The Six Million Dollar Man TV Show Facts

Six Millon Dollar Man ran frm 1973 to 1978.

It was based on the 1972 novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin.

The show started  with three television films in 1973 that were intended as pilots which then led to fives seasons beginning in 1974 to 1978.

The plot of the show involves NASA astronaut Steve Austin who was severely injured in a crashed experimental aircraft. The operation to save his life and rebuild him with super strong bionic limbs cost 6 million dollars.

Steve was given a bionic eye that could zoom in images from great distances. His right arm and both legs were replaced with bionic limbs. He could run at speeds over 60 miles per hour. His arm and legs were now super strong powered by nuclear energy.

The show used slow motion effects to illustrate the Bionic Man’s speed as well as the speeding up the film.  The famous  dit dit dit sound used to represent Steve’s strength was used first  in the season one episode “Day of the Robot” and was first used to signify a robot’s power. It wouldn’t be used for Steve Austin’s abilities until later on in the series.

The Bionic Man’s major weakness is extreme cold which can interfere with his bionic limbs functionality until he can warm himself up again.

Lee Majors got his first big break on the TV western Big Valley where he played Heath Barkley.

During this time Majors was referred to as a blond Elvis due to his resemblance to Presley.

After the Big Valley went off the air in 1969 Majors played on The Virginian’s last season which had been renamed the men from Shiloh, after that he then he got the role of Jess Brandon on Owen Marshal: Counselor at Law. From there he landed the role of Steve Austin the Six Million Dollar Man.

After the Six Million Dollar Man was canceled he starred in another very popular series this time in the 1980’s. Another series that was a personal favorite of mine called the Fall Guy where he played a Hollywood stuntman who also happened to be a bounty hunter. The show lasted 5 seasons until 1986.

The show had a big assortment of guest stars including Lou Ferrigno, Roy Rogers, Priscilla Presley, Jack Kelly, Jonathan Frakes, Don Adams, Frank Gorshin, Larry Storch from F-troop, JJ Jimmie Walker from Good Times and many others like his Bionic co-stars Richard Anderson and Lindsay Wagner and his Big Valley co-star Peter Breck who made appearances in several episodes including a special Roy Rogers cowboy episode where he basically played himself acting as the Big Valley’s Nick Barkley.

Breck also made an appearance on the Six Million Dollar Man. Linda Evans who played his half sister on the Big Valley also guest starred on the Fall Guy.

After the Fall Guy,  Lee Majors reunited with Lindsay Wagner to do 3 Bionic TV reunion movies where he eventually marries the Bionic Woman. The first debuted in 1987 set ten years later. The Bionic duo were off doing their own things and have to come out of retirement to fight a criminal organization called Fortress. We find out that Steve has a son we didn’t know about before who ends up becoming bionic before the show is done. Lee Majors’ real life son shows up on the movie too playing an OSI agent. Wouldn’t it have been cooler if he had gotten the bionic powers?

I think the first one was the best of the reunion movies. I have to say though , even though TV reunion movies are a lot of fun to see old characters again the quality never seems as good as the original. According to Wikipedia the first film ended up number 4 in the Neilson ratings that week. It was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for the new Bionic Man Steve Austin’s son, but it never came to be.

In 1989 the second TV movie, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman premiered this time with one of the first appearances of Sandra Bullock. This one wasn’t nearly as fun as the first reunion I hate to say.

The final time we would ever see the Bionic team of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman was in Bionic Ever After which aired in 1994. In this one we finally get a happy ending for the Bionic couple and that alone makes this one worth watching, even if it’s not quite as exciting as the old series was. Finally, Steve Austin marries Jaimie Sommers.

It’s too bad we never got just one more movie to show us how a married bionic couple  fights crime. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

After that he continued to work with parts in Tour of Duty, Raven, Ben 10: Race Against Time, voice work in animated series, and several other series over the years.

A very popular line of toys by Kenner was created for the show which included Bigfoot action figures. 

The Six Million Dollar Man toy line began in 1975 with the release of the Steve Austin figure. Most doll-style action figures from this era usually ranged between 8 and 12 inches in height, but Steve was a whopping thirteen inches tall.