Why no Six Million Dollar Man Cartoon in the 70's

[kennermike]

I was thinking the other day why this never happend .I would have loved a Filmation series.like what they did was Trek in 1974.They could have taken the character and given him so many adventures outside of earth since he was an astronut. the Budget contrains of live action tv would not have been a an issue in animation form

[Spyweb007]

It seems most of those animated shows came after the live action shows had been cancelled, but the Six Million Dollar Man ran for a long time back then. I would have loved an animated show though.

[jds1911a1]

the Emergency+4 animated show ran while the main show was still on but it was a failure (emergency ran 7 seasons while the animated show ran 4 and 2 of those were 100% reruns)
(1973)
(1973) - Episode list

I suspect the producers felt that with 6mdm and bionic woman a 3rd spinff animation would have been overload

[shazam7208]

An animated series on the SMDM and BW would have been great! Now that you've mentioned it, I really wish they had made them!

[david_b]

One reason I can see straight off, is that there's really nothing flamboyant about Lee Major's portrayal. He was very low-key in his acting, which was well-done, but that approach probably wouldn't have lent itself to an animated series.. Plus he wasn't part of a strong ensemble (besides Oscar..), so he's have to be paired with Jamie for starters..

Knowing Filmation, they'd have to put him in space, like Gilligan's Isle, Brady Kids, Partridge Family, or the Happy Days gang.., give him a bunch of cute kids (like Mr. T..) or talking pets, etc...

Just my opinion.

david_b

[AAAAA]

Dynomutt and blue falcon had a parody of the Steve on there show.

[palitoy]

Knowing Filmation, they'd have to put him in space, like Gilligan's Isle, Brady Kids, Partridge Family, or the Happy Days gang.., give him a bunch of cute kids (like Mr. T..) or talking pets, etc...

Filmation could play it straight (Tarzan, Star Trek, Lone Ranger) with licenses if they wanted too. More the exception than the rule but if they played it to the older kids, they usually turned the cutesy off.

I bet Majors didn't have a clause in his contract to do an animated show, it seemed like getting the original stars was a big deal then.

[kennermike]

Filmation could play it straight (Tarzan, Star Trek, Lone Ranger) with licenses if they wanted too. More the exception than the rule but if they played it to the older kids, they usually turned the cutesy off.

well said

[bobws]

I would have watched it.

[david_b]

Filmation could play it straight (Tarzan, Star Trek, Lone Ranger) with licenses if they wanted too. More the exception than the rule but if they played it to the older kids, they usually turned the cutesy off.

I bet Majors didn't have a clause in his contract to do an animated show, it seemed like getting the original stars was a big deal then.

Oh, I thought of both Ranger and Tarzan examples as well.. I didn't say it couldn't work. The extra income (and additional licensing) of an animated show would have been fine, I'm sure. Plus they easily could have gotten other actors to do the voices.

Other than 'The Brady Kids' ('72-'74), it probably would have been the only series with both live action and animated productions during the same timeframe back then.

david_b

[palitoy]

The only one I can think of is Emergency plus four, which centered around kids.

[Captain]

I havent seen the show in years, but I recall a bionic boy and wasnt there a dog too...Max? that would have been typical 70's toon fodder.

[mego73]

the Emergency+4 animated show ran while the main show was still on but it was a failure (emergency ran 7 seasons while the animated show ran 4 and 2 of those were 100% reruns)
(1973)
(1973) - Episode list

I suspect the producers felt that with 6mdm and bionic woman a 3rd spinff animation would have been overload

In the world of Saturday Morning TV back then, the plan for shows was usually for one season of 13 episodes that would be in rotation for a lot longer than one season. In other words, it was a more difficult proposition to get more seasons of a Saturday Morning show, then it would for an evening show because they repeat the shows much more on Saturday morning.

So, any Saturday Morning show that got more than one season made was considered an above average success.

[Spyweb007]

Maybe they couldn't do the slow motion "bionic" effect in animation without it looking choppy.