Between The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman are a number of episodes in which both Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers appear. These episodes collectively tell the story of the evolving relationship of our two lead characters. They can be divided into several rough categories:
Jaime's Origin Story
Oscar interrupts the wedding plans
Jaime and Steve share an intimate moment
Jaime and Steve take a bionic run
Three two-part episodes established the character of Jaime Sommers on The Six Million Dollar Man and launched the spinoff The Bionic Woman:
- "The Bionic Woman (episode)"
- "The Bionic Woman (Part II)"
- "The Return of the Bionic Woman"
- "The Return of the Bionic Woman (Part II)"
- "Welcome Home, Jaime" - (note that Lee Majors does not appear in Part II).
While the first four episodes are not technically "crossovers," as there was only one show at the time, retroactively they have been regarded as either crossovers or "prequels," and are included as such on the new US DVD release by Universal, due on October 19, 2010.
"Welcome Home, Jaime" is a unique case, as it was slated to be a Six episode and then moved to The Bionic Woman for broadcast. It status may more properly be among the Special Appearances, below.
Special Appearances
Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner appeared as guests on one another's shows during the first year of concurrent production (Spring 1976). With the exception of The Deadly Missiles, these appearances were generally single-scene cameos.
- "The Secret of Bigfoot" (The Six Million Dollar Man) Jaime is seen calling Oscar on the phone, and discovering Steve's danger wants to come out to San Angelo. Oscar refuses, and for once someone listens to him. She does not appear in part II.
- "Love Song for Tanya" (The Six Million Dollar Man) Steve and Jaime are told by Oscar to meet him for unknown reasons. They arrive together, and meet a young Soviet gymnast named Tanya, then Oscar has a mission for Steve.
- "A Thing of the Past" (The Bionic Woman) Steve is seen talking to Jaime on the phone from a plane on his way, and finally arrives at the end of the episode for a scene with Jaime and Harry.
- "The Deadly Missiles" (The Bionic Woman) Steve is brought by Oscar to investigate a downed missile, and is at the MEWS control while Jaime discovers the plot with the radar jamming device. When MEWS is targeted, Steve is in the crosshairs, but is saved when Jaime destroys the jamming device's antenna. Steve and Jaime meet at her place and share an evening by the fire, the last time we see them together in a romantic situation.
- "Big Brother" (The Six Million Dollar Man) Steve arrives at Oscar's office with Carlos to discover Jaime there. They talk briefly, and Steve suggests they get together at Helen and Jim's anniversary coming up. Jaime is non-committal.
While this period of informal cross-promotion would not continue beyond "Big Brother," the following year would "go big" instead, providing two crossover epics.
Formal Crossovers
In the second year of concurrent production, there were two multipart episodes that spanned the two shows in their initial broadcasts. These are the "true" crossovers, with Six launching one story, Woman the other, switching to the opposite show and opposite lead for Part II, and in the case of "Kill Oscar," returning to Woman for the finish.
- "The Return of Bigfoot" (Season 4 premiere of The Six Million Dollar Man)
- "The Return of Bigfoot (Part II)" (Season 2 premiere of The Bionic Woman)
- "Kill Oscar" (The Bionic Woman)
- "Kill Oscar (Part II)" (The Six Million Dollar Man)
- "Kill Oscar (Part III)" (The Bionic Woman)
After the 76-77 Season, The Bionic Woman moved to NBC. Jaime and Steve would not appear onscreen together again until 1987.
The Sequel Telefilms
After much procrastination, an impulsive conclusion
While not episodes of either show, The Sequel Telefilms provide closure to the narrative of Steve and Jaime's relationship.
Conversational Crossovers
In various episodes, events crossed in which either Steve or Jaime were mentioned or involved in the story of the other's show, but did not appear.
- "Welcome Home, Jaime (Part II)": As Jaime is driving home from the Ventura Air Force Base School, she turns on the radio to hear that Steve is in Thailand meeting with the King. And again, when Oscar shows Jaime a picture of Carlton Harris, and she recalls that he owned the oil refinery that she and Steve tried to break into.
- "Bionic Beauty" While Jaime is undercover in the Miss United States pageant, Steve is in Brussels, investigating the theft of the Falcon circuit. Oscar mentions this to Jaime, who asks if Steve has asked about her. Oscar tells her that Steve asked if she was seeing anybody, which prompts Jaime to ask the reverse, to which Oscar replies "Nothing serious, you know how he feels about you." Jaime admits having trouble sorting out her feelings for Steve. Later, Oscar is seen talking to Steve on the phone, and Steve's voice is faintly heard, nearly making this a special appearance (though Lee Majors is not credited and doubtless another actor provided the faint phone dialog). During the pageant, Jaime dedicates the song "Feelings" to a friend that she grew up with, clearly meaning Steve.
- "Fly Jaime" Jaime says she is thankful to be alive after the crash. Rudy and Steve gave her a second chance at life.
- "In This Corner, Jaime Sommers" Reluctant to go undercover as a female wrestler, Jaime asks Oscar if he would consider puttinig Steve in a dress. Later, she uses Steve's name as someone she's owes money to.
- "Doomsday Is Tomorrow": In a conversation between Oscar and Jaime, it is mentioned that Steve is unable to help during the current "Doomsday" crisis because he's on a mission at Skylab.
- "Biofeedback": Steve Austin (off screen) plays a significant role in the story as Oscar informs Jaime that Steve is in Brussels investigating Karp.
- "Beyond the Call" Steve's military picture is seen in a photo album at the Elgin's.
- "The Bionic Dog" When Maximillian is revealed as the Bionic prototype, Rudy and Oscar discuss how this prepared the way for Steve and Jaime.
Syndication Changes
The crossovers created an interdependency between the shows on broadcast that was problematic for syndication. Two episodes were moved from one show to the other for syndication. In each case, this was done to keep multipart episodes together for sale as a package. Some minor changes were associated with this move: the title sequence was replaced with that of the episode's new home, other adjustments varied. As a group, therefore, the crossovers were particularly effected by the raft of changes that came in with syndication.
- "The Return of Bigfoot" While often aired unchanged, versions of this episode have removed or altered the final "To Be Continued on The Bionic Woman."
- "The Return of Bigfoot (Part II)" In syndication this became episode 2 of The Six Million Dollar Man's Season 4- this received the least changes, with only the intro replaced. The supers and tail credits are still the original Bionic Woman style, and the "previously" segment even announces "and now, part 2 of The Return of Bigfoot on The Bionic Woman" followed by the SMDM intro. There have been versions in circulation that do alter the supers into the Six-style typeface, however, with vestiges remaining mid-episode for "Meanwhile," etc..
- "Kill Oscar" While not moved for syndication, the first part of the trilogy was given fresh title music by Joe Harnell, and the words "On the Six Million Dollar Man" were removed from after "To Be Continued" at the end of the hour.
- "Kill Oscar (Part II)" - In syndication moved to The Bionic Woman. Splitting the difference, this episode retains its original supers, but received new tail credits in The Bionic Woman style. Lindsay Wagner's "Special Guest Appearance" is removed from the supers, but without replacing it with one for Lee Majors, causing him to be uncredited (note: a rare syndicated version of this episode with a card for Majors has surfaced. Why this was not the version widely distributed is unclear). "On The Bionic Woman" was removed from after "To Be Continued" for the switch, losing the fade to black for a cut.