Friday, September 07, 2007

The Battle of the Bionic Women

Which BIONIC WOMAN do you prefer? Here's a promo for the original BIONIC WOMAN in 1976 starring Lindsay Wagner:



And here's one for the new BIONIC WOMAN starring Michelle Ryan:



So what do you think? I have to go with the original. That stunt where Lindsay Wagner splits that stump in half -- Wow! Now THAT is a special effect!!!

22 comments :

R.A. Porter said...

My sleep number is 47.

The original. I'm all about the original. The way Lindsey could hear through concrete, but had to pull her fine blonde hair aside so it didn't mute the sound was so titillating. The new, darker BW is going to blow, recurring Starbuck or no.

The only way it even has a hope is if Ron Moore comes on board (as I've seen rumored) to help out his BSG buddy David Eick.

blogward said...

The new one looks kind of morbid. The old one is cheesey fun.

lp said...

Lindsay Wagner all the way! I've seen the behind-the-scenes promo for the new one about 20 times at the movies (because people must be bombarded with adverts AT ALL TIMES) and it just takes itself way too seriously. I am all for women kicking ass but I would prefer them not to bore me when doing so.

but ps. I'm not sure how I feel about being able to vividly remember both the original and the remake. It happened in fashion, then film, now this. I suppose I really am an adult now.

Feisty Crone said...

1976 for me. When Lindsay kicks that car door into the midsection of a bad guy...yeah!

Michael said...

How is the second BW not Alias?

Also, didn't the first BW have a bionic dog named Max? I watch a show about a bionic dog.

It could hear the mailman 2 miles away and start barking.

It's comedic gold, Jerry, gold, I tell you.

Anonymous said...

The style for the new BW looks like the recent Japanese horror movies: high-contrast but somehow washed-out colors, cryptic images with drops of blood, fast cutting, music with a lot of unfamiliar percussion instruments--in a word, unsettling. Whereas Lindsay Wagner smiles and winks at someone, then falls through the air so that the lifted skirt uncovers her legs and butt. Hmm, which do I prefer...

Warren Fleece said...

After watching the "leaked" pilot online (cagey studio PR move?) I thought it was a pretty good show. However there is only one bionic woman, and Wagner is it.

As a kid I had a "Big Jim" lumberjack action figure (Canada only?) that would chop a breakaway tree stump just like Lindsey!

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, Lindsay all the way. Thought she was quite the hottie back then. This new one - gotta be the worst trailer ever. Would love to see Lindsay guest star on it and kick the new chick's butt!

Anonymous said...

I saw the "leaked" pilot, too. Predictably, it makes everything darker, slicker and more intense than the original. I think at this point, that approach feels nearly as played out as the old stuff. It was watchable, but not much fun. Some of the f/x were temporary, and I've heard they've recast the deaf sister, so I don't know how different the eventual aired version will be.

Lindsay Wagner is so engagingly low-key in those sleep number bed ads, it makes me want to buy one (I guess that's the idea, huh?). She should be getting more acting work.

millar prescott said...

Yeah! And I bet that stump was real, too. None of that CGI crap.

TheDennisMorganShow said...

It's Lindsay bionix or no bionix for me.

I purchased two beds from Ms. Wagner, one for my bionic dog, Bones and a deluxe model for me
(has a 'high TV-Q afterburner' toggle switch).

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I like Linsay too. I wish there was a cable channel called "The 70s and 80s channel" that has shows like this, Bionic man, Fall Guy, Simon and Simon, Magnum PI, Rockford Files, etc.
OK, some comedy too, like Mash (Hmm, sounds like TV land)

Cap'n Bob said...

I lasted about five secongds into that promo. Having been cursed with an attention span I can't abide any films or videos with flashing lights, jump cuts, wobbly cameras, and bombardments of images. Add the frenzied music and they drive me from the room like it's filled with angry hornets. As for which Bionic Woman. Neither. It was a dumb show then and I'm sure it'll be a dumb show now.

Richard Cooper said...

Lindsay, sweetheart, where have you been all these years? (I know you can hear me, with that sexy ear!)

Julie O'Hora said...

I liked the original show and I dig the concept of a darker version for now, but Michelle Ryan couldn't have less presence. No idea how she landed the gig.

Anonymous said...

Okay, why not this?

Lindsay Wagner, even at 60, is still a totally unique and interesting TV presence. She'd be good on the NEW Bionic Woman.

Just cast her as Jamie Somers. And Michelle Whatshername as another Bionic Woman. I'd be interested in what it means to have been the Bionic Woman for more than 30 years. And what she'd have to say to a freshly bionicized babe.

But too late for that. The show's a go and my brilliant idea is once again limited to a blog comment.

Brent McKee said...

My guess is that Michelle Ryan was cast as Jamie Summers because Katie Sackoff couldn't commit full time until Battlestar Galactica ends. Ryan's okay even if she a Brit is taking the food out of the mouth of a good Canadian actress, and Sackoff can give you a ton of the sort of attitude that a reimagined, truly post-feminist Bionic Woman would have ("Do NOT piss me off.") but Lindsay Wagner was my Bionic Woman - loved her more than Farrah Fawcett or Kate Jackson in the way that teenaged boys love women like her.

Gridlock said...

Michelle Ryan will always be "Zoe" from EastEnders to me (and to most Brits).

EastEnders is the most watched show in the UK (even though it's depressing, shit and written by infants).

The idea of her playing the Bionic Woman is just plain weird, although I am now going to hunt down the pilot for shits n giggles

Dwacon said...

The sad part, we miss the cheesey intro to Jamie Summers... how she was all set to marry Steve Austin, then dies because her bionics make a whistling sound... then she is resurrected and has amnesia about Steve.

Maybe Michelle Ryan can have her bionics go nuts and she flies to Walford England and has a pint of Arthur's black stuff at the Queen Vic?

Batocchio said...

I hadn't seen that particular promo for the new one. Most of them have been much tamer. Michelle Ryan might be fine in other material, but in the clips I've seen, I have to agree with Julie O. Completely unconvincing when trying to be badass, sadly. I'll see the first episode to give it a shot, though.

Kelle said...

I was only 6 when the original BW premiered, but growing up it was my favorite show. I thought she was the pretties woman in the world (still do) and she seems so down to earth and gracious.

I've seen all of the episodes of the new BW and IMO it just doesn't hold a candle to the original. It seems much darker in nature, there is no bionic dog (loved that dog too) and no sound effects.

I agree with the one poster that said Lindsey should have more roles. She's a wonderful actress and I've probably seen every made for TV movie she did. She's definitely one of the extremely few actresses who's work I really have admired over the years.

micheal said...

I think at this point, that approach feels nearly as played out as the old stuff. It was watchable, but not much fun. Some of the f/x were temporary, and I've heard they've recast the deaf sister, so I don't know how different the eventual aired version will be.As for which Bionic Woman. Neither. It was a dumb show then and I'm sure it'll be a dumb show now.