Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast

Cyborgs returns with an ALL-NEW episode review! Host, Paul K. Bisson invites longtime Bionic fan, Rod De Luca, Jr. back to the podcast to take a swing at the fourth episode of the Bionic Woman: "A Thing of the Past." Originally broadcast on February 18, 1976, and guest-starring the legendary Donald O'Connor ("Singing in the Rain") as an Ojai school bus driver with a mysterious past. BONUS: James Sherrard of The Bionic Woman Files fan site stops by to "Declassify" some cool "behind-the-scenes" information about the episode! Listen NOW!

Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast returns with ALL-NEW episodes — starting with our Case File interview with veteran TV director Alan J. Levi (The Invisible Man, Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Airwolf, Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, ER, JAG, NCIS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Paul K. Bisson talks with Alan about his life, career, and directing some of most memorable episodes of THE BIONIC WOMAN — including Angel of Mercy, The Deadly Missiles, Mirror Image, Road to Nashville, Sister Jaime, Biofeedback, Deadly Ringer, Beyond the Call, The Night Demon, Once a Thief, African Connection, and Escape to Love. 00:00:00  SHOW OPEN 00:01:15  Paul introduces Alan 00:04:25  Alan's beginnings 00:06:00  "Good News" / "Keep Your Spirits High" 00:10:20  Dick Powell / Seven Week Education / Dumbest Answer 00:15:35  June Allyson / Dick’s Death / Interesting Chain of Events 00:18:00  Stubborn / Richard Powell, Jr. / “I Have A Story to Tell You” 00:19:20  BREAK / Kenneth Johnson Bumper / Forgotten TV Promo 00:20:20  Heeding Dick’s — and Dad’s — Advice / Engineering First / Full Scholarship 00:23:10  Back to Saint Louis / Building a Car From Scratch / 2000 Hours of Live TV 00:25:15  “National Velvet” & “Father of the Bride” / Inventing VidiFilm / NASA 00:32:00  Leslie Stevens / Harve Bennett / “The Invisible Man” / “Gemini Man” 00:35:30  BREAK / Robbie Rist Bumper / Bionic Woman on DVD Promo 00:36:35  Six Million Dollar Man & Bionic Woman / Steve vs. Jaime 00:39:45  Let’s Talk About the Bionic Woman / “Angel of Mercy” / Working with Lindsay Wagner / Holy Trio with Kenny Johnson, and James D. Parriot / Bringing in Enzo A. Martinelli 00:44:25  “The Deadly Missiles” / Lindsay’s Aches and Pains / Forrest Tucker: “I drink all day long.” 00:46:50  “Mirror Image,” “Deadly Ringer” / Screaming at Lindsay 00:51:35  “Road to Nashville” / No Lip-sync — Lindsay Sings Live 00:54:25  “Sister Jaime” / Out of Habit — Alan’s Faux Pas / “Flock Out of Here” 00:56:30  “Biofeedback” / Lindsay’s Transition / Lindsay’s Input 00:58:35  “Beyond the Call” / Lindsay’s Finesse / “The Night Demon” / Night Filming 01:01:20  “Once A Thief” / Crew Names / One of Alan’s Biggest Compliments / Style 01:05:20  “African Connection” / Inferior ‘Angel of Mercy’ 01:07:35  “Escape to Love” / . . . 01:08:35  BREAK / Lee Majors Bumper / “Sharks” ABC Promo 01:09:10  “Sharks” (Six Million Dollar Man) / Lindsay’s Permission 01:11:15  “The Return of the Incredible Hulk” / Kenny Asks Alan to Direct 01:13:55  “Scruples” / Lindsay Gets Alan to Direct / Lindsay Goes to Bat 01:17:30  “The Last Song” / ‘Lynda Carter Is Terrific But Not My Best Work’ 01:19:46  IMDb Roll-Call / “Bionic Showdown” / Sandra Bullock / The Kiss 01:24:55  IMDb Roll-Call Continues / Donald Bellsisario / “Quantum Leap” 01:25:30  The “J” in Alan J. Levi / “J-Gate” 01:27:00  Thank you, Alan J. Levi / SHOW OUTRO / Alan J. Levi Bumper For more information about Alan J. Levi, visit his official website at alanjlevi.com. Clips of Bionic Woman promos provided by James Sherrard. Watch them at his website, BionicWomanFiles.com. It's the longest-running fan site devoted to the Bionic Woman chock-full of Top Secret information about the show. The “Escape to Love” cover music was performed by composer, Dimitri Dodoras. All other non-original music and clips are copyright their respective owners and used in this podcast for criticism, comment, and review purposes. Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast is a production of the Bionic Fan Network. Visit us at BIONICFANS.NET.

The latest Six Million Dollar Man adventure has arrived from Dynamite Comics! Paul talks with writer Van Jensen and artist Ron Salas to get the drop on "Fall of Man." We've also got some cool preview pages on our website: abionicpodcast.com

When a Russian acrobatic troup visits the United States on a goodwill tour, Steve Austin is assigned to escort its star gymnast, Tanya Breski around Washington. On the agenda: burgers, shakes, pinball, and puppy love. Oh, and he must keep her from being assasinated, too! Joining John and Paul to discuss the episode is award-winning editor and writer, Glenn Greenberg! We also share some behind-the-scenes tidbits from Herbie J. Pilato's Bionic Book and welcome the Bionic Blonde to share her thoughts on Lindsay Wagner's cameo appearance as Jaime Sommers. It's all just an old-fashioned "Love Song for Tanya" on Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast!

The Doctor of the Dead himself, Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg joins us to discuss Farrah Fawcett's third appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man as the very unlikable Trish Hollander in the season three episode, "The Golden Pharaoh."

Round 2 for the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Bigfoot as California faces a devastating earthquake! John and Paul welcome back guests Dayton Ward, Joe Burns, and Matt Hankinson to discuss, "The Secret of Bigfoot, Part II."

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot. This big episode requires a big guest list. Joining John and Paul to review part one of, "The Secret of Bigfoot," is science fiction / Star Trek author Dayton Ward; webmaster of TheSix1973.com, Joe Burns; and Chief Creative Consultant for the Time-Life Six Million Dollar Man Complete DVD Collection, Matt Hankinson. With special commentary by webmaster of TheBionicWomanFiles.com, James Sherrard. This is BIG!

The Bionic Woman's first OSI mission is to infiltrate a foreign country during a deadly civil war to rescue a missing American ambassador. But first she'll have to resolve her own civil war with Jack Starkey, her mission partner (played by Andy Griffith). Joining John and Paul to discuss the episode is Julie Hoverson. Julie Hoverson has made a specialty of having no specialty.  She has dabbled extensively in costuming, role-playing, LARPing, art, beadwork, acting, and writing in such disparate genres as horror, noir, fantasy, urban fantasy, dark social commentary (and whatever else occurs to her).  She has spent the last five years writing, producing, and acting in the award-winning podcast audio drama anthology series, 19 Nocturne Boulevard, and is currently recording audiobooks professionally.

Code: Snow White! Richard Anderson shares his story; how he became an actor, the film that redefined his Hollywood status, his favorite movie and TV roles, and the character that would endear him to a generation.

We open the CYBORGS Case File on BOB McCULLOUGH. Bob has worked as a writer, producer, and director on some of the most popular TV shows throughout the 80s and 90s, including FALCON CREST, BJ AND THE BEAR, STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION, and ZORRO. His first real writing credit was for the episode, “In This Corner Jaime Sommers” on THE BIONIC WOMAN (he also wrote, “Jaime and the King”). But it was his story for the season three SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN episode, “Hocus-Pocus” that earned him entry into the Writer's union. But he had to fight for it. And you WON’T see his name in the episode's credits. We’ll find out why. We’ll also take an in-depth look at how Bob broke into show business - a great story in its own right. In fact, we’re going to go all the way back to Bob’s Hollywood roots, from hanging out at ritzy nightclubs as a child, to rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty at his mom’s bath and closet store, to crashing THE DATING GAME and becoming an NBC PAGE for LAUGH-IN, THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW, and the TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON. This is an extra long edition of Case File because it not only spotlights a SMDM/BW writer, BUT ALSO serves as great first-hand advice for breaing into Hollywood. “It’s really an open door in Hollywood if you have what they need. And what they need is smart people who are prepared and who are willing to work hard. If you have those things going for you, there’s no reason you can’t succeed. But if you’re sitting around waiting for them to call you, guess what - they’re busy. Tenacity, persistence, and don’t be afraid to do something a little outside the box.” — Bob McCullough Here’s a detailed time index of this episode: 00:00:00 TEASER 00:01:54 CYBORGS SHOW ID: CASE FILE 06: BOB McCULLOUGH 00:02:16 CYBORGS THEME 00:03:36 JOHN WELCOMES YOU BACK / INTRODUCES PAUL / FORMAT EXPLANATION 00:05:19 PAUL INTRODUCES BOB McCULLOUGH 00:06:57 BOB McCULLOUGH JOINS THE PODCAST 00:07:42 PAUL IS A SCARY GUY / THE STORY BEHIND "WHERE HOLLYWOOD HIDES" 00:09:56 BOB SHARES HIS HOLLYWOOD ROOTS / A DIFFERENT ERA 00:13:14 BOB SAW SOME THINGS / ROCK HUDSON 00:14:57 UNCLE NATE SHOOTS THE PILLOW WITH ARMS 00:16:45 RETAIL STORE / CELEBRITY CUSTOMERS 00:17:45 USC / DENTISTRY / THE DATING GAME / PRODUCER IN TENNIS SHOES 00:21:30 CREATIVE WRITING / VIETNAM WAR / PRODIGAL BROTHER 00:24:05 GRADUATE SCHOOL / SHAKING HANDS AND COLLECTING BUSINESS CARDS 00:26:00 HERB SCHLOSSER / PAGING BOB McCULLOUGH / THIS SENIORITY THING SUCKS  00:29:00 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE / OLGA THE GATE KEEPER / WAITING FOR BARRY CRANE 00:34:30 CAULDRON OF FIRE 00:37:02 BRUCE LANSBURY / IN THE TRENCHES 00:41:54 SAM STRANGIS AND LOCATING THE IMMORTAL 00:45:23 LOCATING THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN / HARVE BENNETT / LEE MAJORS 00:47:45 TED SCHILZ & ABRACADABRA / THE HOCUS-POCUS RIP-OFF / A REAL WRITER 00:55:20 LOCATING THE BIONIC WOMAN / KENNETH JOHNSON / IN THIS CORNER JAIME SOMMERS 01:02:14 ULTIMATE VALIDATION / POLITICAL FRICTION / 100 LETTERS 100 AGENTS 01:04:40 KEY TO LONGEVITY: BE NICE TO PEOPLE 01:07:00 JAIME AND THE KING / DAVID LEE ROTH 01:11:00 BJ AND THE BEAR / GLEN LARSON / MICHAEL SLOAN / LOWEST BUT GREATEST RUNG 01:15:45 FALCON CREST / LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT? 01:26:40 IMDb ROLL CALL 01:27:48 STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION / FOND OF GENE RODDENBERRY / NOT FOND OF STAR TREK 01:33:51 ZORRO: A GREAT EXPERIENCE 01:40:15 TAG TEAM / CAN YOU MAKE THEM ALL VAMPIRES? / NEW INSPIRATION 01:44:00 WORKING HARDER IN RETIREMENT / WHERE HOLLYWOOD HIDES  01:45:30 HOLLYWOOD IS AN OPEN DOOR IF YOU HAVE WHAT THEY NEED 01:46:15 SIGN-OFF

"The Six MIllion Dollar Man was my favorite show." -- Tom Schanley during our Case File interview. Here are more highlights with the actor who played Michael Austin - Steve Austin's son in the 1987 reunion movie, The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. Listen to the full podcast review here: DIRECT MP3 LINK: http://traffic.libsyn.com/cyborgs/Cyborgs_Case_Files_05_-_Tom_Schanley.mp3 READ OUR SHOW NOTES: http://abionicpodcast.wix.com/cyborgs#!case-file-05---tom-schanley/cs0o iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/id695405811 STITCHER: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/chronic-rift-network/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/e/case-file-05-tom-schanley-34270811 TOM SCHANLEY OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.tomschanley.com/ TOM SCHANLEY FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TomSchanleyActor TOM SCHANLEY TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TheTomSchanley

"Lee Majors has the most manly running stride in the history of running men." -- Dayton Ward during our podcast review of the five Bionic limb-rated episode, "Population: Zero" from The Six Million Dollar Man. PLAY BIONIC BYTE: http://traffic.libsyn.com/cyborgs/bionicbytes_dayton_runnnig.mp3 Listen to the full podcast review here: FULL SHOW DIRECT MP3 LINK: http://traffic.libsyn.com/cyborgs/004_-_Cyborgs-Population_Zero.mp3 READ SHOW NOTES: http://abionicpodcast.wix.com/cyborgs#!population-zero/cxo7 iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/id695405811 STITCHER: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/chronic-rift-network/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/e/population-zero-30336938 DAYTON WARD'S BLOG: https://daytonward.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/population-zero-on-cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/

Bionic Bytes are short clips from the regular Cyborgs podcast. In this clip, Robbie Rist talks about his Saturday Morning TV show, "BIg John, Little John," in which he played "Little John, the 12 year-old version of Herb Edelman's "Big John." You can listen to the full Case File interview in which John and Paul discuss Rist's career at length. Website: http://abionicpodcast.wix.com/cyborgs#!case-file-04---robbie-rist/c1wx iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/id695405811 Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/chronic-rift-network/cyborgs-a-bionic-podcast/e/case-file-04-robbie-rist-34099001

Robbie Lee (Big Bad Mama, Rainbow Brite, The Get Along Gang) reprises her role asAudrey Moss, last seen in "The E.S.P. Spy" and returns to help Steve Austin go undercover as a magician in order to retrieve a stolen Navy code book. Other guest stars include, Jack Colvin (The Incredible Hulk) and Pernell Roberts(Bonanza, Trapper John MD). John's favorite Bionic actor, William T. Zacha also makes an appearance. "Good eats."   Paxton Holley (of the Cavalcade of Awesome and the Nerd Lunch Podcast) helps us review this very magical episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. Robbie Lee was gracious enough to record our lead-in bumper. And we also offer a sneak-peek at our Case File interview with writer Bob McCullough ("In This Corner, Jaime Sommers," "Jaime and the King")  who recalls how he wrote the original story treatment for "Hocus-Pocus" but never got credit!   Additional music provided by Robin Spanell.

"Lady Killer," Carlton Harris is back! But this time Jaime Sommers is ready for him! Devising a plan to expose his evil deeds once and for all, she must pretend to be his loyal ally, even if it means going deep undercover and severing her OSI lifeline. It's the Bionic Woman's first solo mission in "Welcome Home, Jaime Part II." Hosts John S. Drew and Paul K. Bisson welcome back Betsy Dodd of BionicBlonde.com and James Sherrard of BionicWomanFiles.com.

Jaime Sommers is back! And this time she's comig home to rebuild her life. After a sky-diving accident dropped her into a futuristic world of Bionics, and then a brain hemmorage left her dead, she was brought back to life through a revolutionary cryogenic procedure. But her memory was gone and with it her love for Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man. But now, after one final operation, who will she wake up to be? What kind of life will she have? And will Steve be a part of it? Lifelong Bionic fans, John S. Drew and Paul K. Bisson open the Top Secret file on the Bionic Woman's debut episode, "Welcome Home, Jaime." Joining them for for this special extended podcast (over two hours!) are two powerhouses in Bionic Woman fandom: first is James Sherrard, webmaster of The Bionic Woman Files and Betsy Dodd, webmaster of Bionic Blonde. If you love Jaime Sommers, this is duo to listen to. As always, we've got lots to share as we explore this episode. Trivia, behind-the-scenes information, fashion breakdowns, and our ever popular rating system of 1 to 5 Bionic limbs. We've even got singing! So grab a phone book and some tuna salad, things are about to get wild. Thanks to the amazing Lindsay Wagner for giving us a breat send-off at the start of the show!

The "Darling Effect" is in full effect as Jennifer Darling returns to guest star in a new adventure.  Callahan has been accused of given OSI secrets to enemy agents, placing a noted scientist in danger.  Is Callahan a spy or a a pawn in a bigger game?  What ever else you can say, at least you know she has "The Winning Smile".  Joining John and Paul to discuss this winning episode is thesix1973.com's webmaster, Joe Burns and Six Million Dollar Man Time Life DVD Collection chief consultant Matt Hankinson.   Purchase the season three Universal DVD release of The Six Million Dollar Man. In doing so, you help support the podcast.    RATINGS: 5 BIONIC LIMBS

(RIGHT CLICK THE IMAGE TO SAVE THIS EPISODE TO YOUR COMPUTER) John returns with another Critical Assignment as he is joined by Jim Sherrard, Betsy Dodd (The Bionic Blonde), and Rod De Luca to give our listeners a little preview of The Bionic Woman before John and Paul review the series.  What should the two consider when it comes to reviewing this show?  What episodes, besides the iconic ones, should the two look out for in terms of good or bad?  What memories are there when it comes to this series?  It's a little primer to get us all excited for the next phase of Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast. James Sherrard is a first generation fan of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman. A collector of all things Bionic as a child, his interest in the shows was reignited when the first Bionic reunion movie was produced in 1987. The following year he met stars Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson for the first time through Lindsay Wagner’s Official Fan Club. In 1998, James reworked the Bionic Woman episode guide booklet that he had produced for the club into The Bionic Woman Files website…the longest running Bionic Woman site on the web! Over the years, James has contributed his Bionic knowledge to various books, articles, websites, and television productions. He has also amassed an amazing collection of Bionic memorabilia, from common toys to one-of-a-kind production items. Most recently, James has contributed to the 2010 DVD releases of The Bionic Woman Season One and The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Collection. James resides in New York where he is employed by a non-profit organization. From Betsy Dodd's page:   Growing up in a one-TV household, I had 3 brothers who surrounded me in age—who often teased me for being a “sissy”—and who usually controlled the voting majority for which channel to watch. Back in the 70s, our whirling TV dial was pretty much destroyed because we fought over it so often. One night while the substitute pliers were pointed to their choice of The Six Million Dollar Man(again), suddenly there was OMG ...cue angelic chorus... Jaime Sommers, the world’s first Bionic Woman. Yes!!! Score one for us sissies! I was totally hooked. And the love story between Jaime and Steve was the best. Ever. But then they killed her the following week.   Why did I idolize Jaime Sommers so much? Just as the final season was being released on DVD in the fall of 2011, I stumbled onto some internet bionic fan forums and started posting these offbeat episode reviews.    I’m not sure, but when some members encouraged me to go start my own blog, I think it may have been the equivalent of being politely shunned by the Bionic Amish community— puritans of the franchise. (Really, I’m kidding. They’re all fun people and super nice. And they even let me use electricity to sign onto the internet.) Once about ten years ago, I belonged to an online fan “cult” that was framed in a similar style of farcical humor about The X-Files, so to me, this is all a completely normal approach to a television drama.     These days, I am a freelance copywriter, graphic designer and video editor living in Tennessee. No, I am not a blonde, but I am threatening to become one soon if these little gray hairs don’t stop surfacing. I must confess I also did not actually keep a diary in the 70s, but wish now that I had, so I could remember the real reason why I missed so many episodes of my favorite 70s show. For now, I’m blaming my brothers. For everything. Rod De Luca is a long time Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman fan who runs the Bionic or Bust: Locations of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman and Bionicon 40.0 The 40th Anniversary of the Bionic Woman pages on Facebook.  Rod will be appearing on future podcasts discussing various episodes of both shows.

(RIGHT CLICK THE IMAGE TO SAVE THIS EPISODE TO YOUR COMPUTER) Paul is away on a critical mission and John is left behind at the OSI building.  Since security is so lax there, John was able to access Oscar's files and he discovered some interesting information.   First, he presents another Christmas adventure that Steve was engaged in with Santa Claus.   Next, he plays some music that was inspired by The Six Million Dollar Man.   Finally, he tells the story of how Jaime and Steve once met Santa Claus in his take of "Twas the Night Before Christmas".   It's a holiday themed Critical Assignment and we hope you and yours have a happy holiday.     Comment on this episode here or by writing abionicpodcast@gmail.com.

There's a spy within the O.S.I. stealing top secret material meant for shredding.  How is the data getting out?  Steve is put on the case to find the culprit and his first suspect is the janitor, Clark Templeton O'Flaherty.  If this is true, who's going to play handball with Steve now?  Louis Gosset Jr. guests stars in this unusual episode and joining John and Paul to figure out if they like it or not is thesix1973.com's webmaster, Joe Burns.   Purchase the season three Universal DVD release of The Six Million Dollar Man. In doing so, you help support the podcast.   Bionic Wiki Entry The Six Million Dollar Blog Review (coming soon) RATINGS: 3 BIONIC LIMBS