The Six Million Dollar Man
The Bionic Criminal
TV Flash files “The Bionic Criminal” as hour 44 of 101 in the TV Flash guide — The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978) on ABC, season 3, episode 9, aired 1975-11-09, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E09: listed hour 44 of 101 in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide, hour 9 of 22 in season 3. It aired 1975-11-09 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “One of Our Running Backs Is Missing” (S03E08). Next is “The Blue Flash” (S03E10).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Oscar and Rudy are performing a test on Barney Hiller to see if his bionic power can be turned on and off again when needed. A concerned Steve Austin proposes to keep an eye on Barney for the full 48 hours he has possession of his full strength. After competing in a car race, Barney loses control, panics and turns to a former O.S.I scientist who wants to use him for criminal purposes.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Bionic Criminal sit in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide?
S03E09 is listed hour 44 of 101 — hour 9 of 22 in season 3, season 3 episode 9.
When did The Six Million Dollar Man S03E09 air?
The Bionic Criminal aired 1975-11-09 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…