History Series / TheBionicWoman

Because her bionics gave her an unfair advantage on the court, Jaime left the professional tennis circuit and returned to her home town of Ojai, California, to work as a teacher -- and as an occasional, not to mention reluctant, special agent for the OSI. Her adventures were down-to-earth and less violent than Steve's; dialogue took precedence over action, similar ''{{Series/Star Trek|The Original Series}}''. That didn't stop the show from occasionally tilting into fantasy: the "Fembots" in ''Film/AustinPowers''" were a spoof of the lifelike androids on this show. One of the {{crossover}}s with ''Six Mil'' featured a run-in with Bigfoot.

Because her bionics gave her an unfair advantage on the court, Jaime left the professional tennis circuit and returned to her home town of Ojai, California, to work as a teacher -- and as an occasional, not to mention reluctant, special agent for the OSI. Her adventures tended to be lower-key than Steve's, and less violent, often following the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' formula of emphasizing character over style. That didn't stop the show from occasionally dipping into the overt sci-fi well the parent show did, such as a series of episodes featuring lifelike androids called "Fembots", and the inevitable crossovers with ''Six Mil'' that included a run-in with the infamous Bigfoot.

During the show's final season, even more attempts were made to humanize things by saddling Jaime with a "Bionic Dog" named Max, a German shepherd who was one of the early successes in Rudy Wells' bionic development program, and who had been scheduled for destruction before Jaime stepped in.

''The Bionic Woman'' (Creator/{{ABC}}, 1976-1978) is a SpinOff from ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'', featuring Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers, the second active bionic agent of the OSI. Jaime made her initial appearance in a 1975 episode of ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' -- she was a tennis pro and Steve Austin's old sweetheart. During a vacation from the OSI, Austin returns to his home town of Ojai and runs into Jaime again, and pretty soon their romance resumes. During one of their outings, they decide to go parachuting; Jaime's chute fails and she suffers catastrophic injuries. An overwrought Steve convinces his boss, Oscar Goldman, to authorize bionic replacement surgery to restore Jaime's destroyed legs, right arm and right ear. Goldman agrees.

* SuperHero: In fact, she was one of the first female superheroes ever depicted in live action on TV, predated only by Batgirl on ''Series/{{Batman}}'' in the 1960s, and Cathy Lee Crosby's unsuccessful version of Franchise/WonderWoman in 1974.

* YouCanNeverLeave: The final episode of the original series has Jaime resigning from the OSI, but in a storyline inspired by ''Series/{{The Prisoner}}'', the OSI tries to capture her and send her to a retirement facility instead. Although [[spoiler: Oscar ultimately decides not to]], it creates a rift between Jaime and Oscar that is not healed until the TV movies.

* [[WeCanRebuildHim We Can Rebuild Her]]

* SuperVillainLair: Several over the course of the series. Lampshaded in Wagner's commentary, as she wonders aloud why '70s bad guys got to live in palatial European mansions while today's villains tend to be depicted lurking in low places.
** Epitomized in "Doomsday is Tomorrow".

* ThrowABarrelAtItepisode: Episode "A Thing of the Past". While Jaime is battling a couple of thugs in a repair garage, she uses her bionic strength to throw a barrel full of oil at one of them. The barrel breaks open and spills oil on the floor, causing the thug to fall down.

* RunningGag: Nearly every episode featured at least one moment (dubbed "pocket bionics" by WordOfGod) where Jaime is shown using her bionics in some every-day circumstance (such as doing the dishes at high speed). According to WordOfGod these sequences were to acknowledge the fact that in real life people would choose to use bionics for mundane tasks if given the opportunity.

* StockFootage: The World War II-era submarines shown in Part 3 of "Kill Oscar" are especially memorable.

* MundaneUtility: Most episodes featured Jaime using her bionics to make some mundane household chore or activity easier. The term "pocket bionics" was coined by creator Kenneth Johnson to describe these humanizing moments (although to be fair Steve Austin had been shown engaging in "pocket bionics" since the start of his series, too).
** This is used as both a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and SugarWiki/{{Funny|Moments}} in Jaime's first meeting with her unruly class... when she slowly rips a phone book in half in front of them. The kids behave from that point on.

* LighterAndSofter: As Kenneth Johnson explains on the 2010 DVD release, ''The Bionic Woman'' was conceived as a less-violent companion to ''The Six Million Dollar Man''. The use of "pocket bionics" (a term coined by Johnson to describe a [[MundaneUtility normal everyday use of bionics]], such as opening a can of soup with a bionic fingernail) was emphasized over violent use, and Jamie would rarely be seen being the aggressor in a fight or, certainly, killing.

* EvilIsHammy: Manfred in "Black Magic" was played by Actor/VincentPrice, insuring that this trope was in full force.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Due to the short timeframe given to the producers to mount the first season of the series, they were forced to recycle several ''Six Million Dollar Man'' scripts.

* BackdoorPilot: The episode "Biofeedback" was clearly intended to launch a spin-off, but it never happened.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: When ''Bionic Woman'' changed networks, the producers were - in an unprecedented move - allowed to feature Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells in both it and ''The Six Million Dollar Man''. No crossovers were allowed with Steve Austin, however, resulting in the series introducing a ReplacementLoveInterest. By the time the reunion movies were made, the prohibition no longer existed, so that character was KilledOffForReal at some point between the TV series and first movie.

** This is used as both a CrowningMomentOfAwesome and CrowningMomentOfFunny in Jaime's first meeting with her unruly class... when she slowly rips a phone book in half in front of them. The kids behave from that point on.

* ScienceFiction
* SpinOff
* SpotTheImposter

* NotWearingTights: Since she's a secret agent who frequently goes undercover, Jaime has no need for a costume.

* {{Novelization}}: Two volumes of novelizations were published (credited to different authors in the US and UK). One was based on the "Welcome Home, Jaime" two-parter, the other combined two other episodes as one narrative. An unusual aspect of these books is they included a detailed description of Jaime's bionic rebuild, however the text was taken mostly from ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' novelizations. As a result, in one book Jaime is described as having a bionic eye!

A trio of reunion movies combined with ''Six Mill'' were made between 1987 and 1994 (the second of which introduced a next-generation bionic woman played by a pre-stardom Creator/SandraBullock as a pilot for a revival series that was never made). In the 1990s and 2000s there were occasional rumors of new film or TV versions of the series, including a made-for-cable series that would have starred Jennifer Anison as Jaime and an InNameOnly reimagining in which the title was going to be simply a ''metaphor'' and the lead character would have no powers at all! Eventually, a [[Series/BionicWoman short-lived remake]] appeared on NBC in 2007 what was closer in spirit to Martin Caidin's original ''Cyborg'' novel series upon which ''Six Mill'' was based. And in 2012 a DarkerAndEdgier comic book version (featuring a Jaime who is not averse to breaking necks when threatened) was launched, though this was replaced in the summer of 2014 with a ''Bionic Woman Season 4'' comic more closely based on the TV series and, in 2017, another comic book that teamed Jaime up with the Creator/LyndaCarter version of ''Series/WonderWoman''.

A couple of reunion movies were made in the 1990's. In the 1990s and 2000s there were occasional rumors of new film or TV versions of the series, including a made-for-cable series that would have starred Jennifer Anison as Jaime and an InNameOnly reimagining in which the title was going to be simply a ''metaphor'' and the lead character would have no powers at all! Eventually, a [[Series/BionicWoman short-lived remake]] appeared on NBC in 2007. And in 2012 a DarkerAndEdgier comic book version (featuring a Jaime who is not averse to breaking necks when threatened) was launched, though this was replaced in the summer of 2014 with a ''Bionic Woman Season 4'' comic more closely based on the TV series.

** Several sources have suggested that Max the bionic dog was going to get a spin-off, but there's little sign that this was ever planned.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Numerous episodes imply that Oscar is in love with Jaime (a fact confirmed by WordOfGod years later), yet in the series her heart remains with Steve Austin, then Chris Williams, then with Steve again in the reunion movies, culminating in their long-delayed marriage.

** Averted in the 2012 comic book version, in which Jaime has a well-established "kill count", and in the 2007 remake the character is also less averse to deadly force.

* {{Novelization}}: Two volumes of novelizations were published (credited to different authors in the US and UK). One was based on the "Welcome Home, Jaime" two-parter, the other combined two other episodes as one narrative. An unusual aspect of these books is they included a detailed description of Jaime's bionic rebuild, however the text was taken mostly from ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' novelizations. As a result, in one case Jaime is described as having a bionic eye!

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: One two-parter was considered a backdoor pilot for a potential ''Max the Bionic Dog'' spinoff.

* RailingKill: Carl Franklin, the son of the Fembots' creator (and himself a robot), hurtles to his destruction when he lunges for Jaime and instead goes over a railing.

* SuperHero

** In the 1994 reunion movie, Steve was trying to help Jaime with her malfunctioning arm... and promptly got whacked into the drink for his troubles.

[[quoteright:160:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lt/bionicwoman.jpg]]

** "Jaime and the King" has Jaime reluctantly steal and don a belly dancer's costume to go undercover.

* "Jaime and the King" has Jaime reluctantly steal and don a belly dancer's costume to go undercover.