The Six Million Dollar Man

[BAYLOR]

Producers also had difficulty with the 1970s Galactica because the context of the main story arc--genocide--challenged the target market, which was composed of kids.

Galactica was also very expensive to produce . It had halfway decent rating but it wasn't enough to justify its continuation.

Meanwhile, I think the original Star Trek series targeted young adults. It was similar for Twilight Zone.

I was of the impression that Star Trek was intended as and adult science fiction series.

 

[KGeo777]

I remember it , ran for 13 episodes , wasn't a bad show . It did find an audiences

Here one you find of interest

1972 TV movie Probe staring Gerry Lockwood and Burgess Meredith .it was pilot for never made science fiction spy investigation series series. In some ways it was ahead of its time .

Similar to Bionic Man as the agent has robotics and there are people who monitor him.
But the way they cut back between the staff (similar to Time Tunnel) is very off putting. Didn't work as a show idea.

The episode with John Saxon as Maskatron "Day of the Robot" was cool
I had that doll--(we called them dolls back then).
The Steve Austin face in that looked better than the one used for the official Steve Austin figure. One of his eyes was cut out for the bionic view which was annoying.

 

[Steve Harrison]

This 'coincidentally' popped up on social media just after I read this thread, so I expect Big Brother is watching me...

Not sure when the second photo was taken, but Majors was born in 1939, Wagner in 1949.

 

[Dave]

Similar to Bionic Man as the agent has robotics and there are people who monitor him.
But the way they cut back between the staff (similar to Time Tunnel) is very off putting. Didn't work as a show idea.

There were a lot of those "spy" shows where the spies had some kind of SF power - Invisibility in several different TV shows (I can think of three), mystical powers from Shangri La in The Champions, webbed feet in The Man From Atlantis - and as time went on, I think that those "powers" themselves became more important than the characters were, until by the time you get to Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff is simply window-dressing for the technology of KITT. I have to say though, as a kid, I did really like The Six Million Dollar Man, for all of it's many faults.

I agree, Star Trek was aimed at a much more "adult" audience, at least initially, though many of the episodes fell short of that (Spock's Brain etc.), and it was more in the style of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone with some heavyweight SF writers, but I think @BAYLOR has a point about SF TV in the 1970's and '80's being on a slide into juvenility. However, as a child of the time, that was the feeling that I got about all kinds of SF from adults; that even SF books were juvenile, and that "adults" somehow grew out of them. I'm don't think that the turning point was Star Wars because that is juvenile itself, but in the 1970's there were some other big films based on SF novels with more adult themes; that were more prescient of the future; more thought provoking. I guess that eventually trickled down to TV too.

As for cost cutting on shows, the re-use of old footage, the use of stock footage, and the cutting back to studio based sets was necessary to come in on budget, but you cannot compare any of these shows with The Time Tunnel which did this on an industrial scale, using old movies for historical scenes and repeatedly dressing up the same sets. Even the "staff" in the "lab" consisted only of a few bookcases with exploding electrical boxes. At least The Six Billion Dollar Man had outdoor sets and some complex stunts.

 

[Karapace]

Based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caiden

I used to watch this show religiously because it was a fun show to watch and , it was a science fiction show . The 1970's was not at all a great era for science fiction television , there were few if any options

I don't recall it being quite that bad (though not always good).
There was:
Quatermass 1979,
The Survivors 1975 (very dark),
Sapphire and Steel (1979),
Space 1999 (1975),
Doomwatch 1970,
UFO 1970,
Moonbase 3 1973,
Star Trek the animated series 1973,
Timeslip 1970,
The Tomorrow People 1973,
Planet of the Apes 1974 (and Return to the Planet of the apes)
The Changes 1975,
Sky 1975,
Logans Run 1975
not forgetting Blakes Seven 1978

 

[KGeo777]

There were a lot of those "spy" shows where the spies had some kind of SF power - Invisibility in several different TV shows (I can think of three), mystical powers from Shangri La in The Champions, webbed feet in The Man From Atlantis - and as time went on, I think that those "powers" themselves became more important than the characters were, until by the time you get to Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff is simply window-dressing for the technology of KITT. I have to say though, as a kid, I did really like The Six Million Dollar Man, for all of it's many faults.

We can say it is an exotic streak that expanded over time. I can see the gist of it--the hero becomes weaker or less independent. The Incredible Hulk was another, Spider-man also.
Even non-sci-fi shows were doing their part. Thus Jim Rockford looks for every way to avoid a fist fight, while Barnaby Jones I am told could whip a gang by himself despite it starring Buddy Ebsen and not William Smith.
Anything that would seem a traditional type of heroic portrayal was avoided as much as possible.
Consider Riker on ST: TNG. He was introduced as the Kirk of the show--going off on away missions but what did they do with him? Zilch. He was either being mocked by Q, sidelined by other characters like Data and Worf, or presented as someone afraid of authority (the point of the Picard-Borg episodes--if you think about it--Riker should not have had any crisis since he was recruited by Starfleet and would presumably have the qualities for command when he joined). Same thing happened to Chakotay on Voyager--introduced as someone who would at least be combative with Janeway and they immediately turned him into another Riker.

 

[Dave]

We can say it is an exotic streak that expanded over time. I can see the gist of it--the hero becomes weaker or less independent. The Incredible Hulk was another, Spider-man also.

I agree, especially about Riker and Chakotay being emasculated.

Both the classic "fist-fight" and that kind of 'Sherlock Holmes deduction' to solve things seemed to disappear. And this technology over "muscle power" and "brain power" was even true in James Bond during that era when he visited Q. Bond would be given three items, or else a watch, or a car with upgrades, that had no conceivable everyday use, but then as if by magic, the precise situation later presented itself later when they saved the day.

 

[paeng]

Galactica was also very expensive to produce . It had halfway decent rating but it wasn't enough to justify its continuation.



I was of the impression that Star Trek was intended as and adult science fiction series.

That's why I think things started changing not with ST:TNG but with earlier shows.

 

[KGeo777]

I agree, especially about Riker and Chakotay being emasculated.

Both the classic "fist-fight" and that kind of 'Sherlock Holmes deduction' to solve things seemed to disappear. And this technology over "muscle power" and "brain power" was even true in James Bond during that era when he visited Q. Bond would be given three items, or else a watch, or a car with upgrades, that had no conceivable everyday use, but then as if by magic, the precise situation later presented itself later when they saved the day.

Yes James Bond definitely has that too. The public sees him as a knight errant, wants him to be that--but he is not really intended to be that. I think Ian Fleming was quoted as saying he wasn't a hero--he was a government killing machine.

Star Trek--the NG especially, did a lot of "technology saves the day" plot.
It was ridiculous how tachyons were always there to fix things.

 

[KGeo777]

I watched the David McCallum Invisible Man show as a kid and it was weird to me--that he took off his face--it was like he had to deconstruct himself or make himself each episode! It was kind of creepy.

The thing with the Bionic Man is that one didn't think so much about his bionics when he did things like throw around cement blocks--you just thought--look this cool--but we still did the "krr-krr-krr" sound effect.

"I am lifting up and crushing this styrofoam cup but using my bionic powers for it."

 

[KGeo777]

What made the original Star Trek so cool--episodes like THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE--Kirk is shown doing ship repairs. I think that is one of the best scenes in the show--him under the control panel by himself, fixing it.
Both men and women characters--how often do we see them doing tasks that are industrious?

 

[Dave]

I will agree that TSMDM (not writing that out every time) and TBW were less about the "technology saves the day" than later shows were, and that they did try to delve into the emotional and psychological aspects of being a cyborg, but it was still at a very shallow, almost frivolous level. As I said in an earlier post, since then we've had Robocop having to come to terms with the lingering fragments of his humanity, and the Terminator, built without any humanity, who kind of becomes more human than humans. There were no such "messages" in TSMDM. No evil corporations or government plots. It was just, "We can rebuild him!" and so we did; aren't we clever?

This thread was originally about a remake/film from 2002, which if one of the later posts is correct, the idea is still out there in development hell somewhere. However, it needs to have something more than the original if it is to work today.

 

[KGeo777]

In the earliest episodes--Steve Austin had angst about his cybernetics and lack of independence. But it seems that was abandoned pretty quickly.
I regarded Steve Austin as a childhood role model--but only from the perspective that he was an action hero doing stuff. Doug McClure did some of that too--without bionics of course.

The Man From Atlantis---I watched that show--his weird swimming...

 

[Ursa major]

Steven Austins Bionic arm can lift a vehicle , the problem, how is it his S=skeleton doesn't crumble in the process?

What bothered me at the time was how he could run so fast when the bionic parts of his legs seemed to start halfway down his thighs.

it was pilot for never made science fiction spy investigation series series

It became the TV series, Search.

I remember watching it (but don't recall seeing the film, Probe) and it was called Search Control here in the UK. There were three "field agents",
played by Hugh O'Brian, Tony Franciosa and Doug McClure (who never met on screen).

 

[BAYLOR]

In the earliest episodes--Steve Austin had angst about his cybernetics and lack of independence. But it seems that was abandoned pretty quickly.
I regarded Steve Austin as a childhood role model--but only from the perspective that he was an action hero doing stuff. Doug McClure did some of that too--without bionics of course.

The Man From Atlantis---I watched that show--his weird swimming...

They should have kept that one as a series tv movies rather then go full series mode.

 

[BAYLOR]

I don't recall it being quite that bad (though not always good).
There was:
Quatermass 1979,
The Survivors 1975 (very dark),
Sapphire and Steel (1979),
Space 1999 (1975),
Doomwatch 1970,
UFO 1970,
Moonbase 3 1973,
Star Trek the animated series 1973,
Timeslip 1970,
The Tomorrow People 1973,
Planet of the Apes 1974 (and Return to the Planet of the apes)
The Changes 1975,
Sky 1975,
Logans Run 1975
not forgetting Blakes Seven 1978

What used to really tick me of about US Network television in that era is, that would jput a show on that id liked and then cancel it quickly.

 

[Karapace]

What used to really tick me of about US Network television in that era is, that would jput a show on that id liked and then cancel it quickly.

In the UK they used to put them on at some ridiculous time as well. Back in the days before video recorders it was a real pain. Also they never showed episodes in sequence either.