The Six Million Dollar Man facts for kids
The Six Million Dollar Man was a popular American science fiction and action TV show. It was about a former astronaut named Colonel Steve Austin, played by actor Lee Majors. Steve gets special powers from bionic (electronic and mechanical) body parts. He then works as a secret agent for a fictional U.S. government group called the OSI. The show was based on a book called Cyborg by Martin Caidin.
The series started with three TV movies in 1973. Then, The Six Million Dollar Man became a regular show on the ABC network. It ran for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. Steve Austin became a famous character in the 1970s.
A spin-off show called The Bionic Woman was also created. It featured a female character named Jaime Sommers. That show ran from 1976 to 1978. Later, three more TV movies were made between 1987 and 1994, bringing both bionic characters together.
Quick facts for kids The Six Million Dollar Man |
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|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Starring | Lee Majors Richard Anderson Martin E. Brooks |
| Composer(s) | Jerry Fielding Stu Philips Mike Post Mark Snow Gil Mellé Oliver Nelson Benny Golson J.J. Johnson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 99 + 6 TV movies (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Harve Bennett |
| Producer(s) | Kenneth Johnson |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Distributor | MCA TV (1978–1979) NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | March 7, 1973 – March 6, 1978 |
Contents
The Story of Steve Austin
How Steve Became Bionic
The story begins when NASA astronaut Colonel Steve Austin is badly hurt. His experimental aircraft crashes. To save his life, doctors perform a special operation. It costs $6 million (which was a lot of money in 1973!).
They replace his right arm, both legs, and left eye with "bionic" parts. These bionic parts are like super-powered electronic and mechanical limbs. They make him much stronger, faster, and able to see things far away. For example, he can run over 60 miles per hour! His bionic eye can zoom in 20 times and see in infrared. His bionic limbs are as strong as a bulldozer.
After his recovery, Steve uses his new abilities to work for the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence). He becomes a secret agent for them.
From Book to TV Show
The show was based on the popular 1972 novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin. The book was so successful that Caidin wrote three more stories about Steve Austin.
In March 1973, the book was made into a TV movie. It was also called The Six Million Dollar Man. Lee Majors played Steve Austin. This movie was a big hit! It led to two more TV movies in late 1973. Then, in January 1974, the weekly TV series began.
Popular Features of the Show
The show was very popular and introduced many cool things that people remembered. One famous line was the opening catchphrase: "We can rebuild him; we have the technology." This was spoken by Richard Anderson, who played Steve's boss, Oscar Goldman.
The show also used special slow motion action scenes. When Steve ran fast or fought, it would often be shown in slow motion. This made his bionic powers look even more amazing. Electronic sound effects were also used to show when Steve was using his bionic parts.
The Bionic Woman Spin-off
In 1975, a two-part episode introduced a character named Jaime Sommers. She was a professional tennis player and Steve's old girlfriend. Jaime also had a terrible accident and received bionic parts, just like Steve.
At first, it seemed like her body rejected the bionics, and she died. But because she was so popular, the show brought her back! It was revealed she had survived. She then got her own spin-off series called The Bionic Woman. Both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman shows ended in 1978.
Later TV Movies
Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers returned in three more TV movies years later. These were 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), and Bionic Ever After? (1994). In the last movie, Steve and Jaime finally got married! Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner played their famous roles again in all these movies.
Future Movie Plans
In 2014, there were plans to make a new movie called The Six Billion Dollar Man. Mark Wahlberg was set to play Steve Austin. As of 2017, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the film. They hoped to start filming in 2018 for a release in 2019.
Main Characters
- Steve Austin (played by Lee Majors): The main hero of the show, a former astronaut with bionic parts.
- Oscar Goldman (played by Richard Anderson): The director of the OSI, Steve's boss.
- Dr. Rudy Wells (played by Martin E. Brooks in later seasons and movies): Steve's doctor and the main scientist in charge of bionic technology.
- Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner): A professional tennis player who also becomes bionic and gets her own show.
- Peggy Callahan (played by Jennifer Darling): Oscar Goldman's secretary.
See also
In Spanish: The Six Million Dollar Man para niños
