The Bionic Woman
Jaime Sommers
The TV series The Bionic Woman was a spin off from a 1975 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. The Bionic Woman ran for three seasons from 1976 to 1978 plus a few TV specials after that.The Bionic Woman was extremely popular with a variety of merchandise such as dolls and videos available to buy. A new version of the show aired in 2007.
1975
The bionic woman was Jaime Sommers (sometimes spelt Jamie), played by Lindsay Wagner. Sommers studied to become a teacher but instead went on to be a professional tennis player.Sommers first appeared in a two part episode of The Six Million Dollar Man as Austin's ex-girlfriend. Steve Austin and Jaime got back together and eventually Austin proposed. Before they could marry, Sommers was seriously injured in a skydiving accident when her parachute failed to open.
A distraught Austin pleads with his government boss - Oscar Goldman - to save Sommers' life by giving her the same bionic treatment he had previously received. Goldman agrees on condition that Sommers also works for his government deparment, the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI). Jaime Sommers is rebuilt as The Bionic Woman. Like Austin she has two bionic legs and a bionic arm. Whereas Austin has a bionic eye, she has an ear.
Initially Sommers is unhappy with her new life, fearing that she has been turned into a freak, however she learns to accept her condition after Austin reveals his own bionic status. The two begin to make plans for the world's first bionic marriage.
Tragedy sets in again when Sommers goes on her first mission. Her body has begun rejecting her bionic implants causing malfunctions in both her organic and electronic circuitry. Ultimately she dies on the operating table.
1976 - 1978
In the world of television anything is possible - especially when there are ratings up for grabs! It turns out that Jaime Sommers was not in fact dead. She had been placed into experimental cryogenic suspension until a year later when a method was discovered to safely remove the clot in her brain and bring her back to health.A side-effect of Sommers' brain damagae was amnesia and she was unable to remember her previous life with Austin. Instead she went to live in Ojai where worked as a schoolteacher and performed occasional OSI missions. Her enemies included the infamous Fembots.
At the beginning of the third season another cyborg is introduced. Maximillion - or Max - is the world's first bionic dog with artificial legs and jaw. Personally I consider this the point at which an already shark-infested concept finally made the jump.
2007
The revival of the Bionic Woman is due to begin airing in 2007 on NBC in the US. In the new version Michelle Ryan plays Jamie Sommers, this time with a bionic eye instead of ear. It's not known how similar Sommers' bio will be in this version compared with the original 1970s show.The new Bionic Woman has reportedly been cancelled following poor ratings for the first series. Some episodes are available to buy on DVD.
