The Bionic Woman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Bionic Woman
Opening credits screenshot
Genre	Superhero fiction Action Adventure Drama
Created by	Kenneth Johnson
Based on	Cyborg by Martin Caidin
Starring	Lindsay Wagner Richard Anderson Martin E. Brooks
Theme music composer	Jerry Fielding
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	58 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	48 minutes
Production company(s)	MCA/Universal in association with Harve Bennett Productions
Release
Original network	ABC (1976–77) NBC (1977–78)
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	January 14, 1976 (1976-01-14) – May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13)

The Bionic Woman was an American TV show about science fiction and action. It starred Lindsay Wagner and aired from 1976 to 1978. The show is about a character named Jaime Sommers. She goes on dangerous government missions using her amazing bionic powers. The Bionic Woman was a spin-off from another popular 1970s show, The Six Million Dollar Man.

Lindsay Wagner plays Jaime Sommers, a professional tennis player. She gets very badly hurt in a skydiving accident. Her life is saved by Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks). They use bionic implants, which are like those used for Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man.

Thanks to these cybernetic implants, Jaime gets special powers. She has a super-hearing bionic ear. This lets her hear very quiet sounds and sounds from far away. She also has incredible strength in her bionic right arm and both legs. Her bionic legs let her run faster than 60 miles per hour! After her recovery, Jaime works as a secret agent for the Office of Scientific Information. Her cover job is a school teacher for middle school students.

The show was very popular around the world. It got high ratings in the US and was especially loved in the UK. It was the only science fiction show to reach the number one spot in UK ratings during the 20th century. The series ran for three seasons, from 1976 to 1978. It first aired on ABC and then on NBC for its last season. Years after the show ended, three TV movies were made between 1987 and 1994. Reruns of the show were shown on Sci-Fi Channel from 1997 to 2001. A new version of the series, called Bionic Woman, was made in 2007.

How Jaime Sommers Became Bionic

The character of Jaime Sommers first appeared in a two-part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man in 1975. This episode was called "The Bionic Woman." In the first part, Steve Austin goes back to his hometown of Ojai, California. He wants to buy a ranch and visit his family. While there, he starts dating Jaime Sommers again, who is now a top tennis player. Their relationship quickly becomes serious, and Steve asks Jaime to marry him.

One day, Steve and Jaime go skydiving. Jaime's parachute doesn't work right, and she falls to the ground. She hits tree branches and then the ground, getting very badly hurt. Steve begs his boss, Oscar Goldman, to save Jaime's life using bionics. He even promises that Jaime will work as an agent for the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI). Goldman agrees, and Dr. Rudy Wells and his team rebuild her.

Jaime's body is rebuilt with bionic parts similar to Steve's. The exact cost of her bionics is not fully known. People joked that it cost less than the $6 million for Steve because her parts were "smaller." In Germany, the show was called Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau, meaning The Seven Million Dollar Woman.

Like Steve, Jaime gets two bionic legs. These let her run over 60 miles per hour and jump very high. Her right arm is replaced with a bionic one that looks real. It can bend steel or throw things very far. Steve got a bionic eye, but Jaime's inner right ear is replaced with a bionic device. This gives her super hearing. She can hear almost any sound, no matter how quiet or far away. These bionic parts look just like normal body parts. But if they get damaged, you can see the mechanical parts underneath. For example, in one episode, her right leg was damaged. Jaime also found out that her bionic skin could not get a suntan.

After her operation, Jaime recovers. Steve tries to stop her from working as an agent for Oscar. But Jaime agrees to take on a mission for Oscar, even with Steve's worries. During this mission, her bionics start to fail, and she gets terrible headaches. Dr. Wells finds out that Jaime's body is rejecting her bionic implants. A large blood clot in her brain is causing the problems. Soon after, she gets very confused and tries to leave the hospital. Steve chases her and catches her, and she collapses. Jaime then dies on the operating table.

The character of Jaime was so popular that the TV network, ABC, asked the writers to bring her back. In the first episode of the next season, it is revealed that Jaime did not actually die. Steve was not told this. He finds out the truth when he is in the hospital with damaged bionic legs. He sees Jaime before he falls into a coma.

Steve later learns that Dr. Wells' assistant, Dr. Michael Marchetti, used a new freezing technique to keep Jaime in a deep sleep. This allowed them to safely remove the blood clot. After that, she was successfully brought back to life. A side effect of this process was that Jaime lost her memory. She couldn't remember anything from before, including her relationship with Steve. Trying to remember caused her pain and headaches. Steve sadly lets her go to live her own life as an OSI agent. However, they often work together on missions and become good friends again.

Jaime stops being a tennis player and gets a job as a schoolteacher. She teaches at an Air Force base in Ojai, California. She lives in an apartment on the ranch owned by Steve's mother and stepfather. They both know about Jaime and Steve's bionic implants and their secret agent lives.

Season three started with a two-part episode called "The Bionic Dog." In this episode, Jaime finds a German Shepherd dog named Max (short for Maximillion). Max has a bionic jaw and legs, letting him run up to 90 miles per hour. His bionics were even older than Steve's and Jaime's. He was a lab animal used to test early bionic parts. He was called "Maximillion" because his bionics cost "a million" dollars. When Jaime met him, he was having problems with his bionics and was going to be put down. Jaime found out his problem was mental, caused by a fire when he was a puppy. With Jaime's help, Max got better and lived with her. He helped her on many adventures.

Making and Showing the Series

To make the show believable, the creator, Kenneth Johnson, set clear rules for Jaime's powers. He explained that if bionic characters could do anything, it would get out of hand. So, there had to be strict rules. For example, Steve and Jaime could jump up two stories, but not three. They could jump down three stories, but not four. Jaime couldn't flip a truck, but she could flip a car. These rules were sometimes shown in episodes. In "Kill Oscar Part 1," Jaime had to make a jump that was too far down for her bionic legs. This caused serious damage and almost killed her.

The series first aired on ABC in January 1976. It was a replacement for other shows. It quickly became very popular. The first season, with 13 episodes, was the fifth most-watched TV show of the 1975–76 season. This was amazing since it only ran for half the season. It was even more popular than The Six Million Dollar Man.

The second season ran from September 1976 to May 1977 with 22 episodes. It also had good ratings, ranking 14th overall. This season included famous episodes like "Kill Oscar," where Jaime fights robot women called Fembots. Another episode, "Deadly Ringer," won Lindsay Wagner an Emmy Award. Even though the show did well, ABC decided not to continue it. They felt it wasn't attracting the right audience anymore. So, NBC picked up the show for a third and final season.

The third season ran from September 1977 to May 1978 with 22 episodes. A new character, Chris Williams (Christopher Stone), became a love interest for Jaime. This change happened because the show moved to a different network. This made it harder for Steve Austin to cross over into The Bionic Woman. However, Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks continued to play their roles in both shows, which was very unusual for TV at the time.

The show was very popular worldwide, especially in the United Kingdom. It was shown on the ITV network and had very high viewer numbers for a science fiction show. The first episode, "Welcome Home Jaime," was the most-watched program of the week on July 1, 1976. It was watched in 7 million homes, meaning about 14 million viewers. The show's success continued, with many episodes ranking in the top 20 during 1976.

Jaime's Missions and Challenges

There were often crossover episodes between The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. One famous crossover was a two-part episode where Steve and Jaime fought against a character called Bigfoot. Another was a three-part story called "Kill Oscar." The first and third parts were Bionic Woman episodes, and the middle part was a Six Million Dollar Man episode. The close connection between the two shows was clear because Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks played their characters on both shows, even when they were on different networks.

Jaime poses as a Las Vegas showgirl to gather information on the Fembot army of an evil scientist.

On her own, Jaime fought enemies like the Fembots. These were powerful robots she fought twice in the series. She also stopped an old scientist named Elijah Cooper from destroying all life on Earth with a doomsday device in "Doomsday Is Tomorrow." Jaime's missions often involved working undercover. She would pretend to be someone else, like a nun, a police officer, a college student, a flight attendant, a singer, or a professional wrestler. Her tennis skills also sometimes helped her. She also had adventures with some of her students in Ojai.

Like other spy shows of that time, Jaime was often captured and put in dangerous situations. She would need her bionic powers to escape. Usually, she would be tied up or handcuffed to a bomb. She could easily escape once she woke up. However, in one episode, she was handcuffed to a friend. This meant she couldn't use her super strength to escape, as it would hurt her friend.

Jaime dealt with many strange cases. In one episode, a bad guy ran a hair salon using a "truth serum" shampoo to get information from OSI agents. In another episode, a criminal named Lisa Galloway (also played by Lindsay Wagner) got plastic surgery and tried to replace Jaime. Later, Lisa took a special substance that gave her temporary super-strength. This allowed her to fully pretend to be Jaime at OSI, while the real Jaime was locked up. Lisa didn't know about Jaime's bionic implants and thought her powers came from the substance. After Jaime escaped, Dr. Wells found out the substance was becoming harmful to Lisa.

The show also showed that Jaime's bionic powers had limits. In one of the "Kill Oscar" episodes, Jaime jumped from a very tall building to escape the Fembots. But because of the height, her legs were badly damaged when she landed. Extreme cold could also make her bionic implants freeze up and stop working. This was also a problem for Steve Austin. However, her bionic ear, being inside her body, usually wasn't affected by the cold.

While Steve Austin sometimes used violence to complete missions, Jaime usually took a less violent approach. She was rarely shown directly using her bionic strength against a human, and when she did, it was never with deadly force.

The Final Episode and TV Movies

In the last episode, "On the Run," a little girl calls Jaime "Robot Lady" after learning about her bionics. Jaime has to accept that she is not fully human. After three years of too many missions, she quits her job. However, the people in charge don't want her to leave. They want to put her in a safe community where they can watch her. She tries to escape but later realizes she is still the same person, even with her bionic parts. She decides to go back to work for the OSI, but with fewer missions and more free time. This final episode was inspired by the show The Prisoner, where the main character is also chased by people who want his secrets.

Both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man were canceled at the same time in spring 1978. Unlike The Six Million Dollar Man, which ended with a regular episode, "On the Run" was written to wrap up The Bionic Woman series.

Three TV movies were made later that brought the "bionic family" back together. These movies also explored the renewed love between Jaime and Steve.

In the first movie, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987), Jaime and Steve meet again after almost ten years apart. Jaime's memory is fully back. She tries to understand her feelings for Steve while helping to train Steve's son, Michael, who also has new bionics. Jaime races Michael, and he passes her. She jokes that she feels like an "old model." Michael is then kidnapped, and Steve and Jaime work together to rescue him.

The second film, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (1989), introduced Sandra Bullock as Kate Mason. Kate is a paraplegic woman who becomes the next bionic woman. Jaime helps train this new cyborg.

In the last reunion film, Bionic Ever After? (1994), a computer virus damages Jaime's bionic systems. Dr. Wells tells Steve that "she may never be bionic again." But Steve cares most about her being alive. She gets a big upgrade, which makes her bionics stronger and gives her night vision. Finally, after many years, the bionic couple get married.

Show Music

Jerry Fielding wrote the first opening theme song for the series. Starting in season two, a different song by Joe Harnell was used for the opening. This song had been used for the closing credits before.

DVD Releases

In the UK, Universal released some episodes of The Bionic Woman on DVD in 2001/02. Each DVD had three episodes. Then, Universal released the first two full seasons in the UK and Australia in 2005/06. These DVDs did not have any special features. Season three was released in the UK by Fabulous Films in December 2012. They also released new versions of the first two seasons and a complete 18-disc box set of all three seasons. These versions included special features, and the season three release also had all three Bionic reunion movies.

In Germany, Koch Media released all three seasons on DVD under the name Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau (The Seven Million Dollar Woman). These sets did not have special features.

Plans for a North American DVD release were announced in 2004 by Universal Home Video. However, this release did not happen because of legal issues. These issues stopped both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man from being released on DVD in North America at that time.

In April 2010, the creator, Kenneth Johnson, said that the legal issues were solved. On July 15, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced the release of the first season on DVD in North America, which happened on October 19, 2010. Season Two was released on May 17, 2011. On October 4, 2011, Universal released The Bionic Woman: The Complete Third & Final Season on DVD in Region 1.

On October 13, 2015, Universal released The Bionic Woman - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

Books and Comics About The Bionic Woman

Two novels were written based on episodes of the show: Welcome Home, Jaime and Extracurricular Activities. These were both by Eileen Lottman. The UK versions of these books were called Double Identity and A Question of Life and were credited to "Maud Willis." The TV series said it was based on Martin Caidin's 1972 novel, Cyborg. However, this only refers to the idea of bionics, and the characters Rudy Wells and Oscar Goldman. Jaime Sommers does not appear in Caidin's books.

A short-lived comic book series by Charlton Comics was published in the US from 1976 to 1977. The UK comic Look-In also had a color comic strip about the show from 1976 to 1979.

In March 2012, Dynamite Entertainment started a new The Bionic Woman comic book. This comic was based on a new version of the story from The Bionic Man comic (a new take on The Six Million Dollar Man). In this comic, Jaime Sommers was brought back. A crossover mini-series, The Bionic Man vs. The Bionic Woman, started in January 2013. In late 2013, Dynamite ended both series. In spring 2014, they launched The Six Million Dollar Man Season 6, which was more like the original TV show. Jaime Sommers, looking like Lindsay Wagner, was brought back in issue 3. In June 2014, Dynamite announced they would publish The Bionic Woman Season 4, continuing the TV series.

Bionic Woman Toys and Merchandise

The Bionic Woman board game

Like The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman also had its own toys. Kenner made a 12-inch doll of Jaime. It had features similar to the Steve Austin doll, like bionic parts you could remove. Instead of a bionic eye, the Jaime doll's head would click when turned, to sound like her bionic ear. Kenner also sold clothes and a Bionic Beauty Salon playset for the doll.

There was a metal lunchbox for kids and a record with stories from the show. Kenner also made stickers and temporary tattoos featuring Jaime Sommers, sometimes with Steve Austin.

A board game based on The Bionic Woman was also created. It was sold by Parker Brothers in the US and was for 2–4 players, aged 7 to 12.

In July 2016, before Comic-Con International, the New York Times reported that author Andy Mangels was writing a new comic book series. This series, with DC Comics, would be called Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman. It would bring together Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman and Lindsay Wagner's Bionic Woman from the 1970s TV shows. The series was released in December 2016.

Newer Versions of The Bionic Woman

In August 2002, it was announced that the show would be remade by producers Jennifer and Suzanne Todd for the USA Network. News reports suggested that Jennifer Aniston might play Jaime. However, the show never got past the early planning stages.

On October 9, 2006, NBC Universal announced they were bringing the project back with new producers and a new idea for the show. NBC officially approved a one-hour pilot episode on January 3, 2007. On February 13, 2007, it was announced that English actress Michelle Ryan would play the main role. Katee Sackhoff would play Sarah Corvus, the bionic woman's enemy. NBC then picked up the series, and it first aired on September 26, 2007. Eight more episodes were made and shown before a writers' strike stopped production.

In March 2008, the show's creator, David Eick, said that the series had been canceled. Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman, was not involved in the new series. Wagner said that the new show was "technically very good" but that she didn't think they understood the original show. She felt it was "angry and dark," like many things today.

Images for kids

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  Opening credits screenshot

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  Jaime poses as a Las Vegas showgirl to gather information on the Fembot army of an evil scientist.

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  The Bionic Woman board game

See also

In Spanish: The Bionic Woman para niños