Bionic Six
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bionic Six was an animated television series from the 1980s produced by TMS Entertainment and distributed by Studios USA and MCA Television.
The main character, 'Bionic-1', was a machine-enhanced human being using bionic technology, much like The Six Million Dollar Man. On one of Bionic-1's missions, his family had traveled with him and got buried alive under radioactive snow. The only way to save them was for Professor Sharp to implant bionic components. Each of the family members was given a specific Bionic Power, and they formed a team called the Bionic Six.
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[edit] Characters
The Bennett family included Jack, Helen, Eric, Meg, JD, and Bunji. Each member wore a special ring and a wristcomp (a mini-computer hardwired into the wrist), which they used to activate their Bionic Powers.
- Jack was a test pilot who enjoyed cooking. His codename was 'Bionic-1' and his powers included super sight, optic beams and enhanced hearing. He was voiced by John Stephenson.
- 'Mother-1' was the codename of Jack's wife, Helen, and she possessed psychic powers. She could also create optical illusions/holograms. She was voiced by Carol Bilger.
- Eric was the athletic, blonde son. His codename was "Sport-1" and his power was electromagnetics. He could attract or repel metallic objects with tremendous force. This force was directional and by varying the shape of his hands or using one or two arms, Sport-1 could adjust the strength of attraction/replusion. He frequently used a baseball bat. He was voiced by Hal Rayle.
- Jack & Helen's only daughter was Eric's twin sister, Meg, a somewhat ditzy girl who loved music. Her codename was "Rock-1" (as in 'rock and roll') and she could shoot sonic beams from out of her shoulders. She could also run at incredible speeds (even faster than the rest of the team). She was voiced by Bobbi Block.
- JD was Jack & Helen's adopted, intelligent African-American son. He enjoyed boxing. His codename was "IQ" and he had super-strength and super-intelligence. (JD was the only member with a codename that didn't include the number 1.) He was voiced by Norman Bernard.
- The last Bennett, Bunji, was Jack & Helen's foster son. He was placed under their guardianship after his own father disappeared. Bunji was a cute, but troublemaking, Asian-American karate enthusiast. His codename was "Karate-1" and he had martial arts skills and speed (made more formidable with his bionics). He was voiced by Brian Tochi.
- FLUFFI, the Gorilla robot made by Professor Sharp, that lived with the Bennetts. He looks a little dumb, but is a cute robot helping the Bionic Six during crucial moments.
Professor Sharp - Professor Amadeus Sharp was the genius scientist who infused the Bionic Six with bionics. All of his research was supported by the government. He lived alone in his private museum; which beneath held his secret laboratory, the hidden base of the Bionic Six. He was also Scarab's brother. He was voiced by Alan Oppenheimer.
[edit] Antagonist
Like any great superheroes, the Bionic Six had an archenemy in the form of Dr. Scarab (AKA Dr. Wilmer Sharp, Amadeus Sharp's brother), a large and evil man who yearned for the secret to eternal life. He assembled a rag-tag team of ex-convicts and psychiatric patients and gave them bio-mechanical powers. He was voiced by Jim MacGeorge.
1. Glove - Named for his blaster glove. He always schemed to replace Dr. Scarab. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
2. Mechanic - A dimwitted, brutish type man who used various mechanical tools as weapons. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
3. Chopper - A chain-wielding thug who always sounded as though he were revving up a motorcycle. He was voiced by Frank Welker.
4. Madame O - A femme fatale who wore a full face mask and used a "harp" weapon to fire sonic blasts. She was voiced by Jennifer Darling.
5. Klunk - An inarticulate monstrosity that appeared to be made of living glue. He was voiced by John Stephenson.
Whenever Scarab and his team were disguised and felt ready to remove their disguises, they slammed their fists to their chests, exclaiming "Hail Scarab!" (Scarab, however, exclaimed, "Hail me!").
In addition to his henchmen, Scarab also used robots, which he called Zyphrons, in his fight against the Bionic Six.
[edit] Episode List
[edit] Season 1 (Spring 1987)
- Valley of Shadows (19 April 1987)
- Enter the Bunji (19 April 1987)
- Eric Bats a Thousand (26 April 1987)
- Klunk in Love (26 April 1987)
- Radio Scarab (3 May 1987)
- Family Affair (3 May 1987)
- Happy Birthday, Amadeus (10 May 1987)
- Brain Food (10 May 1987)
- Just a Little Handicap (17 May 1987)
- Bionics On! The First Adventure (17 May 1987)
- Back to the Past (1) (24 May 1987)
- Back to the Past (2) (24 May 87)
- Fugitive F.L.U.F.F.I. (31 May 1987)
- Nick of Time (31 May 1987)
- Youth or Consequences (7 June 1987)
- Extra Innings (7 June 1987)
- Return of the Bunji (14 June 1987)
- Crown of the Scarab King (14 June 1987)
- 1001 Bionic Nights (21 June 1987)
- The Perceptor File (21 June 1987)
- Masterpiece (28 June 1987)
- House Rules (28 June 1987)
[edit] Season 2 (Fall 1987)
- Holidaze (8 September 1987)
- Nightmare at Cypress Cove (9 September 1987)
- Music Power (10 September 1987)
- The Hive (11 September 1987)
- Mindlink (14 September 1987)
- I Compute, Therefore I Am (15 September 1987)
- Pass/Fail (16 September 1987)
- Born to Be Bad (17 September 1987)
- A Clean Slate (1) (18 September 1987)
- A Clean Slate (2) (21 September 1987)
- Spin Out (22 September 1987)
- The Man in the Moon (23 September 1987)
- The Case of the Baker Street Bionics (24 September 1987)
- Now You See Me... (25 September 1987)
- Crystal Clear (28 September 1987)
- You've Come a Long Way, Baby! (29 September 1987)
- Up and Atom (30 September 1987)
- Home Movies (1 October 1987)
- Scarabscam (2 October 1987)
- Kaleidoscope (5 October 1987)
- Once Upon a Crime (6 October 1987)
- Mrs. Scarab (7 October 1987)
- The Secret Life of Wellington Forsby (8 October 1987)
- The Fungus Among Us (9 October 1987)
- Bottom of the Ninth Planet (12 October 1987)
- Triple Cross (13 October 1987)
- I, Scarab (1) (14 October 1987)
- I, Scarab (2) (15 October 1987)
- Scabracadabra (16 October 1987)
- The Glitch (19 October 1987)
- A Matter of Gravity (20 October 1987)
- The Elemental (21 October 1987)
- I Am the Viper (22 October 1987)
- Shadow Boxer (23 October 1987)
- Call of the Bunji (2 November 1987)
- A Super Bunch of Guys (3 November 1987)
- The Monkey Has Landed (4 November 1987)
- Ready, Aim, Fired (5 November 1987)
- Love Note (6 November 1987)
- Bone of Contention (9 November 1987)
- Junk Heap (10 November 1987)
- The Return of Mrs. Scarab (11 November 1987)
- That's All, Folks! (12 November 1987)
[edit] The Action Figures
Produced by LJN in 1986, the line cosisted of 13 figures, five vehicles and one playset. These figures and vehicles were made up of plastic and die-cast metal with some of the figures having see through limbs. F.L.U.F.F.I. the robot ape was hard to find early in the series's release, but was easy to come by later on as the line lost popularity. Today, the line remains moderately collectable with the playset and vehicles being the hardest to come across.
[edit] Trivia
- In Germany, most of the family's codenames were changed. Mother-1 became Bionic-2, Rock-1 became Rocky, Sport-1 became Baseball and Karate-1 became Kamikaze. Bionic-1 and I.Q. stayed the same.
Alan Oppenheimer, the actor who provided the voice for Professor Sharp, was the first (of two) to play Dr. Rudy Wells in the The Six Million Dollar Man TV series.
Jennifer Darling (Madame O's voice) played Peggy Callahan (Mr. Goldman's assistant) in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series.
In the episode "I, Scarab: Part 2" Professor Sharp forms a new Bionic Six, created entirely from guest stars on other episodes. They are Kaleidoscope (a bionic thief who once battled the team), Perceptor (a blind bionic superhero) and Heavy Metal (four bionic robots that traveled as a rock group). After rescuing the Bionic Six from Scarab, they actually became the Bionic Twelve.
