The Six Million Dollar Man: Season One

"Hello Steve Austin"
In 1973 ABC debut a television series that would become a pop culture phenomenon of the 1970's, "The Six Million Dollar Man". That series would propel Lee Majors into superstardom, lead to a successful spin-off called "The Bionic Woman", huge merchandising sales with dolls and board games, and become one of the network's biggest prime time hits.

For years "The Six Million Dollar Man" did not see a DVD release due to licensing issues with Universal and its original creators, but in 2010 the entire series was released through "Time-Life". Now, if people couldn't afford the complete box set or couldn't buy directly through "Time-Life" all seasons of "The Six Million Dollar Man" will become available for purchase individually.

On November 29, 2011 season one arrives in stores. This 6 disc collection contains all 13 season one shows, the very first three telefilms that launched the series, and a slew of bonuses including the featurettes "How Science Fiction Is...

An Iconic American Series -- only available outside of the USA?
There are many things American companies do that puzzle me, but this has to be one of the top 5: Why would you (as a company) have a show that is so iconic that people who have never SEEN it would still recognize references to it, and NEVER release it to DVD -- even in the year when you attempt to revive the concept franchise by re-making the spinoff "Bionic Woman"? (I won't even discuss the incomprehensible decisionmaking process that decides to utterly change the entire basis of THAT show...).

When I purchased the first season of The Six Million Dollar Man, I expected it to be a purchase purely for nostalgia. In fact, I was braced to end up being UNABLE to watch the show (I've found it hard, for example, to watch MacGyver or Kung Fu, two other nostalgia favorites of mine).

To my utter surprise, in some ways this is a BETTER show than I remembered. The writing is tight, often clever, and LESS stereotyped than I was prepared for. (For example, the first major...

flash from the past
Every year, I get a new DVD for my 9 year old son for our summer road trips. Last year, it was the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew from the 1970's and this year it was season one of The Six Million Dollar Man. Like last year, my kid loved it. It was nostalgic for me and new for him. The more '70s stuff I introduce to my kid, the more he likes it. You forget how slow developing these 70's shows and movies are. I think my kid will be bored and he's not. Weird, considering all the fast moving TV of today's standards. My only knock on this DVD is that it's hard to find and way more expensive than other items similar in nature. Why this is not released everywhere is beyond me. My next purchase, season one of Bionic Woman is $27 compared with Six Million Dolllar Man which was $60.

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