The Bionic Woman
Encyclopedia
The Bionic Woman is an American television series starring Lindsay Wagner
that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man
. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving
accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman
(Richard Anderson
) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks
), by "bionic" surgical implants
similar to those of The Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin
. As the result of Jaime's bionics, she has amplified hearing in her right ear, a greatly strengthened right arm, and stronger and enhanced legs which enable her to run at up to 60 miles per hour.
The series premiered on ABC
in January 1976, as a mid-season replacement. With thirteen episodes airing from January 1976 to May 1976, it became the fifth most-watched television show of the 1975-1976 season, ranking behind Maude, Laverne & Shirley, Rich Man, Poor Man, and All In The Family, and slightly ahead of The Six Million Dollar Man. Season Two ran from September 1976 to May 1977 with 22 episodes and finished with good ratings (#14 overall - slightly behind The Six Million Dollar Man). Season Two also had its most notable episodes, "Kill Oscar" where Jaime fights the fembots, and "Deadly Ringer", which would win Wagner an Emmy Award
. Although the show performed well during Season Two, ABC elected not to renew the series feeling it was no longer attracting the kind of demographics that ABC wanted. NBC
picked up the show for a third (and final) season. Season Three ran from September 1977 to May 1978 with 22 episodes and would see a new character, Chris Williams (Christopher Stone
), as a recurring love-interest for Jaime. This was due in part to the change of networks which prevented any more crossovers by Jaime's former love-interest, Steve Austin.
, to buy a ranch that is for sale and to visit his mother and stepfather. During his visit, he rekindles his old relationship with Jaime Sommers, now one of America's top tennis
players. Their relationship progresses rapidly to the point where Steve proposes marriage.
During an outing, Steve and Jaime take part in some skydiving. But Jaime's parachute malfunctions and she plummets toward the ground, falling through tree branches and hitting the ground, suffering traumatic injuries to her head, legs, and right arm. Steve then makes an emotional plea to his boss, Oscar Goldman, to save Jaime's life by implementing bionics, even going so far as to commit Jaime to becoming an operative of the Office of Scientific Intelligence
(OSI), a branch of the CIA. Goldman agrees to assign Dr. Rudy Wells (played at this point in the series by Alan Oppenheimer
) and the bionics team to rebuild her.
Jaime's body is reconstructed with parts similar to Steve's but the actual cost of rebuilding her is not revealed. It is said humorously in dialogue to be less than the $6 million it cost to rebuild Austin because the replacement parts for her were "smaller". However, the German dub of the show contradicts this as it is called Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau (translated: The Seven Million Dollar Woman) in that country. Like Steve before her, Jaime is given two bionic legs, capable of propelling her at speeds exceeding 60 mph (having been clocked at more than 62 mph in "Doomsday Is Tomorrow") and jumping to and from great heights, and her right arm is replaced by a lifelike prosthetic capable of bending steel or throwing objects great distances. Whereas Austin received a bionic eye, the inner mechanism of Jaime's right ear is replaced by a bionic device that gives her amplified hearing such that she can detect most sounds regardless of volume or frequency (she is often shown using this ability to break into safes). These bionic implants cannot be distinguished from natural body parts, except on occasions where they sustain damage and the mechanisms beneath the skin become exposed, as seen in Part 2 of the episode Doomsday Is Tomorrow, when Jaime sustained damage to her right leg. Also, as Jaime discovered on a vacation in the Bahamas, her bionic skin cannot tan with exposure to sunlight.
After Jaime recovers from her operation, Steve tries to break his agreement with Oscar that she will serve as an agent for OSI, but Jaime agrees to go on a mission for Oscar, despite Steve's concerns. During the mission, however, her bionics malfunction, and she experiences severe and crippling headaches. Subsequently, Dr. Wells determines that Jaime's body is rejecting her bionic implants as a massive cerebral clot is apparently causing her headaches and malfunctions. Soon after, she goes berserk and crashes her way out of the hospital. Steve takes pursuit and eventually catches up with her, where she collapses in his arms. Soon after, Jaime dies on the operating table, her body shutting down. The episode ends with Steve weeping at her memory.
The character was so popular that ABC asked the writers to find a way to bring her back. In the first episode of the next season, it is revealed that Jaime had not died after all, although Steve was not informed of this fact. He soon discovers the truth when he is hospitalized at Dr. Wells' clinic after a mission goes bad in which he suffers severe damage to his bionic legs and he sees Jaime as he is being rolled into the operating room before slipping into a coma.
As Steve later learns, Wells' assistant, Dr. Michael Marcetti, had urged Rudy (now played by Martin E. Brooks) to try his newly developed cryogenic techniques to keep Jaime in suspended animation
until the cerebral clot could be safely removed, after which she was successfully revived. A side-effect of the procedure causes Jaime to develop amnesia and forget her relationship with Steve and any attempt to make her remember her life with Steve causes her headaches and pain. Steve reluctantly lets her go on to live her own life as an agent for the OSI, although the pair would frequently work together on missions and reestablish a friendship.
Jaime, now retired as a tennis player, takes a job as a schoolteacher in Ojai. She lives in a refurbished apartment over the ranch's barn, rented from Steve's mother and stepfather, who are aware of their bionic nature and double lives as secret agents. In Season Three, Jaime adopts Maximillion, a German Shepherd dog that has been given a bionic jaw and legs and could run at speeds of up to 90 mph. His bionics pre-dated Steve and Jamie's as he was a lab animal who was badly injured in a lab fire and was then used as a guinea pig
for bionics. He was named Maximillion because the cost of his bionics was one million dollars. When he was introduced, he started experiencing symptoms that suggested an age-related variant of bionic rejection and was due to be dissected, but it was discovered the condition was actually psychological due to memories of the traumatic fire that injured him when he was a puppy. As such, the dog was allowed to live and become Jaime's pet.
and a three-part story arc entitled "Kill Oscar" that aired the first and third parts as Bionic Woman episodes and the second part as an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. The close connection between The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman was highlighted by the fact that Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks eventually were playing their same characters on two different television shows running concurrently on two different networks.
On her own, Jaime's enemies include the Fembots, a line of powerful androids that she fights twice in the series over several episodes. She also thwarts the plan of an aging nuclear scientist named Elijah Cooper to destroy all life on Earth using a doomsday device
in "Doomsday Is Tomorrow". Jaime's mission's frequently involved undercover work in which she takes on a secret identity, such as a nun, a police officer, a college student, an air-steward, a singer, and a professional wrestler. Her tennis background also came into play occasionally, and she was also from time to time seen having adventures with some of her students in Ojai.
As with spy shows at this time, Jaime was frequently kidnapped (more often than not with the use of chloroform
or a drugged drink) and placed in dangerous situations from which she would need her bionic abilities to escape. Typically she would be bound or handcuffed to a bomb which she could escape with ease once she woke up. However, on one occasion she was handcuffed to a friend, so she could not use her bionic strength to escape as this would pull off the friend's hand.
Jaime dealt with a number of bizarre cases, such as a villain who operates a hair salon using a "truth serum" shampoo to extract information from OSI agents. In another episode, a convict named Lisa Galloway is given plastic surgery and tries to replace Jaime. In a later episode, Lisa ingests a paste-like substance called Adrenalizine that gives her temporary super-strength, allowing her to fully replace Jaime at OSI while the real Jaime is imprisoned and led to question her own identity. Lisa, however, did not know of Jaime's bionic implants and believed her powers to have come from the Adrenalizine. After Jaime's eventual escape, Dr. Wells discovers that the Adrenalizine was breaking down and becoming toxic to Lisa's health. Further complicating the issue was Lisa's increasing belief that she was in fact, the real Jaime.
During the series, it is shown that Jaime's enhanced abilities have their limitations. In one episode, Jaime jumps from the window of a particularly tall building while trying to escape the Fembots. However, due to the height from which she jumped, her legs malfunction upon landing, knocking her unconscious. Extreme cold is shown to inhibit her bionic implants, causing them to freeze up and malfunction. However, her right ear, as it is encased in her body, is typically not subject to these negative effects.
as Jaime is similarly being pursued by entities concerned about the secret information she possesses.
Despite being on different networks, both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man were simultaneously cancelled in the spring of 1978.
In the first reunion, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Jaime and Steve are reunited after nearly ten years of living separate lives. Jaime's memory is fully restored (according to Oscar, Jaime was in an accident that involved an explosion, and "she remembered everything" after she recovered from her concussion) and she tries to reconcile her feelings for Steve, while at the same time helping train Steve's son Michael in the use of his own recently acquired updated bionics. Jaime challenges Michael to a friendly race, and is outpaced, making the comment she feels like an "obsolete model".
The second film, Bionic Showdown, introduced Sandra Bullock
as paraplegic Kate Mason who becomes a next-generation bionic woman and Sommers again helps train the neophyte cyborg.
In the final reunion film, Bionic Ever After?, a computer virus corrupts Jaime's bionic systems. Dr. Wells informs Steve that "she may never be bionic again," but Steve's main regard is he wants her alive above all else. She undergoes a major upgrade, which not only increases the power of her bionics but gives her night vision. Finally, after so many years of waiting around, the bionic couple say their "I Do's".
has released the first two Seasons of The Bionic Woman on DVD in the UK and Australia. In Germany, Koch Media
has released all three seasons on DVD under the name Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau.
A North American DVD release was previously planned by Universal Studios. Those plans were made public via a listing in a TV-DVD release guide sent to retailers, a mention in an otherwise unrelated studio press release, and as a trailer included on a DVD given away through retail chain Best Buy. However, the release had never actually happened due to rights issues which prevented both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man from being released on DVD in North America.
In April 2010, creator Kenneth Johnson said that the rights issues had been solved and he was taping interviews for the DVD. On July 15, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
announced the release of the first season on DVD in North America, which took place on October 19, 2010. Season 2 was released on May 17, 2011. On October 4, 2011, Universal released The Bionic Woman: The Complete Third & Final Season on Region 1 DVD.
's 1972 novel, Cyborg
, this only refers to the bionics concept, the characters of Rudy Wells and Oscar Goldman, and the occasional appearance by Steve Austin; Jaime Sommers does not appear in any of Caidin's novels.
A short-lived comic book series by Charlton Comics
was published in the US in 1976–77. UK comic Look-In
ran a colour comic strip between 1976 and 1979, written by Angus P. Allan and drawn by artists including John Bolton and Arthur Ranson
. The character was also to have appeared in a 1996 comic miniseries entitled Bionix by Maximum Press. Although the magazine was advertised in comic book trade publications, it was ultimately never published.
The French comic Télé-Junior published strips based on popular TV series. This included their own versions of The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman which was renamed Super Jaimie.
Like its parent program The Bionic Woman spawned its own line of toys. Kenner
produced an 12-inch doll of the character, with similar features to the Steve Austin version (bionic modules and removable bionic limbs), except instead of a bionic eye the doll's head would click when turned, simulating the sound of Jaime's bionic ear. Accessories for the doll released by Kenner included additional fashions, and a Bionic Beauty Salon playset.
A metal lunchbox for children was available, as was a vinyl story record produced by Wonderland Records. Kenner
produced a series of stickers and temporary tattoos featuring Jaime Sommers individually and with Steve Austin.
A board game based on The Bionic Woman series was also created. It was sold by Parker Brothers in the US, and was a 2–4 player game suited for children between 7 and 12 years of age.
was being considered for the title role. After the initial press release was issued, the show never made it out of pre-production and no other announcements were made as to the show's fate.
On October 9, 2006, NBC Universal announced that it was bringing the project back, with new producers and a reworking of the concept. The project's one hour pilot was given an official greenlight by NBC on January 3, 2007. On February 13, 2007 it was announced that English actress Michelle Ryan
(affecting an American accent) had been cast in the title role for this pilot, and that Katee Sackhoff
would play Sarah Corvus, the bionic woman's nemesis. The series was subsequently picked up by NBC and debuted on September 26, 2007. Eight more episodes were produced and aired before the Writers Guild of America strike
forced a halt to production. As of March 2008, NBC had not yet announced whether the show would be renewed, allowed to complete its original order of 13 episodes, or cancelled outright, although series developer and producer David Eick
told the official website of the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy
) on March 18, 2008, that the series had been cancelled. Lindsay Wagner
, the original Bionic Woman, was not involved in the new series. Wagner said, "On a technical level, it was very good, but I don't think they understood the show. It was steeped in that old-school thinking. It was like a lot of things today, angry and dark.
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
that aired for three seasons between 1976 and 1978 as a spin off from The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
. Wagner stars as tennis pro Jaime Sommers who is nearly killed in a skydiving
Parachuting
Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal...
accident. Sommers' life is saved by Oscar Goldman
Oscar Goldman
Oscar Goldman is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin and introduced in his 1972 novel Cyborg. In the 1970s, he was portrayed by Richard Anderson in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman television series which were based upon Cyborg...
(Richard Anderson
Richard Anderson
Richard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks
Martin E. Brooks
Martin E. Brooks is an American character actor known for playing scientist Dr. Rudy Wells in the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman, from 1975 onward .Brooks reprised the role of Wells in three television movies: The Return of the...
), by "bionic" surgical implants
Implant (medicine)
An implant is a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure, or enhance an existing biological structure. Medical implants are man-made devices, in contrast to a transplant, which is a transplanted biomedical tissue...
similar to those of The Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin
Steve Austin (fictional character)
Steve Austin is a fictional character created by Martin Caidin for his 1972 novel, Cyborg, who later became a 1970s television icon as portrayed by Lee Majors in the 1974-1978 series The Six Million Dollar Man.-Background:...
. As the result of Jaime's bionics, she has amplified hearing in her right ear, a greatly strengthened right arm, and stronger and enhanced legs which enable her to run at up to 60 miles per hour.
The series premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in January 1976, as a mid-season replacement. With thirteen episodes airing from January 1976 to May 1976, it became the fifth most-watched television show of the 1975-1976 season, ranking behind Maude, Laverne & Shirley, Rich Man, Poor Man, and All In The Family, and slightly ahead of The Six Million Dollar Man. Season Two ran from September 1976 to May 1977 with 22 episodes and finished with good ratings (#14 overall - slightly behind The Six Million Dollar Man). Season Two also had its most notable episodes, "Kill Oscar" where Jaime fights the fembots, and "Deadly Ringer", which would win Wagner an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. Although the show performed well during Season Two, ABC elected not to renew the series feeling it was no longer attracting the kind of demographics that ABC wanted. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
picked up the show for a third (and final) season. Season Three ran from September 1977 to May 1978 with 22 episodes and would see a new character, Chris Williams (Christopher Stone
Christopher Stone (actor)
Christopher Stone was an American actor.Stone appeared on film and television from the early 1970s and married actress Dee Wallace in 1980. Together, they appeared in a number of films including the classic horror films The Howling and Cujo...
), as a recurring love-interest for Jaime. This was due in part to the change of networks which prevented any more crossovers by Jaime's former love-interest, Steve Austin.
Overview
The character of Jaime Sommers first appears in a two-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man in 1975 titled "The Bionic Woman". In this episode, Steve travels to his old hometown of Ojai, CaliforniaOjai, California
Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California, USA. It is situated in the Ojai Valley , surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.-History:Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley...
, to buy a ranch that is for sale and to visit his mother and stepfather. During his visit, he rekindles his old relationship with Jaime Sommers, now one of America's top tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
players. Their relationship progresses rapidly to the point where Steve proposes marriage.
During an outing, Steve and Jaime take part in some skydiving. But Jaime's parachute malfunctions and she plummets toward the ground, falling through tree branches and hitting the ground, suffering traumatic injuries to her head, legs, and right arm. Steve then makes an emotional plea to his boss, Oscar Goldman, to save Jaime's life by implementing bionics, even going so far as to commit Jaime to becoming an operative of the Office of Scientific Intelligence
Office of Scientific Intelligence
Office of Scientific Intelligence was the name of a department of the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1963, it was incorporated into the Directorate of Science & Technology.-Pop culture:...
(OSI), a branch of the CIA. Goldman agrees to assign Dr. Rudy Wells (played at this point in the series by Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
) and the bionics team to rebuild her.
Jaime's body is reconstructed with parts similar to Steve's but the actual cost of rebuilding her is not revealed. It is said humorously in dialogue to be less than the $6 million it cost to rebuild Austin because the replacement parts for her were "smaller". However, the German dub of the show contradicts this as it is called Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau (translated: The Seven Million Dollar Woman) in that country. Like Steve before her, Jaime is given two bionic legs, capable of propelling her at speeds exceeding 60 mph (having been clocked at more than 62 mph in "Doomsday Is Tomorrow") and jumping to and from great heights, and her right arm is replaced by a lifelike prosthetic capable of bending steel or throwing objects great distances. Whereas Austin received a bionic eye, the inner mechanism of Jaime's right ear is replaced by a bionic device that gives her amplified hearing such that she can detect most sounds regardless of volume or frequency (she is often shown using this ability to break into safes). These bionic implants cannot be distinguished from natural body parts, except on occasions where they sustain damage and the mechanisms beneath the skin become exposed, as seen in Part 2 of the episode Doomsday Is Tomorrow, when Jaime sustained damage to her right leg. Also, as Jaime discovered on a vacation in the Bahamas, her bionic skin cannot tan with exposure to sunlight.
After Jaime recovers from her operation, Steve tries to break his agreement with Oscar that she will serve as an agent for OSI, but Jaime agrees to go on a mission for Oscar, despite Steve's concerns. During the mission, however, her bionics malfunction, and she experiences severe and crippling headaches. Subsequently, Dr. Wells determines that Jaime's body is rejecting her bionic implants as a massive cerebral clot is apparently causing her headaches and malfunctions. Soon after, she goes berserk and crashes her way out of the hospital. Steve takes pursuit and eventually catches up with her, where she collapses in his arms. Soon after, Jaime dies on the operating table, her body shutting down. The episode ends with Steve weeping at her memory.
The character was so popular that ABC asked the writers to find a way to bring her back. In the first episode of the next season, it is revealed that Jaime had not died after all, although Steve was not informed of this fact. He soon discovers the truth when he is hospitalized at Dr. Wells' clinic after a mission goes bad in which he suffers severe damage to his bionic legs and he sees Jaime as he is being rolled into the operating room before slipping into a coma.
As Steve later learns, Wells' assistant, Dr. Michael Marcetti, had urged Rudy (now played by Martin E. Brooks) to try his newly developed cryogenic techniques to keep Jaime in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
until the cerebral clot could be safely removed, after which she was successfully revived. A side-effect of the procedure causes Jaime to develop amnesia and forget her relationship with Steve and any attempt to make her remember her life with Steve causes her headaches and pain. Steve reluctantly lets her go on to live her own life as an agent for the OSI, although the pair would frequently work together on missions and reestablish a friendship.
Jaime, now retired as a tennis player, takes a job as a schoolteacher in Ojai. She lives in a refurbished apartment over the ranch's barn, rented from Steve's mother and stepfather, who are aware of their bionic nature and double lives as secret agents. In Season Three, Jaime adopts Maximillion, a German Shepherd dog that has been given a bionic jaw and legs and could run at speeds of up to 90 mph. His bionics pre-dated Steve and Jamie's as he was a lab animal who was badly injured in a lab fire and was then used as a guinea pig
Guinea pig
The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...
for bionics. He was named Maximillion because the cost of his bionics was one million dollars. When he was introduced, he started experiencing symptoms that suggested an age-related variant of bionic rejection and was due to be dissected, but it was discovered the condition was actually psychological due to memories of the traumatic fire that injured him when he was a puppy. As such, the dog was allowed to live and become Jaime's pet.
Storylines
The most notable of the frequent crossovers between the two shows included a two-part episode in which Steve and Jaime square off against Austin's sometimes-friend/sometimes-enemy BigfootBigfoot
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
and a three-part story arc entitled "Kill Oscar" that aired the first and third parts as Bionic Woman episodes and the second part as an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. The close connection between The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman was highlighted by the fact that Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks eventually were playing their same characters on two different television shows running concurrently on two different networks.
On her own, Jaime's enemies include the Fembots, a line of powerful androids that she fights twice in the series over several episodes. She also thwarts the plan of an aging nuclear scientist named Elijah Cooper to destroy all life on Earth using a doomsday device
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
in "Doomsday Is Tomorrow". Jaime's mission's frequently involved undercover work in which she takes on a secret identity, such as a nun, a police officer, a college student, an air-steward, a singer, and a professional wrestler. Her tennis background also came into play occasionally, and she was also from time to time seen having adventures with some of her students in Ojai.
As with spy shows at this time, Jaime was frequently kidnapped (more often than not with the use of chloroform
Chloroform
Chloroform is an organic compound with formula CHCl3. It is one of the four chloromethanes. The colorless, sweet-smelling, dense liquid is a trihalomethane, and is considered somewhat hazardous...
or a drugged drink) and placed in dangerous situations from which she would need her bionic abilities to escape. Typically she would be bound or handcuffed to a bomb which she could escape with ease once she woke up. However, on one occasion she was handcuffed to a friend, so she could not use her bionic strength to escape as this would pull off the friend's hand.
Jaime dealt with a number of bizarre cases, such as a villain who operates a hair salon using a "truth serum" shampoo to extract information from OSI agents. In another episode, a convict named Lisa Galloway is given plastic surgery and tries to replace Jaime. In a later episode, Lisa ingests a paste-like substance called Adrenalizine that gives her temporary super-strength, allowing her to fully replace Jaime at OSI while the real Jaime is imprisoned and led to question her own identity. Lisa, however, did not know of Jaime's bionic implants and believed her powers to have come from the Adrenalizine. After Jaime's eventual escape, Dr. Wells discovers that the Adrenalizine was breaking down and becoming toxic to Lisa's health. Further complicating the issue was Lisa's increasing belief that she was in fact, the real Jaime.
During the series, it is shown that Jaime's enhanced abilities have their limitations. In one episode, Jaime jumps from the window of a particularly tall building while trying to escape the Fembots. However, due to the height from which she jumped, her legs malfunction upon landing, knocking her unconscious. Extreme cold is shown to inhibit her bionic implants, causing them to freeze up and malfunction. However, her right ear, as it is encased in her body, is typically not subject to these negative effects.
Final episode
In the last episode (On the Run), Jamie is called "Robot Lady" by a little girl who has learned about her bionics. Like Steve Austin in the original book Cyborg, she has to come to terms with the fact that she is not quite human. After three years with too many assignments to allow her time to herself, she resigns. However, the people in charge decide that she cannot just be allowed to leave and want to put her into a safe community where they can keep their eye on her. She goes on the run but later realises that she is still the same woman, despite her mechanical parts and goes back to work for the OSI, but with fewer missions and more time to herself. The final episode was acknowledged to have been inspired by The PrisonerThe Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
as Jaime is similarly being pursued by entities concerned about the secret information she possesses.
Despite being on different networks, both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man were simultaneously cancelled in the spring of 1978.
TV movies
Three made-for-TV movies were produced between 1987 and 1994 that expanded the "bionic family" and explored a rekindled love between Jaime and Steve.In the first reunion, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Jaime and Steve are reunited after nearly ten years of living separate lives. Jaime's memory is fully restored (according to Oscar, Jaime was in an accident that involved an explosion, and "she remembered everything" after she recovered from her concussion) and she tries to reconcile her feelings for Steve, while at the same time helping train Steve's son Michael in the use of his own recently acquired updated bionics. Jaime challenges Michael to a friendly race, and is outpaced, making the comment she feels like an "obsolete model".
The second film, Bionic Showdown, introduced Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
as paraplegic Kate Mason who becomes a next-generation bionic woman and Sommers again helps train the neophyte cyborg.
In the final reunion film, Bionic Ever After?, a computer virus corrupts Jaime's bionic systems. Dr. Wells informs Steve that "she may never be bionic again," but Steve's main regard is he wants her alive above all else. She undergoes a major upgrade, which not only increases the power of her bionics but gives her night vision. Finally, after so many years of waiting around, the bionic couple say their "I Do's".
DVD releases
Universal PlaybackUniversal Playback
Playback is a label of Universal Studios Home Entertainment in the United Kingdom, which specialises in releasing Region 2 DVDs of classic and cult television programmes. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known BBC sitcoms.-DVD releases:...
has released the first two Seasons of The Bionic Woman on DVD in the UK and Australia. In Germany, Koch Media
Koch Media
The Koch Media group is a media enterprise started in 1994 by Franz Koch and Dr. Klemens Kundratitz.The Koch Media group produces and markets digital entertainment products and accessories in Europe and North America...
has released all three seasons on DVD under the name Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau.
A North American DVD release was previously planned by Universal Studios. Those plans were made public via a listing in a TV-DVD release guide sent to retailers, a mention in an otherwise unrelated studio press release, and as a trailer included on a DVD given away through retail chain Best Buy. However, the release had never actually happened due to rights issues which prevented both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man from being released on DVD in North America.
In April 2010, creator Kenneth Johnson said that the rights issues had been solved and he was taping interviews for the DVD. On July 15, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
announced the release of the first season on DVD in North America, which took place on October 19, 2010. Season 2 was released on May 17, 2011. On October 4, 2011, Universal released The Bionic Woman: The Complete Third & Final Season on Region 1 DVD.
| DVD Name | |Release dates | Extras | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 (UK) | Region 2 (DE) | Region 4 | |||
| The Complete Season One | 14 | October 19, 2010 | September 26, 2005 | March 7, 2008 | August 15, 2006 | *Four episodes from The Six Million Dollar Man, featuring the origins of The Bionic Woman (Region 1 only)*Bionic Beginnings Featurette (Region 1 only) |
| The Complete Season Two | 22 | May 17, 2011 | October 23, 2006 | July 25, 2008 | October 24, 2006 | |
| The Complete Season Three | 22 | October 4, 2011 | TBA | January 30, 2009 | TBA |
Spin-off books
Two novels adapting various episodes were published to coincide with the series: Welcome Home, Jaime and Extracurricular Activities, both by Eileen Lottman. The UK editions of these two books were credited to "Maud Willis" and were retitled Double Identity and A Question of Life, respectively. Although the closing credits of every episode says the series was based upon Martin CaidinMartin Caidin
Martin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation.Caidin wrote more than 50 books, including Samurai!, Black Thursday, Thunderbolt!, Fork-Tailed Devil: The P-38, Zero!, The Ragged, Rugged Warriors, A Torch to the Enemy and many other works of military history...
's 1972 novel, Cyborg
Cyborg (novel)
Cyborg is the title of a science fiction/secret agent novel by Martin Caidin which was first published in 1972. The novel also included elements of speculative fiction, and was adapted as the television series The Six Million Dollar Man and also inspired its spin-off, The Bionic Woman.-Plot...
, this only refers to the bionics concept, the characters of Rudy Wells and Oscar Goldman, and the occasional appearance by Steve Austin; Jaime Sommers does not appear in any of Caidin's novels.
A short-lived comic book series by Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1946 to 1985, having begun under a different name in 1944. It was based in Derby, Connecticut...
was published in the US in 1976–77. UK comic Look-In
Look-in
Look-in was a long running children's magazine centred around ITV's television programmes in the United Kingdom, and subtitled "The Junior TVTimes". It ran from 9 January 1971 to 12 March 1994...
ran a colour comic strip between 1976 and 1979, written by Angus P. Allan and drawn by artists including John Bolton and Arthur Ranson
Arthur Ranson
Arthur James Ranson is an English illustrator, whose fine line penwork and attention to visual detail has led to the misapplied epithet 'photo-realistic'...
. The character was also to have appeared in a 1996 comic miniseries entitled Bionix by Maximum Press. Although the magazine was advertised in comic book trade publications, it was ultimately never published.
The French comic Télé-Junior published strips based on popular TV series. This included their own versions of The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman which was renamed Super Jaimie.
Merchandise
Kenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
produced an 12-inch doll of the character, with similar features to the Steve Austin version (bionic modules and removable bionic limbs), except instead of a bionic eye the doll's head would click when turned, simulating the sound of Jaime's bionic ear. Accessories for the doll released by Kenner included additional fashions, and a Bionic Beauty Salon playset.
A metal lunchbox for children was available, as was a vinyl story record produced by Wonderland Records. Kenner
Kenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
produced a series of stickers and temporary tattoos featuring Jaime Sommers individually and with Steve Austin.
A board game based on The Bionic Woman series was also created. It was sold by Parker Brothers in the US, and was a 2–4 player game suited for children between 7 and 12 years of age.
Television remake
In August 2002 it was announced that the show was to be remade by producers Jennifer and Suzanne Todd ("Team Todd") for the USA Network; media reports suggested that Jennifer AnistonJennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
was being considered for the title role. After the initial press release was issued, the show never made it out of pre-production and no other announcements were made as to the show's fate.
On October 9, 2006, NBC Universal announced that it was bringing the project back, with new producers and a reworking of the concept. The project's one hour pilot was given an official greenlight by NBC on January 3, 2007. On February 13, 2007 it was announced that English actress Michelle Ryan
Michelle Ryan
Michelle Claire Ryan is an English actress.She is best known for portraying the role of Zoe Slater on BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2007, she starred in the short lived American television series Bionic Woman...
(affecting an American accent) had been cast in the title role for this pilot, and that Katee Sackhoff
Katee Sackhoff
Kathryn Ann "Katee" Sackhoff is an American actress known mainly for playing Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica. In 2004 she was nominated for a Saturn Award in the "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" category for her work in...
would play Sarah Corvus, the bionic woman's nemesis. The series was subsequently picked up by NBC and debuted on September 26, 2007. Eight more episodes were produced and aired before the Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
forced a halt to production. As of March 2008, NBC had not yet announced whether the show would be renewed, allowed to complete its original order of 13 episodes, or cancelled outright, although series developer and producer David Eick
David Eick
David Eick is an American producer and writer, best known as the Executive Producer of Battlestar Galactica, of which he also wrote several episodes with Ronald D. Moore, as well as the re-imagined version of Bionic Woman...
told the official website of the Sci-Fi Channel (now known as Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
) on March 18, 2008, that the series had been cancelled. Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
, the original Bionic Woman, was not involved in the new series. Wagner said, "On a technical level, it was very good, but I don't think they understood the show. It was steeped in that old-school thinking. It was like a lot of things today, angry and dark.
Further reading
- Pilato, Herbie J. The Bionic Book: The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman Reconstructed. (2007) (BearManor Media) ISBN 978-1593930837