For a few years now, there has been a site dedicated to the ORIGINAL Bionic Woman (not the so called reboot that was a victim of the writer’s strike two years ago… that was definitely HORRIBLE).  I have been a frequent fan of the site.  Last week, a new site dedicated to the father (or should I be bold and say… husband) series, The Six Million Dollar Man, was started.  You know… (or maybe you don’t know depending on your age and maybe afternoon rerun viewing of the 80s) the one about “Col. Steve Austin, astronaut… a man barely alive.”  They rebuilt him following a tragic piloting accident making him “better than he was before.  Better… Stronger… Faster.” The reluctant hero was endowed with a bionic arm, two bionic legs, and a bionic eye (although Lee Major’s now pitches an add for a “Bionic ear.”)  I fondly remember playing in the yard with my brother and friends.  Orders were given by “Oscar Goldman” for the mission of the week.  Bionic action complete with the awesomely cheesy sound effects battling evil terrorists, fembots, and other evil doers.  Although guess who ended up playing Jaime Sommers several times… only because my first name happened to be the same but spelled differently… somehow I think there was a little more to it than that, but I guess if I wanted to play with big brother…

But the site has brought back memories of rushing home from school to atch the reruns (I was only a year old in ’74 after all).

Thursday June 25, 2009.  Two iconic figures of pop culture; two tragic deaths.  One that will surely (and has already) overshadow the other.  Growing up, I did not really know Farrah Fawcett as her most famous role.  I remember her hyphenated moniker Fawcett-Majors.  I remember seeing reruns of the Six Million Dollar Man in which she co-starred with her then husband, Lee Majors.  I even believed that she was the actress who played the Bionic Woman.  I guess Charlie’s Angels was on after my bedtime.  Her bravery through suffering has been well documented and must have been heavy upon those who loved her.  She is definitely in a better place.

On the other hand, the weeks ahead will undoubtedly focus on the self-proclaimed King of Pop.  No matter what the last decade or so of Michael Jackson’s life may have brought the fact remains: the man had an extreme amount of talent musically, and performance wise.  I will not dwell on the tabloid details of his life but will say that I do remember his heyday in the early to mid 80s and was enthralled with his extreme talent.  I was with my family in Texas the summer of 1984 during the Jackson’s Victory tour and remember thinking how cool it would be to be able to get impossible tickets. I also remember the videos (when videos were actually shown on MTV) that were mini-movies.  Thriller is still a masterpiece aurally and visually.  Ironically, I just watched it via youtube earlier this week.  Nearly 15 minutes.  28 million copies of the album sold worldwide.  Experts are already speculating that the world will never again see the like.  His life may have been troublesome and strange.  I think being tossed into the spotlight at the age of 4 and continue for 4 decades would be difficult to say the least.

To say nothing of the passing of Johnny Carson’s second banana, Ed McMahon.  Not a good week for pop culture.  Peace and healing to all the families of these three icons.

I recently discovered a website totally devoted to one of my favorite television series from my youth. The Bionic Woman was a dynamite spin-off from the successful Six Million Dollar Man. Lindsay Wagner starred as Jaime Sommers, a former tennis pro who after a nearly fatal skydiving accident was endowed with bionic limbs (two legs, right arm, and right ear) that not only allowed her to function normally but gave her great speed, the ability to lift enormous amounts of weight, leap great distances, and hear sounds from a five mile radius (don’t quote me on that). The character was introduced on a two-part episode of the Six Million Dollar Man as the childhood sweetheart of Steve Austin, the bionic man (played by Lee Majors). In her debut episode, Jaime was killed as a result of a brain clot precipitated by her body’s rejection of the bionics. However, fan response was so great that the character was revived and eventually given her own series.

Jamie (as well as her male counterpart) was an agent for the Office of Scientific Investigation (O.S.I.). She had the cover of a junior high school teacher. Each week, she was assigned to battle spies, international terrorists, or evil robots called Fembots. On occasion the bionic woman and bionic man would have crossover episodes. On a few occasions, the duo would come face to face with Sasquatch, the mythical Bigfoot. In the final season of The Bionic Woman, Jaime became the guardian of Maxmillian, the bionic dog.

Cheesy, definitely by today’s standards; however, I much prefer the adventures of the ORIGINAL bionic woman to the failed “updated” version from last season that lasted all of 5-6 episodes. The writers strike may have been the final nail in the coffin, but it seriously lacked the heart that both previous series had.

You can either relive or introduce yourself to classic episodes of The Bionic Woman at the Official Bionic Woman website. You just have to love the cool bionic sound effects. On a personal note, my family took a trip to California in 1978 and visited Universal Studios where many of the set pieces for the series were on display. My brothers and I were locked in a jail and bent the steel bars of the cell, escaped, and flipped over a van. Jaime Sommers… not a bad name for a very attractive character.