Customer Reviews

Bionic Woman

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

So much promise and enthusiasm greeted this show - from network suits to fans - yet they somehow managed to find all the right ways to destroy it before the pilot even aired. As of this, reports have it that the show isn't going to get the previously announced re-launch or even continue on its misguided path. Cancelled as a result of a protracted writers strike and perhaps, well, shame. It started with David Eick, all arrogance and nerve, proclaiming how he never bothered to watch the original and brushing off speculative comparisons to Alias and Buffy with the argument that this was about a "reluctant heroine". Uh, anybody with even a nodding acquaintance to those creatively brilliant shows would know they were both about reluctant heroines. Unfortunately, for all concerned, there was a lot at stake for this network owned show. As big budget poured into promoting and marketing it, everyone behind the scenes got into the act of tinkering with - all things considered - a daring attempt at re-imagining the concept. So much so that ultimately the result was par for network shows - sound and fury signifying nothing. The pilot was life imitating art, rebuilt from disparate parts like its title character. And it was a mess. With hardly a coherent point or direction, the show bolted before it could learn to walk with big ratings that reflected the goodwill that came standard with the franchise name. But viewers turned away as week after week the show was exposed as a boring, joyless, suspenseless wreck. Particular mistakes were glaring - the Sarah Corvus character was overused from the start. Had they used her wisely and sparingly, her appearances would've engendered a higher sense of threat and apprehension. The arrival of controversial actor Isaiah Washington was completely unnecessary, fueling more resentment for adding nothing more than pointless distraction and stunt casting. Towards the end, as different showrunners came in (and left) to rein in this runaway show, it seemed like it was finally finding its way. It still didn't have that central focus but the missions were at least becoming somewhat interesting and the special effects were undoubtedly spectacular. The love interest angle had promise. The first bionic woman was taking a breather. Ms. Sommers seemed to be getting a grip on what she's supposed to be doing. NBC announced then a 2-hour relaunch with hints at an improved show. Then came the writers strike that gave everyone the excuse to just pull the plug on everything that might have been. Now we'll never know. For most it's probably just as well. I feel sorry for Ms. Ryan and Mr. Ferrer, who did give it their level best. For the rest of us, we can only imagine on how mind blowing it would've been if the show managed to last long enough for this Bionic Woman to get into an all out war with the fembots.

I was absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of criticism that this show faced in what is likely to be its very short life. Even several TV critics whose work I usually respect and agree with -- for instance, Matt Roush -- saw a completely different show than I did. I would be the first to acknowledge that the show had some serious problems, but until the very end I was more impressed by the show's potential than its supposed vices. If NBC gives up on it, which is what is widely rumored to be its fate, I will deeply regret it. This was far from my favorite show on TV this fall, but I watched every episode with considerable interest, with an acute awareness of its potential, and a desire for the creative forces behind the show to get their collective act together. But even at its worse, it was infinitely better than the original BIONIC WOMAN, which was, it must be admitted, just a god-awful show. Moreover, I quit watching several other shows in the fall such as JOURNEYMAN and REAPER, but continued to enjoy THE BIONIC WOMAN. At the time of the WGA strike I had really come to enjoy my Wednesday night double bill of PUSHING DAISIES (the best show on TV, in my opinion, after BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) and THE BIONIC WOMAN. I even chose to watch THE BIONIC WOMAN live and DVR GOSSIP GIRL, another Wednesday night show that I enjoyed.

All looked good at first. The pilot was quite good and had many good things in it. In particular, the pilot -- as well as the first few episodes -- was enlivened by an absolutely brilliant performance by Katee Sackhoff as "the first bionic woman," Sarah Corvus. She was so extraordinary that she may have hurt the show as a whole. She dominated every moment that she was onscreen and led more than one fan and critic to comment that THE BIONIC WOMAN was focused on the wrong bionic woman. I personally didn't dislike Michelle Ryan as Jaime Sommers, but there is no question that many didn't care for her. I honestly am not so certain that she was that bad; I think she just looked weak beside Katee Sackhoff. Except for disgruntled fans of the 1978 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, who still are traumatized that their beloved Dirk Benedict was replaced as Starbuck (and completely outclassed) by a woman, Sackhoff got universally rave reviews for her work. She is so charismatic and so gifted that it is hard to imagine that she won't get a lead role in some show following the wrap up of BSG.

It is not hard to see what was wrong with the show. The show clearly intended to embrace a serial narrative format. The problem was that each week it almost did a complete narrative reboot. What would seem to be major plot arcs would be introduced and then dropped at an alarming pace. The wonderful Mark Sheppard was introduced as the father of Jaime Sommers's first episode boyfriend, but he quickly dropped out of the show. We learn that Jaime may have only a few years to live, but that thread is allowed to drop shortly after its introduction. Sarah Corvus and Jaime seem to be forging a common link, but then Sarah drops out of the show (as Katee Sackhoff returned to film BSG). In short, there was amazingly little continuity from episode to episode.

NBC sensed very early on that the show was in trouble. Veteran show runner and producer Glen Morgan was quickly released and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS show runner Jason Katims was brought in to stop the bleeding and get the show back on track. Unfortunately, the writers' strike interrupted the show just as it acquired a new and permanent show runner.

In the end, if, as looks likely that we'll see no more of THE BIONIC WOMAN. As of the time that I write this there has been no official announcement about THE BIONIC WOMAN, though there definitely will be no more episodes this year and most websites are reporting that inside sources say the show will be cancelled. I persist in thinking the show has a lot of potential. But they need to stick with one narrative and build it over time. And it would help if Katee Sackhoff were available fulltime. But whatever its fate, I do not believe that it deserved most of the criticism it received.

So I wandered through Borders on my lunch and saw that a DVD collection of BIONIC WOMAN was available. I got it. I got it because I love the promo art for the show; I got it because the show was ugly, complicated, and didn't cut corners by making Jamie instantly great at everything. No, instead they showed a young woman who went through something AWFUL and, with her second chance at life, inherited obligations well beyond her capability to instantly digest. That they had the first bionic woman go so terribly wrong was a GREAT addition and made us wonder what Jamie's future would be. Then there was the "wonderful" staff at The Burkett Group; they were exactly what I would expect a group of professional assassins/cleaners for hire to be when faced with an innocent like Jamie.

Unfortunately, shortly after the show got started, they dropped the unique approach that initiated the series for something way more traditional and formulaic. There was major behind the scenes drama (I'm told) and several creative changes. And then it died with the Writer's Strike.

So I will never know how Sarah Corvis (the coolest villain I've seen in a while) and Jamie's relationship would have played out; or how Jay of Burkett would balance his work obligations and his romance with Corvis; would Jamie's shelf-life and bionic interface problem be solved; would her sister ever find out and on and on and on.

This show is unfairly maligned because it didn't follow the old show's mold. So unfortunately something that could have become something wonderful was prematurely killed. Great design on this show and I will miss it and the characters.

The question is "Did We Really Need to Rebuild Her?" After watch all eight episodes of this Bionic Woman remake, I say NO!

This last TV season NBC choose to remake the Bionic Woman for the 2000's. In trying to gain success like Sci-Fi Channel had the other 1970's remake Battlestar Galactica, The producers took a gritter style...and It failed on many levels.

As lovely as Michelle Ryan is, she is NO Lindsay Wagner. Ms Ryan tries to give this piece heart. The Character , a bartender , is given her bionics after an auto accident with her Government surgeon boyfriend. She is saddled her with a felony kid sister (Lucy Hale) who was dumped on her when their father disappeared. Ryan is one of the reason's to watch this show.

However, the heart of the show is buried deep within sub plots of the previous sort of Evilish bionic woman Sarah (Katee Sackhoff from the remake Of Gallatica) and ideas of double crossing people that seemed to be ripped off from old ALIAS plots. This new Woman is told is a soap opera form, which weaken this piece.

The highlight of the show after Ryan is Miguel Ferrer as the mysterious Jonas. He plays a tough as nails agency boss, better than Richard Anderson ever played Oscar Goldman. His stone cold demeanor works well in this character, better than he did in Crossing Jordan (which season one is coming on DVD soon)

The funnest thing about this new Bionic Woman. She has $50,000 dollars worth of bionics parts, up from the 1970's amount of six million..inflation, inflation, inflation!

I am sadden that only eight episodes (which are all presented here) were made of this series before the writer's strike of TV season 2007-2008. It had promise, but we may never know if it could have developed. NBC Network has not stated if this show has been renewed for the next season. So these eight episodes may be the only episodes of this series

I can only wish that someone would release the classic Six Million Dollar man or the original Bionic woman on DVD...Now that was great television!

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Don't bother with this. BIONIC WOMAN failed miserably for obvious reasons, reasons that had nothing to do with the 2007 writer's guild strike:

Michelle Ryan is very pretty, but she does not have the acting style or stage presence of a physically dynamic, athletic action hero. She belongs in comedies and historical soap operas. The only dynamic female presence on the show was Katee Sackhoff, and she was playing a villain! It's not a good sign when viewers clamor to see less of the heroine and more of the villainess!

All of the support characters were repulsive. There was no one to root for. The younger sister (who looked, ridiculously, like she could almost be Ryan's age; why didn't they hire an actual 14-year-old?) was an annoying brat. The boss was cold, harsh, dark, and cynical. The scientist/surgeon boyfriend was a liar. The company she worked for was a creepy paramilitary group based on Blackwater, that everyone was hearing bad things about in the news. Why watch a TV show featuring nasty characters you hope will soon be arrested by the proper authorities?

The show was dark, ugly, didn't have enough action, and too much RAIN. I want to see admirable, sympathetic lead characters in a weekly adventure TV show, even though flawed. But combine a bland lead actress with an overpowering female co-star, unexciting SFX, unappealing support characters, an amoral story structure, and zig-zagging show direction, and don't be shocked when viewers abandon it by the millions. Which they did. Once they got rid of Sackhoff, they didn't even have good villains, and villains are what make a superhero story.

I am absolutely fascinated with the development of androids, bionics, cyborgs, and robotics. So well-produced shows like "Bionic Woman" are right up my alley. I think that Michelle Ryan did a wonderful job as the new Jaime Sommers. I also loved Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus. Watching the DVD without commercials really brings home the potential this show had. NBC did not give it a proper chance.

This was not as good a remake as Battlestar Galactica or some others, and it took a bit to get going, but I really enjoyed it. But it got cancelled, like most shows that aren't an overnight success. Instead, we get to watch people opening boxes, people singing poorly, and has-beens dancing with people you don't know.

But if you want to watch a couple of good episodes and don't mind that it was over too soon, this is one to enjoy.

As a sci-fi fan who greatly enjoyed Buffy, La Femme Nikita (the Peta Wilson version), Alias, and Lost, I confess I liked this show right off the bat, mainly because of Michelle Ryan and Katee Sackhoff, both of whom have terrific screen presence, not to mention potent sex appeal. The cast and production values were all solid, IMO, but as others noted the writing was the weak point. But writing can be fixed if the core of the show (concept, cast, production values) are solid, and they were here. Of course writers killed it anyway with their strike. But there was nothing wrong with this show that a new set of writers and a consult with Joss Whedon or the producers of Alias would not have fixed. Which points up the primary problem with American broadcast network prime time - they don't have the patience to let a highly creative programs grow and get it's legs. That goes double for sci-fi programs. If Buffy came along today it probably wouldn't last a season, because the same network idiots that killed off excellent programsw like Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, are still in charge.

OK, I admit it. I wasn't thrilled with the show when it aired either. After making it through the pilot and part of the second episode, I stopped watching. Then, inexplicably, I picked up the show on DVD and gave it a second chance. Strong characterization, effects that eventually hit their stride and growing chemistry between the castmembers make this a can't-miss release. Remember all of the buzz about the show being one of the best the season had to offer? There's a reason behind that - this is a compulsively watchable show, especially on DVD, where the plot can unfold at your leisure. The initial eight episodes (of a reported 14) are presented here for you in an attractive 2-DVD set. At the price, you're not likely to find a more entertaining show - Isaiah Washington hands in another impressive performance, Jose Ferrer is an effectively grey villain/mentor, Katee Sackhoff is menacing as the unhinged first attempt at bionics and the lead, Michelle Ryan, should have been the breakout star of 2007. Her American accent is flawless, and those of her fans more familiar with her British work (such as Jekyll), will even have the opportunity to hear her native accent in the season's fifth episode. Bad timing and a lack of faith from NBC prevented this show from becoming a much more popular presentation. Fans of Battlestar Galactica's rich characterization as well as of the original show(s) have much to rediscover here. The production was troubled, true - the ratings may have been low. But discover some of the best TV work you've seen in a while at a bargain price (and hope for the release of volume 2!) while it's still available.

I grew up on the original "Bionic" shows, both loosely based on the novel, "Cyborg." I stress loosely...not that the novel was all that great, as it rambled along.

However, the original shows, while entertaining for children, got bogged down in idiotic ideas like bionic dogs and bionic teenagers. I think there was even a bionic sasquatch.

Anyways, this new incarnation featured a beautiful woman who could act. The storyline was a bit choppy, but they were playing up to the "mystery" behind everything. Her character was well written, possessing the real life personality a woman would have from her background, thrown in with some nice sci-fi sass, and some actual character development in the form of her family life (something lacking in most adventure sci-fi shows).

Michelle Ryan did a wonderful job. And as guest stars go, Katee Sackhoff was perfect, playing the "badguy" with emotional issues, all centered around the bionics and the breakdown in the technology.

The only sad thing was the show couldn't show the bionics, as the original show had.

But at least it was not campy cheese or (in the case of the original Six Million Dollar Man) who was the flavor of the week. (let's face it, fembots are cheezy)