Oscar Goldman

''The Six Million Dollar Man'' is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, Austin is rebuilt with superhuman strength, speed and vision due to bionic implants and is employed as a secret agent by a fictional U.S. government office titled OSI. The series was based on Martin Caidin's 1972 novel '' Cyborg'', which was the working title of the series during pre-production.

Following three television films intended as pilots, which all aired in 1973, ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' television series aired on the ABC network as a regular episodic series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s.

A spin-off television series, ''The Bionic Woman'', featuring the lead female character Jaime Sommers, ran from 1976 to 1978. Three television movies featuring both bionic characters were also produced from 1987 to 1994.

Plot

Original series

When NASA astronaut USAF Colonel Steve Austin is severely injured in the crash of an experimental lifting body aircraft, he is "rebuilt" in an operation that costs $6 million (equivalent to $ million in ). His right arm, both legs and left eye are replaced with "bionic" implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above human norms: he can run at speeds of over , and his eye has a 20:1 zoom lens and infrared capabilities, while his bionic limbs all have the equivalent power of a bulldozer. He uses his enhanced abilities to work for the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence) as a secret agent.

Caidin's novel '' Cyborg'' was a best-seller when it was published in 1972. He followed it up with three sequels, '' Operation Nuke'', ''High Crystal'', and ''Cyborg IV'', respectively about a black market in nuclear weapons, a ''Chariots of the Gods?'' scenario, and fusing Austin's bionic hardware to a spaceplane.

In March 1973, ''Cyborg'' was loosely adapted as a made-for-TV movie titled ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' starring Majors as Austin. The producers' first choice was Monte Markham. (When re-edited for the later series, it was re-titled "The Moon and the Desert, Parts I and II".) The adaptation was done by writer Howard Rodman, working under the pseudonym of Henri Simoun. The film, which was nominated for a Hugo Award, modified Caidin's plot and notably made Austin a civilian astronaut rather than a colonel in the United States Air Force. Absent were some of the standard features of the later series: the electronic sound effects, the slow-motion running, and the character of Oscar Goldman. Instead, another character named Oliver Spencer, played by Darren McGavin, was Austin's supervisor, of an organization here called the Office of Strategic Operations, or "OSO". (In the novels, "OSO" stood for Office of Special Operations. The CIA did have an Office of Scientific Intelligence in the 1970s.) The lead scientist involved in implanting Austin's bionic hardware, Rudy Wells, was played in the pilot by Martin Balsam, then on an occasional basis in the series by Alan Oppenheimer, and, finally, as a series regular, by Martin E. Brooks. Austin did not use the enhanced capabilities of his bionic eye during the first TV movie.

The first movie was a major ratings success and was followed by two more made-for-TV movies in October and November 1973 as part of ABC's rotating ''Movie of the Week'' series. The first was titled ''The Six Million Dollar Man: "Wine, Women and War"'', and the second was titled ''The Six Million Dollar Man: "The Solid Gold Kidnapping"''. The first of these two bore strong resemblances to Caidin's second ''Cyborg'' novel, ''Operation Nuke''; the second, however, was an original story. This was followed in January 1974 by the debut of ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' as a weekly hour-long series. The latter two movies, produced by Glen A. Larson, notably introduced a James Bond flavor to the series and reinstated Austin's status from the novels as an Air Force colonel; the hour-long series, produced by Harve Bennett, dispensed with the James Bond-gloss of the movies, and portrayed a more down-to-earth Austin. (Majors said of Austin, " ehates...the whole idea of spying. He finds it repugnant, degrading. If he's a James Bond, he's the most reluctant one we've ever had.")

The show was very popular during its run and introduced several pop culture elements of the 1970s, such as the show's opening catchphrase ("We can rebuild him; we have the technology", voiced over by Richard Anderson in his role of Oscar Goldman), the slow motion action sequences, and the accompanying "electronic" sound effects. The slow motion action sequences were originally referred to as "'' Kung Fu'' slow motion" in popular culture (due to its use in the 1970s martial arts television series), although according to ''The Bionic Book'' by Herbie J. Pilato, the use of slow motion on the series was inspired by its use by NFL Films.

In 1975, a two-part episode titled "The Bionic Woman", written for television by Kenneth Johnson, introduced the lead character Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner), a professional tennis player who rekindled an old romance with Austin, only to experience a parachuting accident that resulted in her being given bionic parts similar to Austin. Ultimately, her body "rejected" her bionic hardware and she died. The character was very popular, however, and the following season it was revealed that she had survived, having been saved by an experimental cryogenic procedure, and she was given her own spin-off series, ''The Bionic Woman''. This spin-off ran until 1978 when both it and ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' were simultaneously cancelled, though the two series were on different networks when their final seasons aired.

Television movie reunions

Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers returned in three subsequent made-for-television movies: ''The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'' (1987), '' Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'' (1989) which featured Sandra Bullock in an early role as a new bionic woman; and ''Bionic Ever After?'' (1994) in which Austin and Sommers finally marry. Majors reprised the role of Steve Austin in all three productions, which also featured Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks, and Lindsay Wagner reprising the role of Jaime Sommers. The reunion films addressed the partial amnesia Sommers had suffered during the original series, and all three featured Majors' son, Lee Majors II, as OSI agent Jim Castillian. The first two movies were written in the anticipation of creating new bionic characters in their own series, but nothing further was seen of the new characters introduced in those produced. The third TV movie was intended as a finale.

Cast

* Steve Austin (played by Lee Majors), the lead character
* Oscar Goldman (played by Richard Anderson), Director of the OSI
* Rudy Wells (played by Martin Balsam, 1st pilot episode; Alan Oppenheimer, 2nd and 3rd pilot episodes, seasons 1 & 2 and 1 episode in season 3; Martin E. Brooks, seasons 3–5, as well as on ''The Bionic Woman'' and in three movies), Austin's physician and primary overseer of the medical aspects of bionic technology
* Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner—recurring)
* Peggy Callahan (played by Jennifer Darling—recurring), secretary to Oscar Goldman
* Oliver Spencer (played by Darren McGavin), director of the OSO in the pilot

Production

Opening sequence

The crash footage during the opening credits is from the M2-F2 crash that occurred on May 10, 1967. Test pilot Bruce Peterson's lifting body aircraft hit the ground at approximately and tumbled six times, but survived what appeared to be a fatal accident, though he later lost an eye due to infection. In the episode "The Deadly Replay", Oscar Goldman refers to the lifting body aircraft in which Austin crashed as the HL-10, stating "We've rebuilt the HL-10." The HL-10 is the aircraft first seen in the original pilot movie before the accident flight. In the 1987 TV film ''The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman'', Austin refers to the craft as the "M3-F5", which was the name used for the aircraft that crashed in the original ''Cyborg'' novel.

In the opening sequence, a narrator (series producer Harve Bennett) identifies the protagonist, "Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive." Richard Anderson, in character as Oscar Goldman, then intones off-camera, "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." During the first season, beginning with "Population: Zero", Anderson, as Goldman, intoned more simply, "We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better...stronger...faster." During the operation, when he is having his bionics fitted, a list of items and numbers is displayed and lists his power plant as "atomic".

Theme music

The opening and closing credits of the ''Wine, Women & War'' and ''The Solid Gold Kidnapping'' telefilms used a theme song written by Glen A. Larson, and sung by Dusty Springfield, backed by Ron "Escalade" Piscina. This song was also used in the initial promotion of the series.

However, when the weekly series began, the song was replaced by an instrumental theme by Oliver Nelson. The first regular episode, "Population: Zero", introduced a new element to the opening sequence: a voiceover by Oscar Goldman stating the rationale behind creating a bionic man. The first season narration was shorter than that used in the second and subsequent seasons.

Steve Austin's bionics

To maintain the show's plausibility, producer Kenneth Johnson set very specific limits on Steve Austin's abilities. He elaborated, "When you're dealing with the area of fantasy, if you say, 'Well, they're bionic so they can do whatever they want,' then it gets out of hand, so you've got to have really, really tight rules. Jaime] can jump up two stories but not three. They can jump down three stories but not four."

Austin's superhuman enhancements are:

* A bionic left eye:
: It has a 20.2:1 zoom lens along with a night vision function (as well as the restoration of normal vision). The figure of 20.2:1 is taken from the faux computer graphics in the opening credits; the figure 20:1 is mentioned twice in the series, in the episode "Population: Zero" and "Secret of Bigfoot". Austin's bionic eye also has other features, such as an infrared filter used frequently to see in the dark and also to detect heat (as in the episode "The Pioneers"), and the ability to view humanoid beings moving too fast for a normal eye to see (as in the story arc "The Secret of Bigfoot"). One early episode shows the eye as a deadly accurate targeting device for his throwing arm.
: In Caidin's original novels, Austin's eye was depicted as simply a camera (which had to be physically removed after use) and Austin remained blind in the eye. Later, Austin gained the ability to shoot a laser from the eye. The Charlton Comics comic book spin-off from the series also established that Austin's bionic eye could shoot a laser beam (as demonstrated in the first issues of the color comic), but neither function was shown on television.

* Bionic legs:
: These allow him to run at tremendous speed and make great leaps. Austin's upper speed limit was never firmly established, although a speed of is commonly quoted since this figure is shown on a speed gauge during the opening credits. The highest speed ever shown in the series on a speed gauge is in "The Pal-Mir Escort"; however, the later revival films suggested that he could run approximately . A faster top speed is possible, as an episode of the ''Bionic Woman'' spin-off entitled "Winning Is Everything" shows female cyborg Jaime Sommers outrunning a race car going . In "Secret of Bigfoot" it is stated that he can leap high. In the later TV movies, Austin is shown leaping what clearly appears to be heights far in excess of this.
* A bionic right arm:
: It has the equivalent strength of a bulldozer; that the arm contains a Geiger counter was established in "Doomsday and Counting", the sixth episode of the first season.

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. The first season also established that Austin's bionics malfunction in the micro-gravity of space, though Austin's bionics are later modified to rectify this. The bionic eye is vulnerable to ultrasonic attack, resulting in blindness and dizziness. It is not explained how Austin's organic body is able to withstand the stress of either bionic hardware weight or performance of superhuman feats.

To indicate to viewers that Austin was using his bionic enhancements, sequences with him performing superhuman tasks were presented in slow-motion and accompanied by an electronic "dit dit dit dit" sound effect. (This characteristic sound effect was actually first used in season 1 episode 4, "Day of the Robot", not during use of Austin's bionics but with the robotic clone of Major Fred Sloan, played by actor John Saxon, during the final fight scene.) When the bionic eye was used, the camera zoomed in on Austin's face, followed by an extreme close-up of his eye; his point of view usually included a crosshair motif accompanied by a beeping sound-effect. In early episodes, different ways of presenting Austin's powers were tested, including a heartbeat sound effect that predated the electronic sound, and in the three original made-for-TV movies, no sound effects or slow-motion were used, with Austin's actions shown at normal speed (except for his running, which used trick photography); the slow-motion portrayal was introduced with the first hour-long episode, "Population: Zero."

Episodes

The series consists of three TV-movies, five seasons of episodes, and three more TV-movies.

Novels

Martin Caidin wrote four novels featuring his original version of Steve Austin beginning in 1972 with ''Cyborg''. Although several other writers such as Mike Jahn later wrote 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 from the original episodes, as the cold-blooded killer of Caidin's novels handled things somewhat differently from his non-killing TV counterpart. For example, 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)
* '' Cyborg'' (1972)
* '' Operation Nuke'' (1973)
* ''High Crystal'' (1974)
* ''Cyborg IV'' (1975)

(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'' ( UK title, ''The Secret of Bigfoot'') – Jahn
* ''International Incidents'' – Jahn (this volume adapted several episodes into one interconnected storyline)

Other adaptations

Comics

Charlton Comics published both a color comic book and a black and white, illustrated magazine, featuring original adventures as well as differing adaptations of the original TV movie. While the comic book was closely based upon the series, and geared toward a young audience, the magazine was darker and more violent and seemed to be based more upon the literary version of the character, aimed at adult readers. Both magazines were cancelled around the same time the TV series ended. Artists Howard Chaykin and Neal Adams were frequent contributors to both publications. Steve Kahn, who had previously published magazines on the Beatles and the teen fan magazine FLiP, worked with MCA and Charlton in overseeing and publishing these books.

A British comic strip version was also produced, written by Angus P. Allan, drawn by Martin Asbury and printed in TV comic ''Look-In

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