Universal TV: The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman (1 Viewer)

[MattHR]

I started this as a new topic, since it started on a LAW & ORDER thread, and it possibly needed its own discussion.



My top Universal TV season sets would be: KOLCHAK, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, THE ROCKFORD FILES, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN, THE BIONIC WOMAN, MIAMI VICE and THE A-TEAM.

I'd prefer they start by releasing older TV shows that are not in current syndication.

Hopefully, if Universal releases SIX MIL and BIONIC WOMAN in season sets they will present them properly, as there were three "cross-over" episodes that started on one show, then concluded on the other. When these are shown in syndication they combine the episodes into one show by changing the opening credits to match the other. They were lazy and left the closing credits as they were, so an episode that begins as SMDM ends as BW. Very sloppy.

The episodes that Universal needs to pay attention to if they release these shows in season sets are:

"Welcome Home, Jaime" Part I (SMDM season 3)
"Welcome Home, Jaime" Part II (BW season 1, premiere)
"The Return of Bigfoot" Part I (SMDM season 4)
"The Return of Bigfoot" Part II (BW season 2)
"Kill Oscar" Part I (BW season 2)
"Kill Oscar" Part II (SMDM season 4)
"Kill Oscar" Part III (BW season 2)


The only way to properly release these in season sets is to include ALL the episodes of each of these three storylines in both SMDM and BW sets. That means a few episodes of SMDM would be included in BW sets, and vice versa. If they were to release them in the syndication-style grouping, there would be episodes missing from each series. That would be unacceptable. There would be minimal overlap by including them in both, and would certainly make fans happy to see Universal present them properly, as they haven't been seen in their original form since broadcast on ABC in 1976.

Does anyone have a contact at Universal to pass this information on to? The way these studios seem to operate, they are probably unaware of the details in a case like this. They need the fans to educate them once in a while!

 

[MattHR]

Dave Lambert:

I forgot some other information regarding THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN that I was hoping you could forward to Universal.

There were three TV-movies in 1973 before the the show became a weekly series in January 1974. These movies were all broadcast in 90-minute time slots. When the series went into syndication, these movies were "padded" with additional footage from later episodes so they could be broken into 2-part episodes for reruns in the 1-hour format.
The extra footage is edited so poorly that it ruins the pacing of the original movies.

The three TV-movies were:

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (3/7/73) Shown in syndication as "The Moon and the Desert", Parts I & II.

WINE, WOMEN AND WAR (10/20/73) Shown in syndication in 2 parts.

THE SOLID GOLD KIDNAPPING (11/17/73) Shown in syndication in 2 parts.


The three TV movies were released in the UK on VHS PAL format, but WW&W and SGK contained most of the footage that was added for syndication. The only NTSC version of the original SMDM movie ever released was the old MCA DiscoVision CAV laserdisc. It presented the film properly in its original 74 minute form.

Since SMDM, as a series, was a mid-season replacement in
1974, there were only 13 episodes in its first season.

If Universal were to release SMDM in season sets, it would be great to include the first three TV-movies with the first season, since they are about 74 minutes each.

Also, besides the previous post about the few cross-over episodes between SMDM and THE BIONIC WOMAN, there is yet another detail regarding SMDM: There were a few episodes that were broadcast in a 2-hour timeslot, effectively a "movie-of-the-week" episode. These were later edited into 2-part episodes for syndication. While the editing doesn't ruin the pacing, it should be noted so these episodes appear in their original form, in case Universal decides to release SMDM in season sets. These episodes were:

"The Bionic Boy" (season 4)
"Thunderbird Connection" (season 4)
"Lost Island" (season 5)


Both SMDM and BIONIC WOMAN ended their original series in the spring of 1978. SMDM had 3 TV movies and 4 1/2 seasons. BW had 2 1/2 seasons (including a jump from ABC to NBC for its final season. It's the only time that actors were playing the same characters on different shows on different networks at the same time!)

SMDM and BW were brought back for three 2-hour "reunion" TV-movies on NBC:

THE RETURN OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND THE BIONIC WOMAN (1987)

BIONIC SHOWDOWN: THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN AND THE BIONIC WOMAN (1989)

BIONIC EVER AFTER? (1994)

Hopefully, Universal will release these three TV-movies, as well as full-season sets of both series.

 

[MattHR]

Adminstrators: Should this thread be in the TV or Studio Feedback boards, since these shows haven't acctually been announced for DVD release yet?

 

[David Lambert]

You've got mail.
For the record, Studio Feedback.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Battlestar Galactica
Earth 2(with cliffhanger resolution in script form please!)
Sliders
Greatest American Hero (Universal owns it right?)

 

[IanS]

A very kind person dubbed the MCA DISCOVISION version of the pilot film to VHS for me which turned out rather nice. This person was quite knowledgable on SMDM and pointed out that Universal Studios has some kind of synidcation deal with the Sci-Fi channel and they we may not see the TV movies or the rest of the series on DVD anytime soon. Don't know if this true or not but how come there are still no DVD's out in North America ?

 

[MattHR]

I believe the SCI-FI Channel is now owned by Universal Studios. If so, this should make the deal easier.

 

[Jared M]

gimme some Earthworm Jim
http://www.petitiononline.com/EWJonDVD/petition.html , Sliders, and Quantum Leap.

 

[James Alexis]

In the UK, we've had three volumes each of both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man.

I just picked up one volume of Bionic Woman which contains
"Welcome Home Jaime Parts 1 & 2 plus one other episode whose title escapes me at the moment.

Different episodes have also been released in VHS box sets.

 

[David Lambert]

In the UK, we've had three volumes each of both The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man.

Yeah, I've posted that cover art on HTF before, but here it is again...just for the sake of this discussion!:


DVD Volume 1
1. Black Magic
2. Motorcycle Boogie
3. The Jailing of Jaime
DVD Volume 2
1. Welcome Home, Jaime
2. Angel of Mercy
DVD Volume 3
1. The Vega Influence
2. 'In this corner, Jaime Sommers'
3. Jaime and the King


DVD Volume 1
1. The Secret of Bigfoot
2. The Seven Million Dollar Man
DVD Volume 2
1. Day of the Robot
2. Run, Steve, Run
3. The Return of the Robotmaker
DVD Volume 3
1. Hocus-Pocus
2. The Price of Liberty
3. The Bionic Criminal

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

I think the very fact that Universal's TV library is so enormous (they basically were the one-hour drama series in the late '60s and '70s; they had everybody under contract -- Roy Huggins, Stephen Bochco, Stephen J. Cannell, Glen Larson, David Chase, Dick Wolf, and on and on and on) may be an obstacle to getting stuff on DVD -- there's just so much there that they wouldn't know where to start. Or something like that. I'd definitely buy some of the shows mentioned here, especially Rockford Files and the first season of The A-Team (before the writers forgot that it was supposed to be a spoof).

(Speaking of The A-Team, one warning about the Columbia House DVDs -- apart from being overpriced, I've heard that the pilot episode on the DVD is taken from a chopped up two-part syndication version that changes a bit of music in a sequence (the song "Jumpin' Jack Flash") and makes little trims like eliminating the only shot in the whole series where token-female Amy (Melinda Culea) gets to knock someone out...)

Much as I like all the commentaries on The Simpsons, I don't think a TV series needs to be weighted down with extras -- the point is to have a favorite show uncut, commercial-free, and in good-looking prints. That's enough justification for me to buy a series. It would be nice to have, say, Steve Cannell doing a commentary for some of his patentedly elaborate two-hour pilot episodes, but I don't think it's necessary to do it for every episode. I do, however, think more TV boxes should include original network promos (wouldn't it have been nice, for example, to see that promo for the Simpsons episode "Lisa's Substitute" where Fox tried to sell it as a Bart episode).

Sorry for the length...

 

[Paul McElligott]

I almost wish that 6 Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman do not come out on DVD.

I'm afraid that these shows, which I loved to death as a kid, would not live up to my memories, that they'd look cheesy now. Oh hell, I can take it. Bring 'em on.

I'd love to do an A/B comparison of that one episode of Bionic Woman that was a virtual carbon copy of an episode of Six Million Dollar Man (something about an airplane crash on an island). I'm talking a "Gus Van Zant remakes Psycho," shot-for-shot, line-for-line copy.

 

[Todd Stout]

I would definately buy season box sets of the previously mentioned shows Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Miami Vice, and Battlestar Galactica. I just hope Universal keeps the price down at a resonable level. My X-Files and Star Trek: TNG boxes are getting rather expensive.
I'd like to add both Magnum P.I. and Simon & Simon to the list of Universal television shows that I'd like to have on DVD.

 

[MattHR]

I'd love to do an A/B comparison of that one episode of Bionic Woman that was a virtual carbon copy of an episode of Six Million Dollar Man (something about an airplane crash on an island). I'm talking a "Gus Van Zant remakes Psycho," shot-for-shot, line-for-line copy.

The episode of SMDM was "Survival of the Fittest" and the episode of BW was "Fly Jaime". The plots were almost identical, except the Oscar character of SMDM was replaced by Rudy in BW. The basic plot had an airplane crashing on a deserted island with Steve/Jaime having to protect Oscar/Rudy from assassins.

Universal had a habit of recycling scripts for their TV shows in the 70's, especially for their mystery shows.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Universal had a habit of recycling scripts for their TV shows in the 70's, especially for their mystery shows.

And, in at least one case, it carried over into the '80s. IIRC, a fifth season episode of the A-Team ("Without Reservations") was taken almost directly from a Starsky and Hutch episode.

 

[Jeff_HR]

If you have a multi-region player some of these shows can be found from other regions.

 

[oscar_merkx]

wow is all I can say, bring on the BW & SMDM in full season box sets.

 

[Paul_Scott]

as soon as i got a region free/PAL player i splurged and order all 3 vol.s of BW.
i've watched about 4 eps so far.
the one with Evil Knevil (Motorcycle Boogie) was awful.
the other 3 i really enjoyed.
i'm actually impressed with the production values for a weekly 1 hour genre show like this.
And Wagner was such a charming presence. They couln't have cast it any better.

i would love to be able to go out to Best Buy tomorrow and pick up a box set of this (and some of the others mentioned).

i agree with one of the previous posters.
start with the older, least syndicated material first.

 

[Kevin McCorry]

A fourth Six Million Dollar Man DVD is due for
release in R2 next month. No word yet on what episodes
will be on it. Strange that there won't be a fourth
Bionic Woman DVD to accompany it. And no fourth
Incredible Hulk DVD either. However, Ultimate
DVD magazine is reporting that an Incredible Hulk
box set is due out in November. It lists it as Box Set 2,
which is odd as there was no Box Set 1 (at least not on
DVD; a VHS box set was released, though). But Ultimate
DVD has been wrong before (like when it reported Day
the Earth Stood Still to be coming to R2 this summer).
So, I'd take this with a grain of salt. If a Hulk
box set were to be coming, let's hope it doesn't duplicate
any previous DVD releases. My guess is it'll be second season episodes including "Married".