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| Production 43008 Original Airdate: February 15, 1976 | |||
 Episode-at-a-glance.
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| Teleplay by David H. Balkan Alan Folsom | |||
| Directed by Phil Bondelli | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Cathy Rigby as Tanya Brevski Terry Kiser as Alexis Branovich | |||
| Special Guest Star(s) Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers | |||
| Co-starring Alan Mason as Andre Walker Edminston as Ivan Kurt Grayson as Uri Gargon | |||
| With Curtis Credel as Director Sheila Wills as Saleslady Michael Cartel as Guard Elizabeth Treadwell as Waitress | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 3 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "The Golden Pharaoh" | "The Bionic Badge" | ||
Summary[]
Steve is asked by Oscar Goldman to escort pert gymnast Tanya Breski, star of the touring Soviet troupe, during her stay in the United States. Steve's assignment turns out to be a tough one; he must deal tactfully with Tanya, who develops a schoolgirl crush on him and wants to defect, while protecting her from a subversive group which plots to do away with her--putting the blame on the United States and thus badly damaging US-USSR relations.
Novelization[]
"Love Song for Tanya" is one of several episodes whose storylines were combined by Mike Jahn for his Six Million Dollar Man novel, International Incidents. Jahn makes a significant change to the ending of the episode for his adaptation by having Austin kill Andre with a CO2-powered poison dart gun concealed in his bionic hand -- a weapon used by Martin Caidin's literary version of Steve Austin but omitted from the television version of the character. Jamie is also omitted from this version.
Deconstructed[]
Quotes[]
Jaime: Why do you suppose Oscar wanted us to meet him here?
Steve: I dunno. It was nice spending the afternoon with you, though.
Jaime: I was just gonna say that.
Steve: You can still say it.
Oscar: Steve, I want you to meet Tanya.
Steve: Sure.
Oscar: You're going to be her official escort while she's in the United States.
Steve: Escort? Why?
Jaime: Hm. Why me indeed? I mean, you just happen to be handsome, eh, famous, and terribly charming when you wanna be.
Steve: Now wait a minute.
Jaime: Oh Oscar, if you happen to have any eh, handsome male Russian dignitaries that come over here and need an escort, you do know where to find me, right?
Oscar: I know where to reach you. Ojai.
Steve: Hey, last night you tried a hamburger. What do you say today we try a hot dog?
Tanya: I have heard of them. I have mine with the works.
Steve: Well, the works you get.
Uri: Where is your boyfriend, your big American hero?
Tanya: Uri, go play with your dumbbells.
Uri: You would not have spoken to me like this before you met the American.
Tanya: You are silly fool.
Steve: Am I interrupting something?
Trivia[]
No Special Effects[]
- After the Soviet weightlifter drops the barbells while trying to taunt Steve about the upcoming 1976 Olympics, Steve uses one arm to lift the heavy barbells to put onto the rack. Neither slow motion nor sound effects were used in the very effective shot, intended to be seen merely from the weightlifter's and Tanya's viewpoint.
Vehicles[]
Steve is shown here driving a white Mercedes. Although it might be an OSI fleet vehicle, it appears to be his private car, as he & Tanya arrive at the hospital in it, at the end of the episode to visit Alexi.
Real World[]
- Guest star Cathy Rigby, who plays Russian gymnast Tanya, was herself a popular American gymnast and Olympian. A photograph of her doing gymnastics is included along with hundreds of other photographs depicting life on earth that were placed on board the Voyager space probes.
- When Steve is escorting Tanya, they decide to forgot the approved visits list & go to Mom's Restaurant, instead of the Museum of Science & Industry. While there, Steve orders them 2 hamburgers & 2 chocolate shakes & they play a pinball game named Sky Jump. They also try hotdogs with the works & pretzels, the next day.
Gaffes[]
- When Oscar at first meets Steve and Jaime, he takes off his glasses. A few seconds later, in the next shot, he has again his glasses on and he takes off them again.
- During the fight in the Bainbridge school's gymnasium, Steve throws a left handed punch & we heard the Bionic "bombs falling" sound when it lands.
Plot
- Why exactly was Jaime summoned to see Tanya perform at the beginning of the episode? Was she in D.C. for a meeting & Oscar politely invited here to see Tanya's performance?
Insert Shots
- When Ivan is about to run over Tanya two terrible insert shots are used. The first is a post zoom of Ivan in the "car" which has a leather high-backed chair instead of a car seat. The next is a squealing tire being shown on a blueish gray car. When the car almost runs down Tanya, the color of the car has changed to rust.
Gallery[]
