Dalbert Pringle Faster than a speeding bullet? More powerful than a locomotive? Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound? - Well, not quite, but, hey, what the heck could the American TV audience possibly expect (even back in 1974) from a superhero who only cost 6 million bucks? That's dirt cheap!At best, I'd say that this Action/Crime/Adventure series from the 1970s was "OK", but, it definitely wasn't great.The Six Million Dollar Man stars hunky, ex-football champion, Lee Majors, as Col. Steven Austin whose damaged body (following the crash of an experimental aircraft) is secretly rebuilt through the wonders of modern science known as "Bionics".Always kept under the watchful eye of OSI director, Oscar Goldman, Steve Austin heroically repays his great debt to the American taxpayers by gallantly taking on perilous missions of a highly classified nature.

ThePowerToArouseCuriosity Oh the 1970's, who can forget this era when life was less complicated and we moved at a slower pace. People had face to face conversations when seated at a table instead of staring into a cell phone.Producers in the 1970's could still captivate their audiences without relying upon unrealistic CGI generated explosions and long drawn out finale battles.I'm referring to shows such as Rockford Files, CHiPs, Knight Rider, Charlie's Angels, Bionic Woman, Dukes of Hazzard and of course The Six Million Dollar Man.Filmed in everyday cities in every day buildings, no computer generated effects, these shows riveted youths such as myself. These were shows that the entire family could sit down and watch and of course youths could discuss at school the next day.Today's trashy reality fake-reality shows just don't compare. I am so grateful to the producers of these golden era shows for influencing my childhood.Who could forget the Death Probe episode? This episode scared the crap out of me. For years I've wondered what they used to power it - it moved so fast. And who could forget the Bigfoot episode? Classic television.I recall asking my parents to buy my brother and I the newest Six Million Dollar Man toys. Those toys provided us with hours of playing time.Thank you Harve Bennett, Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner for making our childhood just a little more enjoyable.

Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) Television really never had it so good as the five years when "The Six Million Dollar Man" more or less dominated the airwaves. I was exactly seven years old when the show first premiered as a weekly event and while seeing the very beginnings of the series are hazy recollections at best it quickly became THE weekly television event in our household. At least as far as I was concerned -- back then parents actually regulated stuff like what TV you watched and where you went after school. We each got to pick one show to watch every weekend (no TV on school nights!) and I always picked The Bionic Man. The few times I was forced to miss it due to groundings or family scheduling conflicts were absolutely traumatic. I literally had no idea how the epic "Secret of Bigfoot" turned out for a whole year waiting for it to go into rerun phase because of a behavioral infraction the week of part two. Take it for granted that I never screwed up like that again.For my money the show was better than "Star Trek" because it was (at first, at least) far less pompous. We didn't necessarily tune in to learn anything, we tuned in to watch Colonel Steve Austin bust through walls, jump over buildings and throw stuff with that bionic screeching projectile sound effect. Eventually the show demonstrated to us how to be good citizens, see right from wrong and appreciate the military industrial complex. Eventually the show lost it's edginess and became routine, with disco mustaches and Bionic Woman & Farrah Fawcett guest appearances that intruded on our fun.But man, all the memories: Sasquatch, The Death Probe, John Saxon as a faceless robot squawking backwards, the weekly opening segment, Oscar Goldman with his omnipotent phone in a briefcase, Steve's Mercedes and custom belt buckle, and who can forget that sweet jacket covered with NASA mission patches. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Though you must admit that just like Kirk's v-necked wrap tunic, anybody else other than Colonel Steve Austin would have looked like an idiot paravanting around in it.Seriously, sometimes I wonder what people REALLY watch these days on television, and what brings them back week after week. Watching people dance or forage for coconuts or sing, yeah whatever. Even the fiction shows of today that are considered "hits"; what's the deal with them? How do they keep audiences tuning in every week, buying the products that are being advertised and turning into hysterics when a particular series is threatened with cancellation? Back when SMDM (as we call it for short) was the thing we honestly didn't know if he would be back the next week ... not because the show might have been canceled, but because for all we might know he could have been KILLED every week. He wasn't just some actor playing a role, we believed in this show. And not just because we were dumb kids, but because it was convincing, absorbing and oh so brain dead stupid.You honestly couldn't help but love it, and when I mean "convincing" I am not referring to the bionic special effects, I mean that we believed in the little microcosm this television show inhabited. It involved us as viewers and engaged our imaginations, which is not something I have encountered on TV in a live action show since "The X-Files" started to suck. There's no way to deny that once SMDM became a ratings hit and the Bionic Man a childhood icon it became muddled and weak, though even in it's last season there were some wonderful SMDM moments.What's more important is that the show has endured the passage of time, perhaps mostly because it hasn't to this date (April 2008) been remade or otherwise ruined: The image of Colonel Steve Austin in his polyester lounge suits flipping over cars and chasing Bigfoot around the woods has remained intact, aside from some later years made for TV movies that I somehow managed to miss. The memory remains intact and unsullied, though a complete series North American DVD release would be appreciated, thank you.10/10: Please, don't remake it, sir.

voicemaster71 One of my all time favorite TV shows. I saw it when I was very little and not again until the SciFi Channel in the 90's. The Six Million Dollar Man series was a series that never developed a permanent formula so each season is unique and different from the others. The character first came to life on TV in 1973 with a trio of 90 minute TV movies. The Six Million Dollar Man movie (Cyborg) was take right from Martin Caidin's novel and also starred Darren McGavin as Oliver Spencer and Martin Balsam as Dr. Rudy Wells. Wine, Women, and War debuted Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman and Alan Oppenheimer took over as Rudy Wells but was never a series regular. This movie made Steve seem like a Bionic James Bond. Solid Gold Kidnapping was a dull TV movie. Season one (1974) was a season that seemed geared towards more adults than children. Slow motion would be used as a reverse psychology to show Steve's super speed at slow motion. Cheesy, but effective. The episodes were more action oriented and we saw Greg Morris, William Shatner, and George Takai in guest roles. And the best episode of the season had to be Day of the Robot that introduced the toy figure called Maskatron. John Saxon's fight scene with Steve was awesome!! Season Two was in an interesting season as we occasionally heard the trademark Bionic sound effect which was used more towards season's end. In this season, Steve encountered another Bionic Man who was emotionally unstable, plus he would return in season three. The biggest highlight of the season was the introduction (and the death of) Jamie Sommers, the Bionic Woman. Season Three: I think this was when the series soared in popularity, became more kid friendly, and the Bionic sound effect was used on a regular permanent basis. The Bionic Woman, Jamie Sommers got revived and later spun off onto her own series. Then the show turned more SciFi with the 2 parter that introduced Bigfoot played by Andre the Giant. Season Four: This season plus the previous season remind me of the Incredible Hulk TV series because Bionic Woman creator Kenneth Johnson who adapted the Hulk was chief writer on the SMDM in these two seasons. We saw Steve and Jamie occasionally team up like in the 2 part Return of Bigfoot played by Ted Cassidy and the 3 part Bionic Crossover that introduced Fembots. In this season, Steve had a couple of Bionic malfunctions and he meets a boy who gets Bionic leg implants. Oddly enough though Lee Majors changed his look by sporting a mustache for most of this season which went against his look that was marketed on SMDM merchandise. In this season we were also introduced to the Russian Venus Death Probe. Dr. Ruy Wells was now played by Martin E Brooks who became a series regular at this point. Season Five was the strangest season of them all. The series made fun of itself with its story lines. There were more 2 parters than usual and although Lee Majors ditched the mustache, his hairstyle (which I thought was cool) was a late 70s'style that made Steve look more civilian and less military. Since the Bionic Woman was now on another network, he was dating other women and no longer had any interaction with Jamie. Best recommended episodes are: The Robot (Maskatron)series, Day of the Robot, Run Steve Run, and Return of the Robot Maker. Episodes with Jamie Sommers, The Bionic Woman and her season three return episode, plus Welcome Home Jamie which kick started her own series, The Secret of and Return of Bigfoot 2 parters, but avoid the season five episode, Bigfoot V, the Seven Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Criminal with the other Bionic Man played by Monte Markham, the Death Probe 2 parters as well as episodes like Dr. Wells is Missing, The Pioneers, The Deadly Replay, Stranger in Broken Fork, Look a Like, Hocus, Pocus, and the 2 part Dark Side of the Moon, these three episodes guest star Jack Colvin, who would later play Jack McGee on the Incredible Hulk. Also, the Price of Liberty with Chuck Connors, Target in the Sky, The 2 hour episodes, Bionic Boy and the Thunderbird Connection, The 3 part Bionic Crossover Kill Oscar, and from season five, the best ones are the 2 part Sharks, Killer Wind, the Cheshire Project, and the series final episode, the Moving Mountain. I also wanted to mention 4 episodes, Rescue of Athena One, The Peeping Blonde, The Golden Pharoah, and Nightmare in the Sky. These four all guest starred Farrah Fawcett, Lee Major's then wife and future Charlie's Angels star. There's a little over 100 episodes, but this series is great. Though cheesy by today's standards, the Six Million Dollar Man is still a Six Million Dollar Show!!