Shark Bytes

Mustache was just a 70`s thing.
Sound effects only enhanced the show.
sasquatch was the jump.

Heh, it's kinda funny that Max the bionic dog has garnered votes for the reason SMDM jumped the shark, since Max never appeared on SMDM, nor even on The Bionic Woman during the time the series were on the same network. Max was a character exclusive to the time when BW was being compelled by its new network to cut all ties to SMDM. Certainly, a valid JTS reason for BW, but hardly SMDM.

Still, if ya watched these episodes only in syndication, where broadcast order wasn't always observed, I guess you could think that Max was somehow part of the shared "Bionicverse" and a knock on SMDM.

For me, it jumped for two reasons, that are basically concurrent. Season 5 was broadcast after the release of Star Wars, and frankly it just didn't measure up. SMDM was always on shaky ground after roughly the time Martin E. Brooks took over the role of Rudy, but this had a lot to do with the fact that the missions weren't particularly top notch. By the time Brooks came in, Steve's astronautical background and much of the high espionage of season 1 was gone. There was still some interest to be had in watching the occasional interaction of Steve and Jaime, though, even as late as the fourth season. After all, Austin's fourth year had given us the Fembot epic, "Kill Oscar", probably the one story remembered most by casual fans today.

But when it became clear that season 3 of BW (which aired opposite season 5 of SMDM) was in many respects a soft reboot, I was pretty much done with my bionic play. SMDM was by that point devoid of its holy trinity of espionage, NASA and the continuing drama of how to get Jaime and Steve down the aisle.

In retrospect, I should've known immediately that season 5 was gonna be a problem, since its initial story was entitled, "Sharks!"

I was about 4 when this show started and i was allowed to stay up and watch it. This was TTTHHHEEE show to watch back then. I loved all the sasquatch episodes and death probes and robots lol. For me it jumped in the final season. After seeing star wars and superman, the poor old SMDM lost his appeal.

they should have stopped after the first teleplay movie, or at least cast Monte Markham in the lead role for the series

First time back to JTS in a awhile. I love reading these posts to see how people remember what was easily my favorite TV show as a kid. It still is actually.

I recently had the chance to meet Vince VanPatten and he had fond rememberances of the Bionic Boy ep. It was really fun to talk to him about it. Very nice guy.

Being a Miami Dolphins fan I especially loved the One of Our Running Backs is missing epsiode with Larry Csonka.If you ever see it you'll see loads of 60s and 70s football players like Dick Butkus, Les Josephson and even a very young Carl "Apollo Creed" Weathers, who played with the Oakland Raiders.

As far as when it jumped. I agree with most posters that it was the Saquatch ep. While it is a bit of classic TV, it was a turning point when the show started to focus more on kiddie alien stuff.

I also had, and still do, a huge crush on Lindsay Wagner. Even now at 43 she's my girl.

hello this is susan i have the doll of lee majors he has been my favorite actor at all times i fell in love with the doll of lee majors he is so cool he is so awesome i collect everything on lee majors he is incrable human bein i really fell in love with the actor himself cuz he is very mature for his age he is very talented human being this is my story of lee majors i love him a lot he is so cool

it was when they brought back the probe that black and brown probe was AWFUL give me the first ivory colored probe 7 days a week over that retread probe after that segment it went downhill in retrospect it was a ridiculous show between you me and the lamppost the pilot movie CYBORG; the six million dollar man was the best segment

Good news for those of you who haven't seen an episode of SMDM in years... if you go to www.surfthechannel.com, they have about a dozen episodes available you can watch for free! I just finished watching "The Seven Million Dollar Man" in which Steve's wardrobe seemed to alternate between tight bell-bottoms and an entire suit that looked like it marinated in a tub filled with Pepto-Bismol overnight. And yes, viewed in 2008, the special effects look cheesy. But viewed in the proper perspective, it's still as cool as it was when I was a 12 year old in 1974. Now if you'll excuse me, time to run. Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch......

This show jumped the shark when its producers ran out of plot ideas.

It was fun, though.

I loved this show as a kid. Being born in 1966, I was just old enough in 74 when it came on to be 100% capivated by it. Yes, I like so many others here, also played Six Million Dollar Man on the playground. Unfortunatly, if you were a bit geekly, you had to be Oscar Goldman. Or worse, as in my case, you ended up being Jamie Sommers the Bionic Woman. Thank God my mother had a Farrah wig.

Seriously, I do think that the show jumped in the last season. The show just seemed to run out of steam. If I have to pick one point, I'd have to say the introduction of the Bionic Boy. After that, I think it just really started to go down hill.

When I got seasons 1 and 2 on Region 2 DVDs, I was amazed at how much I still liked the show. Having not seen it for over 20 years it was a bit jarring to see how cheesy it could be at times but all in all it was and still is great fun to watch. I say bring on the seasons 3-5 of Six Million Dollar Man and season 3 of The Bionic Woman. Really fun shows.

I'll through my hat into the arena and say that it JTS when the 'Bionic Boy' was introduced. Very, very poor!

Oh yeah, definitely sasquatch bionic-ized by aliens! That was wild! My fave ep was the (first) venus probe, though.

My favorite show. Ever. But I must say that Steve Austin jumped the shark when he battled the sharks in the opening episode of the 5th, and last season.

Except for the one that loved the show, the rest of you are idiots. It was just a weekly television show of the 1970's. It was a phenom of its broadcasting time. No concept of this kind was ever made into an actual show. Need I remind you all that the special effects of that day (especially for t.v.) Were nothing compared to today. Recall that the original Star Trek series had just been canceled not long before this series first pilot. So, think of the special effects in the original Star Trek, and you get an idea of what the studio had to work with at that time. This series really opened the door for the T.V. executives to see the value in every sci-fi show that you can enjoy on T.V. from the Incredible Hulk to todays episodes of Smallville. All made possible when the success of the Six Million Dollar Man was reallized. Of course it is not going to be as good as the book!! No kidding Sherlock (to the previous comment above.) Books and imagination are always better, even at the level of movies. Why expect so much from a little T.V. series when high budget movies can't rival books either. Most of you people don't know how to understand things for what it was intended. The SMDM was intended to entertain the child viewers of the time period 1973! It did a magnificent job, and now you take your 2007 adult (I use this term in its broadest sense) mind and tear it appart. No sci-fi show was able to successfully exist back then on T.V. Even Star Trek was canceled, and a short run; one season series called The Imortal. People just were not watching that kind of programing back then. The Wonderful World of Walt Disney, Little House Prarie, The Waltons, Happy Days these were what people were used to at that time. The SMDM was a mile stone that led us into modern day sci-fi shows. The original pilot named after the book Cyborg was not full of gimmiky sound effects it was very down to earth and well done even by todays standards. It dealt as much with the human condition as it did with the technology. In fact, at times (especially in the pilot and first episodes of the first season) it seemed that the special effects were only a vehicle to showing that what makes a man is "more than the sum of his parts". In the pilot there was no jumping or exagerated powers. There was not even an Oscar Goldman. Instead there was a very hard nosed manipulative G-man called Spenser played by Darren McGavin. The rest of the series was only a way to keep the Cyborg concept going.

Come on guys!! Take it for what it was and enjoy it. Don't hold it to todays standards. People and television have changed so much since then.

I know everyone's saying 'Bigfoot', but not for me. Growing up in the 70's it was great show. I had a fascination with techie stuff, sci-fi, and ufo's...and this show had it all.
I really wanted to be Steve Austin back then. Some of my first crushes came from that show...Farrah, Jamie Sommers!