She’s Back, Sort Of

Tonight I saw further proof that Boomers rule the world and are in no hurry to give up the crown. The evidence? A very short teaser commercial for a new TV series: Bionic Woman.

Yes, the Jamie Summers character, a hottie with super-human physical abilities, is returning to television. The original Bionic Woman series that ran from 1976 – 1978 was a spin-off of the popular Six Million Dollar Man series.

In both versions, Jaime suffers major injuries (from a skydiving accident in the original, from a horrific highway accident in the remake). While unconscious, she undergoes a secret operation in which various limbs, eyes, etc. are replaced by strong manufactured parts. In the original version, she goes on to work as a secret agent disguised as a teacher. In the new one she is involved in some kind of complicated espionage story line and her nemesis is another bionic woman experiment.

The original starred Lindsay Wagner, whose more recent claim to fame is a starring role in Select Comfort mattress commercials. Her acting career has certainly had more challenging roles, but those commercials seem to get more air time these days.

The new Bionic Woman is played by Michelle Ryan.

Everything I read about the new show tonight points to the new series as a re-imagination rather than a remake of the original (using the producer’s verbiage).

It appears that the tone of the new series will be much darker than the original. The 1976 series spawned cheesy merchandising including lunch boxes and dolls. That doesn’t seem likely in this version.

The network hype site makes for interesting viewing and maybe the series will be worth watching. We’ll find out in September.