"Burning Bright" | |
---|---|
Series The Six Million Dollar Man Season 1, Episode 11 | |
Air date | April 12th, 1974 |
Writers | Del Reisman |
Director | Jerry London |
Producers | Harve Bennett; Sam Strangis; Donald R. Boyle |
Starring | Lee Majors; Richard Anderson |
Episode guide | |
Previous "The Last of the Fourth of Julys" |
Next "The Coward" |
"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.
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Lee Majors | Colonel Steve Austin |
Richard Anderson | Oscar Goldman |
Guest Stars[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
William Shatner | Josh Lang |
Warren Kemmerling | Ted Haldane |
Co-Stars[]
Actor | Role |
---|---|
Quinn Redeker | Calvin Billings |
Rodolfo Hoyos | Ernesto Arruza |
Anne Schedeen | Tina Larson |
Joseph di Reda | 1st deputy |
Ron Stokes | 2nd M.P. |
Aaron Mitchell | 2nd deputy |
Chas. Floyd Johnson | 3rd M.P. |
Trent Dolan | Technician |
Mary Rings | Millie |
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".
- Stock footage of Steve testing out his bionics is taken from the 1973 television movie pilot The Six Million Dollar Man.
- The footage at the beginning of this episode is of Ed White's spacewalk during 1965 Gemini 4 mission. He was the first American to walk in space and was later killed in the Apollo 1 fire. [1]
- 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.
- Actress Mary Rings also appeared in the season two episode "Look Alike", playing a character named Molly.
See also[]
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Bionic Woman
External Links[]
References[]