11:39 by FoxTwo
Hands up those of you who remember watching this as a kid :)
Ok I know, not many.
Did you know/remember, that this series was made during the same time period as the original Star Wars Episode 4 was? Incredible huh?
Yeah, I had a chance to watch some episodes of Six Million Dollar Man last weekend, and it sure brings back memories, and gave me some new ones. For example, while I might have a hazy recollection of his "origins story", after re-watching it did I realise that the episode was a "test pilot". They didn't know if they were going to make a series out of it (but we all know it went on for 4 or 5 seasons after that, including a spin-off series Bionic Woman).
$6 mill seems so cheap by today's standards. His bionics would have cost like $50 mill in today's money. Watching it as an adult now, I realised that throughout season 1, the sound of his bionics, the "ting ting ting ting" sound, was hardly ever used. His bionic eye had night vision (green) in the pilots, but it was changed to infra-red in the series proper.
One thing I did notice though, they really tried to take care of the details. For example, when Steve has been running on his bionics for extended period of time, you can see perspirations drenching his chest, his left armpit, but not the right armpit. Afterall, his right arm is bionic, hence won't be perspiring.
I remember also, as a kid, I was very agitated when watching him fight with Maskatron, the robot in the episode "Day Of The Robot". Now, the fight scene looks slightly cheesy.
Yeah when you grow up, the gloss tend to fade away :(
I'm hoping they continue with the Bionic Woman (2007) series, after stopping at episode 8 due to the writer's strike. Thus far, nothing seems forthcoming, as there have been bad reviews about the series before the strike happened. Perhaps people nowadays do not want fantasy series and are totally hooked on reality TV. Personally I hate reality TV, especially Survivor.
Labels: 6 Million Dollar Man, Bionic, TV shows
11:58 by FoxTwo Those of us who were around and coherent back in the 1980's will remember the show, Knight Rider. The story is about a lone wolf, driving a tricked out computer-controlled car, running around the USA keeping law and order. Think of it as "The modern Lone Ranger", minus Tonto.
In 2008, NBC resurrected the show, and now, we can expect a whole new TV series sporting the same name! Yay!
Before we go on, here's a trailer I found on Youtube:
I managed to watch the 1 hour 20 min (give or take) pilot episode, which premiered in the USA on Feb 17, and I couldn't help but feel something is missing.
First of all, KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) the car, is now a Mustang, instead of a cool looking Trans Am. In the show, KITT is now the Knight Industries THREE Thousand, ie a new incarnation of the old KITT. It still sports the "cylon eye" thing though, and I thought Val Kilmer who was cast as the voice of KITT, seemed.... out of place.
The series isn't really a remake, per se. It's actually a continuation of the old series. There are numerous references to the people and events made in the pilot episode, about the old series. However, if you're too young to have watched the old series, fear not. You don't need to have watched the old series to enjoy the new one. What you're going to lose out on is just watching a cool Trans Am as KITT instead of the new (bulky) Mustang.
With modern computer CGI, the special effects are Matrix-like. Like when bullets hit the car, we no longer just see "sparks" but actual animations of the bullets being flattened, for example. That's cool. Actually even now, if you go and watch the old series, it doesn't look that dated. The buttons and computers shown back then seem pretty much modern. With that said, the hi-tech stuff shown right now isn't too "high tech", ie very believeable. You can actually believe that computers CAN (and they actually can) do most of the stuff shown in the pilot. Well, except the thinking for itself part. Even speech synthesis has made advances in the 20 odd years since the old series, and now we have almost-natural sounding speech synthesis available to us on our home PCs.
Two cool things about the new KITT: first, it has adaptive camouflage! You know, you've first seen it (somewhat) in James Bond movies, where the car changes its own colours and shape. Yep, with modern computer effects, KITT has camouflage now. Secondly, the new KITT is so fast, when it goes at full speed, you can actually see contrails flowing out of the spoilers at the back of the car!
Yes David Hasselhoff made an appearance in the pilot, but just to give a pep talk, nothing much. It's nice to see him again, but the new series will have a new lead actor. I guess having him appear is to "hand the reins over" to the new guy for the new series.
All in all, while the pilot might not be great, I think I will be trying to follow this series as well. At the very least, for nostalgic reasons.
For more pictures and writeup, check out IMDB here.
Labels: TV shows
19:55 by FoxTwo If you were a kid growing up in the late 70's you'd probably have watched Steve Austin running really slow in the TV series "6 Million Dollar Man" (uh, I'm revealing my age by saying this huh?)
You'd also remember the spin-off from that show, The Bionic Woman, where his girlfriend, Jamie Sommers, a tennis pro, got into a skydiving accident and had her limbs replaced too and became the Bionic Woman.
Well....
After 30 years.... The Bionic Woman is BACK!
Yup, she's still Jamie Sommers, but she's not Lindsay Wagner, the original actress who played her (man she'd be like 50 or 60 by now!). She's also no longer a blonde, dammit.
I can only guess that the same people behind the re-make of Battlestar Galactica had something to do with it. Clue #1 - they casted the actress from BSG that acted as Starbuck, to be Bionic Woman Prototype. Clue #2 - Chief of the Flight Deck (I forget the character's name) is seen in a scene a bar doing a shady deal with the bad guys.
Now, Jamie gets Bionic implants in a different accident. She has a different boyfriend (no it's not Steve Austin), and now she gets a Bionic Eye too! I'm guessing they're mish-mashing Steve and Jamie into one Bionic hero/heroine.
The first thing about the show is.... no more bionic "ting ting ting ting" sounds when she's using her bionic powers. Awww, but it's ok, it's more realistic this way. Secondly, when she runs really fast, she's not running in slow-motion anymore :) Thirdly, and I think the coolest thing about her, is that her Bionic Eye now has computer readouts and looks "modern-day", just like how a computer would display info on a HUD.
Even the existence of bionics sounds plausible - she's no longer all metal and wirings in her bionic limbs, but she has nanites in her blood, and the bionic limbs are part organic. Sounds plausible, not as "suspend your disbelief" like in the old 70's series.
I was just thinking, if they brought Steve Austin back, he can't be billed as the "6 Million Dollar Man" anymore... the stuff they put into him would probably cost like 50 million in today's money.. and "50 Million Dollar Man" as a TV show title doesn't quite have the same ring to it...
Between Heroes and Bionic Woman, I really don't know which to choose!
Damn, guess I'll just have to keep up with both!
Labels: 6 Million Dollar Man, 70's, Bionic, Bionic Woman, SMDM, TV shows
