The era of (fictional) Bionics (Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman)

[Qonundrum]

A reboot of two threads, are there other fans of these high-concept espionage/action thrillers from the 1970s?

Gotta admit, TSMDM got off to an interesting and gruff start with the pilots, followed by the numerous changes put in by legendary Kenneth Johnson, Harve Bennett, et al.

"The Seven Million Dollar Man" being an early great - exploring someone who gets bionics and goes nuts with it. The show, as do most, tend to go overboard as seasons go on. Steve battles Bigfoot, and in another story, a Death Probe in sweeps week escapades, only to battle them again to keep squeezing that turnip, and in ways they get more and more ridiculous. Disappointingly so, considering how well this show (and its spinoff) manage to get audiences to suspend their disbelief for a concept that would not work in real life because of those pesky laws of physics and stuff. (Really, jumping down from that level would create quite the greasy stain on the sidewalk...) Indeed, limitations on their shiny new powers were introduced to prevent the writers from going nuts (which, as with most shows, guess what happens in the later seasons...) Such as their ability to jump down no more than 3 storeys or so without risk of damage, and so on. For more on grounding a show with an absurdly high concept, look up the first season of "Space 1999" - a show where even the most ardent fans in 1975 knew the premise was daft, but the attention to detail beyond the premise was worthy of winning awards. But there I go with a digression.

Naturally, TSMDM introduces Jamie Sommers, plus a horrible song that's best referenced in a Stam Fine video. Jamie, of course, gets her own show ("The Bionic Woman"), where the show takes a different format yet remains just as adventurous, what with a doppelganger, HAL9000 copycat that doesn't feel as hokey as it should thanks to utilizing, among other things along with great dialogue, a trope that video games would use (beat the boss to get to the next level) and with a great plot twist, the fembots of course... despite good ratings, the spinoff was to be culled and another network quickly picked it up. Then they did things like bring in a bionic doggie (which isn't as crass as the writing is still good at this point), a UFO episode (which, despite being on the ball with other in-story logic and commendably so, forgets how the captured people were teleported in one of the worst plot holes ever!!), and sweeps week galore with more fembots (in a partial retread of the season two original but still remains fairly solid.) Sadly, ratings weren't high enough and the third season would end - with the plot idea of putting Sommers in a camp for special agents to retire (think "The Prisoner" from 1967 but only more pleasant.)

The 80s/90s reunion movies also feel more natural as a story continuation and not just a puffy reunion party, though there are some laxities with continuity (e.g. Jamie's on a date, her right arm is held but the date doesn't notice there's no body warmth. Another scene has Steve jumping up two storeys with someone, holding him in a way that would - in real life - rip off his shoulder, wheeeeeeeeee! But 1978's Superman flubbed that sort of thing too and I didn't write off the flick because of that booboo so neither am I for these films, but before I digress... )



A couple neat examples:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

The opening credits are more than iconic. And 4920 watts? Dang, that's like running four hair dryers simultaneously!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Really awesome incidental music, plus that famous line of "It's wild!" reminds me of my ex afte-- so, anyway...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Yeah, we all instantly recognize possible influences from Star Trek and even Doctor Who and probably others, but this story took the ideas and made it feel like their own - which is impressive. Like what every show has and will do, even those. But "Kill Oscar" is a superb three-parter...

And, of course, good ol' Stam:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

References, please do not revive them:

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series [Collector's Edition] [Blu-ray]

"GENTLEMEN, WE CAN REBUILD HIM, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER HIM IN HIGH DEFINITION!" Lee Majors is "better, stronger, faster" in high definition! This 33-Blu-ray set includes all 99 episodes, the 3 pilot films, 3 reunion films and bonus crossover episodes of The Bionic Woman. When an...

www.trekbbs.com

What properties or shows are you surprised nobody has rebooted?

Got to get Collin Farrell to do Highlander. He would be perfect. Jason As????

www.trekbbs.com

 

[JD]

I watched a few episodes of them when Cozi showed them a while back, they were pretty good. Although they were a bit slower moving and didn't have the kind of big, crazy action set pieces I was expecting.
I know I'm in the minority, but I actually like the Bionic Woman reboot that had Katee Sackhoff as the villain after she did Battlestar Galactic.
I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen any other reboots, they're the perfect shows for a modern big budget reboot. They could do so much more with their powers now.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, we all instantly recognize possible influences from Star Trek and even Doctor Who and probably others

I doubt the makers of the bionic shows were familiar with Doctor Who. It wasn't widely broadcast in the US until the '80s, and that was mostly on PBS affiliates.

 

[Nerys Myk]

A reboot of two threads, are there other fans of these high-concept espionage/action thrillers from the 1970s?

Gotta admit, TSMDM got off to an interesting and gruff start with the pilots, followed by the numerous changes put in by legendary Kenneth Johnson, Harve Bennett, et al.

"The Seven Million Dollar Man" being an early great - exploring someone who gets bionics and goes nuts with it. The show, as do most, tend to go overboard as seasons go on. Steve battles Bigfoot, and in another story, a Death Probe in sweeps week escapades, only to battle them again to keep squeezing that turnip, and in ways they get more and more ridiculous. Disappointingly so, considering how well this show (and its spinoff) manage to get audiences to suspend their disbelief for a concept that would not work in real life because of those pesky laws of physics and stuff. (Really, jumping down from that level would create quite the greasy stain on the sidewalk...) Indeed, limitations on their shiny new powers were introduced to prevent the writers from going nuts (which, as with most shows, guess what happens in the later seasons...) Such as their ability to jump down no more than 3 storeys or so without risk of damage, and so on. For more on grounding a show with an absurdly high concept, look up the first season of "Space 1999" - a show where even the most ardent fans in 1975 knew the premise was daft, but the attention to detail beyond the premise was worthy of winning awards. But there I go with a digression.

Naturally, TSMDM introduces Jamie Sommers, plus a horrible song that's best referenced in a Stam Fine video. Jamie, of course, gets her own show ("The Bionic Woman"), where the show takes a different format yet remains just as adventurous, what with a doppelganger, HAL9000 copycat that doesn't feel as hokey as it should thanks to utilizing, among other things along with great dialogue, a trope that video games would use (beat the boss to get to the next level) and with a great plot twist, the fembots of course... despite good ratings, the spinoff was to be culled and another network quickly picked it up. Then they did things like bring in a bionic doggie (which isn't as crass as the writing is still good at this point), a UFO episode (which, despite being on the ball with other in-story logic and commendably so, forgets how the captured people were teleported in one of the worst plot holes ever!!), and sweeps week galore with more fembots (in a partial retread of the season two original but still remains fairly solid.) Sadly, ratings weren't high enough and the third season would end - with the plot idea of putting Sommers in a camp for special agents to retire (think "The Prisoner" from 1967 but only more pleasant.)

The 80s/90s reunion movies also feel more natural as a story continuation and not just a puffy reunion party, though there are some laxities with continuity (e.g. Jamie's on a date, her right arm is held but the date doesn't notice there's no body warmth. Another scene has Steve jumping up two storeys with someone, holding him in a way that would - in real life - rip off his shoulder, wheeeeeeeeee! But 1978's Superman flubbed that sort of thing too and I didn't write off the flick because of that booboo so neither am I for these films, but before I digress... )



A couple neat examples:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

The opening credits are more than iconic. And 4920 watts? Dang, that's like running four hair dryers simultaneously!

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Really awesome incidental music, plus that famous line of "It's wild!" reminds me of my ex afte-- so, anyway...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Yeah, we all instantly recognize possible influences from Star Trek and even Doctor Who and probably others, but this story took the ideas and made it feel like their own - which is impressive. Like what every show has and will do, even those. But "Kill Oscar" is a superb three-parter...

And, of course, good ol' Stam:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

References, please do not revive them:

The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series [Collector's Edition] [Blu-ray]

"GENTLEMEN, WE CAN REBUILD HIM, WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO DELIVER HIM IN HIGH DEFINITION!" Lee Majors is "better, stronger, faster" in high definition! This 33-Blu-ray set includes all 99 episodes, the 3 pilot films, 3 reunion films and bonus crossover episodes of The Bionic Woman. When an...

www.trekbbs.com

What properties or shows are you surprised nobody has rebooted?

Got to get Collin Farrell to do Highlander. He would be perfect. Jason As????

www.trekbbs.com

Let's not forget

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[The Realist]

I revisited a few episodes of both shows several years back, and -- not to rain on the thread's parade -- I was a bit underwhelmed?

The main reaction I remember having to The Six Million Dollar Man on revisiting it was that Lee Majors was kind of a dud. His idea of giving Austin personality seemed to be largely centered on winking (literally). I found this surprising, because I also rewatched another childhood favorite show, The Big Valley, and Majors delivers a surprisingly soulful and believable performance on that series as Heath Barkley. Don't know what happened in just a few years, but I found him to be pretty flat as Austin.

As for The Bionic Woman, that was a show that benefited enormously from Lindsay Wagner, who brought so much more to her show as a lead actor than Majors did to his. Very strong and appealing main performance. The primary weirdness I remember about that series in the episodes I rewatched was how often the plots had Jaime stumbling accidentally into trouble in contrived TV fashion, when she had been established as a government operative who could actually receive assignments. Why make up improbable scenarios to get her into her adventures when Oscar could just show up every week and hand her that episode's story?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Maskatron, aka the robot from "Day of the Robot," and the Fembots were obviously directly influenced by the film Westworld, starring Yul Brynner.

 

[Qonundrum]

I doubt the makers of the bionic shows were familiar with Doctor Who. It wasn't widely broadcast in the US until the '80s, and that was mostly on PBS affiliates.

Very true. Different countries, long before the internet, PBS wouldn't run it for another year -- very improbable. But fun to say. Some ideas are just universal.

I revisited a few episodes of both shows several years back, and -- not to rain on the thread's parade -- I was a bit underwhelmed?

Rain is part of the metaphorical ecosystem, no worries!

The main reaction I remember having to The Six Million Dollar Man on revisiting it was that Lee Majors was kind of a dud. His idea of giving Austin personality seemed to be largely centered on winking (literally). I found this surprising, because I also rewatched another childhood favorite show, The Big Valley, and Majors delivers a surprisingly soulful and believable performance on that series as Heath Barkley. Don't know what happened in just a few years, but I found him to be pretty flat as Austin.

From recollection, the show did require a while to find itself - even inconsistencies with the requisite sound effects (mostly as audience cue fodder and not noises they actually make as, if that were the case, the baddies would stop bemused and then likely burst into laughter.)

Yeah, the winking was a bit pants...

It is fun to revisit those old shows; what works, what doesn't... but I do prefer BW over SMDM and I think it does have something to do with the lead character's personality. (If the plotting and scenario is strong enough then neither lead mattered as much, but usually a good story ties in the lead character just as well!)

As for The Bionic Woman, that was a show that benefited enormously from Lindsay Wagner, who brought so much more to her show as a lead actor than Majors did to his. Very strong and appealing main performance. The primary weirdness I remember about that series in the episodes I rewatched was how often the plots had Jaime stumbling accidentally into trouble in contrived TV fashion, when she had been established as a government operative who could actually receive assignments. Why make up improbable scenarios to get her into her adventures when Oscar could just show up every week and hand her that episode's story?

I'd like to think that there was something of an unintentional or accidental theme, with Jaime wanting to keep a personal life, so they had to find ways of getting her into situations other than Oscar handing them out the way he did for Steve. (Some of the contrivances did require a bit to swallow, true...) The series finale actually did something on work/life balance (in a way Steve didn't get), even though there were plenty of times she stumbled into issues as she was getting work from Oscar. Of course, it took her show three seasons to address the differences in being bionic (Steve had the early pilot, but that was ditched as nobody wanted to see a man having to feel emotional and recovering from that much major surgery... I should sit through that pilot this weekend and really compare it to the show that followed and not from recollection. )

That, and contrived TV fashion can be fun. Though those tropes aren't always great to return to, styles have to change or it stagnates. Whenever lightning strikes in the proverbial bottle, then it all seems that much more enjoyable.

 

[Christopher]

The main reaction I remember having to The Six Million Dollar Man on revisiting it was that Lee Majors was kind of a dud. His idea of giving Austin personality seemed to be largely centered on winking (literally). I found this surprising, because I also rewatched another childhood favorite show, The Big Valley, and Majors delivers a surprisingly soulful and believable performance on that series as Heath Barkley. Don't know what happened in just a few years, but I found him to be pretty flat as Austin.

Yeah, I was always struck by the contrast between Majors's flat delivery and Wagner's delightful expressiveness.

As for The Bionic Woman, that was a show that benefited enormously from Lindsay Wagner, who brought so much more to her show as a lead actor than Majors did to his. Very strong and appealing main performance. The primary weirdness I remember about that series in the episodes I rewatched was how often the plots had Jaime stumbling accidentally into trouble in contrived TV fashion, when she had been established as a government operative who could actually receive assignments. Why make up improbable scenarios to get her into her adventures when Oscar could just show up every week and hand her that episode's story?

I think Qonundrum's probably right that it had to do with TBW focusing more on Jaime's personal life. She was a more grudging recruit than Steve (at least the series's Steve, as opposed to the original novel and movie where he was basically a slave of the government), and she wanted to lead her life and be a teacher and only occasionally go on missions.

Although I daresay gendered expectations about male vs. female protagonists and target audiences played a role there. They probably figured the show would appeal more to female audiences and so they shifted its emphasis to fit their perceived preferences.

On the other hand, when Bruce Lansbury retooled Wonder Woman to be a Bionic Woman knockoff, he had no trouble sending Diana Prince on government assignments on a regular basis.

Anyway, protagonists stumbling into cases that happen to align with their expertise is hardly a new plot device. I've been watching the David Suchet Poirot series, and he stumbled upon murders on vacations, at parties, in his own building, etc. as often as Jessica Fletcher did decades later. (Although some of the episodes rewrite the stories to put Poirot on the scene before the murder when he wasn't in the originals.)

From recollection, the show did require a while to find itself - even inconsistencies with the requisite sound effects (mostly as audience cue fodder and not noises they actually make as, if that were the case, the baddies would stop bemused and then likely burst into laughter.)

Yeah -- it intrigued me how the metallic "ta-ta-ta-ta-tang" sound we now associate with bionic powers was originally more of a generic "object flung horizontally through the air in slow motion" sound regardless of who did the flinging.

It is fun to revisit those old shows; what works, what doesn't... but I do prefer BW over SMDM and I think it does have something to do with the lead character's personality. (If the plotting and scenario is strong enough then neither lead mattered as much, but usually a good story ties in the lead character just as well!)

Lindsay Wagner was my generation's Melissa Benoist.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

TSMDM's pilot movie was the concept at its best, and frankly, should have ended there, with Steve placed in a coma until he would be needed again, for missions that would not be produced.

 

[JD]

When these shows were made in the '70s were there rules about the kinds of fights scenes and stuff they could do? It just seems like most of the shows from this era that I went into expecting a lot of big action and stunt scenes, like these and Mission: Impossible, have very little. I know I've seen some stuff about people objecting to the amount of violence in '60s shows, so I wasn't if they set some rules or something about the amount of violence and things like that these kind of shows could have.
To be clear, I don't meant this as a negative, it's just that as someone who's gotten used to the kind of stuff we get in modern shows, and went in expecting something similar in these shows, it really stood out.

 

[theenglish]

I think it probably came down to the cost of doing location and outdoor shooting and setting up/filming stunts in general.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

When these shows were made in the '70s were there rules about the kinds of fights scenes and stuff they could do? It just seems like most of the shows from this era that I went into expecting a lot of big action and stunt scenes, like these and Mission: Impossible, have very little. I know I've seen some stuff about people objecting to the amount of violence in '60s shows, so I wasn't if they set some rules or something about the amount of violence and things like that these kind of shows could have.
To be clear, I don't meant this as a negative, it's just that as someone who's gotten used to the kind of stuff we get in modern shows, and went in expecting something similar in these shows, it really stood out.

With 'Mission' it wasn't really about the action. It was about the 'con' and how the team manipulated the bad guys into giving themselves up or turning on themselves.
In the first season, with Dan Briggs, it was a little more violent and the team did kill a few bad guys; but once the second season rolled around and Peter Graves took over as Jim Phelps, the formula was established and the IMF would let the bad guys turn on each other.

 

[Christopher]

When these shows were made in the '70s were there rules about the kinds of fights scenes and stuff they could do? It just seems like most of the shows from this era that I went into expecting a lot of big action and stunt scenes, like these and Mission: Impossible, have very little. I know I've seen some stuff about people objecting to the amount of violence in '60s shows, so I wasn't if they set some rules or something about the amount of violence and things like that these kind of shows could have.

Oh, yes, there was a strong backlash against the violence in '60s shows, so '70s shows toned it down a lot and went for more nonlethal heroes. Though even in the '60s, there was a lot of censorship on violence -- shootings tended to be bloodless, and even the in-story fake blood they used on Mission: Impossible looked more like red paint.

Also keep in mind that the bionic shows were family shows, made with children in mind. Plus, it seems to me that they didn't have especially large budgets. The visual effects were elementary and often terrible, and they probably couldn't afford too much elaborate action either.

Part of it, though, is that the stunt work in American shows was not nearly as sophisticated as it became in later decades when martial arts became more influential, particularly after The Matrix made it fashionable for actors to train to do their own stunts. I'm often struck looking at these older shows by how simplistic the stunt and fight scenes are compared to what's common now.

With 'Mission' it wasn't really about the action. It was about the 'con' and how the team manipulated the bad guys into giving themselves up or turning on themselves.

Yes, it was very different from the movies, essentially a caper/heist procedural, more in the vein of Ocean's Eleven or Leverage. It was inspired in part by the heist sequence in Topkapi, but network censors wouldn't let criminals be heroes, so they made them spies pulling crimes and cons in foreign countries in the name of global security.

I often feel M:I was similar to CSI, in that they both involved long sequences of skilled professionals doing meticulous work set to prominently featured music.

In the first season, with Dan Briggs, it was a little more violent and the team did kill a few bad guys; but once the second season rolled around and Peter Graves took over as Jim Phelps, the formula was established and the IMF would let the bad guys turn on each other.

Well, yes and no. In the pilot episode, the Voice on Tape explicitly told Dan his team wasn't authorized to assassinate the target, to justify why they needed the elaborate caper instead. That was implied in the rest of the series, and when they did directly kill people, it was usually in self-defense. Tricking the bad guys into killing each other was done in the first season too.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

When these shows were made in the '70s were there rules about the kinds of fights scenes and stuff they could do? It just seems like most of the shows from this era that I went into expecting a lot of big action and stunt scenes, like these and Mission: Impossible, have very little.

Depends on the series in that decade. For example the very popular Mannix (CBS, 1967-75) was known for heavy character action (read: violence). Jack Webb's Adam-12 (NBC, 1968-75) often focused on the weighty, philosophical side of police work, but did not pull back on gun action, sometimes rather startling (for a TV series). S.W.A.T. (ABC, 1975-76) and Starksy and Hutch (ABC, 1975-79) were almost defined by the use of stark violence, especially the latter series, which sort of weathered some criticism thanks to the appeal of the series leads. So, despite some complaints from pressure groups, 1970s TV did not go all-in on pulling back on violent content on weekly series, as you can see the decade--even with the small sample I've presented--had violent action-oriented series well-represented across the decade.

 

[JoeZhang]

Not on TV but these shows did influence 2000AD where we had M.A.C.H. 1 which featured John Probe who had similar powers and got into adventures just like TSMSM. It was so successful they did a spinoff featuring M.A.C.H. Zero who was a failed version of the character who was more hulk like in nature.

 

[JD]

Has anybody here read Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman comics Dynamite released back in the late '10s?

 

[Christopher]

Has anybody here read Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman comics Dynamite released back in the late '10s?

I read the Bionic Woman/Wonder Woman crossover comic, which IIRC captured them both pretty well. None of the others, though.

 

[Qonundrum]

I watched a few episodes of them when Cozi showed them a while back, they were pretty good. Although they were a bit slower moving and didn't have the kind of big, crazy action set pieces I was expecting.
I know I'm in the minority, but I actually like the Bionic Woman reboot that had Katee Sackhoff as the villain after she did Battlestar Galactic.
I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen any other reboots, they're the perfect shows for a modern big budget reboot. They could do so much more with their powers now.

Yeah, different teas for every cup in the shop - that's true.

I should try out the 2007 BW remake.

Gotta admit, though, "The 7 Million Dollar Man" and "The Deadly Replay" are really strong episodes - even with the pedestrian pacing. Still got to smile at all the right times and just enjoyed the scenes. I have to wonder what later years will be like, seeing format changes to refreshen the show and if they hold up...

When these shows were made in the '70s were there rules about the kinds of fights scenes and stuff they could do? It just seems like most of the shows from this era that I went into expecting a lot of big action and stunt scenes, like these and Mission: Impossible, have very little. I know I've seen some stuff about people objecting to the amount of violence in '60s shows, so I wasn't if they set some rules or something about the amount of violence and things like that these kind of shows could have.
To be clear, I don't meant this as a negative, it's just that as someone who's gotten used to the kind of stuff we get in modern shows, and went in expecting something similar in these shows, it really stood out.

Yeah, the rules and censorship was a lot stricter back then and more things could only be implied, though what isn't shown on screen can be just as good if scripted and acted just right. Let the viewers' mind do all the work. Saves on all the ketchup packs otherwise not used for gore either.

Mission Impossible, or what I've seen, definitely keep action within a smaller scope and situational. I think it's more about the tension of the espionage and not getting caught. Season 5 did bring in some high concept sci-fi ideas, which - five decades on - don't always feel as fully-formed as they could have been, but - at the time - hinted at bigger ideas, and let the viewer simmer over them. Or try, it depended on the strength and credibility of the plot being told. There was one where the MI group were infiltrating and trying to get the baddie to be treated the way he was treating others as a subplot. I'll have to look it up, but I recall the larger mission of recovering a captive was a success and I openly cheered at the end. But a lot of shows from the 70s weren't as much about the empathy or personal touch... like how TOS was more outside-in and TNG became inside-out from the human condition.

I think I can relate to you via the following tangent: I adored "The Avengers" about 30 years ago. Some episodes holds up, but I recall one where Steed had to go visit a quarry and this bulldozer starts to chase him. It didn't seem to be as effective as it once was. There's another where Emma has to meet this eccentric group of villains-- actually, as I just went to look it up. It's the same episode: "The Fear Merchants". The journey to the big gripping ending was arduously bland at times. The payoff was good, but what built up to it just doesn't feel as strong as it once had. But, in 1967, it was a strong series opener in its own right. And yet SMDM and MI don't feel as boring, nor TOS for that matter. I'd started the Tara King (Series 6) - it's a bit pacier than 5, which is a plus, but still very 60s in that area of course. It's weird how revisiting older shows and movies sometimes feel slower and how others don't. One review site even admitted TWOK seemed slower than before. I think it's still just fine as the plot goes from exploration to action to suspense to buildup to pew pew number one, to respite, then exploration, then buildup to that finale... it's a flow worth going to and the other benefit is that in those lesser respite scenes, it's a perfect opportunity to go flow of a different sort (which generally requires a flush at the end for sanitary reasons... then wash hands, get some food, sittenzie down, and continue the adventure. There's a word I'd not heard in decades, which didn't pass the spellchecker so it cannot be for real...)

TSMDM's pilot movie was the concept at its best, and frankly, should have ended there, with Steve placed in a coma until he would be needed again, for missions that would not be produced.

I've yet to see the pilot, but I'm starting to want to more and more - LOL!

 

[Christopher]

I should try out the 2007 BW remake.

I didn't care for it. It's unrecognizable as anything like the original show; the only point of commonality is that it's about a woman whose name is Jaime Sommers and who has bionic powers. They could've changed the title and character name and it would've been a completely unrelated show, and not a very good one.

Gotta admit, though, "The 7 Million Dollar Man" and "The Deadly Replay" are really strong episodes - even with the pedestrian pacing. Still got to smile at all the right times and just enjoyed the scenes. I have to wonder what later years will be like, seeing format changes to refreshen the show and if they hold up...

As I recall, at least 6M$M was pressured by the network to skew younger and less sophisticated in later seasons, because it was still a pervasive assumption in TV that all science fiction was for children.

Mission Impossible, or what I've seen, definitely keep action within a smaller scope and situational. I think it's more about the tension of the espionage and not getting caught.

I felt that, too often, there was no tension at all. The team had every chess move so meticulously planned out in advance that the villains didn't have a prayer and there was never any real doubt that they'd succeed. The only sop to suspense was that they'd occasionally have, say, a guard almost discover Barney sneaking around just before the commercial... and then not notice him after all and go on his way. I liked it better in seasons 1, 5, and the revival, where the plans often went wrong and the team had to improvise. That rarely happened in the rest of the series.

I've yet to see the pilot, but I'm starting to want to more and more - LOL!

It was weird. It felt like only half a story, and the pacing was often abysmal. Also, they retconned the book's Oscar Goldman into Oliver Spencer (Darren McGavin) for some reason.

 

[JD]

The thing I like about Mission: Impossible is just seeing how the plans unfold, and since we don't actually know the plan before, there can still be some tension as you try to figure out what is or isn't part of the plan.