episode #64 - The Bionic Boy
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episode #64 - The Bionic Boy
BoG Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:58 pm
episode #7 of 4th season / Air Date: 11/07/76 
written by Tom Greene directed by Phil Bondelli
This was a special double-length episode and a pilot for a spin-off show which never happened. I've always had a problem with the title because I expected the titular character to get replacement legs, like Steve Austin, but that isn't the case. Instead, Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks) has developed new tech - a couple of little gizmos which are implanted at the base of the spine. The boy (Vincent Van Patten) in question did not lose his legs in his accident; he was paralyzed. Computers have selected him as the ideal candidate for this new procedure and Austin is sent to a small town in Utah to let him know. The kid and his older sister (Joan van Ark) are skeptical; they've gone through too many false hopes. But, then they see Austin in action when a bull breaks free to threaten some horses. The operation is a success and Austin, familiar with his own struggle to make his new legs work, coaches the boy towards full locomotion. The boy's abilities are not meant to be superhuman, merely normal as he was before his accident. But, with new tech, there's always a chance that...
This has some picturesque on-location filming in Utah and an interesting set-up, but the story devolves into cliched and dull drama about the boy trying to prove himself as the best athlete in town and also prove that his deceased father had not been a nutcase (his dad died in the accident which crippled the boy). It seems there's this hidden Indian burial ground up in the hills and the only way to get to it is to cause a landslide
- good grief. Why the dead dad was obsessed with this burial site is never delved into and it seems a silly thing to die for, even if its existence is proven. I also found the kid's reluctance to agree to the new operation as tiresome; you'd have to be a real dunce not to jump at a chance like that, iffy or no. Dick Van Patten, Vincent's real life dad, appears in one scene as the local shoe salesman. And, Frank Gifford, the famed footballer, appears as himself (as usual, Austin seems to know just the right celebrity). BoG's Score: 6 out of 10
written by Tom Greene directed by Phil Bondelli This was a special double-length episode and a pilot for a spin-off show which never happened. I've always had a problem with the title because I expected the titular character to get replacement legs, like Steve Austin, but that isn't the case. Instead, Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks) has developed new tech - a couple of little gizmos which are implanted at the base of the spine. The boy (Vincent Van Patten) in question did not lose his legs in his accident; he was paralyzed. Computers have selected him as the ideal candidate for this new procedure and Austin is sent to a small town in Utah to let him know. The kid and his older sister (Joan van Ark) are skeptical; they've gone through too many false hopes. But, then they see Austin in action when a bull breaks free to threaten some horses. The operation is a success and Austin, familiar with his own struggle to make his new legs work, coaches the boy towards full locomotion. The boy's abilities are not meant to be superhuman, merely normal as he was before his accident. But, with new tech, there's always a chance that...
This has some picturesque on-location filming in Utah and an interesting set-up, but the story devolves into cliched and dull drama about the boy trying to prove himself as the best athlete in town and also prove that his deceased father had not been a nutcase (his dad died in the accident which crippled the boy). It seems there's this hidden Indian burial ground up in the hills and the only way to get to it is to cause a landslide
- good grief. Why the dead dad was obsessed with this burial site is never delved into and it seems a silly thing to die for, even if its existence is proven. I also found the kid's reluctance to agree to the new operation as tiresome; you'd have to be a real dunce not to jump at a chance like that, iffy or no. Dick Van Patten, Vincent's real life dad, appears in one scene as the local shoe salesman. And, Frank Gifford, the famed footballer, appears as himself (as usual, Austin seems to know just the right celebrity). BoG's Score: 6 out of 10