Jaime Sommers' legs, right arm and ear underwent electronic replacements (estimated cost: classified) in 1975 to kick-start the TV series 'The Bionic Woman' in January 1976. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the word "bionic" was first used in 1958. As 'The Bionic Woman', Jaime could run 60 miles per hour and hear whispers a mile away. Kenneth Johnson reminded, "She's very human, really. We established very definite parameters for her. She can jump to the 2nd story of a building, but not the 3rd story. She can turn over a car but not a truck. She can lift a ton, but not a ton and a half."
In its first season on air, 'The Bionic Woman' consistently high-jumped into the Nielsen's Top 10 most popular programs. "I'm learning to use the mini-trampoline to do as many of my own stunts as possible," Lindsay Wagner recounted. "Through the miracle of science and Universal Studios, I was brought back to life. And a good thing, too. Apparently, my 'death' (on 'The Six Million Dollar Man', in March 1975), which turned out to be grossly exaggerated, created a stir out there among the viewers. A doctor at a children's hospital in Boston wrote in to say that his patients were thoroughly dejected. He wrote, 'The least they could have done was not to kill that girl that the children like so much.'"
Lindsay maintained, "I feel strongly about remaining in television because it is the most influential of the media. There are so many opportunities available that aren't being taken. So much can be done in television once people in the industry begin to care about something besides bucks and ratings." Lindsay insisted in 1984, "Before doing another series, I wanted a project that would help mold minds and contribute to society. Most shows pay too little attention to quality, content and values. I can't look at my work simply as a means of making a living because what I do is seen by millions of viewers and it can affect their lives. I feel responsible for that impact. All performers and the industry as a whole have a responsibility to give the public something good and not rationalize or neglect the fact that TV is the most impactful medium on Earth – more so than schools, churches and parents."
On 'The Bionic Woman', "I tried to do some things I could be proud of and managed to bring it off a few times. But not often enough."
In its last season on air (1977-78), 'The Bionic Woman' had 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Lee Siegel outlined, "Our first episode ('The Pyramid') deals with the notion that 5000 years ago creatures from space came to Earth determined to people it with human beings.
"They arrive to find a variety of animals. With advanced technology they give the animals another layer of brain tissue which leads to the development of humans. Then they depart for their own planet. The pyramids in Egypt and Central America, the Easter Island carvings and Stonehenge are all a part of the work they leave behind. From the visitors' point of view their experiment with humans hasn't worked out, a beam from outer space strikes southern California and a buried pyramid is discovered, of course involving 'The Bionic Woman'. Another show ('Sanctuary Earth') deals with an American space satellite which mysteriously returns to Earth containing a 14-year-old girl from another galaxy. We're doing a (proposed) 2-part episode involving a man who comes to Earth, which is destined to be destroyed. He takes Jaime Sommers aboard his space vehicle to bring her to his own planet. That segment is titled 'Star Man.'"
"Television is a personality medium," a network programmer elaborated in 1976. "Meaning that the concept of a series is important, yes; the writing is important, the directing – but because television as a medium is a guest in your home, the people on it become the most important element." One producer added, "Once an actor has become the center of a television series, he is in effect non-replaceable, indispensable. That is generally true, although there are some exceptions."
Ron Samuels was Lindsay Wagner's personal manager. Reporter Frank Swertlow reported in 1978, "It should be noted that an agent makes 10% of his client's salary. A personal manager can pull in 50% on a specific deal." Ron Samuels grew up in show business and started acting at 14. At 21, Ron was already managing his first client. "I know the business. Some people become managers because they are somebody's friend, or they marry someone, or they were in the right place at the right time. Bingo, they are guiding a multi-million-dollar career. If they don't know what they are doing, they could destroy that career. A personal manager advises and counsels what his client should do or not do. He looks for opportunities to develop a career. I believe in longevity. I only take people who will sustain for a lifetime. Then it's up to me to create the opportunities for their career. I have to create the avenues."
Ron negotiated with Universal Television and the American Broadcasting Company $25,000 for Lindsay's guest appearances on 'The Six Million Dollar Man' in 1975 and $17,500 for each episode of 'The Bionic Woman' shown in 1976 and 1977. As part of the deal, Lindsay would star in a movie each year for 5 years plus a percentage of the merchandising from 'The Bionic Woman'.
Some 2.5 million dolls went on sale at the start of the 1976-77 season of 'The Bionic Woman'. The manager of Toy King at the time told the press, "What sells the most depends on what is on TV most. The child will want it because he remembers it from TV." The Toy King manager also hinted, "You must consider the child when you're buying toys. If you take the time to show the child how to use them and take care of them, the child will get more from them and the toys will last longer."
Some 2.5 million dolls went on sale at the start of the 1976-77 season of 'The Bionic Woman'. The manager of Toy King at the time told the press, "What sells the most depends on what is on TV most. The child will want it because he remembers it from TV." The Toy King manager also hinted, "You must consider the child when you're buying toys. If you take the time to show the child how to use them and take care of them, the child will get more from them and the toys will last longer."
"A television star who keeps a series going week after week, year after year, is entitled to get as much money as he can. All the network does is lease the time. The performer puts his face and body on the line for the rating, and if he doesn't get the rating then he's not on the air for any salary," another personal manager reasoned.
On reflection, Lindsay remarked, "I'm flattered to be playing the lead in a dramatic television series. Except for Angie Dickinson, the other actresses are starring in situation comedies. And there's a difference between the character I play and Angie's. She's surrounded by an entourage of men who help her get out of trouble. I play a schoolteacher (at Ventura Air Force Base) who is called upon the government (the Office of Scientific Investigation) for dangerous assignments . . . Since this is science fiction, I can play a wide span of roles - anything from schoolteacher to Mata Hari. This was appealing because in most series you get locked in one type."
Lindsay also made known, "They are letting me incorporate some of my own ideas in the scripts . . . I think that maybe the role is a good thing for little girls to see. 'The Bionic Woman' is not a bad idol for little girls to have today (in 1976). When I was growing up, my idol was Sophia Loren, which doesn't have much to do with bionics, does it? . . . It's a fantasy thing and I'm a fantasy character. It's not a cartoon, it's not 'Batman', it's not 'Superman'. I'm just a person with an unusual power. It's a fantasy with some violence, yes, but any violent move that I make is strictly out of self-defense."
"The alternative to violence is dialog," Marshall McLuhan believed. "We live in a world in which we have so much power . . . The means of destruction are so vast at our command, war becomes unthinkable so people are cool off by media and by situation which requires dialog than just self expression. Violence is a kind of self expression. The quest for identity - the person who is struggling to find out who am I by all sort of maladjustments, all sort of quarrels, all sort of encounters - is always a violence quest.
"It's a series of adventures and encounters that creates all sort of disturbance. I don't think you have to go very far in literature, for example Ovid, I suppose. Don Quixote is a great popular hero and 'Flash Gordon' and 'Superman' . . . 'The Bionic Man', 'The Bionic Woman' - these are vicarious forms of violence in which young people are trying to discover who am I? I once asked to my granddaughter who was then 6, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' and she said instantly, 'Bionic Woman'. This is a kind of violence that permits you to discover who you are."
Lindsay stressed, "I feel very responsible doing the kind of work that I'm doing, and people should take responsibility. Just to get ratings is irresponsible. We affect people's lives and minds with the kind of work that we do." James Bacon of 'Hollywood Hotline' column begged to differ, "A rating is a yardstick by which your audience recognition is measured."
Vernon Scott made the observation in 1980, "Universal Studios mistook the role, not the actress, as the object of public affection. The role of 'The Bionic Woman' would have been professional death to another actress. Not only did Lindsay Wagner manage to avoid embarrassment, she brought her own brand of magic to the role. She won the Emmy Award for best actress of 1977, an incredible accomplishment considering the role. Predictably 'The Bionic Woman's' Nielsen ratings eventually plummeted. Lindsay's talent and popularity were unable to overcome the show's basic weaknesses."
After one season on its network albeit showing at a different time period, NBC canceled 'The Bionic Woman' in April 1978. Lindsay spent 3 months resting, "I hid out and spent a great deal of time alone . . . After endless months of switching emotions in rehearsals and on screen you cannot relate to your private life. You become programmed. I had set my own life to one side for the good of the series. It takes a while to retrain yourself to a point where you're allowed to go at your own pace and with your own emotions . . . When you genuinely care about a series you invest your emotions totally. The efforts arrest the normal flow of personal feelings. Your psyche gets screwed up in the acting. I became more Jaime than Lindsay. The process creates an upheaval in the natural experiences of life. It’s an unnatural way to live."
Barbara Eden made the comment in 1988, "From an actress's point of view, I think the big difference in features and TV movies is time. You rush from one scene to the next and work 14 hours a day for TV. The pace is much more leisurely for movies. But there is more immediacy to TV films and you don't tie yourself up for 3 or 4 months, which is nice."
Between 1965 and 1970, Barbara could be seen playing a genie who had lived inside a bottle for 2000 years until astronaut Tony Nelson (played by Larry Hagman) found her. Barbara acknowledged in 1988, "I'm more often recognized as Barbara Eden but it's wonderful to be identified with Jeannie. Most performers try all their lives to find an identifiable role. I was lucky.
"And I think I was lucky to read 'The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick'. I saw a good woman's part and a well-written story. So my company (Mi-Bar Productions) co-produced it with the network. The role of Kathy is a lot like me, a middle-class working woman. Only she accidentally masquerades as something she's not. She tries to explain she works in a supermarket not the stock market, but she gets in deeper and deeper."
Lindsay also made known, "They are letting me incorporate some of my own ideas in the scripts . . . I think that maybe the role is a good thing for little girls to see. 'The Bionic Woman' is not a bad idol for little girls to have today (in 1976). When I was growing up, my idol was Sophia Loren, which doesn't have much to do with bionics, does it? . . . It's a fantasy thing and I'm a fantasy character. It's not a cartoon, it's not 'Batman', it's not 'Superman'. I'm just a person with an unusual power. It's a fantasy with some violence, yes, but any violent move that I make is strictly out of self-defense."
"The alternative to violence is dialog," Marshall McLuhan believed. "We live in a world in which we have so much power . . . The means of destruction are so vast at our command, war becomes unthinkable so people are cool off by media and by situation which requires dialog than just self expression. Violence is a kind of self expression. The quest for identity - the person who is struggling to find out who am I by all sort of maladjustments, all sort of quarrels, all sort of encounters - is always a violence quest.
"It's a series of adventures and encounters that creates all sort of disturbance. I don't think you have to go very far in literature, for example Ovid, I suppose. Don Quixote is a great popular hero and 'Flash Gordon' and 'Superman' . . . 'The Bionic Man', 'The Bionic Woman' - these are vicarious forms of violence in which young people are trying to discover who am I? I once asked to my granddaughter who was then 6, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' and she said instantly, 'Bionic Woman'. This is a kind of violence that permits you to discover who you are."
Lindsay stressed, "I feel very responsible doing the kind of work that I'm doing, and people should take responsibility. Just to get ratings is irresponsible. We affect people's lives and minds with the kind of work that we do." James Bacon of 'Hollywood Hotline' column begged to differ, "A rating is a yardstick by which your audience recognition is measured."
Vernon Scott made the observation in 1980, "Universal Studios mistook the role, not the actress, as the object of public affection. The role of 'The Bionic Woman' would have been professional death to another actress. Not only did Lindsay Wagner manage to avoid embarrassment, she brought her own brand of magic to the role. She won the Emmy Award for best actress of 1977, an incredible accomplishment considering the role. Predictably 'The Bionic Woman's' Nielsen ratings eventually plummeted. Lindsay's talent and popularity were unable to overcome the show's basic weaknesses."
After one season on its network albeit showing at a different time period, NBC canceled 'The Bionic Woman' in April 1978. Lindsay spent 3 months resting, "I hid out and spent a great deal of time alone . . . After endless months of switching emotions in rehearsals and on screen you cannot relate to your private life. You become programmed. I had set my own life to one side for the good of the series. It takes a while to retrain yourself to a point where you're allowed to go at your own pace and with your own emotions . . . When you genuinely care about a series you invest your emotions totally. The efforts arrest the normal flow of personal feelings. Your psyche gets screwed up in the acting. I became more Jaime than Lindsay. The process creates an upheaval in the natural experiences of life. It’s an unnatural way to live."
Barbara Eden made the comment in 1988, "From an actress's point of view, I think the big difference in features and TV movies is time. You rush from one scene to the next and work 14 hours a day for TV. The pace is much more leisurely for movies. But there is more immediacy to TV films and you don't tie yourself up for 3 or 4 months, which is nice."
Between 1965 and 1970, Barbara could be seen playing a genie who had lived inside a bottle for 2000 years until astronaut Tony Nelson (played by Larry Hagman) found her. Barbara acknowledged in 1988, "I'm more often recognized as Barbara Eden but it's wonderful to be identified with Jeannie. Most performers try all their lives to find an identifiable role. I was lucky.
"And I think I was lucky to read 'The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick'. I saw a good woman's part and a well-written story. So my company (Mi-Bar Productions) co-produced it with the network. The role of Kathy is a lot like me, a middle-class working woman. Only she accidentally masquerades as something she's not. She tries to explain she works in a supermarket not the stock market, but she gets in deeper and deeper."
