The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 2 [DVD]

Season Two of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN is a good example of why the show was so popular in the 70s, and why its legacy endures to this day. Taken at a glance, 6-MIL is nothing impressive. You've got a series lead with the acting range of a statue, storylines that vary from the pedestrian to the preposterous, and a fictional organization, the OSI, which is so riddled with spies and traitors it's hard to believe it stayed in business for a single week, much less all the years of this show's run. But, as I have said before, and intending no pun, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN is more than the sum of its parts, bionic or otherwise. It gives us a kind of entertainment which is rare nowadays -- "clean, fun, moral" television which nonetheless has a lot of action and even a sly sense of humor.The conceit behind the show is simple. Steve Austin (Lee Majors) is an air force test pilot who was horribly injured in a crash. The head of the Office of Scientific Intelligence, Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) saw in the disaster an opportunity to create the perfect secret agent using bionic technology -- cybernetic prosthetics that give Austin immense speed, strength and visual acuity. The rebuilt Austin goes from week to week carrying out the risky missions assigned to him by his "pal" Goldman. Along the way he encounters spies, gangsters, thieves, terrorists, mad scientists, and, well, some other very exotic stuff that might just strain your suspension of disbelief a li'l bit. The show's second conceit is perhaps more interesting than the first: Austin, though a career military man and a secret agent, despises guns and generally refuses to touch them, even when it would be to his benefit. He'll beat your butt, but he'll never kill anyone if it's humanly possible to avoid it. This is a refreshing touch in an American action hero."Pilot Error" - Blinded by a malfunction of his bionic eye, Steve must rescue a senator stricken by a mysterious illness from the desert where their plane has crashed. This is a really innovative episode with some good performances and a surprising ending. Pat Hingle guest stars."The Seven Million Dollar Man" - Monte Markham was nearly picked to play Steve Austin, so it's appropriate that he would guest star as another bionic man, one who cannot handle the psychological strain of his new powers."Act of Piracy" - A banana republic hijacks an OSI research vessel and takes it ashore in a diplomatic power play, leaving Steve trapped on the ocean floor in a leaky diving bell, with his oxygen running out. This is a good, suspensful story, though if you look close you see the prop department REALLY screwed up on the choice of guns given the bad guys. Wrong century, fellas. By about 200 years."The Deadly Replay" - Steve "gets back on the horse" and tries a second attempt at flying the experimental aircraft whose crash nearly killed him, navigating some tricky romantic issues and personal tensions on his flight crew. Crusty old Clifton James guest stars."The Peeping Blonde" - Farah Fawcett (then Lee's real-life wife) guest stars as a nosy reporter who gets film of Steve using his bionic powers and threatens to expose his secrets to the world. (In an interesting turn of events, it's strongly implied that Oscar Goldman is going to have her killed if she carries out her threat.)"Taneha" - While not my favorite episode by any means, nothing sums up the "live and let live" spirit of SIX-MIL better than this story about a mountain lion wrongly blamed for a series of human and animal attacks. Ranchers want it dead, but Steve Austin ain't having it, and when Steve Austin ain't havin' it, bionics will be employed."The Bionic Woman Parts I & II" - The story which eventually gave us THE BIONIC WOMAN spin-off show sees Steve's childhood love, and current fiance, Jamie Sommers nearly killed in an accident: the only way to save her is through bionic transplants, but the operation has tragic consequences. Lindsay Wagner excels in this episode as the effervescent Jamie.Now, it's true that SIX-MIL can be terribly cheesy, that Lee Majors can't really act (or sing, for that matter), and that the writers were often rather lazy and dipped into the trope-well more frequently than they should have: for example, between SIX-MIL and BIONIC WOMAN there must be six or seven stories about robots or doppelgangers imitating someone and nobody ever picking up on it. But it's also true that this show is just plain fun. Even the middle of the road episodes like "The Last Kamikaze" and "Lost Love," which aren't great, are still really engaging, and a lot of this has to do with Lee Majors. Yes, I kind of insulted him by saying he can't act, but I'd like to praise him even more by noting that it doesn't matter. Some actors, regardless of talent level, just have that charisma that makes you want to tune it regardless of whether the show is your cup of team or not, and Lee has it. And his character is written with just enough realism (he cheats at sports, using his bionics, without shame, even when playing for money) to make him more likable still.In an age when every television hero is written as being dark, tortured, and morally compromised, it's kind of refreshing to go back to a time when a hero -- a real hero, not a mere protagonist -- was on the screen. Someone who would see justice done without killing and would even risk his life to save the bad guys if they needed saving. It may be one-dimensional or dated, but I don't give a damn, and I don't think you will either.

I love the Six Million Dollar Man. I was raised watching this TV show. My special needs daughter and I watch him all the time. I gave her this for Christmas. Thanks so much.

While the "Six Million Dollar Man" Series had some really great episodes sprinkled throughout each of its five seasons, I, for one, lay claim to "Season Two" offering the most diversity and quality of episodes overall. It really is a tour-de-force with the key roles of Steve Austin and Oscar Goldman fully fleshing out their characters and the show itself hitting its stride. In fact, with a few exceptions, Season 2 introduces or reinforces all of the key episodic elements that the show was primarily known for in its entirety, which makes this season so special. There are just so many good episodes in this one season but I will just touch on a few of the gems here...Season Two includes the introduction of "The Seven Million Dollar Man" with Monte Markham guest starring in the title role as a Bionic Adversary to Steve A.and who comes back in a later, Season 3 Episode which was not quite as good as the first episode shown here. "Return of the Robot Maker" features the return of Dr. Chester Dolenz, this time creating a Robot "Oscar" with a strong story to complement Season One's "Day of the Robot". Both the Robot and this story is an improvement over the originals in each case... Lee Majors Wife at the time, Farrah Fawcett shows up in "The Peeping Blonde", complete with her Charley's Angels Hairdo in tact and this was one of three separate roles she played on the show during its run. "The Deadly Replay" puts Steve Austin back in the experimental flight craft that nearly killed him the first time around so we get some closure as well as some additional story line on that aspect of the series. There are also some episodes that showcase Steve A. in out of country scenarios such as in Ireland in "Outrage in Balinderry" and in the South Pacific ("The Last Kamikaze") The last episode in the Season is another fine episode "Steve Austin, Fugitive", which also introduces the great character of Peggy Callahan, Oscar Goldman's Secretary, who would go on to become a semi-regular on both the SMD and Bionic Woman Series in this same role.Speaking of "The Bionic Woman", Season 2 even has the two part story introducing the great Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers so by now, I think you get the picture of why this series in particular contains the most of the basic elements of "Bionic Education" in one package.In other words, You simply cannot go wrong with Season Two!

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A favorite of mine when I was growing up. Steve Austin represented the possibilities of the future. An astronaut and test pilot, which are truly heroic professions in themselves, Steve is still a down to earth guy. Coping with memories of his horrific accident while adjusting to his powerful replacement parts takes us along a path mimicking nearly every comic book hero. Lee Majors brings out the humanity in Steve as he wonders whether the $6 Mil price tag bought the Office of Scientific Intelligence his body, soul or both. Feeling used comes with the job. Occasionally letting his guard down around civilians, they fear him just like today's comic book Mutants are feared, making Steve feel like a freak. Richard Anderson is super as Oscar Goldman, OSI Director, Steve's boss. A realistic contradiction of Patriot and Spy, Oscar plays puppeteer using Steve for critically necessary missions of National Security while painfully aware of the effects on a man he calls "friend".

This came, brand new very quickly. The price was really reasonable and I couldn't pass it up. The second season introduces Jamie Sommers, and the first two parter of the Bionic Woman has always been a favorite of mine.

I was wondering what it would be like watching the series I most enjoyed as a boy growing up. I was pleasantly surprised. The picture quality was okay - sadly not remastered just the reels they would send out to the TV stations, but still okay to watch in this digitally improved age. Thoroughly enjoyed the set and would recommend it for all ages. Even the young ones may forget the computer games for a while!I heard the first set isn't fantastic picture quality-wise, which is the reason I chose season tow. But I will purchase that, even if it's just for childhood memories.

The second season of The Six Million Dollar Man was, for me, the apex of the series. The first season was solid, but dry. This was perhaps necessary to sell the concept, but the second year worked on humanizing Steve Austin a little more. They also worked in a little more science fiction into the series, which might sound strange when talking about a show with a sci-fi premise. However, the serie smostly, with a few exceptions, kept things closer to the real world with spies, kidnappings, hijackings and the like. However, someone must have realized that fans got a kick out of seeing Steve fighting people in slow motion, people with equal strength and sound effects (lol).This season has a number of great episodes:The Pioneers - Oscar and Rudy secretly use two astronauts as part of an experiment in cryogenics. It goes wrong and the capsule crashes. Pre-MASH Mike farrell plays the crazed astronaut who reacts badly to the chemicals and becomes super strong. Steve tracks him through the forest and fights him in a couple of nice sequences.The Seven Million Dollar Man - this is my all-time favorite episode. Monte Markham plays Barney Miller (changed to Hiller in a sequel episode thanks to the Hal Linden series), a man who was given four bionic limbs before Steve's accident. Barney can't handle it and gets drunk with power. There are two amazing bionic action sequences: the first when Barney roughs up a gang of terrorists ("it's wild Steve! It's wild!") and the final showdown between Steve and Barney. Also, a bionic arm-wrestling match is great fun to watch. There's a nice joke at the end which Lee Majors delivers nicely and this episode becomes a classic.Straight On 'til Morning - Meg Foster plays a stranded alien colonist trying to get home. A good7 years vefore ET, Steve helps her get there.Deadly Replay - Steve gets to relive his accident in the rebuilt lifting body he crashed, to finally conclusively discover that it was not his fault.Return of the Robot Maker - awful title, but a great episode. A sequel to The Day of the Robot (actually the thrid in the trilogy which also included Run, Steve, Run from the first year), Henry Jones returns with an Oscar Goldman robot. There's some amazing action as Steve dodges a war games session. The episode caps with the great Steve vs Oscar bionic fight. Looks like Richard Anderson had a great time in a role he would sort or re-do in the later Six Mil/Bionic Woman crossover "Kill Oscar."Steve Austin, Fugitive - The season finale is another sequel, this time to the first year's Eyewitness to Murder. Steve is framed for murder by Gary Lockwood, who returns as Hopper, a criminal he put behid bars. This is also the first appearance of Jennifer Darling as Callahan.Finally (but not the last episode) is the great Bionic Woman two part episode. Steve reunites with his childhood sweetheart Jaime Summers (Lindsay Wagner). The fall in love all over again, but their new life is endangered when she is critically injured in a shydiving accident. Steve begs Oscar to save her with bionics. He does for for a price: he will ask her for her services when needed and Steve must allow it without argument. Steve agrees. She is saved, and after a period of adjustment, Jaime accepts Steve's marriage proposal. All seems swell, but Jaime seems to be having shooting pains and bionic spasms she keeps to herself. Then, Oscar calls in his marker. Steve falters in his promise, but Jaime wants to repay Oscar for saving her life and they both go on a mission. Her spasms and pain nearly cause the mission to fail, but they get away with it (recovering a perfect money printing plate). But the real tragedy comes when Rudy Wells discovers her body is rejecting the bionics and she suffers a massive cerebral hemmorage. And dies.This is an epic, heartbreaking episode, one that rightfully earns its place in television history. One one thing keeps this episode from being my favorite: Lee Majors sings. Not just a little number for color, but at least three full songs! It wouldn't be so bad if he could sing, but his attempts are laughable. Not only that, they take away from the drama of the story. Such a shame, but not even his paethic warbling could ruin so classic a story. Only the follow-up at the network's insistence in the third season would render this episode's climax hollow.another downside: the print of the Bionic Woman is not the original two part episode. It is the video edit version, which motis the end credits of part one, the intro and recap and episode titles of two. There are jumps in music and scenes, the joins are obvious. It's clear Playback is giving us the syndicated versions of each show, although uncut. The Bionic Woman's "Kill Oscar" release in that show's second year makes it obvious.The transfers are acceptable. Hopefully, the legal issues which have kept this series off of American DVD will be cleared up and the series will be remastered and restored. It would be great to have the series complete, with crystal clear picture and with the crossover episodes rightly placed in the respective series' running order (with counterpart episodes included as bonuses like in the Magnum PI sets, etc.).Until then, these will have to do and it's a great placeholder to keep the impatience down. Hopefully, Playback with finish both Bionic shows soon.

Because Universal Studios cut a back-alley deal with Time-Life here in the US, consumers can't buy individual seasons of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. Just complete boxed sets sold exclusively through Time-Life for 240 US dollars apiece. Fortunately, US consumers can still get their hands on DVD sets of the first two seasons from the UK for 15-25 dollars shipped. While the show itself is nearly 40 years old (and a paean to 70s fashion), it still holds up surprisingly well with engaging plot-lines and competent acting (at least by the regulars). Some might knock the show for being slower-moving than the frenetically edited offerings of its modern day counterparts, but if you have boys between the ages of 7 and 10, they'll adjust quickly to the more relaxed pace (especially if they're readers), and they'll be in heaven. This season of the show has been a winner with my 9 and 7 year-olds so far, and even though it doesn't contain any of the popular "Bigfoot" episodes, it has still featured enough action to satisfy my pre-pubescent boys while not insulting the intelligence of their more discriminating parents with hackneyed writing and paper-thin characters. The episodes in this collection are actually quite watchable, and the thing I like about the show in general (at least the first two seasons of it) is that it didn't lapse into a mere vehicle for Lee Majors to flex his circuitry and demolish everything in sight. Seems that the writers managed to steer clear of that temptation (again, in the first two seasons at least), making Steve Austin more of a reluctant hero with a conscience than a mindless droid with a Texas-sized ego and a penchant for putting people in ambulances (think Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger). Anyway, good show. A lot of fun, especially for young boys. So glad I could pick it up on amazon.co.uk for a reasonable price, rather than have to buy it as part of a bigger, more expensive package through Time-Life here in the States. I did have to find a code on the Internet to make my DVD player "Region-Free" so that it would accept PAL-encoded DVDs, but that proved to be a less daunting task than I had expected.

I use to watch this as a kid on the tv.I was always hoping it would return to our screens one day.Looked for the DVD for ages.Glad I have got both season 1 and 2.

another look back at the 70s and how we all thought we had bionics ,so good to watch,i laugh at the times I thought I was bionic as every child would,well recommend this for adults and all children