How to watch The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman in order

In 1973, the sci-fi adventure television movie, The Six Million Dollar Man: The Moon and the Desert made its debut. The film introduced viewers to Colonel Steve Austin – an astronaut who is badly injured in an accident and given bionic limbs.

Due to the success of The Six Million Dollar Man: The Moon and the Desert, further television movies followed. In turn, these led to the creation of a television series, and a spin-off show called The Bionic Woman, as well as further TV movies.

But if you’re not familiar with The Six Million Dollar Man or The Bionic Woman you might be asking yourself how many seasons are there, and what about all those TV movies?! Well, don’t worry, because in this post I am providing you with all those answers, so you will know how to watch the shows and the movies in order.

—

Understanding The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman

As noted above, The Six Million Dollar Man started out as a television movie called The Moon and the Desert which aired in March 1973. Lee Majors took on the role of Steve Austin, aka the eponymous Six Million Dollar Man, taking front-and-centre in the film.

When The Moon and the Desert hit screens it proved popular with audiences, which prompted the arrival of a second movie in October, called Wine, Women and War. This was then followed by a third movie in November titled The Solid Gold Kidnapping.

The three TV movies essentially acted as pilots which tested the waters for more stories with Steve Austin. But rather than continue with additional films, it was decided that moving forward the premise should be transformed into a weekly television show instead. 

Majors reprised the role of Steve Austin for the television show, with the first season hitting screens in January 1974. This season proved popular, and a second season soon followed in September of the same year.

Upon reaching the 19th and 20th episodes of season two, The Six Million Dollar Man aired the two-part story, The Bionic Woman. These two episodes introduced a former love interest of Steve’s in the shape of Jaime Sommers, as played by Lindsay Wagner.

During the course of these episodes, Jaime is injured and undergoes a similar procedure to Steve, giving her bionic abilities. However, things don’t quite work out so well for Jaime, and the character is temporarily killed off in the series.

But Jaime’s death was brief at best, and when The Six Million Dollar Man returned for a third season in September 1975, Jaime was revived for the two-part season opener, The Return of the Bionic Woman. 

Due to the popularity of Jaime Sommers, the character put in further appearances in The Six Million Dollar Man, before being given her own spin-off show: The Bionic Woman. The first season aired from January 1976, which included guest appearances from Lee Majors.

Later that year, a fourth season of The Six Million Dollar Man began airing, along with a second season of The Bionic Woman. These seasons included a few crossover episodes between the two shows, with one part airing in one show, and the next instalment airing in the other.

In 1977, The Six Million Dollar Man entered its fifth and final season, while The Bionic Woman aired its third season, which would also be its last. Both shows ran until 1978, before coming to an end.

However, this wasn’t quite the end. In 1987, due to continued interest in the shows, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman were revived, with both Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner back on board.

But instead of continuing with shows, it was back to television movies, beginning with the TV film The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman. The film was a ratings winner and in 1989 was followed by Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman.

The success of this second TV movie then led to a third and final instalment called Bionic Ever After?. This television movie made its debut in 1994, and acted as a conclusion to the adventures of Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers, putting an end to a 21-year run on TV.

In total, between 1973 and 1994, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman clocked up two different shows, eight seasons of television, and six TV movies.  

—

Watching The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman in order

If you have never watched any of the ‘bionic’ shows before, and you are only now just finding your way into this little universe, hopefully the following show/season list will ease you in nicely. As you will see, it is fairly simple to follow, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to navigate your way through.

The viewing order 

• The Six Million Dollar Man: The Moon and the Desert (1973) – TV movie
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War (1973) – TV movie 
• The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping (1973) – TV movie 
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Season One (1974) – TV series 
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Two (1974 – 1975) – TV series 
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Three (1975 – 1976) – TV series
• The Bionic Woman: Season One (1976) – TV series
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Four (1976 – 1977) – TV series
• The Bionic Woman: Season Two (1976 – 1977) – TV series
• The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Five (1977 – 1978) – TV series
• The Bionic Woman: Season Three (1977 – 1978) – TV series 
• The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987) – TV movie 
• Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989) – TV movie 
• Bionic Ever After? (1994) – TV movie 

Please note: Once The Bionic Woman began airing, a number of crossover episodes took place between the two television shows – particularly notable during season four of The Six Million Dollar Man and season two of The Bionic Woman. When reaching these seasons, you will need to alternate between the two shows on the odd occasion, to see the opening and concluding parts of the crossover episodes.

—

Editor/writer

Alex Wiggan

—

Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.