# Six Million Dollar Man,,,specifically early episodes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [February 2, 2021, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031 "2021-02-02T05:05:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/21 "2021-02-02T16:03:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > …Not only did he lift the whole engine from the wreckage with one arm (prompting an acquaintance of mine to remark “He may have a bionic arm, but he doesn’t have a bionic back!”)… Yeah, and when he jumps off a tall building onto the concrete, his bionic legs should end up in his chest cavity. Oh well, as a 10 year old it was the coolest show on TV. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/22 "2021-02-02T16:03:47Z")
Even in the recent Wonder Woman release there were some action scenes where she seemed to be moving at a different speed than the action around her. Maybe that worked for some people, but it kind of annoyed me. I think it’s just difficult to show portray natural movements that would be happening too fast to discern with the naked eye. If it’s just high speed needed to be shown, then a blur will do of course, but the comic book type action that can be done frame by frame in print has always been more of a challenge in live action. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/23 "2021-02-02T16:17:42Z")
As for the quality of the show in general, well, it was the 1970s. It had pretty good production values for that time period. If the pace of the show seemed slow it really wasn’t different from other dramas at the time. And it wasn’t going to get much better for a while either, over the next decade we’d see the rise of Happy Days and the like, but much of prime time TV faltered in the late 70s and into the 80s. So this show did well in it’s own era, and was good enough to spawn The Bionic Woman and other follow-ups. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/24 "2021-02-02T16:18:43Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > One I remember in particular was when Steve rescued pilot Greg Morris after his Cessna crashed on a clandestine reconnaissance mission. Not only did he lift the whole engine from the wreckage with one arm (prompting an acquaintance of mine to remark “He may have a bionic arm, but he doesn’t have a bionic back!”), I think forged the propeller back into shape with his hands! Somehow I don’t think straightening a heat treated aluminum prop would have gone well. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/25 "2021-02-02T16:26:12Z")
I’ve always wanted to read Martin Caidin’s novel _ **Cyborg** _, on which the series was based, but somehow have never gotten around to it. From what I gather, it is a serious work of science fiction. What appealed to me most in the early days of the series was its connection to the Air Force, experimental aircraft, test pilots, and astronauts. THAT was cool! (And I was 18 at the time!) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/26 "2021-02-02T16:44:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve always wanted to read Martin Caidin’s novel _ **Cyborg** _ , on which the series was based, but somehow have never gotten around to it. From what I gather, it is a serious work of science fiction. It’s not _2001: A Space Odyssey_, but I enjoyed it. It’s really more of a spy novel than a sci-fi novel. Caidin thought about stuff like how to use the super-strength of the bionics without damaging the ordinary flesh. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/27 "2021-02-02T19:45:36Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > It’s not _2001: A Space Odyssey_ , but I enjoyed it. The two books that I have are rather pedestrian spy stories. Not 2001, and not John LeCarre, either. 🙂 But they do address the psychological issues of what it does to you to be a “basket case” without your bionics. It’s more Johnny Got His Gun than Iron Man. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/28 "2021-02-02T21:32:55Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > Obviously, he was without sin. Amen! 😃 > [@muldoonthief](#): > > You just can’t beat bionic Bigfoot. > [@digs](#): > > That was me and my friends! I’ve wondered since if passersby were baffled by these little kids running in slow motion. (Just remembered, fighting in slo-mo, too) This is the most unintentionaly hilarious thread I’ve seen in a long time. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/29 "2021-02-02T21:33:43Z")
There were other spin-off in the Seventies, but it seemed like Richie Cunningham and Lavern & Shirley or Archie Bunker and the Jeffersons lived in totally different realities after the latter got their own shows. The fact that Oscar Goldman was a character in two different shows kind of blew my mind at the time. As an 11 year old, the only thing I could compare that to was the shared universe in Marvel comics. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/30 "2021-02-02T21:37:28Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Somehow I don’t think straightening a heat treated aluminum prop would have gone well. True story: A guy I know took his bush plane to the middle of no-where and nosed over on landing near a lake. He tipped it back over, removed the prop and hammered it out with a rock, put it back on and flew home. He’s an Fancy Doctor, so he might be worth Six Million. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/31 "2021-02-02T21:39:06Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The fact that Oscar Goldman was a character in two different shows kind of blew my mind at the time. And, when _The Bionic Woman_ moved from ABC to NBC for its final season, it was two different shows on two different networks! ---
**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:** [February 2, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/32 "2021-02-02T22:10:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > it was two different shows on two different networks! But they had\* three Rudy Wells, which took me out of it. I was on Team Oppenheimer myself. \*not between the shows, but over the seasons ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/33 "2021-02-03T00:15:46Z")
I once wound up going on a camping trip with a bunch of school-age kids back in the '70s. (A friend of mine worked at a children’s home.) I did the whole bionic shtick for them clearing the campsite and gathering firewood, and they willingly played along. “Gosh, Mr Armstrong! How’d you get so _strong_?” “I take lots of vitamins!” “Wow! He even _sounds_ like Steve Armstrong!” ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/34 "2021-02-03T01:34:00Z")
He even did the episode where the Russians were trying to plant moles as 9-1-1 operators in LA! ( Like Russia could give a damn about a car-jacking ) "This is KLA-News copter 3… there seems to be a hot pursuit down the I-6… an S2000 convertible being chased by… a T-55 tank…! Wait, we’re being forced out of the area by some MIGs… " ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/35 "2021-02-03T02:17:13Z")
Steve _Austin_ it tickled me at the time as my Brother in Law’s last name us Austin Brian No known relation ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/36 "2021-02-03T02:39:17Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > You just can’t beat bionic Bigfoot. Have you tried using a metal fence post? ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/37 "2021-02-03T07:43:29Z")
Well so far on episode three, I’ve been treated to: Bionic guitar playing that somehow made the notes play at an impossibly high register Bionic Flintstone foot braking (No matter how strong you are, you can’t stop a car that way without exerting a backwards force or a lot more friction then one boot provides in soft dirt.) Bionic polearm fighting with a log as the polearm ( I guess no metal fence posts are available in the swamp) Bionic log flume canoe building and bionic gator wrasslin. I’m guessing both props came from the same Six Flags. That old standby quicksand got the bad guys and…oh…ESP is real. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/38 "2021-02-03T14:19:18Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > ESP is real. In the Seventies? Hell, yeah. Same for UFOs and Bigfoot. There was no doubt among the general public. All that has been replaced by crap like QAnon. I weep for today’s unimaginative crackpots. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/39 "2021-02-03T14:41:46Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > True story: A guy I know took his bush plane to the middle of no-where and nosed over on landing near a lake. He tipped it back over, removed the prop and hammered it out with a rock, put it back on and flew home. He’s an Fancy Doctor, so he might be worth Six Million. Must have been interesting at the next FAA certification. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031/40 "2021-02-03T15:38:50Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > In the Seventies? Hell, yeah. Same for UFOs and Bigfoot. There was no doubt among the general public. All that has been replaced by crap like QAnon. I weep for today’s unimaginative crackpots. Was thinking the same thing. That was standard fare for 70s TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-million-dollar-man-specifically-early-episodes/932031.md?page=3)