You can see if you're a kid in the 70s this show was probably the greatest show ever. But watch these episodes today as an adult, whew - they're very hard to get through. Besides the limitations of 70s TV, the scripts are boring and the concept is weak. He's got a bionic arm yet is able to lift things that would require all his upper body (not just his arm).
To indicate he's running fast, it's slow motion. Yet it literally looks like he's jogging and it's run in slow motion, which is exactly what it is. But we're supposed to pretend he's running super fast. Yet when he chasing a car or running from a bad guy - he doesn't get there any quicker. It's literally like he really is running in slow motion. It's annoying.
The fight scenes are the most embarrassing. They're like the fights you'd have with your friends when you were seven on the front lawn. You move in slow motion throwing fake punches. That's this show. The one where he fights three guys at once. It's crazy awful. I was embarrassed watching. There's one where he's fighting another bionic man. They are literally doing it in slow motion in real life and then it's slowed down even further. So you can really really see how fake the fight is. Was there anyone actually riveted at this "fight" when it first aired? It's mind bogglingly awful.
I watched the first season and most of the second before I couldn't take it anymore. The scripts were padded with lots of bad dialog and each episode is essentially the same - Steve gets assigned in some James Bond-like mission to save someone or something. The one where he's supposed to rescue the wild bobcat. He goes in (then it's a stunt man who looks nothing like Lee Majors) wrangling the bobcat.
The Steve walks the bobcat out on a leash. Huh? There's lot of dumb stuff like this. And don't get me wrong. There were a couple good episodes which is why I made it through the whole first season. The "Flight of the Phoenix" one where they crash in the desert and Steve is blinded. That one was great. But there are too many awful ones.
My favorite is where he's in a space capsule with another astronaut, the astronaut takes the helmet off only to reveal Farrah Fawcett, blow dried hair and all. I laughed out loud. Even in the 70s no one bought her as an astronaut. There's a few other episodes where you're constantly yelling "come on!"
One person here wrote "Stands the test of time." No. It doesn't. It's aged very poorly. I think this is one show that could be remade very well, as long as they do it right. When he's running fast, actually have him running fast (not this idiotic slow motion baloney). Make his bionics more believable.
On the plus side, the music for the show is great and the little variations of the theme they do during some of the action scenes was great. And Lee Majors was perfectly cast. Richard Anderson has the absolute worst wig in the history of 1970s TV but in the role he was perfect.
I wanted to like it more but I just couldn't.
To indicate he's running fast, it's slow motion. Yet it literally looks like he's jogging and it's run in slow motion, which is exactly what it is. But we're supposed to pretend he's running super fast. Yet when he chasing a car or running from a bad guy - he doesn't get there any quicker. It's literally like he really is running in slow motion. It's annoying.
The fight scenes are the most embarrassing. They're like the fights you'd have with your friends when you were seven on the front lawn. You move in slow motion throwing fake punches. That's this show. The one where he fights three guys at once. It's crazy awful. I was embarrassed watching. There's one where he's fighting another bionic man. They are literally doing it in slow motion in real life and then it's slowed down even further. So you can really really see how fake the fight is. Was there anyone actually riveted at this "fight" when it first aired? It's mind bogglingly awful.
I watched the first season and most of the second before I couldn't take it anymore. The scripts were padded with lots of bad dialog and each episode is essentially the same - Steve gets assigned in some James Bond-like mission to save someone or something. The one where he's supposed to rescue the wild bobcat. He goes in (then it's a stunt man who looks nothing like Lee Majors) wrangling the bobcat.
The Steve walks the bobcat out on a leash. Huh? There's lot of dumb stuff like this. And don't get me wrong. There were a couple good episodes which is why I made it through the whole first season. The "Flight of the Phoenix" one where they crash in the desert and Steve is blinded. That one was great. But there are too many awful ones.
My favorite is where he's in a space capsule with another astronaut, the astronaut takes the helmet off only to reveal Farrah Fawcett, blow dried hair and all. I laughed out loud. Even in the 70s no one bought her as an astronaut. There's a few other episodes where you're constantly yelling "come on!"
One person here wrote "Stands the test of time." No. It doesn't. It's aged very poorly. I think this is one show that could be remade very well, as long as they do it right. When he's running fast, actually have him running fast (not this idiotic slow motion baloney). Make his bionics more believable.
On the plus side, the music for the show is great and the little variations of the theme they do during some of the action scenes was great. And Lee Majors was perfectly cast. Richard Anderson has the absolute worst wig in the history of 1970s TV but in the role he was perfect.
I wanted to like it more but I just couldn't.