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Another Red Letter Day Coming Up

M

MegoMan

Guest
January 14 marks the 30th Aniversary of the premiere of "The Bionic Woman" on ABC, which was a spin-off from "Six Million Dollar Man". Tennis pro Jamie Sommers(Lindsay Wagoner) was introduced in a two part SMDM episode as Steve Austin's(Lee Majors) former childhood sweetheart, who was given the same bionic limbs(and a bionic ear) following a skydiving accident. Unfortunately, her body rejected her new limbs and ear. She "died" at the end of part two of "The Bionic Woman" episode, or Steve(and the viewers thought). In "Return Of the Bionic Woman", Jamie had survived her ordeal, but lost her memory of Steve and their past together, which led to the launch of her own series. Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks had double duty, portraying Oscar Goldman & Dr. Rudy Wells on both series(which featured several crossover episodes)until the cancellation of both series by ABC. NBC picked up BW for its final season which saw the introduction of Max, the bionic dog(a definate "jump the shark" moment for the show). Three TV reunion films aired several years later.<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
> NBC
> picked up BW for its final season which saw the introduction
> of Max, the bionic dog(a definate "jump the shark" moment
> for the show).

I wonder why NBC picked up The Bionic Woman because it was doing very well on ABC(it ranked number 14 in the ratings in the 1976-1977 season). It moved to Saturday nights at 7:00 PM Central which replaced Emergency! which just been cancelled but several Emergency! TV movies came up between January 1978 through 1979.

One of the best episodes of the NBC year of The Bionic Woman was when a young Helen Hunt guest starred with The Hager Twins from Hee Haw playing twin aliens who didn't say a word and wrecked havoc on Jamie's home.

Actually The Six Million Dollar Man was still on ABC during the 1977-1978 season but the show was declining in the ratings(after being in the top 10 the previous 2 years) and Lee Majors guest starred in a couple of episodes of The Bionic Woman on NBC. Sadly,both shows were cancelled at the same time due to both shows' declining ratings.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Braves2005 on 01/08/06 02:52 PM.</FONT></P>
 
>
> I wonder why NBC picked up The Bionic Woman because it was
> doing very well on ABC(it ranked number 14 in the ratings in
> the 1976-1977 season).

Supposedly, it was a money issue, as ABC found it too costly to have two similarly expensive shows.

> Actually The Six Million Dollar Man was still on ABC
> during the 1977-1978 season but the show was declining in
> the ratings(after being in the top 10 the previous 2 years)
> and Lee Majors guest starred in a couple of episodes of The
> Bionic Woman on NBC. Sadly,both shows were cancelled at the
> same time due to both shows' declining ratings.

Although the two series 'crossed over' frequently when they were both on ABC, neither program acknowledged the other's existence during that final season. Lee Majors did not appear in any of 'BW's NBC episodes.
I prefer to think of the 77-78 season of each series as taking place in 'alternate universes'.
 
> >
> > I wonder why NBC picked up The Bionic Woman because it
> was
> > doing very well on ABC(it ranked number 14 in the ratings
> in
> > the 1976-1977 season).
>
> Supposedly, it was a money issue, as ABC found it too costly
> to have two similarly expensive shows.

Seemed like ABC was gearing up for the original Battlestar Galactica, which premiered September 17, 1978, a few months after SMDM ended its network run. Both series were produced by Universal and it was reported that Galactica cost $1 Million per hour to produce(which was considered big bucks for a network series back in '78).
>
> > Actually The Six Million Dollar Man was still on ABC
> > during the 1977-1978 season but the show was declining in
> > the ratings(after being in the top 10 the previous 2
> years)
> > and Lee Majors guest starred in a couple of episodes of
> The
> > Bionic Woman on NBC. Sadly,both shows were cancelled at
> the
> > same time due to both shows' declining ratings.
>
> Although the two series 'crossed over' frequently when they
> were both on ABC, neither program acknowledged the other's
> existence during that final season. Lee Majors did not
> appear in any of 'BW's NBC episodes.
> I prefer to think of the 77-78 season of each series as
> taking place in 'alternate universes'.
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
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