Steve Austin: astronaut. A man barely alive...

“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.”


When astronaut Colonel Steve Austin pilots the test-flight of a new delta-wing plane for the government, the aircraft suddenly suffers a mechanical malfunction and crashes to the ground below; critically injured, Steve is rushed to hospital for treatment, but all seems hopeless. That is, until Oliver Spencer, the head of the O.S.I. - a top secret U.S. special intelligence organisation - authorises Doctor Rudy Wells to rebuild Steve’s ruined body using state-of-the-art bionic parts. With his right arm and both legs replaced by powerful mechanical parts, and his left eye now equipped with a telephoto lens, Steve begins a slow, painful recovery. However, it is not long before he agrees to carry out missions for the O.S.I. – missions that are beyond the ability of a normal man, but easily possible for one equipped with bionics…

‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ was created by Kenneth Johnson and television veteran Harve Bennett, and was based on the novel ‘Cyborg’ by Martin Caldin. The pilot movie had a simple but innovative premise, coming at a time when the concept of replacement, mechanical limbs was still regarded as science fiction; of course now the idea is commonplace, but shows how ahead of its time the series was. An inspired piece of casting saw Lee Majors given the role of Steve Austin, a part he played with charismatic charm, masculine posing and trendy outfits, proving a hit with the ladies and inspiring men and boys to be just like him. When a second television movie followed the character of Oscar Goldman was introduced, played with great authority by Richard Anderson, and Doctor Rudy Wells changed from Martin Balsam to Alan Oppenheimer.

After a third movie the show then went to series; initially the stories were an eclectic mixture of spies, criminals and mad scientists, but it wasn’t long before more fantastical elements were introduced, as Steve came face to face with Bigfoot, alien visitors, trained killer sharks, murderous rogue space probes and a seven million dollar man.

‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ proved incredibly popular, catching the public’s imagination and providing children across the country with the incentive to run round playgrounds in slow motion, just like their bionic hero. The show ran for five seasons and six TV movies, and spawned a spin-off series, ‘The Bionic Woman’, featuring Steve’s ex-girlfriend, Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner), who was also unlucky enough to be in a life-threatening accident, and subsequently given bionic legs, arm and an ear. As Rudy changed yet again, into Martin B. Brooks, the bionic roster continued to grow, with the appearance of a bionic boy, a bionic girl, and even a bionic dog…

With repeats constantly being shown around the world, the show is still as enjoyable now as it was then, and provides a classic slice of 70s adventure.


The Six Million Dollar Man - Pilot TV Movies
The Six Million Dollar Man - Season 1
The Six Million Dollar Man - Season 2
The Six Million Dollar Man - Season 3
The Six Million Dollar Man - Season 4
The Six Million Dollar Man - Season 5
The Six Million Dollar Man - TV Movies

The Bionic Woman - intro page

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Legal Bit: 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Bionic Woman' are registered trademarks of MCA / Universal Studios. The 'Six Million Dollar Man' and 'Bionic Woman' logos and all images from the television series are copyright MCA / Universal Studios unless otherwise stated; music is copyright the original composers and producers; no copyright infringement is intended. All specially created images and text are copyright © Clive Banks; please do not use these without my permission. All rights reserved. No profit is made from this website, and any revenue made from using the banner-links featured goes straight back into the costs of maintaining it, which comes out of my own pocket in the first place. No profit advertising is accepted. This website was created purely to entertain and amuse, and any references to persons living, dead, comatose, in suspended animation, not born yet, or a figment of someone's imagination is purely coincidental. All opinions expressed are my own, so there...

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