History of the Six Million Dollar Man
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Relive the history of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, gigantic icons of 70's pop culture. The Six Million Dollar Man played by Lee Majors was the TV superhero of the 70's until the Incredible Hulk came around in the late 70's. He and the Bionic Woman played by Lindsay Wagner were so popular they had their own toy lines that every kid wanted, comic books, and lunch boxes. They ruled TV ratings for a time and forever changed pop culture and television history.
The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman shows had such great characters and actors surrounding their programs like Oscar Goldman played by Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks as Rudy Wells, the Bionic Bigfoot played by Ted Cassidy and Andre the Giant, and who can forget Max the Bionic Dog that came along in the Bionic Woman's final season.
In this video, I take a look at the bionic toys, the comics, Bigfoot, the Robot Maker, the Fembots, and Max the Bionic Dog as well as the final Bionic reunion movies that finally got Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers married.
#sixmilliondollarman #bionicwoman #bionicman #leemajors #superhero #superheroes #classictv #toys #lindsaywagner #tvhistory #classictelevision #70s #seventies
My name is Tim Frady aka Tvcrazyman. I'm a writer and artist. I hope you enjoy this video. If you have a moment please check out my books on Amazon - amzn.to/3XnulcJ They cover all age groups and include science fiction, time travel, and funny cartoon characters everyone can enjoy.
Thanks.
In those days us kids in school would imitate TSMDM by mimicking his slow motions moves and the iconic ti-ti-ti-ti-ti sound effects when we were fooling around. It's cheesy, by modern standards, but it was all fun and fantasy for us kids then.
I used to love running in slow motion making the bionic sound.
What a great video thanks for making it. It seem that Michael his son accident had bionics put in him MIchael's therapist, she is also assigned the task of training Michael in the use of his bionics (much as Austin had trained her Aside from bionic limbs, Michael's right eye (as opposed to his father's left eye) is replaced.
@@tvcrazyman MIchael's therapist, she is also assigned the task of training Michael in the use of his bionics (much as Austin had trained her Aside from bionic limbs, Michael's right eye (as opposed to his father's left eye) is replaced.
@@tvcrazyman thank you for your great video tv and music will always be my first love if you haven't done a video about. Tv show voyagers not Star Trek one. , or sandflrd and son or even eight is enough it would be great to see a video
@@williamkopko5775 Thanks
I was 14 in 1978. Six Million will always be my favorite TV show, though I never cared much for The Bionic Woman. I was a proud member of The SMDM Bionic Action Club. I'd run through the woods sometimes and push over every small rotten tree I could find, pretending I was Steve and imitating all the bionic sound effects (Lol, I still do that sometimes today at 59). Looking back, I even enjoy it more now because Lee Majors has always been one of the genuinely good and nice guys in the film business; no haughtiness, superiority, and thankfully no political correctness. Just an overall good person. Oh, and Day of the Robot was my favorite episode.
Let’s not forget that amazing, iconic, and memorable music for the show which was composed by the legendary genius, Oliver Nelson.
This show was my favorite when I was growing up in the 70s. Bigfoot, The Robot Maker, & The 7 Million Dollar Man were my favorite villians. I'll never forget the episode when Boxer George Foreman guest starred as a special agent. I use to imitate Steve Austin running, jumping, and the sound when he used his bionic eye. Even tried to raise that one eyebrow higher than the other. Lee Majors was the first person I ever seen raise one eyebrow...than came The Rock 😆 The Bionic Man will always be one of my childhood heroes. Got to buy the DVD series to this show and The Bionic Woman. Thank you for making this tribute that brings back memories of my favorite era, the 70s 😃
Lenard Nimoy did the eye brow thing as Spock in the 60s , just saying
This brings back memories 👍 remember having almost all the six million Dollar Man toys those were the good old days🙂
I had the SMDM board game and metal trash basket. Good times.
This video made me immediately remember my Oscar Goldman with exploding briefcase 😂
@@troubleondemand7703 😆yes👍
I think they called it a Maskotron and it had detachable faces and limbs.
And we used my little brother's stuffed bear as the sasquatch 😂
Oh and we had a little german shepherd as Max! Good times, man.
I had the 13" figure of Steve Austin when I was a kid in the 70s - I remember peering through the back of his head and out his eye . . . hilarious and fun stuff.
Great Times we enjoyed being kids not like today's kids
@@stirlingpickett5253 I don't think "children" exist in Western society anymore . . .
I had Oscar Goldman. 😅
Loved the whistling noise when an object was thrown. My favourite episodes were run Steve run and return of the robot maker. Loved Henry Jones how he portrayed the mad scientist. How he calculates the force needs to stop the falling elevator
I had that doll as a kid. Loved the bionic eye! :)
One of the best action figures
The music in this series was awesome...probably one of the best parts of it...some of it was very sentimental and emotional.
I never knew anything about Oliver Nelson, but he composed some incredible music for SMDM.
My family never missed these shows on Sunday night, all snuggled up in my parents' room
Ooh Lindsay Wagner.. She was my first crush as a six year old lol! ❤
Great review! These are 2 of my most favourite shows growing up with Steve Austin and Jaime Summers. I picked up the DVD seasons only a few years ago to relive the fun and the stories and acting still hold up well. Lee Majors did a great job in his role as did Lindsay Wagner.
When I was 10 years old, I got a Steve Austin action figure, along with a rocket module/ repair station for Christmas! I absolutely loved it!
We had awesome times being kids didn't we 🙂
@@stirlingpickett5253 Yeah, we did!
I had some of these action figures. My god, what a trip down memory lane. Thanks mate 👍
You're welcome! Thanks for commenting and watching!
I got the Bif Bang ones, I liked them better cause they were smaller like the Mego superheroes. I just wish they had made Jamie, since they did a Fembot.
As kids in the 70’s my friends and I would ‘act out ‘ scenes from ‘last nights’ per say episode.. with sound effects and all… one of the greatest tv shows if all time. Some of my favourite episodes were the bionic Bigfoot episodes ( both with Ted Cassidy and Andre the giant)… the probe… the feminist… etc💯👍👍
Awesome video. Really brings back memories. The Bionic Man was one of my all-time favorite heroes as a kid. Had the figure (always looking through that eye at things) and Maskatron (though I think he was from a yardsale, because I don't recall all the faces or hand attachments). Watched the show and hers and read the few comics. If there was a coloring book, I probably had that too, lol. That new GI Joe comic series is one of the few modern ones that gets an A+ from me; I mean who can't love finally getting the showdown we wanted since the 70s: Bionic Man vs Atomic Man. The only clash we wanted more was him and Ferigno-Hulk. And the icing on the cake is the 3 3/4 inch action figure of Steve and Bigfoot. I know it was just a oneshot, but if they actually made a complete line (5+ figures) I'd seriously consider going back into toy collecting after all these decades.
I still have my mask Arron and Steve Austin dolls in their packaging. Lol
I had the white crystal radio backpack for Steve Austin action figure. Remember that?
Great memories watching this with my late grandfather every Sunday night in 1970s. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it
The only Steve Austin toys I didn't have was Big Foot and the Bionic grip. I had so much fun with those toys.
I hope you all enjoy my latest video. I compiled together all the Bionic facts videos I've made so far and added some new stuff I hope you enjoy.
How about that Lynda Carter Wonder Woman were she doesn’t wear any bikinis?
I actually had that Steve Austin action figure when I was in the 1st-grade back in the mid-seventies.
The Death Probe episode is the one that I remember. Freaked me out as a 7 year old! 😳
I love this content my friend! You do a great job with all of your stuff, but when my bionic friends are involved they are extra special for me. Thanks again for your time working on your packages and excited for more!!!!😀👍
I appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed it!😀
@@tvcrazyman nice video... a shame you missed the 7 Million Dollar man Barney Miller who was in two episodes, and the bionic Boy played by Vincent Van Patten son of Dick Van Patten . and Sondra Bullock's debut in the second Bionic reunion movie "Bionic Showdown"..she played Kate the Bionic Girl.
The clip of the ship Austin piloted that crashed in the opening credits of each episode was actually the M13 Lifting Body that NASA developed. The aerial vehicle shown crashing was piloted by a NASA test pilot that lost both legs, an arm and and eye in thr crash. The news story of the crash and the piot's recovery inspired Martin Caiden to write "Cyborg."
lifting body M2-F2. Pilot Bruce Petersen lost an eye only. He tremendously resented the use of the footage being used in a weekly fictional program.
@@eichelbergergary this is correct.
Many years ago, I met the pilot of the M13 at a test pilot symposium. He got a standing ovation from his peers. Respect.
I was a kid when these shows were on and it was
AWESOME!!!!!
i did get within arms reach of Andre The Giant at a WWF Saturday afternoon wrestling show at The Boston Gardens.
we'd wait by the wrestlers entrance from the parking lot hoping for a handshake or an autograph. of course, i didn't
whip out a tape measure, but this was around '85 so Ande wasn't completely hunched over so he was still over 7ft.
you don't realize just how binh he is. you see him in the ring with other large men. so the difference isn't huge, but
when you see him from 3ft away walking through a crowd of fans 5'-8" tall then you realize how massive he truly was.
Thanks for the memories. Another thing that came with the action figure was a radio backpack. If you connected it to, for example, a water pipe (to act as an antenna) is was a working radio.
Ted Cassidy also played Roc the android in the original Star Trek, Balok in another episode and some other voice work. This guy was all over sf and fantasy projects. He was also in one of Gene Roddenberrys failed 70s pilot movie with John Saxon. Its no wonder he created a new Trek show. Ni one would green light anything else.😮
'The creature was framed for a murder he didn't commit.'
Thanks for uploading this video, that was a trip down memory lane 👍
I never realized that Andre The Giant played Big Foot until I was much older watching re-runs of this show.
Andre did a good job teaching Lee Majors a few wrestling moves(Lee might have regretted being thrown against the rock at one point, but did a good job on Steve throwing Sasquatch to the ground).
Between me and my next door neighbor, we had GI Joe, Big Jim, The Six Million Dollar Man and General Custer. TSMDM was the least durable, but the funniest one.
Im 48 this show was a big part of my childhood i used to really love this show great memories
New to the channel, and really enjoying it!
I was a kid in the 70's and even signed some school homework _"Steve Austin."_ I also added *Six Million Dollar Man* stickers.¹🤦🏼♂️
I grew up with reruns of *The Big Valley* (a favorite of my whole family). So, I was surprised to hear about all of these great guest stars in *The Fall Guy!* I never really watched it (even though I now recall my best friend at the time recommended it). I was just starting high school in the fall of 1981, so I had too many distractions.
Perhaps I'll give *The Fall Guy* a chance. . .Or at the very least I'll look into the *Peter Breck* episodes!
I could be wrong, but I think *Sandra Bullock* was in _Bionic Showdown._
Thanks for including the voice work of *Ted Cassidy.* I had no idea!
I totally forgot about _Maskatron!_ 😄 I had the *Six Million Dollar Man* figure (and rocket). I was of course saddened given he was so large and really didn't work along with my Mego 8-inch figures.
Ahhh, *John Saxon.* Always had such an affinity for that actor. He was everywhere in the 70s.
LOL! That airplane goof and short-legged dummy were great!! 🤣
I was unaware of the replication of costume design due to the need to use old footage. I can't believe I never heard of that until now. It makes sense. That always bothered me. At least with _STAR TREK_ it made sense.
Speaking of clothes. . .I had an awesome white denim jacket that I would pop my shirt collar over top of. I felt very much like *Steve Austin* then! 😁
Speaking of _STAR TREK,_ the new HD remasters aren't helping as it's easier to spot stuntman. It was kind of easy to do before all that, and now it's unavoidable. 🤭
Fantastic video! Looking forward to more, and definitely going to check out your back catalog!
Be well! 🙋🏼♂️
··•●✺●•··
¹ ─ The teacher had to ask the class _"Who signed their homework Steve Austin?"_ And I had to own up to it. It was an embarrassing moment otro say the least. I believe I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade at the time. 🙄
Andre the giant was sasquatch big foot on the secret of big foot which was bionic big foot which he ripped the arm off and the toy came out 1977 which I still have the toy figurine of both col steve austin played by Lee Majors and big foot.
Haha! Everytime you said, “Run Steve, Run!” I started singing, “Run woman, run!” by Tammy Wynette.
I LOVED this show as a 70s kid! My sister and I would play fight using the ‘chechechecheche…” sound effect. I had lots of the toys, and the “Bigfoot” character was awesome. Though I never had that toy.
Thanks for this lovely trip down memory lane! I was so happy to see Lee Majors in “Ashe vs. Evil Dead” a few years back, even thought they bumped him off HORRIBLY (but it was funny). 🤯
I had no idea he was the “Blonde Elvis” back then. Lol! My dad and I used to watch “The Virginian” together when I was a kiddo too. All such sweet memories!
Best ones where the death probes and of course andre the giant playing bigfoot
"Steve Austin was a whopping 13 inches!" LMAO
11:36 I used to have one of these. I got for Christmas when I was little.
Thanks so much TV Crazyman for doing this story on one of my favorite all time TV series there are very few known facts about series and its always nice to see anything based on the show
Is that the late great John saxon from the greatest martial arts movie ever made ENTER THE DRAGON ib seen fight lee majors great TV show respect from Ireland my friend 💯✌️🍀🇮🇪🍀✌️
Yep, he played Steve Austin's friend and as a bionic robot. Thanks for watching!
That voice actor invites are fabulous. Thanks for the memories.
You must always consider inflation,
When dealing with the elements of bionic creation.
Thank you for the great video. Being a kid of the 70s the two bionic shows where a favorite. When the season dvds came out i bought them on sight.
Wow very informative. I was in kindergarten when the figure came out 1974. I had stretch Armstrong. I have some repair vids on the Armstrong and monster really cool
Used to watch this show as a 5-7 year old kid. The episodes that stick out to me the most are the Bigfoot episodes. We also had an action figure. Never realized that they had made TV reunion movies years later. Never saw them.
The first reunion movie('87) was great, even if it lacked the '70s-ness' of the original. The second didn't do as much as it could have with a 'Soviet bionic villain' premise(but at least it had Sandra Bullock). The last movie was only worth watching for 'bionic completists'.
Lee Majors also did some singing in the episodes with Wagner.
Steve's bionic sound effect was also used twice when he was fighting Yamo in the episode Dr Wells is missing. Perhaps the sound effects guys put them in as a bit of fun to see if anyone would notice. One extra point, the aliens who built Bigfoot were not named. The just said they were deep space explores. Shalon was the name of the female alien played by Stephanie Powers.
11:17- When I was a little boy, I had the six-million-dollar Man toy with the telescopic eye piece. I really did work. That was a cool Christmas present from my parents.
It was great show growing up back then great tv
When I was watching this in the 70s as a little kid, two things on this show scared me. The Robot/Fembots (faces) and the Death Probe (might have been the motor noise it made). The Tunnel in the Bigfoot episode was creepy. I wasn't afraid of Bigfoot though. Just the tunnel. lol Years later, while vacationing in Lake George, NY., there's a "Haunted House" attraction there that has a small tunnel like that, with the rotating cylinder surrounding the walkway. And there was an episode where the bad guys were trying to convince Steve he was seeing his own spirit by projecting images of him.
Still have all the action figures; Steve Austin, Bionic Woman, Oscar Goldman, Bigfoot, Maskatron, and Fembot.
Love these shows such classics thanks for sharing the history and facts awesome
Thank you for commenting!
It's too bad The Six Million Dollar Man, and The Bionic Woman weren't combined into one show.
Lou Ferrigno appeared on The Fall Guy in character as the Hulk wearing a Marilyn Monroe type wig, who knocks out Colt Seavers by backhanding him. When an unconscious Colt was carried out, Big Louie was was having his green makeup taken off, he casually says, Good night, Colt. 😄😄😄😄😄😄
@@kevinmiller6380 That's true. That would have been much better than having them split off into different networks.
My pleasure buddy happy to be commenting
1973 He was the first original TERMINATOR (cyborg), Westworld, Future cop ,Holmes and YO-YO ,Bionic Woman tv series followed- all cyborg -robot 1970,s tv shows " Those 8track tape days"
I love to watch bionic woman n six million dollar man since the show started
got the dvd set. loved that show
Greatest show and my favorite toys of my childhood!
I even had the Oscar Goldman action figure and his office!
I remember first seeing Day of the Robot, and it scaring me as a kid. John Saxon and his stone face are so plausible as a killer robot. Even his voice doesn't seem to go with his appearance and makes him extra creepy. I had a number of the toys, with not a clue what they could be worth some day. I even had Mike Power, the atomic man, the SMDM knockoff.
I cannot wait to wash it every week. I love it. 👍
Lindsay Wagner was one of the most beautiful women to ever walk this planet.🌎💘
She was my first crush, than a few years later Bo Derek. Lol
She was way better than Fawcett
Ted Cassidy played an android on TOS Star Trek and I believe Luawanna's butler on Star Trek TNG
Lwaxanna's butler was played by the actor who played Lurch in the Addams Family movies.
@@reedcockrell8126 makes sense
The show died with the arrival of the bionic boy and the bionic dog....
I grew up in Calif and they filmed these shows, the movie Duel, Charlie's Angels etc in our area... It was kinda cool.
❤❤❤❤thank you for this video!!
You are welcome! You might also like my Six Million Dollar Man parody tribute animation I did for my other channel - th-cam.com/video/xG9dQecfYJM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=wT5f7TKTM5J-Dff_
Also fun fact in the fourth season Lee Majors grew the mustache out of protest because he wasn't getting any money for the doll that resembled him
Great commentary. Takes me back to cherished moments of excitement to watch this show. However, I wish that you would comment and credit a very commonly overlooked huge part of this series success. The music by Oliver Nelson. Many reviews of this show forget about the great music that makes us feel the excitement of the moment.
You are absolutely right. The music from the Six Million Dollar Man is part of what really sells the show. I've got a few of those themes on my mp3 player to listen to while i workout. I especially love it for running, of course.
Missed the one I noticed at the time. One an early show, Steve pulls up a street sign and throws it. In a later show, Jamie pulls up a fence post and throws it. During the fence post's flight, the street sign can be clearly seen on the post. My favorite was the introduction to ABC's Saturday Morning line up with Lee Majors as the Six Million Dollar Man. In one scene, he uses his bionic powers to jump over a toy wagon. I thought it was so funny.
Loved the Six Million Dollar Man show! I wish I would have been able to get the action figures. I ended getting the Gi Joe knock off, The Atomic Man .If someone has a Six Million Dollar Man action figure for sale, message me. I also loved the Bionic Woman show. I think I even had a crush on her.
I was born 1969 and as a kid I considered Lee Majors as the coolest cat that ever lived. And still do. Steve Austin ripping the arm off of that giant robot bigfoot, leaving him running away screaming like a schoolgirl is the most badass thing that has ever happened in all of cinema. A lot of kids had their comic book super heroes. My biggest super hero growing up was Steve Austin "a man barely alive" (I have to say that every time I say his name) Steve Austin....a man barely alive. I had the doll and everything. Ran in slow motion and learned how to lift my eyebrows the exact same cool way Lee did when looking to the side. He was my role model.
Totally enjoyed as always bud 😀👍
Thanks Pratman! 😀
I was 11/12 years old when 6 million man was on tv, that and the hulk were two favorites, who wouldn't want to be able to throw another human being like a football.
Now this brings back some memories! I didn’t have the toys but *loved* the TV shows. Where are the reboots…?
You forgot "Bionic Showdown" ... another attempt to revitalize the bionic franchise casting Sandra Bullock as the new bionic girl, and her very own bionic nemesis played by Geraint Wyn Davies. This was my favorite of the after-bionic specials.
Since we're eating 'memberberries, anyone remember the Six Million Dollar Man LP record adventures? Voice acted by original cast members too.
Man I miss those days.
When i was small i thought the fight with big foot was the most epic thing in television
I loved that show ❤.. I had the doll and the game.
Good stuff, great memories. Actually, Roy Rogers guest starred in TWO episodes featuring former TV Western Stars. The first featured James Drury (The Virginian), Doug McClure (The Virginian and The Men of Shiloah), Jack Kelly (Bart Maverick) and Pat Buttrum. The second one, which you mentioned co-starring Peter Breck from "The Big Valley", also featured Jock Mahoney (Yancy Derringer), John Marshall (Lawman) and Roy's son Roy Jr. aka Dusty. If I'm not mistaken, the Western actors were merely playing themselves dressed as the characters they played.
I remember my mom always got excited when Roy Rogers would guest star on something which got me wanting to watch him. She grew up watching him on TV.
The two 'Fall Guy' episodes I remember most(aside from the one that included the Lou Ferrigno Hulk scene) were the 'TV cowboys' episodes, and the 'detectives' one, with Mike Connors, William Conrad, and the just-departed Barry Newman(still my only experience with 'Pet-ro-sell-ee'.'
'No! Pet-ro-CHELL-ee!'
Yeah, him, too.)
Appreciate this compilation
Wish i'd kept those comics. They were awesome. I had the same misgivings about not keeping my comics including creepy, eerie and vampirella.
Anybody else cry when Steve sang "Jamie" when we didn't know if she was going to survive?
plating 6 million dollar man was popular in my household, we used to make the sound effect and move in slow motion. great fun
I remember making fun of the bigfoots..one was andre the giant...the other lurch from the Addams family
When I was a kid this was my show...you as well.
.. will be meeting both of them for the second time in July
$6 million USD in 1973 equals to approximately $38 million USD, using the CPI to calculate the value.
Alan Oppenheimer as Rudy Wells originally he went on to skeletor on he man lol
I still have the space ship / operating table, and one of the original Steve dolls.
Isn't there a reboot/update in the works, called 'The Six Billion Dollar Man'? I thought I heard that Mark Wahlberg was the new Steve Austin.
Always in development hell.
You said the 1st TV movie was the best. I always liked the 2nd best (with a very young Sandra Bullock) That one had a bionic villain, and had the guy who played Kyle in V: The Series
Awesome video, thanks for doing the research and uploading it for all us "old school" fans.
Every battle with the Bigfoot variants and fembots were nostalgic, but the Venus probe and the subsequent and unmentioned upgraded probe deserve equal consideration. IJS.
The memories. I'm surprised you didn't mention the Martian probe.
John Saxon also played one of Big Foot alien creators on The Bionic Woman Return of Big Foot part 2. He was also Sheriff Thompson (Nancy’s dad) in A Nightmare On Elm Street 1,3 and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. I love the research you put into this and your cross reference trivia knowledge.
Sandra Bullock was the Bionic Girl in a TV movie. 1989 Bionic Showdown.
I enjoyed the TV and the toys were really cool and I wish I could find them again
The middle bionic movie reunion in '88, Steve and Jamie had a teen daughter. And, wouldn't you know it? She, too, also got into the family bionic business.
This is significant for the then unknown actress who played their daughter for this one and done television movie. A pre-fame still seven years out from becoming America's sweetheart and certified box-office draw superstar the next decade: a baby-faced Sandra Bullock.
Cant believe you didn't mention Richard Burton guest staring as Richard Burton on The Fall Guy.
The UFO from Death Probe looks like a Dalek.
I use to watch the Fall Guy, that was cool but I remember watching 6million dollar man and Bionic Woman was cool 😎 as a kid
In todays healthcare industry 6 million would be your co-pay.
2023 he would be the 12 billion dollar man
I grew up with Steve and Jamie. I wanted bionic power