A new "Bionic Woman" TV show is the works, bringing robotic body modification back to the airwaves.
British actress Michelle Ryan has been cast in the title role and filming on a pilot is supposed to begin in Canada.
So what's new? The cost of the character's, um, bionic-ization. It's reported to be $50 million.
The original Bionic Woman's outfitting cost less than the body mod on the $6 Million Man, according to Wikipedia:
Jaime's body is reconstructed with parts similar to Steve's [the $6M guy]. The actual cost of rebuilding her is not revealed but is said in dialogue to be less than the $6 million it cost to rebuild Austin because the replacement parts were smaller. (The German dub of the show contradicts this - the show is called The 7 Million Dollar Woman).
Like Steve Austin before her, Jaime is given two bionic legs, capable of propelling her at speeds exceeding 60 mph, and her right arm is replaced by a lifelike prosthetic capable of bending steel or throwing an object for a mile. Whereas Austin received a bionic eye, the inner mechanism of Jaime's right ear is replaced by a bionic device that gives her the ability to hear a whisper a mile away. These bionic implants cannot be distinguished from natural body parts, except on occasions where they sustain damage and the mechanisms beneath of plastiskin become exposed.
Meanwhile, if you're wondering about the original Bionic Woman, poor Lindsay Wagner has been reduced to hawking beds on late-night television. (Perhaps she's become the $1,000 Per Day Plus Expenses and a Limo Woman?)
Michelle is the Ryonic woman [The Sun]
