The Bionic Woman: Why the Spin-Off Failed

[@amcaesar]

You've ripped the bionic lid off this, it's gonna be huge.

[@KevinGeeksOut]

Ripped off the lid using our mechanical jaw!

[@MichaelMartin-qe5ye]

I commend you for keeping this short and interesting instead of stretching it to 20 minutes like so many content creators would do. Well done.

[@DoctorBrodski]

I think another bionic spinoff that was considered was the bionic boy after the episode guest starring Vincent Van Patten.

[@rethablair6902]

Great memory🤔

[@class3times]

Yes, being a kid in the 1970's was a good time to be alive!

[@MrShaun_D1]

And still found time to go out and play after watching an episode of The Bionic Woman or The Six Million Dollar Man.

[@SailorBarsoom]

I didn't realize that Max-a-Million was supposed to get his own show. Now, the biofeedback guy, that was an obvious back-door pilot.

[@0311Mushroom]

Actually, there was already a series with a dog on the run that would help different people each week. It was called "Run Joe, Run".

[@jeremygeorgia4943]

Speaking of Punky Brewster, there was also "Small Wonder" - the robot sister, and Hymie - the robot secret agent.

[@ganglabesh]

small wonder was awesome lol

[@PhilipAMoore]

those were in 80s not 70s

[@1977TA]

@@PhilipAMoore Robot secret agent Hymie appeared on the TV series Get Smart (1965-1970).

[@PaulKBisson]

Nicely done. But you missed the Max reference in the first reunion movie. Also, last Max appearance was in Wonder Woman '77 meets the Bionic Woman from DC/Dynamite Comics.

[@LarryJones-c4m]

I would have loved to see a Bionic Woman (Lindsey Wagner) - Wonder Woman (Linda Carter) crossover episode.

[@CountryBwoy]

I love pilots and back door pilots. How have I just now discovered this channel? So glad I did

[@DoctorBrodski]

I was watching reruns of Murder She Wrote earlier this year and they had a backdoor pilot episode in 1989 called Jack And Bill. It was pretty good too. It was one of those episodes where Angela Lansbury didn't take part and only narrated a story about an ex-football player friend turned private eye who investigates a murder with the help of a dog he gets stuck with.

[@esthergarcia1373]

Max was the most beautiful German Shepherd I had ever seen.

[@everythingisawesome76]

Ive seen this two parter many times. Still great TV.

[@thesentinel5523]

You deserve much more subs and views. Won't be long till you in the big leagues.

[@KevinGeeksOut]

thanks! There's more videos coming, so there'll be plenty to bring in more viewers.

[@quinnrollen]

@@KevinGeeksOut Maybe you should do a spin-off?

[@dylan.t180]

The real underdog

[@caliden3785]

The bionic woman and six million dollar man was my favorite shows growing up....I hope you do more 70s back door pilots.There are so many......

[@jaredjlinden]

It would have been like a bionic version of Lassie: The Ranger Years.

[@atomicabe]

Yes, someone who knows their TV History!

[@SheldonHelms]

I can't believe you didn't mention, "Max," Season 3, episode 10, of The Bionic Woman. THAT was clearly the spin-off attempt, and it just didn't work. Oddly, the writers didn't seem to know how to present Max as a viable character, despite years of "Rin Tin Tin," and "Lassie" showing them the way. Of course, by the late 70s, people weren't all that keen on lines like, Max: Bark! Bark! Bobby: What's that, boy? Timmy fell down a well? 🤣

[@michaelleacy]

Yes, that was a spin-off episode, not the one that introduced him. Would have made a terrible series, my least favourite BW episode

[@obiephillips9174]

"They even had their own imitation Burt Bacharach song!" 😂 good one.

[@atomicabe]

Thanks. To be fair, on the DVD commentary track, the episode writer admits that he was ripping off Burt Bacharach.

[@atrocchia]

i never thought Bionic Dog was meant to have his own series.

[@mattalan6618]

nor did i. i always thought the dog was meant to show up here and there when the story called for it

[@Anamnesia]

3:34 "Roger!" - That sounded A LOT like _Peter Graves_ from the movie; *_AIRPLANE_* !

[@quad5186]

Huh?

[@jeffco5237]

so Bionic Dog was like suppose to be "The littlest hobo" but with powers - cool! Thanks for the review!

[@Rob.S-]

The littlest hobo was also an experimental military dog that escapes.

[@12347873]

Is there any bionic housefly?

[@Tim_the_Enchanter]

The robot episode of Columbo -- featuring the kid from Land of the Giants -- is one of my favorites.

[@gingerkid1048]

How sad are you that there was already a wandering dog bringing justice and saving the day as a tv show? In Canada we called it The Littlest Hobo.

[@NC-tt4gc]

One of the best theme songs too.

[@jasonhebedead1710]

and also a German Shepherd

[@hydrolito]

Andre the giant played Big Foot and Ted Cassidy played Big Foot In Return of Big Foot.

[@Mumscup]

Thanks for this strangeness matey.

[@flannelogue]

I'm going to think that the Littlest Hobo was a bionic dog now.

[@elliotjones3098]

a TV show about a dog that travels from town to town, on the run as a fugitive, that helps those who need it and then quickly leaves, always one step ahead of his pursuers ? That's a great idea. We could call the dog "Joe", and when it was time for him to get out of town, we would say, "Run Joe, Run!"

[@MarkovianMan]

The "Bionic Showdown" movie was Sandra Bullock's big break. As I recall, it was also intended as a potential spin-off.

[@zabadazidit]

True, and she would have made a great Bionic Woman v2.0. However, the production company thought that Sandra was not "big" enough to carry a lead role. Boy, talk about navel-gazing! Sandra ended up an Oscar winner!

[@shillatioreviled5862]

The Bionic Dog episode was one of the best written of the the entire Bionic Woman series. It covered how Max came to be a bionic dog, his strengths and weaknesses, his fears. It was a well written episode. Lee Majors didn't want to do a 'bionic dog' plot on his show, so they they used it on 'Bionic Woman', instead.

[@hdofu]

yeah he was more interested in having a Cyborg Bigfoot.

[@hdofu]

not gonna lie.... made the joke before I watched the video.... I don't expect anyone to believe me!

[@jaredjlinden]

Oscar’s secretary Callahan should have gotten a spinoff, The Bionic Secretary.

[@hydrolito]

Callahan wasn't Bionic.

[@jaredjlinden]

Neither were Steve or Jaime, originally! It wouldn’t have been hard for Callahan to be in some sort of secretarial accident that required her to get bionics. Maybe one of the villains-of-the-week threw her IBM Selectric at her.

[@zabadazidit]

@@jaredjlinden Now that's funny, I don't care who you are!

[@robertthomas5736]

Incredible Video with The Beautiful and Talented Actress Lady Lindsay Wagner as Jamie Sommers-The Bionic Woman, With Her Bionic Dog Max

[@gavinreid8937]

This was jumping over the shark tank moment, when everyone thought, what next , a bionic budgie?!

[@Anomalocaris42]

😂 Bionic budgie? I'm in. That sounds like compulsive viewing.

[@MarkFowlerthefunkee1]

You joked about the runaway dog show, but do you remember “Run Joe Run”? It was exactly that…but Joe wasn’t even bionic! 🤣🤣🤣

[@TJinCA]

Just discovered this channel, looking forward to digging in to the content. My understanding has always been that the actual backdoor pilot, used to try and sell a series, was the episode titled "Max" with Peter Brady himself, Christopher Knight. He talked about it in an article where he would play Max's new owner.

[@StevenLutz1970]

There were 6 dogs that played Max over the years. Lindsay fondly remembers "Bracken" - as the one that "licked all the liverwurst of my face in that hospital scene." - From the episode 'Which One Is Jaime'.

[@xanderdumas1682]

Makes sense to kill him off. This is so odd, I was just thinking about Max this past week. He was such a beautiful dog. I would not mind having a dog like him.

[@zabadazidit]

I used to get upset thinking about poor Max stuck in his cage while a fire raged around him. When I had a new border collie puppy, I named him Max and made sure that he was never in any danger. He lived for 9 years and then one day he never woke up from his nap.😭😭😭😭😭

[@totallytivo]

I actually thought the Bionic Dog was created to ease the workload for Lindsay Wagner. I remember one episode where Jaime was poisoned and spent most of the episode in a hospital bed, while Max ran through a field dodging lasers to find Dr. Rudy. Looking back as adult, I'm thinking "They let Lindsay take a rest from all the running and jumping this episode."

[@atomicabe]

That makes so much sense. I read Curtis Armstrong's memoir and learned that his character was added to the show to do all the things Bruce Willis refused to do. Similar but different.

[@purefoldnz3070]

a rest from running in slow mo?

[@totallytivo]

@@purefoldnz3070 Lindsay has said in interviews that she didn't do a lot of running before Bionic Woman, but that became her cardio. Visitors to the set were often surprised to see Lindsay and two other women dressed as Jaime. We know one is a stunt woman name Rita. What about the third Jaime? Fun fact: Lindsay had a stand-in named Inga who would do all the insert shots of limbs performing bionic actions.

[@purefoldnz3070]

@@totallytivo looks more like a very very light jog

[@ygstuff4898]

A German Shepherd, on his own, helping people and solving crimes. That would have been neat...oh wait, that was the premise of the Canadian series, "The Littlest Hobo"

[@pancudowny]

Note: The premise behind "R.U.F.F." actually got used in a more realistic manner in "Here's Boomer".

[@jeffbryan4019]

Max was clocked at 91 mph.

[@skatergirl7663]

The bionic budgie should've been next. I think they missed a trick there!

[@JLvatron]

5:24 This lone dog show sounded like The Littlest Hobo.

[@atomicabe]

yes, a few people have mentioned this series to me. I'd never heard of it, but it sounds very similar!

[@badpuppy09]

There was a Sat. morn show back then about a fugitive German sheperd called Run,Joe ,Run.

[@CalTheHogNosedBat]

Canada already had this show, it was called The Littlest Hobo

[@jeffreycase9497]

Who knew that a bionic dog could have it so ruff ?

[@snoopytrekschannel]

.. there was also supposed to be the bionic boy but the character introduced on tsmdm didn't go over well with audiences like the bionic woman did. There was an early tv series of lassie where she was partnered with a forest ranger, the first bionic reunion movie was also a pilot which involved Steve Austin's son with updated hardware. Ironically, Sandra bullock would probably not have been as popular if she had decided to do the new bionic woman series. Y'all remember a little movie called "Speed"?

[@DarrylRuiz-s1w]

I liked the Bionic Dog Max but not as a weekly series

[@FrankHablawi]

Subvert Bacharach

[@NathanBarFields]

The Bionic Woman episode "Biofeedback" sure feels like a backdoor pilot too.

[@atomicabe]

I haven't seen that one. Will have to check it out, thank you!

[@kitsunegiblaze8022]

Wait. So it's The Littlest Hobo. But the Hobo is Robo? And maybe tomorrow, he'll wanna settle down... until tomorrow, he'll just keep movin' on.

[@darrenbaptiste5022]

Er...there has been a tv show about a traveling (non-bionic) dog: The Littlest Hobo.

[@wendymccoy1093]

That horribly dubbed girl voice saying "Did you see the doggy mommy?" @3:44 Made me laugh more than it should have

[@judyb1539]

I never knew Max was meant to be a spin-off!!😊

[@magicphred]

I've always thought the grassy hills scene of the bionic woman was the samw hill in the opening credits of Little House On The Prairie

[@adamjones-ps]

I loved Max, just as much as I loved Jamie.

[@bigga3095]

IT'S LOLA!! aka>>JASKO'S DOG!! 😆👍👍💕💕🥰🥰🤗✋🤜🤛😎😎💪💪🐶

[@quinnrollen]

Are we going to completely glaze over the fact that Bigfoot was Andre The Giant? I mean- *HELLO*

[@pauljoyner4338]

Andre played Bigfoot first, but after the first appearance Ted Cassidy(Lurch from The Addams Family) played Bigfoot.

[@quinnrollen]

@@pauljoyner4338 Oh! Alright. I thought it was him throughout.

[@JustMe-ec2ph]

I would had liked the series "The Bionic Dog" as long as they didn't kill off the dog lol I love dog shows/movies but if I know the dog will get killed I won't watch it. Reminded me of the Lassie TV series with Cory, the Ranger, when they mentioned the possibility of Max going home with the Ranger. I wouldn't like as much having Max go off on his own. I didn't care as much for the Lassie shows after Lassie went off on her (his lol) own or "The Littlest Hobo" because there are so many dogs and cats abandoned in real life and a lot of them don't survive on their own so it's not a good message to send to children watching that they can survive without a loving home to make sure they get what they need.

[@HulkBusterArmed79]

Oh and the Bionic Dog was awesome 😊

[@r.jackson7162]

You forgot to mentioned the whole Dog tv/movie genre. Max was cybernetic Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. Lest we forget the Run Joe Run Saturday series which would have been Max on the run. And let alone the Benji films and Won Ton Ton.

[@danielmoore2320]

The bionic dog was not a spin-off. It was a storyline and a good one at that

[@edgardagosto1917]

8track tapes were A.I. high tech in the 1970,s.....no download fees to pay. Fresh from the recording studio 😮

[@greggwgiddensable]

Wow was that "old man Peabody" as the farmer with the rifle? Wow

[@mrrictus]

Biopic Bigfoot would have been a dope spin-off along the lines of the incredible hulk series. And also it really shows my age that i remember watching each of the tv series from which clios are used. As well as owing the toys in my youth. I am still a bit miffed from my dad tossing out Montoya collection circa mid 70's - late 80's, during a house remodeling. Star wars toys, gone. Transformers(metroplex and fortress maximums)gone...Ok I'm gonna cry inside now.

[@atomicabe]

Yes, a Bionic Biigfoot show would be wild. And yeah, I feel for you losing out on some of those toys.

[@pdxeddie1111]

I demand a bionic Chupacabra or perhaps a bionic Dogman Are Jackolopes already bionic?

[@edfelstein3891]

Max was a cute addition in a season that -- except for the final episode -- was thoroughly dismal. It was particularly disappointing, considering how good the first two seasons were. Kenneth Johnson did not produce any of the third season's episodes, which I'm sure had a lot to do with it.

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

At 1:25, Lindsay Wagner looks very hot there.

[@christianorr1059]

Oh, what might have been. 🐺 💪🏻 💥

[@lance134679]

The Littlest Hobo is basically the spinoff minus the bionics. 🐕😃

[@thequintanashow5058]

Max was one handsome boy. Hope he had a good retirement

[@framesdeanthesunsetters3372]

Bionic Dog would GOOO rn!!!

[@PhilipAMoore]

Bionic dog was also ripping Off Lassie who left timmie and helped a forest ranger for a few seasons

[@sammydingdong4540]

The Bionic man did he have a Bionic trouser snake ?.......🐍

[@snoo333]

back in the day, anything bionic was cool to me. when ninjas came a long...

[@G-FORCE-g1c]

A LIVE ACTION- ACTION CRIME FIGHTING ROBOT 🐶. SHOW WOULD'VE BEEN A HIT. KIDS WOULD'VE ♥️. THEY NEEDS TO MAKE A MOVIE L.A. ABOUT SM 🐶.

[@WorldsWorstBoy]

Princess Beach

[@Clock_70]

I knew I wasn't imagining things

[@atomicabe]

You were not, it really happened.

[@yoliebee9176]

I use to love The Bionic Woman, Max and Westley. Steve was okay. Boy -I’m dating myself.

[@learningtoyoutube9033]

I wanna watch the doggie series

[@radasez]

I loved Jamie Sommers. Y’all better chill 😂

[@QIKUGAMES-QIKU]

0:43 Can someone please remind me what show this is !??? I loved this as a kid but completely forgot about it until i heard BIZI BIZI (busy busy) I think that's what robot kid says ? Lol ❤ /Battlestar Galactica STILL has the best robot voices to this day

[@danturner3895]

Buck Rogers

[@tonyyoung3985]

Do you recall which Six Million Dollar Man or Bionic Woman episode had a female camper in the woods, and some hermit offered her some "banana soap?" It might be one of the Bigfoot episodes but not the first two parter.

[@Biofeedback1975]

The Bionic dog was not a failure. The Bionic Woman was slated for a fourth and last season on NBC until Fred Silverman switched networks from ABC to NBC and canceled the Show again. The last season was slated to feature a more story lines revolving around Jaime’s personal life and had Jennifer Darling to join the cast as a full time co star.

[@conradhauser17]

Fred Silverman was a hack... Didn't he create Super train???

[@SWLinPHX]

One of my two most favorite Bionic Woman episodes was the one with the "fembots" and the one where Jamie has to descend multiple levels of a fortified plant to stop a detonation, only to be constantly thwarted by a sentient computer which was basically a rip-off of HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey".

[@atomicabe]

I am aware of the fembots episode, but I haven't watched it. I've seen some still with the "Westworld" type of faceless robots. (Actually I might be remembering a faceless robot from "Futureworld")

[@SWLinPHX]

@@atomicabe Yeah, that was a good one. Did you see or remember the one with the HAL-based computer challenging her as she died to get to the bottom level of the plant in time? That one was really good (and I knew about that before I'd ever seen or knew about HAL and "2001: A Space Odyssey").

[@gregschell1094]

The Littlest Hobo with Bionics

[@atomicabe]

exactly

[@weluvfoodonyoutube1453]

Stop lying.... is what I initially said but it's all true people they were seriously trying to get this going Luv ya channel bro keep up the good work Atomic Abe always brings the cool stuff they never want you to see 👀 💯

[@juma__]

3:45 I need to repeat this A LOT OF TIMES

[@ivabender3564]

Thank God! NBC Saved the Day For The Bionic Woman Season Three Series! By picking up where ABC was going to leave off and cancel Following the shows Successful Two Seasons Run! Bionic Dog Max was Awesome and Probably would of had at least a successful full complete Season Run as a spinoff! Wonder what Steve Austin would of thought of Max? Episodes: The Bionic Dog, Max, Fembots in Vegas and Which One is Jaime? Were my favorite episodes of that Season! Always wish that the Kenner Toy Line would of done Max as a Figure Doll, Would of been Cool to have seen! Also, A Wishful Thinking Adventure Episode with Steve, Jaime, Max and Bigfoot Together taking on a whole Fembot Army would of been Awesome as well! Grateful wise, This Third Season did at least completely go through Successfully and that No Shows Episodes Unfilmed Scripts had to end up existing! What a Sad Thought! Thank-You For Sharing!

[@Giles29]

Maybe they *should* have made a show about Bionic Bigfoot - maybe that would have been more popular

[@atomicabe]

would watch!

[@acholl980]

@@atomicabe They DID. It was Big Foot and Wild Boy on The Kroft Supershow - 2nd season.

[@GucciGambino1967]

I was in the 2nd grade, went through 2 Six Million Dollar Man dolls after breaking his bionic arms. Purchased his astronaut suit as well separately. The action figure came will an car engine he lifted!.I was a savage beast!

[@randyhawthorne7730]

The year was 1976 I was 8 years old. The only thing and I mean the only thing that I wanted for Christmas was the six million Dollar Man with the power grip arm that lifted up the engine out of the car along with the rocket that also doubled as an operating table. Of course growing up in the South we were very poor and even at this time these toys were quite expensive if I remember correctly the entire set was around $59. Might as well have been 500. And then lo and behold about 6 months after Christmas actually found the complete set of a thrift store still in the box . I played with that thing for hours on end until I wore out the little button in the back to make the bionic arm go up and down. Kids these days will never understand what it was like to have a toy like that. I wish I still had the complete set now as I'm sure it's worth quite a bit of money. Anyway just felt like posting this hope someone else can relate

[@atomicabe]

I love this story, Randy. Thanks for sharing.

[@jaritime1406]

littliest hobo ANYONE

[@AryanKing94]

Wonder why the Bionic 6 animated series never thought to include a dog. Also, why didn't the creators think that if the government was willing to spend millions on making a cyborg dog they would most likely include an ability for the dog to communicate with humans?

[@atomicabe]

Yes, you raise some good questions.

[@ReinEngel]

(1:33) Pretty sure that wasn't a Samsquanch, but rather local caveman Sam Losco.

[@joerogers9413]

Actually there was a runaway dog show called "Run, Joe, Run."

[@atomicabe]

How about that? I love that this information is being shared by a fellow Joe. Did you watch it when it was a kid? Did you like it because of the shared name. As a kid I loved the movie TIME BANDITS because it was about a kid my age who was named Kevin.

[@joerogers9413]

@@atomicabe It was pretty cool having the same name as a hero dog. : )

[@FrenkTheJoy]

Um so I think they missed out on an obvious idea for a spinoff - Bionic Bigfoot.

[@mike_winters]

He’s like a robot Littlest Hobo

[@bsquared4604]

We see Peter Brady near the end of the clip.

[@rodneymarsden3003]

They were trying to do a Superman. What I mean by that is you have the Bionic Man then woman and finally dog just like Superman, Supergirl, Super Dog. . The dog was no doubt felt to be too much a reach. Future Cop I believe only went as far as one episode.

[@parscompacta9241]

R. U. F. F = The Littlest Hobo.

[@HeyTash]

Yooooooo I remember bionic dog 🤣