Hey folks, a couple of bits and pieces for you today:

Syfy Portal report that original BW series star Lindsay Wagner believes the “re-imagined” version is too violent:

“It’s very much like what the shows are today … kind of dark and broody and violent,” Wagner said. “It’s not at all what we were doing. We were doing a show for kids intentionally and making it fun in such a way that adults could enjoy it, too.”

It’s interesting that she would say that because personally I thought the series would be alot ‘darker’, especially after hearing Miguel Ferrer repeatedly say that “this isn’t your mom’s Bionic Woman”. But I guess from Wagner’s point of view the show is alot more violent than the original version that she starred in. What I like about this new version is the ‘comic-relief’ that has been incorporated over the past few episodes, in particular the Nathan / Jaime combination has added another dimension to the show, which has helped to balance the ‘gritty’ appeal with shades of ‘humour’.

This is interesting, apparently the use of the Apple iPhone in last weeks episode, “The List”, was all wrong – the wrong way around to be precise. Did you notice? Can’t say I did. I would have thought the powers that be would be water tight on the use of technological gadgets in the show, but maybe they were testing us to see whether we’re paying attention? We’re still watching guys, don’t worry! ; )

TV fodder give last weeks ‘List’ episode the thumbs up whilst comparing it to an episode of Mission Impossible. They suggest that the episode was helped by, what they call, the ‘dropping of dead weight’:

Personally, I think it was pretty good. The show seems to work a lot better when they drop all the dead weight, i.e. all the supporting characters like quiz-master Ruth, one-note Jae and Mr. YawnFest Isaiah Washington. The plot made sense and had a somewhat logical conclusion. The tone felt a lot like old Mission: Impossible episodes, which works for the format. The writers should definitely amp up the espionage portion of the show, and maybe team Jaime up only with new boyfriend Tom.

This is an interesting point – whilst I don’t consider Ruth, Jae or Antonio to be “dead weight”, I have been slightly frustrated with the under utilisation of Ruth (who deserves a far bigger role in my humble opinion) and the rather ‘one-tone’ use of Jae Lee, who often leaves me wondering what else Burket pay him for when he’s not taking Jaime ‘beyond the demo’. Don’t get me wrong, I like Jae..when he’s good, he’s really good. I’d just like to see these characters used in a more..whats the word? ..‘constructive’ way. Anyway, it’s good to see a positive review!

G4 TV have a rather funny Bionic Woman parody called “lesbionic” – check it out here.

Ryan over at WBW.com has a recap of Nathan’s  (“The Tech Guy”) -  performance in last weeks episode. Nathan is fast becoming one of my favourite characters and I take my hat off to Kevin Rankin!

That’s all for now – apologies for those of you waiting for the next Caption Contest, Episode Investigations and my review of “The List”. I’ve been especially busy this past week but I hope to have some more content up sometime on Tuesday. Cheers folks.

Wow..so perhaps Katee Sackhoff (Sarah Corvus) should be worried when they next meet for a face/off? Speaking of which, I wonder what fighting style will be used in the show itself? I was too busy with my mouth open to pay attention to the techniques adopted by Jaime and Corvus in that rooftop scene. Perhaps we’ll see some Krav Maga in the show itself, afterall bringing such a brutal discipline into the show should help with the realism-factor, which I think NBC are aiming for.

All this talk of ‘Krav Maga’ and roof-top fight scenes has actually reminded me of an interesting article I read earlier today which comments on the apparent return of strong woman to our TV screens. If Michelle and Katee are anything to go by they could well be right. From what Ive seen of the (pre-aired) Pilot, both of their characters (at times) displayed steel and strength. But what is strength..how can we quantify it? Personally I think that Corvus is without a doubt a strong lady – she’s been through a lot from what Ive seen and read. As for Jaime, in the space of one episode she’s goes from being vulnerable and pregnant to being vulnerable and kicking butt. Of course I don’t want to give too much away to those who haven’t seen the pre-aired Pilot (which has been re-shot by the way), but I find it interesting how she seemed to tread the fine line between strength and vulnerability ..even at this early stage. That’s something which I will be looking out for in the future episodes – how will she handle the changes that have been forced upon her? Will she embrace them or try to run away from who she is..who she has become..?

I wonder what Lindsay Wagner would make of the way the women look set to be portrayed in this new series? She is a cult icon, largely due to her portrayal of 1970′s Jaime Sommers. She helped bring women’s empowerment to the screen and I would imagine that alot of people gained strength and encouragement from that. It’s perhaps too early to compare Michelle with Lindsey, but you know it’s going to happen anyway.

As a series this new version will be alot grittier and strength will be depicted in different ways than it was 30 years ago – and well it might, the times has changed and so has technology and women. Let’s not forget the men in all of this – namely Dr. Will Anthros (Chris Bowers), who has come in for some almighty stick from what I’ve read online. The fans are bashing him because of what he does to Jaime in the first episode..but was his choice really that simple? I submit that sometimes we hold onto what is dear to us in any way that we can, but ultimately love always comes with sacrifice and Will, it would seem, is paying the price, as is Jaime..as is Corvus..as is Jae.

You can check out some sweet pictures of Jaime Sommers in combat in our Spoilers section! You can read up on Krav Maga here, and if you’re looking for some info on the 1970′s and current Bionic Woman you should check out Watching Bionic Woman, who have recently posted up some helpful quicklinks.

I find it interesting how the show has come full circle (to an extent), yet the despite the advancement of technology, the Bionic Woman is now much ‘darker’. Indeed, this is a reflection on the times we live in – although was the world really that much ‘safer’, ‘lighter’, ‘happier’ in the 1970′s (I don’t know firsthand, I wasn’t around then)? Do the times we live in require us all to be ‘better’, ‘faster’, ‘stronger’? I guess that’s something Jaime Sommers will have to find out – but what of the sacrifices? I mean there’s got to be sacrifices right? No ‘gift’ (or indeed curse?) comes without a cost.

How will Jaime fight the internal battle of woman Vs machine? As I’ve said before, I believe that these themes will be crucial in keeping the audience hooked. As Ryan  points out, the audience is alot different from the 1970′s viewers..heck, one year alone is a long time in TV land, so it will indeed be interesting to see how Eick and co. deal with, and present these themes to us.

Personally I think they have a GREAT concept on their hands..I just hope they don’t drop the ball – if they do i’ll suggest some Bionic repairs..;)

Anyway, you can catch more thoughts on the difference between the two versions here -and many thanks to Margie for the original headsup!