Six Million Dollar Man Complete Series Announcement

Disc Announcements, News

Following on our earlier news, we can confirm that there will be a Christmas gift this year worthy of writing to Santa. The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Collectionwill be released by Time Life on November 23. The iconic show from the ’70s featured Steve Austin as man kept alive with technology. After a horrfic crash, the astronaut has most of his body replaced with robotic limbs and eye. After his recovery, Austin goes to work for a government agency. He fights to protect America with his bionic skills. The bonus features listed are worth $6 million, but the retail price is a little lower.

Don’t go looking for the huge box set on the shelf at your favorite video store since you can only get it through their website. You can get 10 percent off the box set by entering the coupon code “save10now” before September 30, 2010.

Here’s the press release from Time Life:

FAIRFAX, VA – On November 23, 2010, Time Life – the home of such classic TV as GET SMART, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E and THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS – will debut a DVD collector’s set of one of the most eagerly-anticipated, previously unreleased TV classics with THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES. This definitive set from one of the iconic pop culture smashes of the ’70s is now available for pre-order exclusively online at 6MDM.com, and will feature all five action-packed seasons never before available in the U.S. on any format, as well as a stunning collection of all-new extras certain to thrill fans both old and new.

The muscular set will be housed in ultra-collectible packaging sporting an audio chip and eye-popping 3-D lenticular artwork. Across 40 DVDs, the complete series will feature all 100 digitally-preserved hour-long episodes, all of which have been remastered from the original, uncut broadcast versions. The set also contains more than 17 hours of all-new bonus material, specially created just for this collection, highlighted by new in-depth interviews with Lee Majors (Col. Steve Austin) and Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman), among others. Also included will be the three pilot movies “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “Wine, Women and War”, and “Solid Gold Kidnapping”; the three reunion movies “The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman”, “Bionic Showdown” (with Sandra Bullock) and “Bionic Ever After?”; and the never-before-released cross-over episodes of The Bionic Woman, all of which have also been digitally restored from the original source material.* Additionally, for the true completist, the set also contains the alternative syndicated edits of the pilot and reunion telefilms, which, when added together, makes for more than 30 unbelievable hours of bonus programming.

*Note from the producers: Despite best efforts, Time Life was unable to locate the original master for “Welcome Home, Jaime – Part 1,” therefore, the syndicated version appears on these DVDs.

As the OSI did with astronaut Steve Austin, Time Life has the technology and capability to make the world’s most singular Six Million Dollar Man completist’s set better…stronger…faster. Enhancing the series long-awaited release are countless hours of bonus features, including intimate interviews with the cast and crew, including Lindsay Wagner (Jaime Sommers), executive producer Harve Bennett, and writer Kenneth Johnson. Also featured are a staggering seventeen original featurettes, on everything from “Real Bionics: How Science Fiction Is Becoming Science Fact” and “The Bionic Sound Effects”, to “The Search for Bigfoot” and “The Six Million Dollar Man’s Best Villains, Best Fights”; the two-part featurette “TV Goes Bionic: The Untold Story of The Six Million Dollar Man” (which goes behind the scenes to explore the series like never before), and several featurettes celebrating the series V.I.P. guest stars such as Lee’s then-wife, Farrah Fawcett-Majors (who made four guest appearances), Andre the Giant, Kim Basinger, Sonny Bono, Lou Gossett, Erik Estrada, Stefanie Powers, John Saxon, Cathy Rigby, William Shatner, Suzanne Somers and many more. Additionally, there’s audio commentary on six episodes by writer Kenneth Johnson and director Cliff Bole, and an interactive bonus entitled “Bionic Breakdown” that will allow fans the ability to click on Steve Austin’s eye, arm or legs to learn more about each one of his bionic enhancements; from night-vision to cauterizing veins to running speeds that exceed 65 miles per hour, “Colonel Austin’s” skills and abilities are catalogued here with episode clips as a visual reference.

Collection includes:

  • 40 DVDs in a collectible packaging, featuring bionic sound effects and 3-D lenticular artwork
  • All 100 original, unedited episodes (1974-1978)
  • All three pilot tele-movies:”The Six Million Dollar Man”, “Wine, Women and War”, “Solid Gold Kidnapping”, digitally remastered from original source materials
  • All three made-for-TV reunion movies: “The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman”, “Bionic Showdown” and “Bionic Ever After?”, digitally remastered from original source materials Steve Austin running
  • 17 Featurettes:
    • o Real Bionics: How Science Fiction Is Becoming Science Fact
      o An Iconic Opening: The Six Million Dollar Man Show Open Never Disappointed
      o The Bionic Sound Effects
      o The Search For Bigfoot
      o The Six Million Dollar Fans: So Loyal, So Bionic!
      o The Six Million Dollar Man’s Best Villains, Best Fights
      o TV Goes Bionic: The Untold Story Of The Six Million Dollar Man, Part I, II
      o Top Secret: The OSI, NASA and Bionics
      o The Pop Culture Effect
      o The Reunion Films: Life After The Series
      o Bionic Action…Figures!!!
      o The Stunts Of The Bionic Age: Pushing The Envelope
  • 6 Audio Commentaries:
    • o Writer Kenneth Johnson on:
      + “The Bionic Woman”
      + “The Bionic Woman, Part II”
      + “The Secret of Bigfoot”
      + “The Secret of Bigfoot, Part II”
      o Director Cliff Bole on:
      + “The Blue Flash”
      + “Vulture of the Andes”
  • Mini-Biographies of the actors and their characters: Getting to Know “Steve Austin”, “Jaime Sommers”, “Oscar Goldman”, “Rudy Wells”
  • OSI Mission Debriefings featuring all-new extensive interviews with Lee Majors, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks, Executive Producer Harve Bennett and writer/producer Kenneth Johnson
  • Season 1-5 VIPs: A Celebration of The Six Million Dollar Man Guest Stars
  • Interactive Bonus Feature: “Bionic Breakdown”
  • Never-Before-Seen Blooper Reel

One of the pop culture smashes of the ’70s, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN starred Lee Majors as Colonel Steve Austin, a top NASA pilot critically injured when his experimental spaceplane crashed. Oscar Goldman (Anderson), head of the OSI used Austin as a test subject for an experimental procedure, rebuilding his body using cybernetic technology, making him the world’s first bionic man. Now, Austin works for Goldman and the OSI, protecting the nation from myriad threats. Based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN launched with several made-for-TV movies in 1973, which then spun off into a hit for ABC, running from January 1974 to March 1978. During its run, the program made Majors a pop culture icon, spawned three reunion shows, another series (The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner) and thousands of licensed products, making THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN one of the defining TV shows of the “Me” decade.

The Six Million Dollar Man is a copyright and trademark of Universal Studios and used under license.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: THE COMPLETE SERIES
Release Date: November 23, 2010
List Price: $239.95

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.