SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

So this is an awkward post. I like the Six Million Dollar man. Even now, I enjoy the cheese-filled crust of the show. It has one (actually two) iconic bits of sound design. The beep-beep-beep sound used to convey Steve Austin's bionic vision but the reason you're reading this post is because of the 'bionic man' sound used in the show to show Steve Austin utilizing the strength in his bionic right arm and both legs. If you don't know what sound I'm talking about...


A combination of a mechanical sound augmented with a lot of delay and feedback, the bionic sound is now an icon- only able to be used as a reference to this show (and of course its spin-off, The Bionic Woman). In the 70's, people perceptions of robots as mostly mechanical devices rather than electronic so the sound effects used sounded chunky as people would expect.
 For a short scene of Steve or Jaime Summers flexing their muscles, the sound words and works very well as a way to inform the audience the bionic implants are working but in scenes of extended bionic use, such as running fast (in slow-motion), the sound would often be played over and over again without really synchronising it to the on-screen action. This is the awkward bit. Watch any scene of his power being used for an extended period (such as the third video of Steve lifting a car or any scene of Steve running) and you'll see what I mean when i say it's actually a pretty good piece of sound design ruined by poor implementation.



 That said, it was used in hundreds of cartoons in the 70's and 80's, most notably by Hanna Barberra. It's so closely associated with this show (and of course its spin-off, The Bionic Woman) that most people will be surprised if they settle in to watch any episode from the Six Million Dollar Man's first season that the iconic sound is only heard once and that's made by another character.
 The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman were two incredibly popular series from the mid-70's, which no doubt helped popularise the 'bionic' sound effect.
 That's why it's funny when it is heard in a Ben Stiller movie (Mystery Men, Zoolander, etc). It's 2'10" into this clip.