Lindsay Wagner is marking the 50th anniversary of The Bionic Woman with a virtual celebration and candid memories of the fame that followed the show’s 1976 debut.
At a Glance
- Wagner, 76, won an Emmy for her role as Jaime Sommers
- Fan adoration forced her to shop at midnight to avoid crowds
- She co-created storylines to keep her heroine relatable
- Why it matters: The milestone shows how a 1970s action series still shapes pop culture and personal identities
The actress told News Of Losangeles that within months of the series launch she could no longer run errands unnoticed. “I couldn’t go anywhere after a couple months of this show,” she said, so she switched to late-night grocery runs. One evening a mother recognized her, praised the program, and introduced a daughter named Lindsay in her honor. “That’s when it hit me how big the show was,” Wagner recalled.
From Guest Spot to Cultural Icon
Wagner first appeared as Jaime Sommers in 1975 on The Six Million Dollar Man, playing Steve Austin’s girlfriend. After two episodes the character was killed off, but viewer outcry was so intense that network executives revived Sommers and built an entire series around her. The Bionic Woman premiered January 14, 1976, ran until 1978, and earned Wagner the 1977 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
She credits her younger sister Randi’s crush on Lee Majors, the star of The Six Million Dollar Man, for nudging her toward the part. Wagner initially hesitated, wanting meatier dramatic roles, but her mother insisted: “You cannot not do that show. That is your sister’s favorite show, period.”
Shaping a Heroine on Her Own Terms
Once aboard, Wagner refused to play what she called “a guy in a skirt.” She collaborated closely with creator Kenneth Johnson to craft stories that emphasized wit, heart, and ingenuity over brute force. “I didn’t want her to be fighting all the time,” she explained. Their solution: creative uses of bionic powers-lifting cars, jumping fences, hearing distant conversations-sprinkled with humor that resonated with viewers of every age.
The approach paid off. Ratings soared, merchandise flew off shelves, and Wagner became a household name around the world.
Life After the Series
When ABC canceled the show in 1978, Wagner didn’t leave Jaime Sommers behind for good. She reprised the role in three reunion films:
- The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1987)
- Bionic Showdown (1989)
- Bionic Ever After? (1994)
Each project drew solid audiences, proving the character’s enduring appeal.
Bionic 50: A Virtual Reunion
To celebrate the golden anniversary, Wagner is hosting Bionic 50, an online event featuring:
- Never-before-released signed photos
- Signed printed copies of the final episode script, “On the Run”
- One-on-one video chats between Wagner and fans worldwide
She calls the gathering “a celebration” and says she is just as eager to hear fan stories as she is to answer their questions. “Some of them are funny, some are very sweet, some are kind of sad but feel-good in a way,” she noted, describing viewers who escaped difficult childhoods by imagining they had a bionic ally watching over them.
Legacy Beyond Ratings
Half a century on, Wagner remains proud that The Bionic Woman offered audiences something different: a female action lead who solved problems with brains as often as brawn. The role opened doors for future heroines and cemented her place in television history. “I like to hear their stories,” she says of today’s fans, proving that the connection forged in 1976 still runs both ways.
