TLDR: The Bionic Woman almost never existed at all. Its title character was written to die in her very first appearance, and only a flood of real fan mail convinced the network to bring her back at ten times her original salary.
Lindsay Wagner introduced the character of Jaime Sommers in a two-part 1975 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, playing Steve Austin’s childhood sweetheart, a tennis pro rebuilt with bionic parts after a near-fatal skydiving accident.
That crossover eventually spun off into The Bionic Woman itself, which premiered on ABC on January 14, 1976, and ran three seasons and 58 episodes through 1978.
Lindsay Wagner Nearly Turned Down the Role Entirely
Universal had actually dropped Wagner as a contracted player in 1975, and she intended to decline the guest spot that would become her signature role.
She only reconsidered as a birthday present for her half-sister Randi, whose favorite show happened to be The Six Million Dollar Man.
Her Character Died, and Fan Mail Alone Brought Her Back
As originally written, Jaime Sommers’s body rejected her bionic implants, and she died at the end of her introductory episodes.
The response from viewers was immediate and overwhelming, with Universal receiving mountains of fan mail demanding her return.
The network resigned Wagner for a salary ten times her original contract and retconned the death into a cryogenic freezing, explaining that Jaime had actually survived while doctors searched for a cure.
She Won a Genuinely Historic Emmy
Wagner won the 1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role for the part, the first Emmy ever awarded to an actor or actress in a science fiction series.
The role turned Jaime Sommers into a genuine pop culture icon of the era, one of the first female action leads on American television.
The Show Survived a Real Network Switch, With Its Parent Series
ABC cancelled the show after its second season, but NBC immediately picked it up for a third.
Costars Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks, playing Oscar Goldman and Dr. Rudy Wells, continued their roles across both networks, becoming two of the first actors in television history to play the same ongoing characters on two different shows airing on two different networks simultaneously, since both remained in their original roles on The Six Million Dollar Man at the same time.
That network switch ended the crossovers between the two shows, cutting off storylines that had once let Jaime team up with Steve Austin against threats including a trio of deadly fembots and, in a genuinely strange turn for the series, Bigfoot himself.
Wagner Walked Away From the Role on Her Own Terms
After three seasons of slow-motion action sequences and a subplot chasing her bionic dog Max, Wagner decided she wanted out, and the show ended in the spring of 1978 alongside its parent series.
She wasn’t finished with the character forever, though, reprising the role in three reunion television movies between 1987 and 1994.
A Future Movie Star Played a New Bionic Woman in One of Those Reunions
The 1989 reunion film Bionic Showdown introduced a second bionic woman, played by a young Sandra Bullock, years before her own major film career began.
Wagner, Lee Majors, and Richard Anderson all returned for that film alongside her.
The Bionic Woman, Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Bionic Woman really die in the show?
Yes, as originally written, Jaime Sommers’s body rejected her bionic implants and she died at the end of her introductory two-part episode on The Six Million Dollar Man. Overwhelming fan mail led producers to retcon the death into a cryogenic freezing so the character could return.
How did Jaime Sommers become bionic?
She was a professional tennis player critically injured in a skydiving accident, and doctors saved her life with bionic implants in her legs, right arm, and an ear.
Why did The Bionic Woman switch networks?
ABC cancelled the show after its second season, and NBC immediately picked it up for a third and final season, ending the crossovers with its parent series, The Six Million Dollar Man.
Did Sandra Bullock appear in a Bionic Woman project?
Yes, she played a new bionic woman in the 1989 reunion television film Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, years before her major film career began.
