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Part of The Bionic Series ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' was an American Television Series about a Cyborg working for a U.S. secret service called OSI. The show was based on the novel ''Cyborg'' from Martin Caidin , and aired on the ABC Network from 1973 to 1978 . The title role of Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors , who subsequently became a Pop Culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off of the show was produced called The Bionic Woman . OVERVIEW The background story of the original novel and the later series is the crash of former , shown dropping away from its carry plane, and the M2-F2 shown in the unstable flight/crash sequence. (The aircraft was actually referred to as being an "HL-10" in the series, and the real HL-10 was used in a later episode.) Austin is severely injured in the crash and is "rebuilt" in a title-giving operation that costs six million dollars. His right arm, both legs and the left eye are replaced by ''bionic'' ( Cybernetic ) implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norm. He uses his enhanced abilities to work for the OSI ( Office Of Scientific Intelligence ) as a secret agent (and as a Guinea Pig for Bionics ). Caidin's novel was a best-seller when it was released in 1972 and was followed by three sequels. In the spring of 1973, ''Cyborg'' was loosely adapted as a made-for-TV movie starring Majors as Austin (although usually referred to by the title ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', this film is often cited by the longer title ''Cyborg: Six Million Dollar Man''). The film abandoned much of the plotline of the original novel in favor of a more TV-friendly script, and did not include many of the standard features of the later series; absent were the electronic sound effects, the slow motion running, and different actors playing Oscar Goldman and Dr. Rudy Wells. The OSI had been the OSO. Austin also does not use his bionic eye at any time during the film. The first film was a major ratings success and was followed by two more made-for-TV films that fall -- ''Wine, Women and War'' and ''Solid Gold Kidnapping'' (which were original stories not based upon Caidin's writings), followed by the debut, in January 1974, of ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' as a weekly hour-long series. The show was very popular during its run and introduced many pop culture elements of the 1970s , such as the show's opening catch phrase and the slow motion action sequences and the accompanying "electronic" sound effects. For many years, attempts have been made to bring the story of Steve Austin to the movie screen. In the mid-1990s, noted director Kevin Smith wrote a screenplay, and there were reports later that comedian Chris Rock was being considered for the role. Most recently, plans were made to film the story as a full-out comedy starring Jim Carrey , much to the dismay of longtime fans of the show; as of March 2006, however, production has not begun. MEDICAL BIONICS In Medicine , Bionics means the replacement or enhancement of Organs or other body parts by mechanical versions. Bionic implants differ from mere Prostheses by mimicking the original function very closely, or even surpassing it. This definition of bionics is best known to the general public in reference to the television series The Six Million Dollar Man, in which the titular Cyborg character is referred to as a "bionic man". In the mid-1970s, when scientists in a popular TV series rebuilt a wounded, barely-living test pilot into the world's first bionic man, making him "better, stronger, faster," the field of medical bionics was the stuff of science fiction. No longer. On April 3, at Experimental Biology 2006, some of the leading scientists in the rapidly expanding field of bionics explain how much of what was once fiction is today at least partial reality - including electronically-powered legs, arms, and eyes like those given TV's Six Million Dollar Man 30-plus years ago. The symposium on "The $6 Billion (Hu)Man" is part of the scientific program of the American Association of Anatomists. OPENING NARRATION The opening narration for each episode has become part of American Pop Culture . After an early version of the narration was tested in the ''Solid Gold Kidnapping'' TV film, the most famous version was introduced in the weekly series: Narrator producer Harve Bennett : "''Steve Austin: astronaut. A man barely alive.''" ''' Oscar Goldman :''' "''Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better... stronger... faster.''" RADIO CHATTER The radio chatter that occurs before the opening narration has been the subject of some debate as it was not entirely clear due to the radio static noise. The following script is one example of the radio chatter.
Some sources suggest Austin says "sidestick" instead of "sideslip" in the above exchange. In the original pilot, however, none of the above dialogue occurs. Instead, Austin and ground controllers calmly discuss complications with the landing right up to the moment of the crash; most notably, there is no reference to a blow-out. In a recap that opens the second pilot film, ''Wine, Women & War'', Oscar Goldman is depicted as being involved in the transmissions, asking Austin "What's going on?" to which Austin replies "I was hoping you would tell me." Once again, unlike the version used in the series, this early rendition omits any reference to an actual cause for the crash. MAIN CHARACTERS
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The implants have a major flaw in that extreme cold interferes with their functions and can disable them given sufficient exposure. However, when Austin returns to a warmer temperature, the implants quickly regain full functionality. Changes for television A number of changes had to be made to Caidin's version of the character to make him work for television. In the original novels, Austin was a cold-blooded killer, while the TV version rarely killed after his status as a childhood hero had been realized, and in fact Austin explicitly states his opposition to killing in the pilot film. A number of changes to Austin's bionics were also made. In the novel, Austin's ''left'' arm, not his right, was the bionic one. Also, the arm was little more than a superpowered battering ram and not as complex as the TV version. Austin was blind in his bionic eye in the books, which was simply used as alternately a camera or a laser, and was removable. The book version of Steve Austin had some abilities the TV version lacked, such as a radio transmitter contained within a rib, a steel-reinforced skull that made it impossible for him to be knocked out with a blow to the head, and a CO2 -powered poison dart gun in one of his bionic fingers which the literary version of Austin often used to eliminate bad guys. Another minor change was a matter of spelling: in the original novels, the term "bionics" was always used in its plural form, i.e. "bionics limbs". Perhaps to make it easier to say in dialogue, this was changed to "bionic limbs" ''et al'' for the television series. The word "bionics" is never actually uttered during the first pilot film. One character name was also initially changed. In the original novel Austin's superior is Oscar Goldman, as he is in the series, however in the pilot film the name was changed to Oliver Spencer. The opening credits of the second pilot film, ''Wine, Women and War'' performs Retconning to eliminate Spencer and reinstate Goldman as the government chief who authorizes Austin's conversion; Goldman is also portrayed as a friendlier and more sympathetic character than Spencer, who Austin accuses of being little more than a robot. In Caidin's novel and the original pilot film, Austin is recruited by the Office of Strategic Operations (OSO); for the TV series this was changed to the Office of Strategic Intelligence (OSI). The pilot film changed Austin's character, making him a civilian member of NASA, rather than the Air Force colonel he was in the original novel; his military rank and background was restored for the TV series and no further reference was made to him being a civilian astronaut. NOVELS Martin Caidin wrote four novels featuring his original version of Steve Austin beginning in 1972. Although several other writers such as Mike Jahn would later write a number of novelizations based upon the TV series, in most cases these writers chose to base their character upon the literary version of Austin rather than the TV show version. As a result, several of the novelizations have entire scenes and in one case an ending that differed than the original episodes, as the cold-blooded killer of Caidin's novels handled things somewhat differently than his watered-down TV counterpart. For example, in the Jahn book ''International Incidents'', an adaptation of the episode "Love Song for Tanya" ends with Austin using the poison dart gun in his bionic hand to kill an enemy agent; since the TV version of the character lacked this weapon, the villain was simply captured in the episode as broadcast. Original Novels (all by Martin Caidin)
(of the above, only ''Cyborg'' was adapted for television.) Novelizations
OTHER ADAPTATIONS Charlton Comics published both a color Comic Book and a black and white, illustrated magazine, both featuring original adventures. While the comic book was closely based upon the series, the magazine was darker and more violent and seemed to be based more upon the literary version of the character. Both magazines were cancelled around the same time the TV series ended. Artist Howard Chaykin was a frequent contributor to both publications. A British comic strip version was also produced, written by Angus P. Allan and printed in TV comic Look-In . Peter Pan Records and its sister company Power Records published several Record albums featuring original dramatized stories (including an adaptation of the pilot film), several of which were also adapted as comic books designed to be read along with the recording. In 1996, a new comic book series entitled ''Bionix'' was announced, to be published by Maximum Press . The comic was to have been an updated version of both the ''Six Million Dollar Man'' and the ''Bionic Woman'' and feature new renditions of the two characters. Although the magazine was advertised in comic book trade publications, it was ultimately never published. {Link without Title} MERCHANDISE ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' spawned a number of toys and other licensed merchandise. Everything from Lunch Box es and running shoes to children's eyeglasses and bedsheets all carried images of Steve Austin. The Steve Austin Action Figure marketed by Kenner in the mid-1970s was particularly popular and intact Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman toys continue to attract premium prices on the collector's market. TRIVIA magazine.]]
EPISODE LIST TV movies Some sources consider these movies to be part of Season 1 of the series, particularly the second and third films which aired only a couple of months before the weekly series began. All three films were later re-edited into two-part episodes of the regular series, with additional footage added, for the purposes of network reruns and later syndication. Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 #''The episode "Welcome Home Jaime (1)" was the first part of a two-chapter story, the second episode airing as the premiere episode of The Bionic Woman. It is usually syndicated as a Bionic Woman episode.'' Season 4 ''The episode "Kill Oscar (2)" was the middle chapter of a trilogy with the other two episodes aired as part of ''The Bionic Woman''. "Kill Oscar (2)" is usually syndicated as a ''Bionic Woman'' episode.'' Season 5 Later TV movies EXTERNAL LINKS
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