Category: Bionic Woman

I confess I don't know much about the original Bionic Woman show. I'm pretty sure it was a spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man (which I remember more for Lee Major's gun-toting, ass-kicking cameo in Scrooged than for anything else). Like that 70's slice of candy corn-fed Americana, no doubt his female counterpart likewise got all jacked up in some horrific accident only to be saved by some high-priced science. And she probably had lots of slow motion running/jumping/throwing scenes with echoing sound effects. Slow motion running/jumping/throwing was really big in 70's television.

Anyway, not knowing much about things Bionic, why am I interested in this new show, and why should you give it a try? Is it because Battlestar Galactica's David Eick is one of the executive producers and maybe he and his cohorts have found a way to take another 70's staple and likewise turn it on its head? Could it be all those web ads I've been seeing depicting a woman's eye wearing Geordi's contacts from Star Trek: Nemesis have done their job and marketed their way into the geeky chambers of my fanboy heart? Or do you, like me, have your Tuesdays at 9 more or less free?

Yeah, all that helps. But mostly it's enough for me that this new Bionic looks to be a sci-fi show with a decent budget and a cast that thankfully doesn't appear to have been picked at random from the bleach-haired, doe-eyed crowds of MTV's TRL.

It's a warm and welcoming thought that there's fresh sci-fi in the running that doesn't feel the need to emulate the classic Trek format or, worse, sell itself short of its own premise (like, you know, not mentioning any names here, but a time travel show with such a miniscule budget that every episode is set in the 50's and 60's so they can make use of existing back lot sets and poodle skirts).

Between Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Doctor Who, Heroes, and the upcoming return of Futurama, there is once more heaping spoonfuls of warm, gooey sci-fi goodness flooding our airwaves and creeping into a TV lineup that has -- aside from an inexplicable, insatiable desire for reality shows and celebrity worship -- decided to embrace a much more engaging serial format.

In the old days of sci-fi, shows like Buck Rogers and Lost In Space, no matter how interesting the premise, pretty much choked themselves with a mandate that everything must remain exactly by show's end as it was at its beginning, so as not to alienate any new viewers. Nowadays, the serial format has done away with all that, and has allowed characters and situations to grow and change, giving the show's producers a format where the story can fell like it has an endpoint it's working toward. So I'm willing to take the leap and give Bionic Woman a try and hopefully stick with it through that endpoint.

Anyone else up for it? Hey, if it stinks, then we can always come back here and give it the thorough bionic douching it deserves, right?

This post was Authored by Jim Titus, Guest Contributor

I'm up for it. I've seen the pilot, and while there are a few nit-picky things I'd change, for the most part it's a solid 42 minutes of entertainment with enough story to make me tune in again.

It does, at times, get a little cliche - but that's not a crime. The fights are suitably violent, the relationships turbulent enough and if you have Michelle Ryan AND Katie S. (from BSG) duking it out in wet clothes... well... we all win that one, don't we?

The premise is still an interesting one and with Eick at the helm, I'll be definitely tuning in.

Saw the Pilot the other day, agreeing with John here, it's not perfect, but who really expected perfect anyway. I'll keep my eyes open. Looks to have potential.

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