‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ & ‘The Bionic Woman’ Special Appearance Plus Fun Facts

Who could forget the slow motion running and the words: “We can rebuild him; we have the technology”? And those amazing bionic sounds, ch-ch-ch-ch-ch ? – Yes, that’s right: it’s The Six Million Dollar Man!

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the hit ABC series The Six Million Dollar Man, which starred Lee Majors as Steve Austin. Majors will be appearing for the very first time at The Hollywood Show on June 7th and 8th at the Marriott Convention Center in Burbank, CA. Also in attendance will be his co-star and fellow Bionic Woman actress Lindsay Wagner, as well as actor Alan Oppenheimer, who played Dr. Rudy Wells. All three will be offering autographs and photo ops. Plus, there will also be a display of The Bionic Museum, the largest private collection containing tons of items from The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman. Also, on hand at the event will be author Herbie J Pilato, who penned the book The Bionic Book: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman Reconstructed. Herbie will also be selling his book.

For more info and tickets click here.

Fun facts about the bionic series

The Six Million Dollar Man, an ABC show starring Lee Majors as Colonel Steve Austin, an astronaut who was fatally hurt after a deadly crash and enhanced with cyborg technology, hit the airwaves on January 18th, 1974. Austin was given bionic legs, a bionic arm, and a bionic eye, then became a secret agent for the government, using his new superpowers to catch bad guys.

Fun Fact: With inflation, Steve Austin would now be the 35-Million-Dollar Man.

The series was based on the 1972 novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin. Cyborg was the original series’ working name, but was changed later. First, three made-for-TV movies were shown in late 1973. They received huge ratings and continued into the TV series that ran on Friday nights on ABC.

Running for five seasons and created one spin off show, The Bionic Woman, which starred Lindsay Wagner as Jamie Sommers, a tennis pro and ex-girlfriend of Steve Austin. Don’t forget the bionic dog, Max!

Fun Fact: Maximillion, the one-million-dollar bionic German Shepherd, had a bionic paw and legs, and he could run 90mph. There was rumored to be a spinoff on Max too, but it was scraped.

The Six Million Dollar Man also had three more TV movies made from 1987-1984: 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). In one of those movies there was a hopeful back-door spin-off show for the Bionic Boy, but that series never happened.

Fun Fact: Bionic Woman had a reboot in 2007, but only lasted one season.

Lee Major’s wife, Charlie’s Angels Farrah Fawcett, played three characters in the series, including Major Kelly Woods twice.

The Six Million Dollar Man also made a huge splash in the merchandising world of toys and collectibles, including puzzles, board games, action figures, backpack radios, transport and repair centers, critical assignment legs, critical assignment arms, cups, play sets, posters, records and more!