Bionic Woman

Usually people think of David Eick’s other show, Battlestar Galactica, when they talk about timely topics on television. But Paul Krugman of the New York Times thinks Bionic Woman is also a reflection of modern times, based on his recent comments:

Bionic Blackwater

After a hard day’s teaching, a guy’s gotta flake out a little. So I watched Bionic Woman last night — and found myself thinking about, yes, privatization.

I’m pretty sure the original, 1970s Bionic Woman worked for a government agency. But this version works for a private contractor - she even gets assigned to protect the daughter of a tycoon who gives the company a lot of business. Yet this private company seems to be empowered to go around killing people. And nobody seems to consider this at all unusual, or legally dubious.

I guess TV writers just pick up on the Zeitgeist.

A lot of people are hollering doom and gloom about Bionic Woman’s ratings right now, but it is still one of the top twenty-five shows on television and the top new show on NBC. According to a list up on Televisionista.com, Bionic Woman’s ratings are better than The Office, My Name is Earl, Deal or No Deal, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Law & Order: SVU and a host of other television staples.

Roco at Bionic-Blog articulates many fans fantasies about the palpable sexual tension between Jaime Sommers and Sarah Corvus playing out on screen … perhaps as a ratings boosting kiss for sweeps week?

Remote Access describes what a lot of fans are feeling after the first month of Bionic Woman: they are not giving up yet, but they have not gotten addicted yet either. Ryan McGee agrees that it is too soon to give up, and continues to be optimistic abut the show’s future in spite of three out of four sub-par set up episodes.

Head over to Pink Raygun to check out their Battle of the Bionic Women, a series that pits the classic show against the modern version point by point.

And last but not least, Entertainment Weekly ranked Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers number 12 on their list of 22 Butt Kicking Babes. Jaime’s in good company with spygirl Sarah Walker from Chuck, modern day thrill seekers Charlie’s Angels, River Tam from Firefly & Serenity, Trinity from The Matrix, and Sarah Connor from The Terminator. Interestingly enough, Katee Sackhoff’s Kara “Starbuck” Thrace from Battlestar Galactica apparently kicks more butt than Jaime because she makes the list at Number Four. Number One on the Butt Kicking Babes list is the ferocious Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies. You’d better get away from her, you bitches!

Bionic Woman, NBC, ratings, Blackwater, episode, Sarah Corvus, Jaime Sommers, Charlie’s Angels, River Tam, Firefly, Serenity, Chuck, Sarah Connor, Alien, Sigourney Weaver, Katee Sackhoff, Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica