Bionic Woman

Uber celebrity insider Hollywood Joe nabbed an exclusive interview with the original Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, at a Hollywood gathering Thursday.  When asked about the remake of her 1970s classic, a role for which she won an Emmy, Wagner revealed her thoughts.

“It’s very different,” she said at a Television Academy event. “It’s very much like what the shows are today, kind of dark and broody and violent - what people seem to be getting off on these days. So, it’s not at all what we were doing. We were doing a show for kids intentionally and making it fun and make it in such a way that adults could enjoy it too with their children. [The new show] is just a very different intention so I find it crazy that people try to compare it and ‘This is better or that is better.’ It’s not the same thing at all. It’s like, hello?”
I pipe in and say that the new bionic woman never tore a phone book in half in front of her class.
Says Wagner: “She doesn’t have a class, she works at a bar (laughs).”

We here at WatchingBionicWoman.com love the original Lindsay Wagner The Bionic Woman and have been hoping she would show up on the new version in a long story arc as a recurring character.  Possibly as a villain or even Sarah Corvus’ mother.  That would be delicious.

Let’s hope the show impresses her more to join because I think adding her to the mix would really improve the ratings as she is beloved for the role.

Note to the producers, fans want to see her in this show.  It will help your ratings.

Original Bionic Woman Lindsay Wagner looked radiant last night at The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences sold out event “Another Opening, Another Show: A Celebration of TV Theme Music.”

Lindsay was one of the evening’s presenters, along with Maureen McCormick from the Brady Bunch and Bonnie Bartlett and William Daniels of St. Elsewhere.

The event also featured musical performances by John Schneider, best known for Dukes of Hazzard and Smallville, and Jean Louisa Kelly from Yes, Dear.

Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Another Opening, TV Theme Music, Hollywood, William Daniels, St. Elsewhere, Smallville, Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider, Jean Louisa Kelly, Yes Dear

Susan at Retro TV Blog dug into the 1977-1978 broadcast schedule to take us back to this classic TV era.  Of course, The Bionic Woman staring Lindsay Wagner was regularly scheduled TV at my house. Taking a look at this schedule, childhood memories come flooding back to me.  I watched The Bionic Woman at 8:00 PM, Starsky and Hutch at 9:00 and The Love Boat at 10:00. 

Ah, when it was so easy to watch all of your favorite shows because there were only three networks. 

Saturdays

ABC
8:00 Fish
8:30 Operation Petticoat
9:00 Starsky and Hutch
10:00 The Love Boat

NBC
8:00 Bionic Woman
9:00 The Saturday Night Movie

CBS
8:00 The Bob Newhart Show
8:30 We’ve Got Each Other
9:00 The Jeffersons
9:30 The Tony Randall
10:00 The Carol Burnett Show

For all of my fellow nostalgics out there, here is the intro to the original The Bionic Woman.

Katee Sackhoff’s amazing hair at the TV Guide Party last Sunday won her kudos from Hairstylewatch.com.

In Vancouver? Bionic Woman is filming street scenes this week, according to The Vancouverite.

A Colorado television station has an interview with the woman who played the toddler that was rescued by Max, the Bionic Dog, in the clip from the original series we posted on Tuesday. Like us, she was struck by the 1970s idea of leaving a toddler in a car alone and a German Shepherd in a car with the windows rolled up … with all of our modern safety obsessions, Max’s rescue task on the new series would have to be more complicated to be as impressive as it was thirty years ago.

In related news, at least one cast member has threatened to leave the show if they bring back the Bionic Dog. Miguel Ferrar, who plays shadowy Jonas Bledsoe on the show, recently told The West Australian that he would see the addition of a bionic pup as a blow to the credibility of the modern version of the show. As it is, he expects the show to be one of the best science fiction shows ever made. We like your optimism Miguel!

Bionic Woman, Vancouver, Max, Bionic Dog, German Shepherd, Colorado, Katee Sackhoff, Miguel Ferrar

We got some fun e-mails after the post on Monday advocating that NBC bring back Max, the bionic German Shepherd from the original series. Here is another great clip of Max, who seems to be a much better jogging partner prospect than Katee Sackhoff’s Sarah Corvus. As a bonus, you also get to see Lindsay Wagner’s voluminous blond hair in slow motion. Don’t you think Becca and Jamie need a dog around the apartment?

Max, German Shepherd, Bionic Woman, dog, Katee Sackhoff, Sarah Corvus, Lindsay Wagner, Becca Sommers, Jamie Sommers

Check out this great clip from the original Bionic Woman, featuring the amazing Max. While I am a fan of the new version, I have to confess I was disappointed when I heard that the new show will not have a German Shepherd. Perhaps if the ratings are not good enough they will bring in a new German Shepherd Dog for Michelle Ryan’s Jamie Sommers … because who doesn’t love a German Shepherd??

Bionic Woman, Jamie Sommers, Michelle Ryan, Max, German Shepherd, dog

Here’s some fun. A clip of bloopers and outtakes from the 1970s BW. It’s fun watching Lindsay Wagner mess up a scene. She appears to favor "son-of-a-b*tch" when flubbing a line. Catch the 1970’s show intro here. Enjoy.

Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, NBC, bloopers, outtakes

Here’s some fun while we wait for the series premiere of the 2007 BW - the introduction to the 1970’s version staring Lindsay Wagner. The 1970’s intro does a nice job capturing what the show is about and is effective setting the tone and overall look of the show in about a minute. Margie and I have discussed here and here how the 2007 version will be much darker and more skeptical about the use of technology in our lives.

Enjoy!

Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner, NBC

If you are interested in more info on the original Bionic Woman series, be sure to check out BionicWomanFiles.com which has some great pictures of original star Linsday Wagner. This photo was taken when the paparazzi caught Lindsay dining at Mr. Chow’s in 1978.

Still struggling to make the grade on the Bionic Aptitude Test? No worries, Bionic Blog has screenies of the additional content for folks who have yet to make the grade.

The Paley Center for Media will be hosting a Bionic Woman Preview Party in L.A. next month, and some of the folks at whedonesque.com say it will be a good time.

TVDeuce.com lists Six Reasons Why You Should Watch Bionic Woman This Fall.

And not everybody dislikes the leaked pilot, “Optimus Playa” thought it was great … although he did advise Jamie to stop “hatin on her robotic parts.”

Bionic Woman, Paley Center, party, Bionic Aptitude Test