Bionic Woman

Although Michelle Ryan has been M.I.A. this past week for her scheduled media promotions, WatchingBionicWoman.com’s very on Margie has been keeping busy with hers.  First a print interview with Bionic-blog.com Friday and Sunday a guest of famed radio host Shaun OMac.  Shaun is the best known for creating the save Jericho series peanut campaign. 

Margie spent the hour discussing Bionic Woman,  and the 2007 fall premiers.  You can listen to the entire show here.

The second episode of Bionic Woman airs at it regularly scheduled time tonight, Wednesday at 9 PM EST.  Here’s NBC’s official promo.  After the premier episode did so well last week, let’s hope the audience tunes back in because this week’s episode looks even better.

Michelle Ryan is having an amazing week.  The premiere episode of Bionic Woman beat Private Practice in the line up head-to-head and she lands the cover of TV Guide for the week of October 8-14.  The issue hits newsstands October 4 and will hopefully contain many bionic tidbits.  

I love the photograph and can’t wait to read their bionic “exclusive”.

Enjoy!

After months of anticipation, the Bionic Woman premiere is finally here!

Despite leaks to the internet, and early availability of the official pilot through Amazon, nothing beats broadcast TV and tonight is the official North American fall premier of the series.  Airing every Wednesday on NBC at 8:00 PM CST, the retooled Bionic Woman keeps the basic premise of the original:  Jaime Sommers is a young woman critically injured and only through the use of bionic technology and anthracites is she able to survive.  Our modern day heroine is no longer a world class tennis player but rather a bartender at an uber hip nightclub and surrogate parent to her rebellious teenage sister, Becca.  Sadly, no potential bionic dog appears anywhere in sight, but fans can hope.

Here’s an extended clip of the show and it does a nice job capturing the fast-paced, action packed premiere.

For those of you out there who miss the show Wednesday night it will re-air on NBC’s sister network, Sci-Fi Network, Friday at 7:00 PM EST and USA Network starting October 6th at 5 PM CST.  Also check your local listings because my local affiliate is re-airing Wednesday episodes on Saturday.

Lot’s of opportunities to catch up on missed episodes!

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Just one more day until the official premiere! Michelle Ryan will be promoting Bionic Woman on the Today show tomorrow morning, so if you are a Michelle fan be sure to set your DVR accordingly.

Among the other guests on Today will be Jennifer Garner, who some folks think looks a lot like Michelle. Let’s hope Meredith and Matt don’t get them confused.

Also be sure to check out Entertainment Weekly’s video video interview with Michelle, where she hints that Jamie Sommers has a dark side which will be more apparent as the season progresses.

Michelle Ryan, Bionic Woman, Today, DVR, Entertainment Weekly, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Sommers, Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira

Kanye West’s new single “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” instantly reminded me of Bionic Woman, and my comment about that over on Bionic-Blog got Roco to wondering of Kanye West is a Bionic Woman fan. In addition to associations in the chorus, Kanye’s video shows him getting medical procedure that seems to implant him with bionic parts. Head over to Bionic-Blog to see the video, which ends in another science fiction television tribute: Kanye may also be a Heroes fan, because he seems to go radioactive and nuclear, Peter Petrelli-style, as a result of his bionic implants.

Bionic Woman did not get any official shout-outs or promotions in Sunday’s Emmy telecast, but the subtle tribute in the song got some of the biggest laughs of the night. The clip above is of Kanye and Rainn Wilson of The Office having a rap-off to the song as they help Wayne Brady give away the Best Reality Show Award. Kanye West has a reputation for being a brat, but I thought he handled this whole thing very well … it’s not easy to let someone outshine you singing your own song in front of millions of people, and there is no doubt nerdy Rainn Wilson stole the clip when he busted out with “you could be my black Kate Moss tonight.”

No official word from Kanye’s camp if the Bionic Woman associations are intentional, but if he says anything about Bionic Woman we will let you know. Or here’s a thought: perhaps a clip from Kanye’s hit would be a good Bionic Woman theme song?

Kanye West, Bionic Woman, Emmy, Rainn Wilson, The Office, reality TV, Wayne Brady, Heroes, Peter Petrelli, Kate Moss

More and more people are taking advantage of the opportunity to watch the full length Bionic Woman pilot before it airs and posting their reviews, many of which are positive. The show took a lot of hits early in the summer for its various controversies, and even fans who really wanted the show to succeed had trouble with some parts of the pilot. So it is a relief to hear the pilot get hopeful early reviews. Some bloggers focus on how talented the actors are, others talk about how well done it is, and others like the non-sci fi elements of the characters and story. Whatever the reason they like the pilot, the good early reviews are a good sign for the show.

Ryan’s thoughts on the pilot are here.

Bionic Woman, pilot, review

Now this is interesting. Up until recently it was fairly easy to find detailed Bionic Woman spoilers on the web. The extremely spoiler-friendly Bionic Website had the titles and basic plot details of the first six episodes as recently as this weekend. Now all of that information has been “removed at the request of NBC Universal.” Interested readers can still catch a few spoilers on Bionic Blog … read ‘em while you can!

One place you won’t find Bionic Woman information is the show’s woefully inadequate IMDB.com page. IMDB does not even report Katee Sackhoff is part of the cast, much less upcoming guest actors and other spoilers.

Bionic Woman, BionicWebsite, NBC, Universal, spoiler, IMDB, Katee Sackhoff

BW does EW: this fab photo of Michelle Ryan bearing boulderscomes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, which featured Bionic Woman in its fall TV preview.

The article seemingly confirms that casting Isaiah Washington really was a network decision, (something that many people have speculated about) and that Jamie Sommers’ character will go darker as the season progresses:

”There’s something very effortlessly winning about Michelle,” says [Producer David] Eick. ”And I love that, because I now get to make her do unlikable things and get away with it.”

It will be interesting to see just how unlikable Eick tries to make Jamie in the months to come.

Bionic Woman, Michelle Ryan, David Eick, Isaiah Washington, network, NBC, Jamie Sommers

According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has brokered a deal to allow Bionic Woman to be seen on demand starting September 10th. The deal includes over 30 cable systems across the country, and will potentially allow millions of viewers to see the pilot early in a way that is legal and free of charge.

The move is part of the network’s aggressive plan to build viewers for the show, and was inspired by the success of last season’s Heroes which was downloaded via Yahoo! by over 300,000 people before it premiered on television:

We’re engaged in the most aggressive sampling of any of the networks, and we have the research to back it up,” said John Miller, chief marketing officer at NBC Universal Television Group. “We generally feel (that) if someone has seen a show and liked the show, they will tell others and come back for more regardless of where they saw it. That builds ratings.”

This is great news for Bionic Woman fans, as we all know the secret to the show’s success is to attract as many viewers as possible. Other NBC shows that will be available as part of this plan include Chuck, Life, and Journeyman. The shows will also be available via DVD at Blockbuster.

Bionic Woman, television, TV, cable, VOD, NBC, cable, Heroes, Yahoo!, Universal, Chuck, Life, Journeyman, Blockbuster, DVD

Bionic Woman producer David Eick gave a recent interview where he shed some light on his views about the “woman” part of Bionic Woman.

“In the old days, it was about ‘women can do everything men can do.’ That doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue now,” says executive producer David Eick. Today, “it’s more about if we can accept that women can do what men can do, do we judge it differently? Backing that is what I call the Peter Parker ethos: someone who is not sure of him or herself as a person, let alone a hero. And I’m just applying that to a female perspective.”

Bionic Woman, Battlestar Galactica, David Eick, female, 70s, women, Peter Parker

Her bionic implants, of course. Katee Sackhoff, who plays the vengeful Sarah Corvis on Bionic Woman, was on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show recently to discuss a few things about Battlestar Galactica and a lot about Bionic Woman. She also does some innuendo about Sarah Corvis’ implants, outs her brother’s derogatory nickname, and talks about being trapped in the bathroom at Comicon.

We love Katee, but towards the end of the interview she breaks the classic rule for young stars trying to break into the big time by dissing the fans she has now. No Katee, don’t do it! Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica need all the fans they can get!

Edit: Sunday night on the ShaunOMac radio show I was asked about this clip, which I had initially written about on watchingbsg.com and apparently others have commented on with similar dismay. It had been a while since I had watched the clip when Shaun asked the question, and I mistakenly said Katee called her fans “freaks” during the interview. That was just my memory playing tricks on me … she let’s Jimmy back her into a corner where she implies her fans are pretty weird, but she never actually says the word “freaks” and I apologize for the error.

interview, Katee Sackhoff, Bionic Woman, Jimmy Kimmel, Comicon, Battlestar Galactica, Sarah Corvis, Starbuck

An addictive little test has appeared on the net as part of NBC’s promotion for Bionic Woman. Bat-test.com allows you to test your skills and aptitude to become a scientifically enhanced super spy, and is a fun way to spend a bit of time.

Just a warning … be sure to turn your speakers down, or even off, before you click the link. If you score 75% or higher on the test then you unlock additional site content about the show. Good luck!

Bionic Woman, promotion, NBC, test