# Mini-post. The Six Million Dollar Man **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 23, 2024, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529 "2024-01-23T06:59:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/81 "2024-01-24T15:55:10Z")
Similar to “You cant keep a helicopter from taking off with super-strength”…if you jumped onto something, could you use your super-strong legs on it right before landing/impact?..like right before hitting it? Know what i mean? Say Steve jumped onto a moving truck. Right before landing he thrust his legs like a piston to punch a hole in it? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/82 "2024-01-24T16:11:18Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > And while Inspector Gadget may not be as strong as this SMDM, I think he _more than_ makes up for it with the numerous gizmos and… well, gadgets In the book, Steve Austin had a dart gun in his finger. The weird thing is that they never thought to put a computer in his noggin. Marvel Comics introduced Deathlok with his ‘putter around the same time SMDM debuted. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/83 "2024-01-24T16:33:33Z")
I remember that show! I remember liking that show! ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/84 "2024-01-24T16:47:42Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > was the term “Cyborg” ever spoken on the show? I remember in one episode of _The Bionic Woman_, Jamie displayed her powers in front of a Russian agent she was working with and he exclaimed “You are a cyborg!” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/85 "2024-01-24T17:39:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I imagine it would end up [a lot like this show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_1). I remember liking Salvage 1, at the time. If you allow the “magic fuel” that makes it possible to fly a ship made out of a cement mixer into orbit and back on a regular basis. And if you look at the Vulture as akin to the ill-fated Titan submersible; there’s no redundancy and the first failure in space will be the last, but until then…fly away! Reading the wiki, a lot of the episodes look like rejects from the 6MDM, though. Aliens appear in the 6th episode! Runaway robots! not!King Kong! I guess I was more forgiving at 17. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/86 "2024-01-24T19:27:13Z")
A possible Six Million Dollar Man movie is a classic example of “development hell” From 2003: [Jim Carrey is the new Six Million Dollar Man](https://ew.com/article/2003/10/22/jim-carrey-new-six-million-dollar-man/) From last month: [Mark Wahlberg has been attached to a remake of The Six Million Dollar Man for years, but will the modernized Six Billion Dollar Man ever get made?](https://screenrant.com/six-billion-million-dollar-man-remake-updates/#:~:text=and%20a%20release%20date%20was,could%20still%20take%20a%20while.) > The Six Billion Dollar Man was officially confirmed back in 2014, and despite the better part of a decade transpiring, the movie has come no closer to getting made. Since 2014, directors like Peter Berg and Damian Szifron have been attached, only for them to eventually hastily exit. In 2017, **the Weinstein Company sold the project to Warner Bros. and a release date was even set in 2018**. However, [_The Six Billion Dollar Man_ was delayed until 2020](https://screenrant.com/mark-wahlberg-six-billion-dollar-man-delayed-2020/) before eventually being delayed indefinitely. The movie has languished in development hell ever since, and Wahlberg’s latest update suggests it could still take a while. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/87 "2024-01-24T19:37:40Z")
Wasn’t Jake 2.0 basically a modernized 6MDM? But instead of the once-future tech of bionics, now it is the still-future tech of nanobots. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/88 "2024-01-24T22:24:39Z")
Lee Majors even turned up in a few episodes. ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ did a spoof called the 6 million rupee man. The exchange rate was not favourable! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2024, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/89 "2024-01-24T23:55:50Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > A possible Six Million Dollar Man movie is a classic example of “development hell” > > From 2003: [Jim Carrey is the new Six Million Dollar Man](https://ew.com/article/2003/10/22/jim-carrey-new-six-million-dollar-man/) > > From last month: [Mark Wahlberg has been attached to a remake of The Six Million Dollar Man for years, but will the modernized Six Billion Dollar Man ever get made?](https://screenrant.com/six-billion-million-dollar-man-remake-updates/#:~:text=and%20a%20release%20date%20was,could%20still%20take%20a%20while.) Well, a [Fall Guy movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7jPnwVGdZ8) is coming out in a few months, so who knows? Maybe now is the time for the Lee Majoraissance. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/90 "2024-01-25T00:39:39Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Oh, man. I thought this was a new show. Mini bionic man. A tiny widdle Stevie. Are you forgetting The Bionic Baby: > **[Benny Hill - Bionic Baby (1977)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_So-pTUtYfM%2F)** ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/91 "2024-01-25T02:02:18Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > A possible Six Million Dollar Man movie is a classic example of “development hell” Any movie or show is going to suck. Martin Caidin’s estate doesn’t own the rights to 6MDM or Bionic Woman - but they DO have control of portrayals of “Steve Austin” as a cyborg with life-like super-powered artificial limbs, which is why every reboot attempt since has used nanotech and different names. I liked the books (hard to find good print copies and there are no digital ones), since the character in the books (and the pilot of the show) is basically James Bond with the gadgets built in. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/92 "2024-01-25T03:08:25Z")
Also why the DVDs took forever to appear. So much so I felt like I was taking crazy pills in the early 2000’s “No one wants to see these??? It cant be streamed anywhere??” And yes as others have said, its so odd to see Steve and Jamies attitude be…“What have you done??? Im a monster!” Whereas today any kid would be “COOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!” ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/93 "2024-01-25T03:24:34Z")
There was a Bionic Boy episode who had guest star Vincent Van Patton as a kid whose legs were crushed in landslide and was given bionic replacements. I think it was a pilot for a possible spinoff. > **["The Six Million Dollar Man" The Bionic Boy (TV Episode 1976) ⭐ 6.9 | Action,...](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120929/)** > > 1h | TV-PG IIRC, the Bionic Woman had a bionic dog (a German Shepherd) for a few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/94 "2024-01-25T09:17:00Z")
Max, short for Max-a-million. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/95 "2024-01-25T11:20:01Z")
[quote=“Broomstick, post:14, topic:996529”] There’s also a different tone to the whole thing with prosthetics. 6MDM went to big efforts (due to low special effects budget) to emphasize how realistic the guy’s artificial bits looked and how secret everything had to be. Now? Every day I go to work in summer you see at least a couple customers going through the store in shorts without a care in the world that everyone can see one (or both) of their legs are not original equipment, sometimes in wild colors or 3D printed “fairings”. One guy with a cochlear implant shaves his heard around it and got a mandala tattoo around the hookups, nope, not hiding that real-life bionic ear at all… there isn’t any social pressure to hide these things any more. My theory is that when they didn’t work well there was a focus on the cosmetic to try to make them at least _look_ like the parts they replaced (although too often looking like _dead_ replaced parts…) but now that they are actually _functional_ there’s a a bit of showing off to be done. Also, media like _Star Wars_ where you have people walking around with replacement parts have sort of changed the way these things are regarded, too.[/quote]A few years ago I recall reading an interview with a prosthetics specialist who called it “The Terminator Effect”. He said that he’d noticed a strong age divide between pre- and post Terminator patients, with the latter apparently having imprinted on the idea of “robot limbs are cool” thanks to the “exposed robot hand” scene. Older patients would insist on fake-human looking parts even if it was a bad imitation, while younger ones wanted them as obviously artificial as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/96 "2024-01-25T12:14:17Z")
The version we got in translation in Canada was titled “six million” (actually written as “L’HOMME DE $6,000,000”) but the translation was done in France, so the dialog always expressed the amount as “trois milliards” (3 billion in U.S. parlance). Because in France in the 1970s, large amounts were still expressed in pre-1960 francs. Pretty confusing for us kids. But we all still wanted red training suits with stripes and we all went boop-boop-boop fighting in slow motion in the schoolyard. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/97 "2024-01-25T13:26:33Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > It looks great. Better than my dvds. They must have pulled them from the Blu-Rays Presumably pull from film, which AIUI has close to infinite resolution. Back in the day, the first HD program I watched on HDNet was reruns of _Hogan’s Heroes_. Crazy how good it looked, relative to more modern at the time programs that were presumably video-taped instead. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/98 "2024-01-25T14:52:56Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > Presumably pull from film, which AIUI has close to infinite resolution. Well, let’s not get carried away. It may have been fine grain, but it was still 35mm film, limited by grain size. Still far better than broadcast quality before HDTV, Which is why sadly you can now see the plywood grain in the Star trek corridors. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/99 "2024-01-25T16:26:51Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > The version we got in translation in Canada was titled “six million” (actually written as “L’HOMME DE $6,000,000”) but the translation was done in France, so the dialog always expressed the amount as “trois milliards” (3 billion in U.S. parlance). Because in France in the 1970s, large amounts were still expressed in pre-1960 francs. Pretty confusing for us kids. But we all still wanted red training suits with stripes and we all went boop-boop-boop fighting in slow motion in the schoolyard. The number 6 million has certain… associations in Israel, so the show was just called “The Man Worth Millions” ("_Ha’ish Hashaveh Millyonim_). It was pretty popular at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529/100 "2024-01-25T16:34:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Still far better than broadcast quality before HDTV, Which is why sadly you can now see the plywood grain in the Star trek corridors. 🙂 Or that the guys in fight scenes are obviously the stunt men. (When they redid a lot of exterior FX shots in ST:TOS, they should have spent some of that CGI money on making the stunt doubles less obvious.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mini-post-the-six-million-dollar-man/996529.md?page=6)