The Bionic Woman: Series 1

I used for entertainment purposes

I have to confess that sober critical judgement rather goes out of the window where The Bionic Woman is concerned. You see my youthful little self, sat in front of the TV in the 70s when this was first aired, was a little sweet on Jamie Sommers. Indeed I couldn't even listen to the theme tune without dribbling and getting a little hot under the collar. Still, wiping away the tears of nostalgia, what do I make of it all thirty years later? Well, it's still fabulously good entertainment. Lindsay Wagner could certainly act and during the course of the thirteen episodes that make up the first season of The Bionic Woman she goes through the entire range of human emotion, carrying the audience with her as she confronts the loss of all memory about her past and comes to terms with her new super powers and the opportunities, and possible dangers, they bring with them, not to mention coming face-to-face with someone claiming to be her mother (long thought to be dead) and battling a whole range of shifty looking blokes with dodgy taches, cheap suits and nasty looking firearms.Richard Anderson provides excellent support as Oscar Goldman, the boss we'd all like to have: authorative, fair, supportive of the people who work for him and as smooth as a dry martini; while Lee Majors crops up from time to time to go all doe-eyed at Jamie (not that I blame him).The stories themselves vary in quality but they are never less than entertaining and sometimes, such as in "Mirror Image", "Jamie's Mother" and the two part "Welcome Home Jamie" they reach genuinely dazzling heights of invention. The acting and writing in this series was consistently good, making it obvious that the whole team really cared about the show and regarded it with a great deal of affection.All in all this is a fabulous little box set and well worth a look for anyone with happy memories of early evening TV in the 70s: funny, dramatic, moving and clever (and yes, thirty years on, I'm still a little sweet on Jamie).

It's a little over a year since I bought "BIONIC WOMAN-SEASON 1"- you guys like to call them series and here in the U.S. we call 'em seasons. Anyways, I'm still enjoying the pristine quality and remastering of each of the 13 episodes. Playback/Universal has done LINDSAY WAGNER proud! Now, I am awaiting Season 2 which I ordered and can't wait to watch them in their fully restored glory and unedited original form as they were first aired back in the 1976-1977 television season. Lindsay's an excellent actor and was so believable as Jaime Sommers. In the episode entitled "MIRROR IMAGE" where she plays a dual role, the scene in which she meets her doppleganger Lisa Galloway(from plastic surgery to look like Jaimie Sommers,) Lindsay does something to her face to give the Lisa role that menacing look as she turns around from the chair and smiles at the shocked and disturbed Jaimie. Lindsay gives it such a contrast that she is believable as two characters. I've noticed that when Lindsay lifts or tenses her upper lip she can look totally different-at times evil and smug(Lisa)or playful and nice(Jaimie). She put this to greater depth with these two characters in the 2 part episode "DEADLY RINGER," in season 2. And that's what landed her the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama series in 1977. All in all, I never tire of watching these 13 season one gems. At least with season 2, I have 22 choices to watch over and over again.

I too have very fond menories of the BW and Lindsay Wagner, but I had forgotten what a mess the writers and producers made of this Spin off from "6 MILL...." Poor SFX (compare to the reasonably contemporary "Wonder Woman"), weak, soft scripts, lacking any edge or danger, and direction that even feels bad for the cheapest TV Show. The only saving grace, and it is...is Lindsay. Charming, sexy (in a very nice way!), athletic and a fair actress, she is just never given a chance. Of course I write this some 40? odd years since first viewing, so times and my attitudes change, but this is a disapointment and I won't risk series two. However, I still retain a piece of my heart for "Jamie". P>S Whose crazy idea was it to feature that awful song sung over and over by Majors in the Pilot Eps 1-4? "Sung"?? Hmmm!!

I have just purchased this title as part of my growing nostalgia collection. Growing up as a child in the Seventies I remember every boy in my school wanted to be Steve Austin and every girl - Jamie Sommers. The slow motion action sequences making them both easy imitate.What you have here is a spin-off series that at times surpassed its parent. THE BIONIC WOMAN was written with a lot more heart than T.S.M.D.M. and this, coupled with an extremely well selected leading lady, gives the show a more enduring quality. Okay, by modern standards the episodes look cheap and filmed on a shoestring. But they still make enguaging viewing today. And remember that, at the time, this was state-of-the-art TV.All in all a tidy little box set with a clean DVD transfer. No extras, but hey, that's not what I bought the set for.

I remember watching that show when I was nine...once I even pretended I was sick to stay at home and watch it. That show has been very important in my life, and I will always be thankful to all the people involved in it. At the time my parents had a B&W TV set, no VCR, so I used to record the audio track on a cassette, and I would play it back in my bed before sleeping. I would have killed (yes!) to have this nice little piece of technology called DVD, with the original sound track (we had french postsync), and a crystal clear image.So here it is, and I HOPE we will get the other two seasons.The weird thing is that the image and sound are so perfect, it is hard to believe that was 30 years ago...