Six Million Dollar Man: Burning Bright

"Burning Bright" is the eleventh episode of season one of the sci-fi/action series The Six Million Dollar Man. This episode was directed by Jerry London and written by Del Reisman. It first aired on ABC on Friday, April 12th, 1974. In this episode, an astronaut named Josh Lang, a friend and colleague of Steve Austin's comes back from a spacewalk after suffering from a strange, electrical charge. Steve notices that Josh is acting extremely peculiar, but things grow more intense as Austin learns that his friend has now developed increased psychokinetic abilities, including the power to mentally control the minds of dolphins and human beings. As his mental condition continues to deteriorate however, Steve must find a way to restrain him for his own protection.

Notes & Trivia

 * Production code number: 40020


 * First sci-fi work for director Jerry London. Jerry will go on to direct five more episodes of the series as well as the "Canyon of Death" episode of The Bionic Woman. His next episode is the season two premiere "Nuclear Alert".


 * The character of Josh Lang is played by veteran Star Trek actor William Shatner. Series star Lee Majors and Shatner will reunite thirty-seven years later as rivals against one another in the "Well Suitored" episode of the sitcom series $#*! My Dad Says.


 * First sci-fi appearance for actress Anne Schedeen. Anne will go on to play a character named Milly Wilson in "The Jailing of Jaime" episode of The Bionic Woman. She will also be a regular cast member on the 1980s sci-fi sitcom ALF, where she will play the role of family matriarch Kate Tanner.


 * Tonaly, this episode is very similar to the season one episode of Star Trek entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Aside from both episodes featuring William Shatner, they also both explore the plot device of a man given great power after being exposed to intense electromagnetic radiation. In Star Trek, the man's name was Gary Mitchell and he was played by Gary Lockwood. In each episode, both men are forced into a conflict with their closest friend and die as a result of their growing power ultimately consuming them. In both episodes, the men are given "hero's" funerals.