The New Bionic Woman Promises to Address the Most Pressing Issue of Our Times... Can We Trust Those Whose Job is to Protect Us

First came The Six Million Dollar Man. Then The Bionic Woman. Now, in the fall of 2007, comes Bionic Woman. Why the creators decided to drop the "the" will be explained later. The idea of remaking The Bionic Woman instead of The Six Million Dollar Man is easily explained; The Three-Hundred Million Dollar Man is just too much of a mouthful. Seriously, though, one cannot help but wonder why it was the distaff version of these two 1970s sci-fi icons got drew the attention of re-imagineers, although I have a theory that has to do Xena, Buffy and that Alias chick.

Anyone who lived through the 70s as a kid remembers the two shows about a man and a woman who, after suffering through devastating accidents that mangled their bodies were, through the miracle of science, made them better...stronger...faster. Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner played these bionic cyborgs in true 70s fashion. Is there anyone over the age of 40 who doesn't remember the infamous Bigfoot episodes? The 70s version of the Bionic Woman was cheesy and just plain fun. The new incarnation plans to deliver something else entirely.

But first to that issue of the missing "the" and what's up with that. The original Jaime Sommers was the world's first bionic woman; not so much this time around. In fact, the new show offers Jaime a built-in nemesis in the form of the world's first bionic woman, Sarah. There are other changes as well, including the process by which Jaime receives her bionic powers as well as what those powers are. The central difference between Bionic Woman and its precursor has less to do with specific changes made in the story and more with the overall tone and ambience. Back in the 1970s the very idea of an actual bionic human being like Steve Austin or Jaime Sommers was still the stuff of pure science fiction hokum. That is not the case today. The 21^st century has actually seen at least a certain level of reality arrive to the fantastical imaginings of the early show. As a result, the new Bionic Woman will be working within a framework of reality that must be addressed.