WELCOME TO My Bionic Woman Blog
This blog is my attempt to reconcile the plight of the modern woman who has become in a way bionic, part housekeeper, part professional.
These tensions are difficult to reconcile and I hope I can share some of my personal insights with my readers.
Written by Brenda on September 27th, 2007
So you just got done watching the premiere of Bionic Woman? Was it everything you had hoped for? Maybe you were left a bit disappointed? Whatever the case may be we have some new images provided for us by NBC. Wondering what Isaiah Washington will look like in his new role? We have those images to! Enjoy some new images of upcoming episodes of Bionic Woman.
Written by Brenda on September 27th, 2007
I know NBC still hasn’t been able to compete overall with the other two networks, but a lot of there new shows are gaining a following including the remake of the 1970’s cult classic, Bionic Woman. I am sure many of us figured there would be a good deal of people interested in checking the show out, but not enough to take out the premiere of Private Practice the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off on ABC. Over at Media Life Guide they have a full article on last nights ratings and here is a snippet of there take on Bionic Woman.
“Bionic,” which is now the fall’s top new premiere and NBC’s best Wednesday series premiere since “The West Wing” in 1999, built from its first half hour to its second among 18-49s, while “Practice” was flat.
“Bionic” is a remake of the 1970s show about a woman who becomes part machine thanks to a life-saving procedure that gives her superhuman strength. NBC pumped the show with a heavy marketing campaign designed to appeal to the same viewers who made “Heroes” into a hit.
Indeed, that show is strong with the younger male demos, and “Woman” won its timeslot in men 18-34 and 18-49 last night, while “Practice” was No. 1 in adults 18-34 and the major female demographics. “Practice” also topped “Bionic” by 600,000 in total viewers, drawing 14.2 million.
Yet perhaps as surprising as “Bionic’s” performance was NBC’s “Life,” which won its timeslot at 10 p.m. leading out of “Bionic” despite being dismissed by media buyers and many critics.
NBC took the lead at 9 p.m. with its 5.5 for “Bionic,” with ABC second with a 5.1 for “Practice.” CBS was third with a 3.5 for “Criminal Minds,” Fox fourth with a 2.4 for “Kitchen Nightmares,” Univision fifth with a 2.2 for “Destilando Amor” and CW sixth with a 1.2 for “Gossip Girl.”
Written by Brenda on September 26th, 2007
The time has finally come, Bionic Woman has finally premiered on NBC and we have our full review of the pilot episode. For those who have any experience with the 1970’s version of Bionic Woman, this version is extremely different. Of course the obvious difference being that this new version is a much darker and more intense look at the Bionic Woman storyline. But the big question still remains can this re-make do a better job of telling the story of a Bionic Woman?
So more then likely you have seen the previews of the show, where you witness Jaimie Sommers played by Michelle Ryan go through her transformation into the Bionic Woman, what you may not know is how she came to that spot, and that is what the first half of the show attempts to explain. Your quickly introduced to Jamie’s boyfriend Dr. Will Anthros a professor, but also is part of a secret bionic institution. To make a long story short the two love birds are out for dinner and Jamie breaks the news that she is pregnant with their kid. On the drive home the two are actually happily discussing names when they crash into a pole leaving Jamie clinging to life. Will makes the decision to take Jaime to his organization where they literally take out the majority of her limbs thus creating the Bionic Woman.
The second half of the show is getting to understand Jamie and her dealing with this new found bionic self. Of course her initial reaction isn’t one of joy or even a grateful heart for having her life spared, but rather a very scared and often feisty bionic woman. Jamie ends up being held at this institution that Will works at for a bit, but manages to escape and go home to her sister, finding some of her new skills along the way. In fact there is a fight where she takes out a random guy in an alley way that shows just a little taste of the awesome fights that could come from the series in the future.
By far the best part of Bionic Woman isn’t actually Michelle Ryan but instead Katee Sackhoff who plays the first ever Bionic Woman, Sarah Corvus. What is so impressive is the great attitude and fire that comes from the character. She is seen a few times throughout the show but nothing was more memorable in the episode then the final fight between the two Bionic Women which set off the episode on the right note.
One issue I had with the pilot was that it jam packed with content, and in fact it actually became to much information for just one episode. You learn so much about Jaimie her boyfriend Will, Will’s father who came up with the technology to make Bionic’s into soldiers, and even a love affair between one of Will’s co-workers and Sarah Corvus. To throw insult to injury you even have Will getting shot by Sarah at the tail end of the show. So as you can see there was just a ton of information thrown into this episode. My feeling is that the show is on the right track. I do feel at the same time there was far to much put into this first episode which left me a bit unsatisfied. Overall though there is a lot of potential to be had in the show but its going to need to smooth out its edges to be a show that sticks around for the long haul.
Written by Brenda on September 26th, 2007
The time of waiting is finally over, with all of the anticipation, with all of the controversy with the casting, it all comes to a close tonight when all the hype is thrown out of the door when the show actually premiere’s tonight on NBC at 9pm. Having seen the pilot already I have to say that without giving to much away there is a lot to look forward to, the pilot is far from perfect, but its definitely worth the watch this evening. Also expect a full review tonight following the show with all of my thoughts on the show and what to expect from future episodes.
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Written by Brenda on September 25th, 2007
So we are only a day away from the official premiere of Bionic Woman on NBC, and I thought what a better way to get you all ready for the big premiere then to get you some screen shots from the first episode of the show. Enjoy them all below!
Written by Brenda on September 24th, 2007
Just an update for all of you late night TV watchers like myself, Jay Leno has Bionic Woman star Michelle Ryan on this evening. I am sure they will talk about her time on Eastenders over across the pond and of course her transition to Bionic Woman. Jay Leno always does a good interview, and this is the first big interview that I have seen for Michelle Ryan since the show was announced. Can’t wait to see how she does tonight on Jay.
Written by Brenda on September 24th, 2007
Tomorrow we are going to have a full lineup of screen shots of Bionic Woman, and Wednesday a full review of the pilot episode. But to get you ready for all this, I thought I would give an outside source review for the pilot episode. This reviews comes from TVSquad.com and I think does a pretty good job of critiquing the first episode. So here is a small snippet of the review, for the rest please go support TVSquad with a visit.
The pilot episode did a great job to introduce all the shows main players that will be supporting Jamie in her transition to Bionic-womanhood. Little Lucy Hale, star of the upcoming Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (did they really need a sequel?), does a great turn as Jamie’s angsty hacker kid sister. The opening banter between them is pretty smart and realistic and she will be a great focus for Jamie’s emotional side (i.e. when she is not saving the world). Although, I can’t help but wonder how many time’s she will be captured or used as bait throughout the season … just remember you heard me call if first.
Also another good character to watch out for is Miguel Ferrer as Jonas Bledsoe, the highest ranking officer in the Bionics program revealed so far. Ferrer is the perfect stern leader with a troubled past who wants to complete his mission at any cost. Ferrer is probably most famous for his role as Dr. Garret Macy on Crossing Jordan, but I remember him as Bob Morton from Robocop (one of my favorite movie deaths ever).
Sans characters, plot, everything, Bionic Woman is still a surprisingly beautiful show. The cinematography and editing, as well as the pacing of the shots, are absolutely outstanding. Although there are shows on cable like Mad Men that have high, almost movie-like production values, it is very rare to see a show that looks this good on basic network television. The action and special effect sequences were also pretty top-notch, but a little shaky. To be fair, what I saw was the working version and the screener said the effect was only a temporary holder for the real effect that will air next Wednesday.
Written by Brenda on September 21st, 2007
Can you believe how fast the summer has flown by? It is next week that Bionic Woman premiers on NBC, and the wait will finally be over! To get you set for the big week next week, we have a video highlighting what to expect from the premiere of Bionic Woman! Thank you all for sticking with us this summer, and may we continue to be your #1 resource for all things Bionic Woman!
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Written by Brenda on September 19th, 2007
So NBC has been busy this summer, they got into a major feud with Apple and there iTunes service and no longer allow TV shows to be sold on iTunes which for many of us was a big blow. Then NBC went straight to Amazon to use there Unbox service to digital distribute there shows. However today NBC announced that they will be taking many of there shows online on there own website to be distributed free of charge, however with advertisements. The new service is called NBC Direct, and here is a snippet of the official press release from NBC.
NBC.com today announced the launch of its new service, “NBC Direct,” which will allow users to download and view NBC’s popular primetime and late-night entertainment programming on their desktops for up to one week after broadcast. This new feature provides yet another platform on which fans will be able to enjoy NBC Entertainment content. The announcement was made by Vivi Zigler, Executive Vice President, NBC Digital Entertainment.
“With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment,” said Zigler. “Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience.”
The first version of this new feature, which will begin beta testing in October, will allow users to download full length episodes for viewing on Windows based PCs. Each original episode will be licensed to users for viewing through “NBC Direct” for one week following broadcast and will then expire. The downloaded file will provide users with an improved overall viewing experience compared to traditional streaming video. The list of programs available at launch will include “Heroes,” “The Office,” “Life,” “Bionic Woman,” “30 Rock,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Written by Brenda on September 18th, 2007
We have been hitting this tune a few times this summer, in anticipation of the upcoming premiere of Bionic Woman, but this is one of the more interesting articles on the subject. The idea of the article from the Kane County Chronicle is to look at the transition from reality TV to fantasy TV with shows like Heroes, Lost, and the upcoming re-make Bionic Woman. It is so interesting to see the trends of television, in the past we have seen more and more reality shows, those started fading, and now we are seeing a lot of the new shows with more of a comic book or super powers to them.
It is interesting to see this new sci-fi trend which is sweeping across all networks, especially that of NBC which has its full lineup on Monday of super power, sci-fi genre shows as well as with Bionic Woman the remake of the 1970’s classic. It should be interesting to see if this trend continues, and if Bionic Woman can reap off of the success of the genre.