I'm watching "The Six Million Dollar Man"

[Gingerbread Demon]

Brain and brain. WHAT IS BRAIN?

But yeah, you're right. It's not enough to replace Steve's limbs - it takes superhuman amounts of stamina and endurance to be able to use them. (Otherwise Steve would exhaust himself to death.) Show never dealt with that, did it?

No I don't think they ever touched on that at all.. That line will forever be a classic Star Trek Quote

This show does not hold up.

No it doesn't but they did get a lot of big name guest stars.

 

[Christopher]

THE INCREDIBLE HULK was better than SIX MILLION, but I got weary of the inevitable Act Two transformation as well as the fourth. It was numbingly predictable and the need for TV to deliver the expected goods is no excuse. It wouldn't have killed the writers to vary the Hulkouts more often. Week after week it seemed Bill Bixby got beaten up right on cue, often while ordering milk at a redneck bar.

That formula was dictated by the network, though, so the producers didn't really have a choice. Other '70s superhero shows like Wonder Woman and Spider-Man had the same two-appearances-per-episode formula imposed on them as well. So back in the show's first run, when I saw newspaper TV critics complaining about Hulk's formulaic nature, I realized that every show had to operate within a certain formula, that was just the reality of the business, and so what a show should be judged by was how good or innovative it managed to be within those imposed limits. And the stories Hulk told within that formula were generally far richer, more sophisticated, and more dramatically effective than other superhero shows of the day.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Speaking of the Incredible Hulk this should bring back some memories.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[FormerLurker]

That formula was dictated by the network, though, so the producers didn't really have a choice. Other '70s superhero shows like Wonder Woman and Spider-Man had the same two-appearances-per-episode formula imposed on them as well. So back in the show's first run, when I saw newspaper TV critics complaining about Hulk's formulaic nature, I realized that every show had to operate within a certain formula, that was just the reality of the business, and so what a show should be judged by was how good or innovative it managed to be within those imposed limits. And the stories Hulk told within that formula were generally far richer, more sophisticated, and more dramatically effective than other superhero shows of the day.

Agreed. Much like the original comic books operating under the Comics Code, writing engaging stories within the limits of that framework are usually more innovative and imaginative than they otherwise would be.

Speaking of the Incredible Hulk this should bring back some memories.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Egad. I'd never seen it before, and had heard it was bad (unglamourays?), but that's worse than I'd ever imagined.

 

[Christopher]

Egad. I'd never seen it before, and had heard it was bad (unglamourays?), but that's worse than I'd ever imagined.

To be fair, the awfulness of the "unglamourays" rhyme was an intentional joke, the song poking fun at itself.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I'm guessing in the cartoon they never treated the hulk as a serious character. "clown" seriously...

 

[Christopher]

I'm guessing in the cartoon they never treated the hulk as a serious character. "clown" seriously...

Those cartoons were direct adaptations of comic book issues, with the artwork photocopied straight from the page. There actually was an early issue where the Hulk hid in a circus by disguising himself as a robot clown. The early comics didn't take themselves too seriously either.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Those cartoons were direct adaptations of comic book issues, with the artwork photocopied straight from the page. There actually was an early issue where the Hulk hid in a circus by disguising himself as a robot clown. The early comics didn't take themselves too seriously either.

OK

 

[youngtrek]

I own the entire set of this show and got it autographed by Lee Mayors a couple years back at a convention. The show is a product of its time but I still do enjoy watching it. I guess the nostalgia lens has to do with that.

Same here! My then wife got the Time-Life complete “Six Million Dollar Man” set for me for my birthday in 2013, and I then got the box autographed by Lee Majors at the Tampa Fanboy Expo convention the following year. (I would post a pic here but I haven’t figured out how to do that here from my phone, if there is a way.)

 

[Skipper]

But yeah, you're right. It's not enough to replace Steve's limbs - it takes superhuman amounts of stamina and endurance to be able to use them. (Otherwise Steve would exhaust himself to death.) Show never dealt with that, did it?

From Wikipedia:

His legs and arm provide Austin with superhuman speed, strength, and endurance (the latter because, Caidin writes, Austin's heart and lungs only need to power his torso, head and remaining arm)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ But Steve's brain still needs to coordinate it all. I'm having a hard time believing a normal, unaugmented human brain could do that.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

^ But Steve's brain still needs to coordinate it all. I'm having a hard time believing a normal, unaugmented human brain could do that.

Yeah but when they put in his bionic eye if you watch the show intro all the hardware takes up a good chunk of his skull right from front to back so maybe that's in there.

 

[Push The Button]

Yeah but when they put in his bionic eye if you watch the show intro all the hardware takes up a good chunk of his skull right from front to back so maybe that's in there.

1970s analog technology. A modern-day bionic eye would be so much smaller.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

1970s analog technology. A modern-day bionic eye would be so much smaller.

True

In the remake Bionic Woman with Michelle Ryan her bionic eye is just an eye. No brain smooshing hardware.

 

[diankra]

I watched the pilot last night. It is amazing how much detail I remembered from the two times that I viewed this back in the early 70s. I wish I could remember useful things as well as I can remember old TV episodes.

Steve went to the moon three times, alone apparently, and was a NASA astronaut for twelve years. Was he supposed to be one of the Mercury Seven?

The production ranged from pretty good (the lifting body flight and the lab/operating room scenes) to awful (Steve on the moon.) I’m going to try watching a few more episodes, but I have a feeling that it will all be downhill from here.

I'd guess that despite the fashions, it was supposed to be a few years ahead when moonflights were frequent.

 

[Christopher]

I'don't guess that despite the fashions, it was supposed to be a few years ahead when moonflights were frequent.

No, just in an alternate present where the space program was more active and had fictitious flights that didn't occur in reality, much like in other productions of the period, e.g. Marooned (also based on a Martin Caidin novel) and Capricorn One. Or much like the many productions in the '80s and '90s that featured fictitious space shuttle orbiters and flights.

 

[diankra]

No, just in an alternate present where the space program was more active and had fictitious flights that didn't occur in reality, much like in other productions of the period, e.g. Marooned (also based on a Martin Caidin novel) and Capricorn One. Or much like the many productions in the '80s and '90s that featured fictitious space shuttle orbiters and flights.

That fits as well, and maybe better. ISTR that Farrah Fawcett plays an experienced female astronaut long before NASA selected the first female AsCans.

 

[Christopher]

When I rewatched the first couple of seasons of 6M$M a few years ago, I was quite fond of its portrayal of an active, ongoing space program. It was a lovely reminder of the optimism we had back in my childhood about human spaceflight continuing to advance, rather than fizzling out as it ultimately did.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

When I rewatched the first couple of seasons of 6M$M a few years ago, I was quite fond of its portrayal of an active, ongoing space program. It was a lovely reminder of the optimism we had back in my childhood about human spaceflight continuing to advance, rather than fizzling out as it ultimately did.

It's as if we lost the will to dream.

 

[FormerLurker]

That fits as well, and maybe better. ISTR that Farrah Fawcett plays an experienced female astronaut long before NASA selected the first female AsCans.

The first time Farrah was on T6M$M, she was playing a reporter that was attempting to use Steve's abilities to be her big break in journalism. That particular character showed up again one more time I think, because she had the security clearance from her first appearance and could be read in on what the cover story needed to be and why.

I hope that right. I haven't seen that episode since it aired.