The Six Million Dollar Man
Operation Firefly
TV Flash files “Operation Firefly” as hour 3 of 101 in the TV Flash guide — The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978) on ABC, season 1, episode 3, aired 1974-02-01, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E03: listed hour 3 of 101 in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide, hour 3 of 13 in season 1. It aired 1974-02-01 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Survival of the Fittest” (S01E02). Next is “Day of the Robot” (S01E04).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When Dr. Samuel Abbott, the inventor of a portable laser projector, is kidnapped by a syndicate, Steve attempts to rescue him with the help of Susan -Dr. Abbott's daughter- who is gifted with ESP.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Operation Firefly sit in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide?
S01E03 is listed hour 3 of 101 — hour 3 of 13 in season 1, season 1 episode 3.
When did The Six Million Dollar Man S01E03 air?
Operation Firefly aired 1974-02-01 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I need the Cyborg novel first?
No. The ABC series is the pop version of Martin Caidin's book. The rebuild monologue and slow-mo action are the television language.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Lee Majors's Steve Austin gets rebuilt better, stronger, faster, and slow-motion sound design becomes a national language. Martin Caidin's Cyborg as ABC family-hour cyborg adventure, Oscar Goldman handing missions, Jaime Sommers waiting in the wings. Bionic franchise origin, merch included.
We can rebuild him — better, stronger, faster — and the rebuild monologue is still the series' real opening credit. Lee Majors's Steve Austin, a barely surviving astronaut turned bionic federal operative, slow-mo'd through ABC's The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978), from Martin Caidin's novel Cyborg, for five seasons and 101 hours. Kenneth Johnson's high-concept action made telescopic zoom vision and distinctive sound design a kids' gateway. Richard Anderson's Oscar Goldman handed OSI missions; Martin E.…
Filed against
- Lee Majors as Col. Steve Austin
Lee Majors’s Col. Steve Austin made The Six Million Dollar Man a national slow-motion language — 1970s catalog cyborg adventure, better-stronger-faster as a family-hour religion. The Bionic Woman and The Fall Guy kept the jawline in…
- Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman
Richard Anderson’s Oscar Goldman handed the missions on The Six Million Dollar Man and kept the clipboard when The Bionic Woman stood alone — OSI as a two-show office, slow-mo as a national language. Lee Majors rebuilt; Lindsay Wagner…
- Martin E. Brooks as Dr. Rudy Wells
Martin E. Brooks’s Dr. Rudy Wells rebuilt the franchise from the lab bench — Steve Austin’s slow-mo origin on The Six Million Dollar Man, then Jaime Sommers’s stand-alone Bionic Woman hour. Oscar Goldman hands the missions; Wells hands…
- Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers
Lindsay Wagner’s Jaime Sommers flipped The Six Million Dollar Man’s template into The Bionic Woman — tennis pro, federal agent, slow-mo franchise that stood alone in ratings and merch. Warmth, steel, family-hour cyborg adventure with its…