The Six Million Dollar Man
The Thunderbird Conection
TV Flash files “The Thunderbird Conection” as hour 67 of 101 in the TV Flash guide — The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978) on ABC, season 4, episode 10, aired 1976-11-28, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E10: listed hour 67 of 101 in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide, hour 10 of 23 in season 4. It aired 1976-11-28 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Vulture of the Andes” (S04E09). Next is “A Bionic Christmas Carol” (S04E11).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Steve's mission is to rescue an Arab prince who's going to be killed by someone who wants to be King. So Steve joins a fighter jet group called the Thunderbirds that perform aerial maneuvers. But when Steve suffers dizziness when he reaches certain altitudes, Rudy says they can treat it but it'll take time. And they need to rescue the prince so Steve tries to stay at low altitudes.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Thunderbird Conection sit in the The Six Million Dollar Man guide?
S04E10 is listed hour 67 of 101 — hour 10 of 23 in season 4, season 4 episode 10.
When did The Six Million Dollar Man S04E10 air?
The Thunderbird Conection aired 1976-11-28 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…