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References

From The Bionic Wiki

Parodies, homages and satire which reference The Six Million Dollar Man and/or The Bionic Woman.

Contents

[edit] Movies

  • Austin Powers movie series - The fembots were parodied. And just like in the bionic series, they were both beautiful and deadly. Watch a clip here!
  • In Scrooged, the employees of a fictitious tv station present christmas movie trailers to their boss, who is played by Bill Murray. In one of those trailers, some terrorists attack Santa's Workshop and the only person who is able to safe Santa and Christmas respectively, is Steve Austin. Some scenes later, the trailer for Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is presented and John Houseman appears as the narrator the story. So there are actually two bionic references in this 1980's comedy classic.
  • The first Caddyshack movie featured Chevy Chase apparently mimicking the "bionic" sound in one scene, as he putts several golf balls.
  • In Zoolander, top male model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) competes against his rival Hansel (Owen Wilson). In the following catwalk sequence, the bionic sound is used.
  • In Shrek the Third the little Gingerbread Man sees his life pass by before his inner eye. We can watch him grow up, go to school and finally witness how his legs were broken by Lord Farquard (1st movie!). Then, Gingerbread Man is put on an operation table and gets freshly baked legs. In the next shot we see him run on a treadmill and through a field of flowers... the scene is accompanied by the Six Million Dollar Man theme and the bionic sound effect.
  • In National Lampoon's TV: The Movie (2006), Lee Majors parodies The Six Million Dollar Man in a mock TV ad, for "The Six Million Year Old Man". The parody includes Oliver Nelson's original TV theme music.

[edit] TV Series

The Office of Scientific Investigation and Research (O.S.I.R.)
  • Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal features a fictional agency named the "Office of Scientific Investigation and Research" (O.S.I.R.). Coincidence?
  • Pimp my Ride is an MTV show where old cars are augmented with the hottest new mechanical and electronic devices to make them better, stronger, faster. In the before / after sequence shown after the completion of the new car, the bionic sound is used.
  • Jake 2.0 is a scifi-series about twenty-something Jake who works as a computer whiz at a government facility. After an accident he gets infected with nanites which take over some of his body functions and make him stronger and more durable than a normal human. He has better sight, hearing and in addition to his strengthened body he can even communicate with computers. Looks like a remake of The Six Million Dollar Man for the 21st century. Watch the intro here!
  • In the end scene of one episode of Jake 2.0 (s01, e12: Double Agent) Jake lists dream cars and mentions Mercedes Benz SLR Coupe. Dick (as played by Lee Majors!) says that he "could run faster than that heap". This insider statement is followed by extracts of the Six Million Dollar Man theme.
  • In That 70's Show there is one episode full of references to the Six Million Dollar Man. In one scene, Fez, who is trying to forget about his girlfriend, is shown being operated to be better and stronger (s05, e21: Trampled under Foot). Here is a clip
  • The gay cult series Queer as Folk more than once paid its tribute to the bionic universe. During the release-party of Michael's comic book at the Babylon club in season 2, the bionic sound is used as a background noise. Then again, in season 3, Debbie tries to stop her lover from eating a dish spoilt by salmonella. In an attempt to grab his plate before he can have his first bite, Debbie is shown running in slow-motion while the bionic sound is played.
  • In Sex and the City one of the female leads, Charlotte, is having problems with her husband's sexual shortcomings. While searching the internet for a cure, Carrie - by voice-over - mentions how these technical devices might turn Charlotte's husband Trey into the bionic man.
  • Veronica Mars: In one segment of Lord of the pi's (s3, e8), teenage-investigator Veronica jumps the fence of Selma Rose's mansion, imitating the bionic sound.
  • The long-running show Friends had several references to the bionic series.
    • s03 e14, The One With Phoebe's Ex-Partner: Chandler dates a woman who he doesn't know has a wooden leg. When he finds out about this, he asks her whether she has a bionic leg. She happily negates that but says she hopes that she will have one some day.
    • s06 e07, The One where Phoebe runs: Rachel and Phoebe go jogging together. Being ashamed by Phoebe's weird way of running, Rachel complains to Monica and Ross. 
  Rachel: You guys, I'm telling you. When she runs she looks like a cross
  between Kermit the Frog and the Six Million Dollar Man!
  Ross: Monica had such a crush on him. She used to kiss his poster every
  night before she went to bed.
  Rachel: Oh! I used to do that, too!
  Monica: Did you also have his album "It's not easy being green"?
  Rachel: Oh Monica!

[edit] Cartoons & Animated Feature Films

Bionic Six titlecard
The Simpsons: Burns' Heir
The Simpsons: Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy
  • The Simpsons - In the episode "Burns' Heir" (s05 e18) Marge has a fantasy about Lee Majors (as Steve Austin) who picks her up and does a bionic leap into the sky.
  • The Simpsons - In the episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" (s05 e14) the creator of a Barbie-like doll (which she creates in her own image) comments on how she was once married to Steve Austin.
  • Futurama - In the episode "Amazon Women in the Mood" (s03 e05) Bender finds out that the giant Femputer on the planet of the Amazons is actually run by a fembot.
  • She-Ra, Princess of Power used the bionic sound whenever there was a scene cut. The bionic eye and ear sounds were also used many times for weapons and other items.
  • Rocket Power - This Nickelodeon cartoon show used the bionic sound in its intro.
  • Duck Dodgers - In the episode titled "The Six Wazillion Dollar Duck" (s03 e07), Duck Dodgers is severely injured and repaired with "cyborganic" parts. Then he is assigned a mentor named Steve Boston. Steve Boston is married to Jaime Wynters, the Cyborganic Woman. A cyborganic Bigfoot also makes an appearance.
  • The Venture Bros. - Six Million Dollar Man Steve Summers lives in the woods with his lover, a Sasquatch ("Home Insecurity", s01 e03). The government expects him to pay off the cost for his bionics. Brock Samson, one of the main characters of the show, is an agent of the OSI, the Office of Secret Intelligence.
  • Family Guy featured Peter Griffin as the bionic man. Since the OSI doesn't want to spend too much on him, they simply equip him with a trash can and plunger for legs, a tennis racket replacing his right arm, and magnifying glass replacing his left eye.
  • Southpark: This show actually makes several references to the bionic universe, e.g.:
    • Prehistoric Iceman (s2, e18): Kyle can be heard saying "He looks kinda like Steve Austin from The 6 Million Dollar Man".
    • In Up the Down Steroid (s8, e2) and Make Love, Not Warcraft! (s10, e8) there are bionic fanposters shown that allude to the Six Million Dollar Man.

[edit] Comedy Shows

  • Comedy legend Bob Newhart was "The Six Million Dollar Bob," with new voiceovers from Richard Anderson.
  • The Benny Hill Show had a skit featuring the bionic duo who became parents to the world's first bionic baby. This episode originally aired January 26, 1977 (season 8, episode 1).
  • Dave Allen at Large featured a skit with bionic secret agents (Dave's one of them), that run into each other, and their bionic limbs go flying. Afterwards, when you see them lying there in pieces, their arms and legs move by themselves as their heads look on.
  • Sesame Street once brought a news flash in which Kermit the Frog meets Dr. van Fission, the creator of the famous "Six Dollar Man".
  • The Electric Company had a recurring sketch, featuring Steve Awsome: "The $6.39 Man". The 39 cents referred to the cost of his bionic brain, which made Steve seem rather dull.
  • Wayne and Shuster, the Canadian comedy team had a SMDM skit, where the government would give them a $6 budget. They used a rump roast as a replacement part and the bionic agent had to be plugged into a wall outlet in order to function. When this proved impractical (Austin had a tendency to freeze in place whenever he pulls out the plug), they decided to try batteries instead. In this skit, Johnny Wayne played Austin, while Frank Shuster played the Rudy Wells-like character.
  • In one episode of The Carol Burnett Show, Jaime Sommers (played by Vicki Lawrence) crashes through her mother's door with a bionic baby!
  • In Misfits of Science Johnny B. (Mark Thomas Miller), who can run incredibly fast, is shown running past a man in slow motion.
  • Dr. Croc: Charles Nelson Reilly had a Saturday morning show in the 70's. He was dressed in a foam rubber croc suit with his face where the croc's would be, and he had several recurring guests: one of which was a perennially falling apart "Six Dollar Man".
  • The Captain and Tenille Show featured an occasional skit called "The Bionic Watermelon", namely one that fell off the back of a truck and broke, followed by bionic parts being put inside, in order to revive it.
  • In The Donny and Marie Show that was produced from 1976-1979, Lee Majors often appeared as himself / Steve Austin. In one of their sketches he comes running out of the woods, and Donny and Marie tell him that his show isn't on for another half hour.
  • In Goodness Gracious Me (a British comedy series) there was a parody called "The Six Million Rupee Man" who had the ability to go shopping the bionic way.
  • In the sixth season of Trailer Park Boys, there is a chicken called Oscar Goldman.
  • In Robot Chicken, second season, The Six Million Dollar Man is spoofed by Mexican test pilot Pablo Rodriguez (who crashes a burro into a saguaro cactus). Pablo becomes the Six Million Peso Man who uses his powers to escape to the United States.
  • During the final season of The Carol Burnett Show, a musical number dedicated to popular TV shows of the day included a segment on The Six Million Dollar Man. Dick Van Dyke plays Austin and is shown running in slow motion, surrounded by dancers moving at normal speed. Van Dyke's segment ended with him singing, his voice exaggerated and slow, "Would ... you ... believe ... I ... married...an...angel?" followed by a mock bionic eye effect, at which point the segment segued into a spoof of Farrah Fawcett-Majors and Charlie's Angels.

[edit] Commercials

  • IBM had a commercial for their "Thinkpad" which featured Lee Majors as a guest star. Two men talk about the biometric fingerprint reader that is included with the computer and one of them imitates the bionic sound. Lee, sitting behind a newspaper, suddenly comes by to correct the man.
  • Lotto 649 from Canada features a lottery winner. Lee Majors comes by in his red jumpsuit and the man decides to get bionics with that money. In the next scene, the man is on the operation table watching the loose bionic limbs next to him. Then he suddenly decides that he has changed his mind. Watch it here!
  • Comedy Central has a commercial to promote their cell phone goodies. The commercial uses the bionic sound effects and similar narrations to those from SMDM, "...we have the technology...". Watch it here!
  • Honda created a car commercial for their new 2007 CR-V that had Lee Majors in it acting like Colt Seavers.
  • AOL produced a commercial for American TV in the mid-2000s that featured its Running Man mascot in a recreation of the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man, complete with original music and voiceover by Richard Anderson.[1]

[edit] Songs and Music Videos

  • The Six Million Dollar Man is a music video remix of the SMDM theme from the Dutch group "OSI Project". Watch it here!
  • Half a Man is a funny SMDM-themed music video by Peter Kambasis. In it, a man in a SMDM-jumpsuit who is supposed to be Steve Austin is having a bad day and tries to make himself feel better by singing. Watch it here!
  • Bionic Breaker is a dance/trance remix of the SMDM theme accompanied by some great video shots. Watch it here!

[edit] Comic Books

  • The Mad Magazine featured several spoofs of the two shows:
  1. #172 (January 1975): SMDM comic strip "The Six Million Dollars, Man!"
  2. #188 (January 1977): Cover with bionic duo and BW comic strip "The Moronic Woman"
  3. #194 (October 1977): Steve Austin obituary
  4. #251 (December 1984): The TV Prime Time Graveyard (SMDM / BW tombstone)
  • One edition of the Mad Magazine in 1978 came with a special record containing a song called "Makin' Out". The lyrics include a Six Million Dollar Man reference.
  • The Foxtrot comic strip poked fun at The Six Million Dollar Man fairly often.
  • Cracked magazine also featured a parody of The Six Million Dollar Man, including at least one cover feature.

Mad Magazine #188

Mad Magazine #172

Mad Magazine #188

The Moronic Woman

Mad Magazine #194

Mad Magazine #251

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