Next Fall's TV Pick: Bionic Woman

Every year at about this time, the networks unveil their new fall series and I pick the one (or two) that will likely make it to my TiVo Season Pass. It's an old habit I picked up when I was a writer for TV Guide after college. Last year, I made the disastrous choice of Studio 60 which I have since, heartbroken, stopped watching and NBC has mercifully pulled the plug on.

This year, my choice is Bionic Woman.

It looks like it is going to be a great mixture of Alias (RIP), Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica. Katee "Starbuck" Sackhoff plays the cyborg villain and the fetching Michelle Ryan (with a great American accent) is Jamie Summers. And the always great Miguel Ferrer seemingly plays the new Oscar. An article in the LA Times has some good details:

The NBC line is that the new "Bionic Woman" is a "re-imagining," not a remake. Executive producer David Eick, a "Galactica" veteran, believes that the familiar title and premise may in fact give the writers more room to monkey with the concept, paradoxical as that sounds. The series that spawned all those plastic dolls and rust-susceptible lunchboxes seems more innocent than ever alongside the new, noir-ish "Bionic Woman," which tosses '70s optimism (technology can make us stronger!) in favor of post-9/11 paranoia (technology can make us expire!). It even concludes with a rain-soaked, city rooftop fight that looks descended from "Blade Runner," that ultimate classic of sci-fi noir. This is a "Bionic Woman" for anxiety-ridden grown-ups, not lunchbox-toting kids.

It can't be any worse than Studio 60. I mean, after all, it does have sexy cyborg women fighting each other in the rain. Aaron Sorkin, take note.

Originally posted at Wednesday, May 23, 2007 | Comments (1) | Trackback (0)