Tuned In: New 'Bionic Woman' goes from dark to lighter tone

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Last fall, American TV viewers soundly rejected dark-themed prime-time series. For this fall, there's a new emphasis on lighter, more optimistic fantasy shows with one glaring exception: NBC's dark re-imagining of "Bionic Woman" from a producer of the bleak "Battlestar Galactica" remake and a producer of last fall's dark drama flop "Kidnapped."

NBC Entertainment's new co-chairman Ben Silverman said he "wouldn't have made some of those dark shows," and he intends to lighten up "Bionic Woman."

"You're going to see it shift a little," he said. "We're going to play with some of the fact that it's fun to be bionic."

He defended the first episode's darker tone because it features the accident that leads Jaime Sommers (British newcomer Michelle Ryan) to the operation that makes her bionic.

"I am eager to play into the aspirational nature of this, like, 'Oh my God, what would it be like to be bionic?' I want every girl in America and every boy thinking, I want to date the Bionic Woman or I want to be the Bionic Woman."

At a press conference for the show yesterday, executive producer Jason Smilovic ("Kidnapped") said "Bionic Woman" will display more levels in future episodes. Executive producer David Eick ("Battlestar Galactica") disagreed with the widely held contention among the critics that, whether they liked it or not, the original pilot was pretty dark.

"This is the story of a woman coming of age and realizing her potential as a human being while realizing her potential as a hero," Eick said. "It is the Peter Parker ethos of the hero learning to be a hero while learning to be a human being. I think we all think of this as an uplifting show, though that doesn't mean Jaime will always make the right choices or that they won't hurt a little."

Portions of the pilot will be re-shot to incorporate a new actress in the reconceived role of Jaime's sister, who was initially deaf but will not be in the revised pilot.

Fans of the original "Bionic" series might be disappointed by the lack of a slow-motion "dun-dun-dun-dun-dun" sound effect when Jaime runs.

"I suppose if this was campy or retro, it would make sense to do that," Eick said. Instead, the role is being played "pretty straight" with an attempt to accentuate who she is rather than the eye candy of any effects.

Other elements of the original that have been cast aside: There's no Oscar Goldman, and a character named Steve Austin will not be introduced because producers do not have the rights to those names. Eick said Universal, which owns the rights, has plans to make a "Six Million Dollar Man" movie.

With the new "Bionic Woman," as with "Battlestar Galactica," it's a matter of taking "the nucleus of a great story" and finding a new way to tell it, Eick said.

"The original came about at a time when there was a great deal of discussion about the ERA movement, equal pay for equal work. Women's liberation was in the zeitgeist. It was the first television show where the female hero on the action show wasn't the wife of, girlfriend of or mother of the guy," he said. "The statement was very simple: See, women can do what men can do. I don't think we're talking about that anymore. ... Society has changed, and the questions asked are different."

But Eick is not fretting about a fan backlash this time around.

"I don't believe the core of the 'Bionic Woman' fan base is as rabid or certifiable as the 'Battlestar Galactica' core," Eick said, "So I'm not terribly worried about it."

Wednesday, July 18, 2007
By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette