On a recent lazy Saturday afternoon I was switching the television channels and happened upon a rerun of The Bionic Woman.
On this particular episode, Lisa, an imposter with a thick Southern accent who had just gotten out of plastic surgery to make her look exactly like the Bionic Woman (Lindsay Wagner, in a DUAL ROLE), posed as Jamie Sommers to carry out an intricate money-laundering plot. I say money laundering, because the climax of the episode took place in the laundry room of a hospital, where a crooked doctor had hidden a bunch of money. The Bionic Woman foiled the bad guys by using her bionic strength to hurl heavy bags of LAUNDRY at them. In a final confrontation with the doppelganger, she proved she was the real Jamie by using her bionic legs to jump all the way to the top of the high ceiling.
I narrated the episode to my wife, much to her delight (as you can imagine). “She’s going to use her super-hearing to open that combination lock . . . watch this, she’s getting ready to jump off that ledge with her bionic legs . . . look, she’s going to punch her bionic arm right through that wall . . . man, what a crush I had on her back in the day!”
Okay . . . maybe I didn’t verbalize that last statement. Sorry, honey.
The show was pure ‘70s-style cheesy entertainment, and it took me back down memory lane about 40 years (I’m dating myself) to battles with Fembots and other baddies.
Upon deeper thought about this episode—and I’m probably the only person who has ever had a deep thought about this episode—I realized there are many people in the world who would look down their nose at this type of entertainment. They don’t appreciate things like Fonzie jumping over a shark, Zsa Zsa Gabor selling cosmetics to the Facts of Life girls, and Laverne falling asleep at a cocktail party with Shirley dragging her across the room.
As a writer, and a Christian writer especially, I want to inspire people, but at least part of my job is to entertain. If you’ve been reading my corner of this blog any time at all, you would agree that I lean more toward that entertainment side most of the time. We’re all part of the body of Christ, and someone has to be the armpit that makes the funny noises.
Why not have some fun with your writing? Try something new and wild and crazy. You don’t necessarily have to write about Fembots and shark-jumping motorcyclists and mysterious identical twins with heavy Southern accents, but you can inject some smiley touches here and there.
In other words . . . pass the cheese, please.
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Carlton, I love your column. I remember that Bionic Woman episode. I loved her and The Six Million Dollar Man. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
You’re welcome, and thanks for the kind words. I love older shows like this one!
I think everybody likes certain kinds of cheesy entertainment, even if we don’t admit it. Like your said, as Christians, sometimes we need to be inspired and sometimes we just need to laugh, big, long, and loud.
Absolutely! Nothing like a big, long, loud laugh. Thanks for reading and commenting!