The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man mistake picture

Pilot Error - S2-E3

Continuity mistake: As the plane is plummeting, the cockpit alternates between an open, oil-splattered state in the close-ups and a closed, clean configuration in the wide shots.

Sacha

Show generally

Factual error: There is no physical way that Steve Austin could perform most of his superhuman feats of strength in the ABC television series, due to the fact that they simply replaced his arm and legs, but didn't rebuild or reinforce the rest of his skeleton and muscles to handle the physical loads. Interestingly, author Martin Caidin (creator of Steve Austin in his novel, "Cyborg") actually did describe an incredibly complex whole-body rebuild that included vertebral reinforcement and ribcage and pelvis replacement, which was far more scientifically-accurate than the subsequent ABC television interpretation. ABC only accepted the series on the condition that it was less technical for their audience.

Charles Miller

Steve Austin, Fugitive - S2-E22

Continuity mistake: The background behind Hopper while he is in the man lift changes from shot to shot. In the close ups of him in the man lift's basket, there is a striped wooden wall, but the long shot of the man lift in the raised position shows an open wooden railing behind it.

Scott215

The Seven Million Dollar Man - S2-E5

Continuity mistake: When Barney opens the jail bars, there is a sudden cut accompanied by a change in camera angle. The deformation of the bars is inconsistent between the two immediate shots, with their bent shape differing noticeably across the cut.

Sacha

The Pal-Mir Escort - S2-E4

Other mistake: Oscar plays several clips of Steve using his bionic arm, but these shots are taken from earlier episodes in which no CCTV - or any form of surveillance - was present during those moments, making their inclusion here completely implausible.

Sacha

The Pioneers - S2-E2

Revealing mistake: When Steve punches David in the back, both characters are abruptly replaced by obvious stunt doubles. David's double has noticeably shorter and darker hair, while Steve's is bulkier and bears little resemblance to Lee Majors. This occurs repeatedly throughout the fight. (00:41:44)

Sacha

The Six Million Dollar Man mistake picture

Nuclear Alert - S2-E1

Revealing mistake: The two baddies run towards the truck: one jumps into the driver's seat, while the other runs around the vehicle towards the passenger side, where he later appears. However, if you watch the bottom of the truck, his legs and shadow can be seen running away from the vehicle, contradicting his subsequent position. (00:22:01)

Sacha

Nuclear Alert - S2-E1

Continuity mistake: After Steve kicks the aircraft door open, causing the cabin to depressurise, chaos erupts and violent airflow is evident. However, in the following shots, conditions inexplicably return to normal: there is no wind, no turbulence, and no sign of ongoing disruption.

Sacha

Trivia: Longtime TV actor Lee Majors was extremely influential in the overall development of the "Six Million Dollar Man" series. Although he had already appeared in the 3 successful made-for-TV pilot movies in 1973, Majors was very skeptical of entering into a weekly series, and he wanted a guarantee that the show would not devolve into a campy superhero series (like "Batman"). Majors further stipulated that there should be no blood and no violent death on the show. Executive producer Harve Bennett, producer Kenneth Johnson, and ABC Television immediately agreed. Majors also thought the original "Six Million Dollar Man" theme song (sung by Dusty Springfield) was embarrassingly bad, so composer Oliver Nelson wrote the iconic instrumental theme for the series. Two years into the hit show, Majors then became concerned that his character, Steve Austin, would be perceived as gay because he never had an onscreen love interest; so Majors essentially demanded that a female character be added to fill that role. The producers complied without question. According to Lee Majors: "People were really getting to the point where it was like, 'When's this guy [Steve Austin] going to come out of the closet here?' That's when we brought in Lindsay Wagner to be the first love interest."

Charles Austin Miller

More trivia for The Six Million Dollar Man