Bionic Women Are Making A Comeback

When The Bionic Woman first went on the air in 1977, the Equal Rights Amendment was still a twinkle in the eyes of feminists, and personal expression meant burning bras or going bra-less instead of shirtless "Antonella Barba-like" titty photos on MySpace.

Things are different today for women. Our next president could be a woman. Nancy Pelosi is two male heartbeats away from the most powerful job in the world. This country's chief diplomat, Condoleezza Rice, is a woman.


I'm not really sure how much the changing role of women during the 1970s affected the Jamie Summers character or the creative process behind the original series, which brought us villains such as the Fembots. But it will be interesting to see how today's world will affect and shape a new 2007 Jamie Summers. For example, would it be a stretch to imagine the modern Jamie as a "Steve-Austin-less" lesbian?

DRUMROLL, please: If you haven't heard, NBC has ordered a pilot for a new, updated version of The Bionic Woman!

This original series ran from 1977 to 1979 on two neworks, and this modern update of a classic could possibly be on the fall schedule.

Will Jamie Summers still be a tennis pro? Will she still like sky-diving? Will Bigfoot make an appearance on the new show, or is Bigfoot sooooooooooooooo 1970s? Can we look forward again to the Fembots as Jamie's sworn enemies? Will Jamie still be trying to thwart the insane billionaire trying to destroy the world with a Doomsday device? Will Jamie like boys, girls ... or both?

There's much potential for this new show to be absolutely terrible in an absolutely wonderful way; I just hope the producers have the bionic vision for a 2007 show that could be as much campy fun as the original.

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Details From Variety.com

The Bionic Woman (NBC Universal TV Studio)
Exec Producers: David Eick and Laeta Kalogridis (writers), Bruno Heller
Cast: Michelle Ryan (as The Bionic Woman, pictured above), Will Yun Lee, Mae Whitman
Logline: Modern version of classic series

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