36 best science fiction TV series, ranked worst to first
By Shawn Lealos
Image: ABC
34. The Bionic Woman
The original Bionic Woman television series aired from 1976 to 1978 and was a spinoff series from The Six Million Dollar Man. That original series (which appears later in this list) was about a NASA astronaut involved in an accident who had his right arm, both legs and left eye replaced by bionic implants — basically making him a government employed superhero.
In The Bionic Woman, the show has a professional tennis player Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) who is injured in a skydiving accident and — much like The Six Million Dollar Man — is saved by Oscar Goldman, giving her bionic implants, giving her superpowers as well. For Sommers, it includes a bionic ear (super hearing), right arm (super strength) and both legs (super speed).
The series lasted for three years and 58 episodes and it was also the first sci-fi TV series to hit No. 1 in the ratings in the U.K. in the 20th Century. The show was so popular that three spinoff movies aired in 1987, 1989 and 1994 — all three as crossover movies with The Six Million Dollar Man.
A lesser-respected remake of The Bionic Woman came in 2007 when a reimagined contemporary version of the show aired. However, due to the writer’s strike and low ratings, it died from the start. With Michelle Ryan starring as Jaime Sommers and Miguel Ferrer as her handler (renamed Jonas Bledsoe), the new series lasted only eight episodes before being canceled.