episode #01 - Population Zero

Air Date: 1/18/74 written by Elroy Schwartz; Directed by Jeannot Szwarc


The first episode of the series in 1974 (after the pilot TV movie and 2 more TV movies the previous year) found Steve Austin (Lee Majors) unexpectedly returning to the area he grew up in. All the inhabitants of the small town there have seemingly dropped dead, making this a mystery similar to the beginning of The Andromeda Strain - but this does not involve the same kind of threat, despite appearances. Austin goes in wearing his old space suit (he used to be an astronaut).
This guest stars Don Porter as one of those really disgruntled scientists; he's developed a type of sonic weapon. It's shown later that Austin's bionics are vulnerable to deep freeze, but who isn't? A key scene of Austin using his bionic arm occurs near the end, when he flings a fence post which is still embedded in concrete like a javelin. An above average start to the 5-year series. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10


Bionic Trivia:
Star Trek TOS Actor Alert - Paul Fix plays a local who goes nuts for a few moments; he played the doctor in the TOS pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before; also in that pilot was Paul Carr as Lt. Kelso; he plays a local motorcycle cop in this episode. Carr would return as a villain in The Bionic Woman episode.