Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast

Cyborgs returns with an ALL-NEW episode review! Host, Paul K. Bisson invites longtime Bionic fan, Rod De Luca, Jr. back to the podcast to take a swing at the fourth episode of the Bionic Woman: "A Thing of the Past." Originally broadcast on February 18, 1976, and guest-starring the legendary Donald O'Connor ("Singing in the Rain") as an Ojai school bus driver with a mysterious past. BONUS: James Sherrard of The Bionic Woman Files fan site stops by to "Declassify" some cool "behind-the-scenes" information about the episode! Listen NOW!

Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast returns with ALL-NEW episodes — starting with our Case File interview with veteran TV director Alan J. Levi (The Invisible Man, Battlestar Galactica, The Incredible Hulk, Airwolf, Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, ER, JAG, NCIS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Paul K. Bisson talks with Alan about his life, career, and directing some of most memorable episodes of THE BIONIC WOMAN — including Angel of Mercy, The Deadly Missiles, Mirror Image, Road to Nashville, Sister Jaime, Biofeedback, Deadly Ringer, Beyond the Call, The Night Demon, Once a Thief, African Connection, and Escape to Love.

00:00:00  SHOW OPEN

00:01:15  Paul introduces Alan

00:04:25  Alan's beginnings

00:06:00  "Good News" / "Keep Your Spirits High"

00:10:20  Dick Powell / Seven Week Education / Dumbest Answer

00:15:35  June Allyson / Dick’s Death / Interesting Chain of Events

00:18:00  Stubborn / Richard Powell, Jr. / “I Have A Story to Tell You”

00:19:20  BREAK / Kenneth Johnson Bumper / Forgotten TV Promo

00:20:20  Heeding Dick’s — and Dad’s — Advice / Engineering First / Full Scholarship

00:23:10  Back to Saint Louis / Building a Car From Scratch / 2000 Hours of Live TV

00:25:15  “National Velvet” & “Father of the Bride” / Inventing VidiFilm / NASA

00:32:00  Leslie Stevens / Harve Bennett / “The Invisible Man” / “Gemini Man”

00:35:30  BREAK / Robbie Rist Bumper / Bionic Woman on DVD Promo

00:36:35  Six Million Dollar Man & Bionic Woman / Steve vs. Jaime

00:39:45  Let’s Talk About the Bionic Woman / “Angel of Mercy” / Working with Lindsay Wagner / Holy Trio with Kenny Johnson, and James D. Parriot / Bringing in Enzo A. Martinelli

00:44:25  “The Deadly Missiles” / Lindsay’s Aches and Pains / Forrest Tucker: “I drink all day long.”

00:46:50  “Mirror Image,” “Deadly Ringer” / Screaming at Lindsay

00:51:35  “Road to Nashville” / No Lip-sync — Lindsay Sings Live

00:54:25  “Sister Jaime” / Out of Habit — Alan’s Faux Pas / “Flock Out of Here”

00:56:30  “Biofeedback” / Lindsay’s Transition / Lindsay’s Input

00:58:35  “Beyond the Call” / Lindsay’s Finesse / “The Night Demon” / Night Filming

01:01:20  “Once A Thief” / Crew Names / One of Alan’s Biggest Compliments / Style

01:05:20  “African Connection” / Inferior ‘Angel of Mercy’

01:07:35  “Escape to Love” / . . .

01:08:35  BREAK / Lee Majors Bumper / “Sharks” ABC Promo

01:09:10  “Sharks” (Six Million Dollar Man) / Lindsay’s Permission

01:11:15  “The Return of the Incredible Hulk” / Kenny Asks Alan to Direct

01:13:55  “Scruples” / Lindsay Gets Alan to Direct / Lindsay Goes to Bat

01:17:30  “The Last Song” / ‘Lynda Carter Is Terrific But Not My Best Work’

01:19:46  IMDb Roll-Call / “Bionic Showdown” / Sandra Bullock / The Kiss

01:24:55  IMDb Roll-Call Continues / Donald Bellsisario / “Quantum Leap”

01:25:30  The “J” in Alan J. Levi / “J-Gate”

01:27:00  Thank you, Alan J. Levi / SHOW OUTRO / Alan J. Levi Bumper

For more information about Alan J. Levi, visit his official website at alanjlevi.com.

Clips of Bionic Woman promos provided by James Sherrard. Watch them at his website, BionicWomanFiles.com. It's the longest-running fan site devoted to the Bionic Woman chock-full of Top Secret information about the show.

The “Escape to Love” cover music was performed by composer, Dimitri Dodoras.

All other non-original music and clips are copyright their respective owners and used in this podcast for criticism, comment, and review purposes.

Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast is a production of the Bionic Fan Network. Visit us at BIONICFANS.NET.

The latest Six Million Dollar Man adventure has arrived from Dynamite Comics! Paul talks with writer Van Jensen and artist Ron Salas to get the drop on "Fall of Man." We've also got some cool preview pages on our website: abionicpodcast.com

When a Russian acrobatic troup visits the United States on a goodwill tour, Steve Austin is assigned to escort its star gymnast, Tanya Breski around Washington. On the agenda: burgers, shakes, pinball, and puppy love. Oh, and he must keep her from being assasinated, too! Joining John and Paul to discuss the episode is award-winning editor and writer, Glenn Greenberg! We also share some behind-the-scenes tidbits from Herbie J. Pilato's Bionic Book and welcome the Bionic Blonde to share her thoughts on Lindsay Wagner's cameo appearance as Jaime Sommers. It's all just an old-fashioned "Love Song for Tanya" on Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast!

The Doctor of the Dead himself, Dr. Arnold T. Blumberg joins us to discuss Farrah Fawcett's third appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man as the very unlikable Trish Hollander in the season three episode, "The Golden Pharaoh."

Round 2 for the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Bigfoot as California faces a devastating earthquake! John and Paul welcome back guests Dayton Ward, Joe Burns, and Matt Hankinson to discuss, "The Secret of Bigfoot, Part II."

There's only one thing in the mountains that leaves a track like this. The creature of legend that roams the Timberline. My people named him Sasquatch. You call him... Bigfoot.

This big episode requires a big guest list. Joining John and Paul to review part one of, "The Secret of Bigfoot," is science fiction / Star Trek author Dayton Ward; webmaster of TheSix1973.com, Joe Burns; and Chief Creative Consultant for the Time-Life Six Million Dollar Man Complete DVD Collection, Matt Hankinson. With special commentary by webmaster of TheBionicWomanFiles.com, James Sherrard. This is BIG!

The Bionic Woman's first OSI mission is to infiltrate a foreign country during a deadly civil war to rescue a missing American ambassador. But first she'll have to resolve her own civil war with Jack Starkey, her mission partner (played by Andy Griffith). Joining John and Paul to discuss the episode is Julie Hoverson.

Julie Hoverson has made a specialty of having no specialty.  She has dabbled extensively in costuming, role-playing, LARPing, art, beadwork, acting, and writing in such disparate genres as horror, noir, fantasy, urban fantasy, dark social commentary (and whatever else occurs to her).  She has spent the last five years writing, producing, and acting in the award-winning podcast audio drama anthology series, 19 Nocturne Boulevard, and is currently recording audiobooks professionally.

Code: Snow White! Richard Anderson shares his story; how he became an actor, the film that redefined his Hollywood status, his favorite movie and TV roles, and the character that would endear him to a generation.

We open the CYBORGS Case File on BOB McCULLOUGH. Bob has worked as a writer, producer, and director on some of the most popular TV shows throughout the 80s and 90s, including FALCON CREST, BJ AND THE BEAR, STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION, and ZORRO. His first real writing credit was for the episode, “In This Corner Jaime Sommers” on THE BIONIC WOMAN (he also wrote, “Jaime and the King”).

But it was his story for the season three SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN episode, “Hocus-Pocus” that earned him entry into the Writer's union. But he had to fight for it. And you WON’T see his name in the episode's credits. We’ll find out why. We’ll also take an in-depth look at how Bob broke into show business - a great story in its own right. In fact, we’re going to go all the way back to Bob’s Hollywood roots, from hanging out at ritzy nightclubs as a child, to rubbing shoulders with Hollywood royalty at his mom’s bath and closet store, to crashing THE DATING GAME and becoming an NBC PAGE for LAUGH-IN, THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW, and the TONIGHT SHOW WITH JOHNNY CARSON.

This is an extra long edition of Case File because it not only spotlights a SMDM/BW writer, BUT ALSO serves as great first-hand advice for breaing into Hollywood.

“It’s really an open door in Hollywood if you have what they need. And what they need is smart people who are prepared and who are willing to work hard. If you have those things going for you, there’s no reason you can’t succeed. But if you’re sitting around waiting for them to call you, guess what - they’re busy. Tenacity, persistence, and don’t be afraid to do something a little outside the box.” — Bob McCullough

Here’s a detailed time index of this episode:

00:00:00 TEASER

00:01:54 CYBORGS SHOW ID: CASE FILE 06: BOB McCULLOUGH

00:02:16 CYBORGS THEME

00:03:36 JOHN WELCOMES YOU BACK / INTRODUCES PAUL / FORMAT EXPLANATION

00:05:19 PAUL INTRODUCES BOB McCULLOUGH

00:06:57 BOB McCULLOUGH JOINS THE PODCAST

00:07:42 PAUL IS A SCARY GUY / THE STORY BEHIND "WHERE HOLLYWOOD HIDES"

00:09:56 BOB SHARES HIS HOLLYWOOD ROOTS / A DIFFERENT ERA

00:13:14 BOB SAW SOME THINGS / ROCK HUDSON

00:14:57 UNCLE NATE SHOOTS THE PILLOW WITH ARMS

00:16:45 RETAIL STORE / CELEBRITY CUSTOMERS

00:17:45 USC / DENTISTRY / THE DATING GAME / PRODUCER IN TENNIS SHOES

00:21:30 CREATIVE WRITING / VIETNAM WAR / PRODIGAL BROTHER

00:24:05 GRADUATE SCHOOL / SHAKING HANDS AND COLLECTING BUSINESS CARDS

00:26:00 HERB SCHLOSSER / PAGING BOB McCULLOUGH / THIS SENIORITY THING SUCKS 

00:29:00 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE / OLGA THE GATE KEEPER / WAITING FOR BARRY CRANE

00:34:30 CAULDRON OF FIRE

00:37:02 BRUCE LANSBURY / IN THE TRENCHES

00:41:54 SAM STRANGIS AND LOCATING THE IMMORTAL

00:45:23 LOCATING THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN / HARVE BENNETT / LEE MAJORS

00:47:45 TED SCHILZ & ABRACADABRA / THE HOCUS-POCUS RIP-OFF / A REAL WRITER

00:55:20 LOCATING THE BIONIC WOMAN / KENNETH JOHNSON / IN THIS CORNER JAIME SOMMERS

01:02:14 ULTIMATE VALIDATION / POLITICAL FRICTION / 100 LETTERS 100 AGENTS

01:04:40 KEY TO LONGEVITY: BE NICE TO PEOPLE

01:07:00 JAIME AND THE KING / DAVID LEE ROTH

01:11:00 BJ AND THE BEAR / GLEN LARSON / MICHAEL SLOAN / LOWEST BUT GREATEST RUNG

01:15:45 FALCON CREST / LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT?

01:26:40 IMDb ROLL CALL

01:27:48 STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION / FOND OF GENE RODDENBERRY / NOT FOND OF STAR TREK

01:33:51 ZORRO: A GREAT EXPERIENCE

01:40:15 TAG TEAM / CAN YOU MAKE THEM ALL VAMPIRES? / NEW INSPIRATION

01:44:00 WORKING HARDER IN RETIREMENT / WHERE HOLLYWOOD HIDES 

01:45:30 HOLLYWOOD IS AN OPEN DOOR IF YOU HAVE WHAT THEY NEED

01:46:15 SIGN-OFF