episode #60 - Double Trouble

episode #3 of 4th season / Air Date: 10/3/76 written by Jerry Devine Directed by Phil Bondelli

This one guested Flip Wilson as a small-time stand-up comic who happens to resemble a foreign dignitary who will be visiting the U.S. soon. Actually, he more than resembles him; this is TV... so he's his double. The villains implant a gizmo in the comic's head which allows them to control him via computer whenever they choose. Luckily (so to speak), the comic is taken to a hospital after a street accident and the doctor there detects the implant, so he contacts OSI. Austin is assigned, ostensibly, as the comic's bodyguard, but he's there to find out what is going on. OSI hasn't yet figured out the dignitary connection at this point.
Flip Wilson was a popular comic in the seventies and placing him in this episode was kind of a gimmick. He does OK in the role, but other reviews have described him as a "2nd-rate" comic; and, indeed, the moments that he's on stage doing his thing were not funny to me. The sci-fi tech of controlling someone like a toy robot were pretty out there - this was, again, 22nd century stuff. Austin's big use of his bionic powers in this episode - specifically his bionic hand - was to crush billiard balls. BoG's Score: 5 out of 10