The Six Million Dollar Man

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 book Cyborg from Martin Caidin, and aired on the ABC network from 1973 to 1978.

Contents

1 Overview 1.1 Opening narration 2 Main characters 3 Parts 4 Episode list 4.1 TV movies 4.2 Season 1 4.3 Season 2 4.4 Season 3 4.5 Season 4 4.6 Season 5 4.7 Later TV movies 5 Trivia 6 Novels 6.1 Original Novels 6.2 Novelizations 7 Other adaptations 8 External links

Overview

The background story of the show is the crash of astronaut Steve Austin in an M2-F2 "lifting body", shown in the opening credits of the show (with NASA footage of Bruce Peterson's 1967 real-life accident [1] (http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/M2-F2/HTML/E-16731.html)). The opening credits actually used footage of two different lifting bodies; the HL-10 ,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).

The show was very popular during its run and introduced many pop culture elements of the 1970s, such as the shows opening catch phrase and the slow motion action sequences and the accompaning "electronic" sound effects. The title role was played by Lee Majors and made him a pop culture icon.

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 2005 reports differ as to whether this film will actually be made.

Opening narration

The opening narration for each episode has become part of American pop culture. After a couple of early versions of the narration were tried out, the most famous version was introduced when The Six Million Dollar Man became a weekly series:

Narrator: "Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive." Oscar Goldman: "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster."

The Cantonese-dubbed version (aired on TVB) has the following opening narration: (English translation)

"Astronaut - Steve Austin, critically injured after the accident. After doctors' diagnoses, in their opinion that they can modify him... into a man whose left eye, right hand, both legs that are unlike anyone else's. This modification finally suceeded. Steve Austin is now strong, agile, wise and brave combined."

Main characters

• Steve Austin, the title character (played by Lee Majors)
• Oscar Goldman, the Director of the OSI (played by Richard Anderson)
• Dr. Rudy Wells, Austin's physician (played by Martin Balsam (pilot film only)/Alan Oppenheimer/Martin E. Brooks)
• Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, played by Lindsay Wagner - recurring
• Oliver Spencer, Director of the OSI in the original pilot film only (played by Darren McGavin)

Parts

• A 20.1:1 zoom lens along with a nightvision function in the left eye.
• Bionic legs allowing him to run at tremenous speed and make great leaps. Austin's upper speed limit was never firmly established, although a speed of 60 mph is commonly quoted since this figure is shown on a speed gauge during the opening credits.
• A Bionic right arm with the equivalent strength of a bulldozer

Note: The original literary version of the character had a number of different bionic parts. See Trivia, below, for details.

Episode list

TV movies

Episode #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
M-1	7 March1973	The Six Million Dollar Man (a/k/a The Moon and the Desert)
M-2	20 October1973	Wine, Women and War
M-3	17 November1973	The Solid Gold Kidnapping

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

Episode #	Production #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
1-01	40013	18 January1974	Population: Zero
1-02	40007	25 January1974	Survival of the Fittest
1-03	40016	1 February1974	Operation Firefly
1-04	40012	8 February1974	Day of the Robot
1-05	40014	22 February1974	Little Orphan Airplane
1-06	40005	1 March1974	Doomsday, and Counting
1-07	40023	8 March1974	Eyewitness to Murder
1-08	40024	15 March1974	The Rescue of Athena One
1-09	40021	29 March1974	Dr. Wells is Missing
1-10	40022	5 April1974	The Last of the Fourth of Julys
1-11	40020	12 April1974	Burning Bright
1-12	40015	19 April1974	The Coward
1-13	40025	26 April1974	Run, Steve, Run

Season 2

Episode #	Production #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
2-01	41201	13 September1974	Nuclear Alert
2-02	41204	20 September1974	The Pioneers
2-03	41206	27 September1974	Pilot Error
2-04	41208	4 October1974	The Pal-Mir Escort
2-05	41224	1 November1974	The Seven Million Dollar Man
2-06	41214	8 November1974	Straight on 'til Morning
2-07	41220	15 November1974	The Midas Touch
2-08	41223	22 November1974	The Deadly Replay
2-09	41213	29 November1974	Act of Piracy
2-10	41227	13 December1974	Stranger in Broken Fork
2-11	41228	20 December1974	The Peeping Blonde
2-12	41210	10 January1975	The Cross-Country Kidnap
2-13	41233	17 January1975	Lost Love
2-14	41216	19 January1975	The Last Kamikaze
2-15	41207	26 January1975	Return of the Robot Maker
2-16	41212	2 February1975	Taneha
2-17	41230	23 February1975	Look Alike
2-18	41226	2 March1975	The E.S.P. Spy
2-19	41244	16 March1975	The Bionic Woman (1)
2-20	41245	23 March1975	The Bionic Woman (2)
2-21	41231	20 April1975	Outrage in Balinderry
2-22	41229	27 April1975	Steve Austin, Fugitive

Season 3

Episode #	Production #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
3-01	43020	14 September1975	The Return of the Bionic Woman (1)
3-02	43029	21 September1975	The Return of the Bionic Woman (2)
3-03	43018	28 September1975	The Price of Liberty
3-04	43024	5 October1975	The Song and Dance Spy
3-05	43010	12 October1975	The Wolf Boy
3-06	43017	19 October1975	The Deadly Test
3-07	43003	26 October1975	Target in the Sky
3-08	43001	2 November1975	One of Our Running Backs is Missing
3-09	43012	9 November1975	The Bionic Criminal
3-10	43006	16 November1975	The Blue Flash
3-11	43021	23 November1975	The White Lightning War
3-12	43019	30 November1975	Divided Loyalty
3-13	43026	14 December1975	Clark Templeton O'Flaherty
3-14	43022	21 December1975	The Winning Smile
3-15	1	11 January1976	Welcome Home, Jaime (1)
3-16	43033	18 January1976	Hocus-Pocus
3-17	43027	1 February1976	The Secret of Bigfoot (1)
3-18	43028	4 February1976	The Secret of Bigfoot (2)
3-19	43007	8 February1976	The Golden Pharaoh
3-20	43008	15 February1976	Love Song for Tanya
3-21	43032	22 February1976	The Bionic Badge
3-22	43031	7 March1976	Big Brother

1. 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

Episode #		Prod #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
58.	4-1	45124	19-Sep-76	The Return of Bigfoot (1)
59.	4-2	45108	26-Sep-76	Nightmare in the Sky
60.	4-3	45121	03-Oct-76	Double Trouble
61.	4-4	45105	17-Oct-76	The Most Dangerous Enemy
62.	4-5	45102	24-Oct-76	H+2+O = Death
63.	4-6	45120	31-Oct-76	Kill Oscar (2)
64.	4-7	45196	07-Nov-76	The Bionic Boy
65.	4-8	45114	21-Nov-76	Vulture of the Andes
66.	4-9	45194	28-Nov-76	The Thunderbird Conection
67.	4-10	45126	12-Dec-76	A Bionic Christmas Carol
68.	4-11	45115	19-Dec-76	Task Force
69.	4-12	45125	02-Jan-77	The Ultimate Imposter
70.	4-13	45122	09-Jan-77	Death Probe (1)
71.	4-14	45123	16-Jan-77	Death Probe (2)
72.	4-15	45106	23-Jan-77	Danny's Inferno
73.	4-16	45107	30-Jan-77	Fires of Hell
74.	4-17	45113	06-Feb-77	The Infiltrators
75.	4-18	45101	13-Feb-77	Carnival of Spies
76.	4-19	45109	20-Feb-77	U-509
77.	4-20	45110	27-Feb-77	The Privacy of the Mind
78.	4-21	45116	06-Mar-77	To Catch the Eagle
79.	4-22	45128	15-May-77	The Ghostly Teletype

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

Episode #		Prod #	Original Air Date	Episode Title
80.	5-1	47306	11-Sep-77	Sharks (1)
81.	5-2	47307	18-Sep-77	Sharks (2)
82.	5-3	47322	25-Sep-77	Deadly Countdown (1)
83.	5-4	47323	02-Oct-77	Deadly Countdown (2)
84.	5-5	47311	09-Oct-77	Bigfoot V
85.	5-6	47326	16-Oct-77	Killer Wind
86.	5-7	47315	30-Oct-77	Rollback
87.	5-8	47303	06-Nov-77	Dark Side of the Moon (1)
88.	5-9	47304	13-Nov-77	Dark Side of the Moon (2)
89.	5-10	47309	27-Nov-77	Target: Steve Austin
90.	5-11	47313	18-Dec-77	The Cheshire Project
91.	5-12	47319	01-Jan-78	Walk a Deadly Wing
92.	5-13	47314	08-Jan-78	Just a Matter of Time
93.	5-14	47301	22-Jan-78	Return of the Deathprobe (1)
94.	5-15	47302	29-Jan-78	Return of the Deathprobe (2)
95.	5-16	47397	30-Jan-78	The Lost Island
96.	5-17	47328	06-Feb-78	The Madonna Caper
97.	5-18	47334	13-Feb-78	Dead Ringer
98.	5-19	47317	20-Feb-78	Date With Danger (1)
99.	5-20	47320	27-Feb-78	Date With Danger (2)
100.	5-21	47332	06-Mar-78	The Moving Mountain

Later TV movies

Episode #			Original Air Date	Film Title
M-4			17-May-87	The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman
M-5			30-Apr-89	Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman
M-6			29-Nov-94	Bionic Ever After?

Trivia

• The aircraft seen crashing in the opening sequence of the show is real and the dialogue spoken by actor Lee Majors during the opening credits is reportedly based upon communication prior to the crash that occurred on May 10, 1967: ("I can't hold her, she's breaking up! She's breaking--"). Test pilot Bruce Peterson lost an eye in the crash, but likewise also miraculously survived what appeared to be a fatal accident even though his lifting body aircraft hit the ground at approximately 250 mph (400 km/h) and tumbled six times.

• 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. 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 removeable (!). 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 character of Steve Austin underwent retconning during the early episodes of the series. In the first pilot film, he was described as being a civilian who nonetheless served as an astronaut. In the series, he was given the United States Air Force rank of Colonel and was no longer referred to as a civilian.

• Caidin's original novel, Cyborg was not his first work to make mention of bionics. His 1968 novel The God Machine also made reference to this science, and his later work Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future had the titular character given bionic body parts in an intentional nod to Steve Austin.

• One of the show's most famous set pieces was a rotating ice tunnel that appeared in several episodes featuring Bigfoot (who, in this series, was the guardian for a group of aliens observing earth; the tunnel was a line of defence intended to disorient and knock out intruders). This tunnel was for many years a popular part of the Universal Studios Tour, and tourists still pass through the tunnel today on the tour, though as of 2003 it had been redesigned to resemble the entrance to The Mummy's Tomb (look for the rotating wall).

• One Christmas-themed episode of the series demonstrated an unexpected bit of product placement when Austin visits a toy store where Six Million Dollar Man action figures are visible in the background.

• During filming of the 1977 episode "Carnival of Spies", which was shot at a real-life carnival, a crewmember was moving what was thought to be a wax mannequin. When the mannequin's arm broke, it was discovered that it was in fact the mummified remains of a man. Researchers discovered that the body was that of one Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw who had died in a gunfight in 1911.

• DVD release of the series has been delayed for unconfirmed reasons (it is rumored a royalties issue might be the cause of the delay; it has also been suggested that the studio is waiting for production of a new Six Million Dollar Man movie to be confirmed). However, in November 2004, Universal Studios announced that it will release both series to DVD in North America in 2005. As of April 2005, however, no release dates had been announced.

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.

Original Novels

(all by Martin Caidin)

• Cyborg
• Operation Nuke
• High Crystal
• Cyborg IV

(of the above, only Cyborg was adapted for television.)

Novelizations

• Wine, Women and War - Mike Jahn
• Solid Gold Kidnapping - Evan Richards
• Pilot Error - Jay Barbree
• The Rescue of Athena One - Jahn
• The Secret of Bigfoot Pass - Jahn
• International Incidents - Jahn (this volume adapted several episodes into one long storyline.)

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.

Peter Pan Records and its sister company Power Records published several record albums featuring original dramatized stories, several of which were also adapted as comic books designed to be read along with the recording.

External links

• Template:Imdb title
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• The Six Million Dollar Man (http://www.scifi.com/bionics/sixmill.html) at The SciFi Channel
• The Six Million Dollar Man (http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/drama/sixmillion.htm) at Nostalgia Central
• The Six Million Dollar Man (http://www.jumptheshark.com/s/sixmilliondollarman.htm) at JumpTheShark.com
• The Six Million Dollar Man (http://www.crazyabouttv.com/sixmilliondollarman.html) at Crazy About TV provides trivia about the show and cast.de:Der Sechs Millionen Dollar Mann

fr:L'Homme qui valait trois milliards