"The Six Million Dollar Man" The Bionic Boy (1976)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Phil Bondelli

Writers:

Martin Caidin (novel)
Tom Greene (teleplay)

TV Series:

"The Six Million Dollar Man" (1974)

Original Air Date:

7 November 1976 (Season 4, Episode 7)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Plot:

In special two-hour show of "The Six Million Dollar Man", Andy Shefield has been injured in a landslide that also killed his controversial father...

Plot Keywords:

Superhuman Strength | Landslide | Bionics | Cyborg | Paralysis

Cast

Frank Gifford	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jack Bannon	...	Dr. Melville
Martin E. Brooks	...	Rudy Wells
Woody Chambliss	...	Mr. Savannah
Nick David	...	Charlie
Richard Erdman	...	Vernon
Greg Evigan	...	Joe Hamilton
Carol Jones	...	Judy Grant
George Martin	...	Dr. Penny
Kerry Sherman	...	Colleen Lightfoot
Joan Van Ark	...	Valerie Sheffield
Dick Van Patten	...	Palmer
Vincent Van Patten	...	Andy Sheffield

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Universal TV

Trivia:

This was one of Greg Evigan's very first acting jobs. He got the job because the writer had written the character "Joe Hamilton" after a real person he knew in High School who was just as obnoxious. He showed a photo of the real "Joe Hamilton" from his High School Yearbook to Executive Producer Harve Bennett. Harve loved the look so much that he gave yearbook to the casting director and said: find someone who looks just like this!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Master Ninja II (#4.24)" (1992)

Decent 2 Hour Bionic Episode, But Lacking in Action

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I don't know why the IMDb listed this episode separate from the Six Million Dollar Man series, but I will say that the Bionic Boy is a good story. It has Steve Austin going to a small town and helping a teenage boy named Andy played by Vincent Van Patten learn how to adjust to his new Bionic Implants in his legs. It's a good story in that we see a boy's dream come true in meeting his football hero, Frank Gifford and getting to play football again. It's also a delight to see Knots Landing's Joan Van Ark as Andy's older sister. The only gripe I have about this episode is that this is a story with no real villains or attempted kidnappings. But I guess it's okay to get away from that once in a while. We also see Greg Evigan, future star of BJ and the Bear as a high school football jock and Andy's rival.

On the plus side, the Bionic Boy is a special 2 hour episode along with the Thunderbird Connection in season four of the Six Million Dollar Man series. And a good recommended episode.