Book Review

The Bionic Book: The Six Million Dollar Man & The Bionic Woman Reconstructed

This Special Commemorative Edition of Herbie J Pilato’s book will be a big treat for all ‘Bionic’ fans

Even if someone had never watched THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN or THE BIONIC WOMAN, I think it’s very unlikely they’d be completely unfamiliar with them. After all, these two series are legendary and iconic productions within the worlds of television and pop culture. When they originally aired in the 1970s, they were both hits with television audiences. Not only that, but each of them inspired multiple toys, books, and other merchandise that sold incredibly well. A lot of those toys, in particular, are very valuable today. I wish I had held on to mine!

Oh, yes. I had several of them when I was a kid: a Steve Austin action figure, replacement bionic arms and legs for him, an Oscar Goldman action figure, and a Bionic Bigfoot action figure. I also owned a SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN lunchbox that I proudly took to school with me each day back then.

I was seven years old when THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN premiered in 1973. At the time, I was already a big lover of comic books and cartoons that featured superheroes. When THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN came along, I became an instant fan. Steve Austin may not have worn a costume like the superheroes I admired in comics and cartoons, but he most definitely was a superhero!

I watched the series every week. I also faithfully watched the adventures of Jaime Sommers in THE BIONIC WOMAN spinoff series after it premiered in 1976. After both of the shows ended their runs on network television in the late ‘70s, I often watched reruns of the episodes on UHF or cable channels.

I also made sure I was in front of a TV set for each of the three reunion movies that brought Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers back together in the 1990s. I later bought DVD sets that contained the complete series of both THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN.

You would think that a longtime fan like me would have jumped right away at a book devoted to two TV series that I loved so much, but that’s not how it originally played out.

When I became aware of the original edition of THE BIONIC BOOK — THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN & THE BIONIC WOMAN RECONSTRUCTED by Herbie J Pilato, which was published in 2007, I initially wasn’t interested in it. This was despite my already being a fan of author Herbie J Pilato. I’d read multiple books by him and felt he was a very talented writer.

So, why didn’t I want to read the book back then? It was because I thought, since I’d been a big fan of both of the TV series for most of my life, I already knew all there was to know about them.

It turns out that I was very wrong.

Author Herbie J Pilato recently released this newly updated version of THE BIONIC BOOK, so I decided to give it a try, thinking I might learn a small handful of information and trivia I didn’t already know. Almost immediately after I began reading it, I felt like kicking myself for not reading earlier editions of the book. On the other hand, though, I was happy to be reading the latest edition of it that contains new things that weren’t in the earlier editions!

Right from the start, I loved it and found myself ‘geeking out’ from all I was learning from the book. Pilato interviewed many, many people affiliated with both of the TV series: writers, producers, directors, actors, actresses, etc. and the book is full of wonderful and fascinating quotes from them. I particularly enjoyed reading quotes from author Martin Caidin, who had written the 1972 novel CYBORG, which was the book that THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN was based on. I previously knew very little about Caidin or his writings, and I was fascinated by what I learned about them here.

There’s nothing about this book that I didn’t enjoy, but I especially loved the detailed episode guides that the author included for both THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN. Not only did he list when the episodes first aired, their plotlines, guest stars, etc., but he also included additional info for most of them, including quotes from various people who were involved in the making of them — including the series’ lead stars themselves — Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner.

The book also includes many fantastic photographs, including some fun ones of the author when he visited the set of the third SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN/BIONIC WOMAN reunion movie, BIONIC EVER AFTER?

If you’ve ever been a fan of THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN or THE BIONIC WOMAN, I highly recommend this very informative and entertaining book to you.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to connect with me outside of Medium, you can also find me on X, Instagram, Threads, and Goodreads. I’m also the host of the GOTTA POP podcast. Links to all of those things can be found here.