once battled the team), Perceptor (a blind bionic superhero) and the Bandroids (four bionic robots that traveled as a rock group). After rescuing the Bionic Six from Scarab, they went on to become the Bionic Twelve.
DVD Releases
as of 19.02.2009 there are no plans to release this show on DVD
External links
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