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|---|---|---|---|
| Production 41244 Original Airdate: 16 March 1975 | |||
 Jaime and Steve get reacquainted
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| Produced by Lionel E. Siegel Joe L. Cramer | |||
| Written by Kenneth Johnson | |||
| Directed by Richard Moder | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers Malachi Throne as Joseph Wrona | |||
| Special Guest Star(s) Martha Scott as Helen Elgin Allan Oppenheimer as Rudy Wells | |||
| With Ford Rainey as Jim Elgin Paul Carr as Timberlake Harry Hickox as John Ellerton Scott B. Wells as Doctor Jeremy Robert Brown as Boy Dana Plato as Girl | |||
| Uncredited Unknown actor as David Welsh | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 2 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "The E.S.P. Spy" | "The Bionic Woman (Part II)" | ||
| Related episodes "The Bionic Woman (Part II)" "The Return of the Bionic Woman" "The Return of the Bionic Woman (Part II) "Welcome Home, Jaime" "Welcome Home, Jaime (Part II)" | |||
- for other uses, see [[Bionic Woman (disambiguation)]]
"The Bionic Woman" is a story consisting of two episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man. It marks the debut of the Jaime Sommers character.
Summary
Having completed a mission in Europe to retrieve a stolen $20 bill printing plate, Steve Austin takes some well earned leave and returns to his hometown of Ojai, California to buy a ranch and to visit his mother, Helen, and step-father, Jim. Whilst there he is reunited with his high-school sweetheart, tennis-pro Jaime Sommers. After years of not seeing each other Steve and Jaime discover they have strong feelings for each other and quickly fall in love. Following a tragic sky-diving accident that leaves Jaime near death, Steve pleads with Oscar Goldman of the OSI to save her life by replacing her shattered legs, her right arm and inner right ear with Bionic replacements. Oscar reluctantly agrees on the understanding that Jaime will have to do work for the OSI in the future. Jaime makes an excellent recovery following surgery and Steve asks her to marry him.
Trivia
- This story, although not the last one broadcast in the second season, was the last one produced in The Six Million Dollar Man's sophomore year.
- This episode includes one of (if not the only) on-screen reference to Austin as Steven Austin; this can be seen on a sign as Austin drives into Ojai.
- Lee Majors recorded two original songs for the soundtrack of this episode and Part 2: "Got to Get Loose" and "Sweet Jaimie"; the latter incorporates elements of the Six Million Dollar Man Theme into the counter-melody.
Novelization
Although not directly credited, plot elements from this episode were incorporated into the Bionic Woman novelization Welcome Home, Jaime by Eileen Lottman (published in the UK under the title Double Identity and credited to "Maud Willis").
Home video release
"The Bionic Woman" two-parter has the distinction of being, as of 2008, one of the only episodes of either series to be officially released to Home Video in North America. In 1978 MCA DiscoVision released this episode on Laserdisc in the US., under the title, "The Bionic Woman," inviting ambiguity as to the contents.
In the 1980s, Universal put out a VHS tape, again entitled The Bionic Woman which, while apparently intended to tie in with the spin-off series, actually contained the two-part Six Million Dollar Man episode. This tape is long out of print.
Although numerous announcements and rumors have been heard over the years, issues over licensing and other rights continue to prevent any further release of Six Million Dollar Man or Bionic Woman episodes to the home video market in North America, although the first two seasons of both shows have been released on DVD in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. As it does not share the same licensing issues, Universal has announced it will release the complete series of the 2007 remake, Bionic Woman to DVD in March 2008.
Gallery
