The Six Million Dollar Man

I saw today that 'The Six Million Dollar Man' series is out on DVD.  I loved that show!  "Steve Austin, a man barely alive.  We can rebuild him.  Make him better, faster, stronger..." Cue the music.  What a great show.  I distinctly remember laying on the living room floor, my Dad reclined in his favorite chair, my little brother and sister off to bed, while Steve found himself embroiled in some new danger or conflict.

I even watched the Bionic Woman for a while, but sadly when they started with the family and the dog, even I at a young age found it lame.  Bionic dog.  What the F?

Television in the 70's sure was different back then.  Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, The Wonderful World of Disney, Laugh In, just to name a few.  These are memories from my childhood and it's almost laughable now to think that I used to get in trouble on Saturday nights if Mom caught me up late watching this new show called Saturday Night Live.  It was not appropriate my mother would say.  I'm sure that was part of the appeal.

SNL is still inappropriate but I love the show anyway.

I don't know why I chose to ramble on about this today, maybe I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, or maybe I feel like my kids are getting ripped off because they don't get to enjoy the same things I did as a kid.  I'm sure they would feel the old Six Million Dollar Man was a loser show or boring, but to me, it wasn't just about the content of the show.  It was about the time I got to spend with my Dad, even though I didn't realize it at the time.

Cell phones, the Internet, school, travel teams, my job, all these things represent a lifestyle that I'm still not sure has improved.  Kids just don't get to be kids anymore.  Hell, I used to leave my house in the morning, be gone all day playing and come home for dinner.  We would never let that go on now.  Too many dangers out there.

I remember watching Steve Austin and his bionic parts and thinking the future would hold so much promise and life would be so cool as science and medicine advanced, improving our lives and making the world a better place.  I don't think we've achieved that.  I wonder if we've actually made it worse.  Time will only tell.