I admit Lee Majors was good for the role.
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hotsummerday — 10 years ago(June 20, 2015 07:55 PM)
I don't think Lee Majors as a jerk or moron. He had a dream of him working with Farrah Fawcett-Majors as majors stars spending intimate times together on movie sets without worrying not seeing each other for a long period. I am sorry for Lee and Farrah had their dreams crushed by studios.
The original poster was correct in details of what had happening, but I don't believe Lee or Farrah is a jerk. -
lwboho — 10 years ago(July 21, 2015 09:51 AM)
Just to add a bit to the discussion. Lee was "old fashioned", he wanted his then Wife (Farrah) to be home at supper time. In fact he lobbied in her contract on Charlie's to have her work hours cut so she could be home.
I don't begrudge him for holding out for money, after-all the show was an international hit, and who knows how much was being made on merchandising. Many stars have gotten screwed on residuals and syndication money.
On another note I have read he was a bit "difficult" and somewhat arrogant on his first series The Big Valley, but was quickly "shown the ropes" by the seasoned and lovely Miss Barbara Stanwyk. -
elvisforever-633-689384 — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 11:40 AM)
A friend of Farrahs and Lee said that the idea for Farrah to leave the set early was totally Farrah's idea as she hated the show and eventually wanted out of the show to do movies. But yes Lee did want a woman to spend more time at home which he now has. Universal said they were not making any money on merchandising and Lee sued them because he was suppose to get 15% of merchandising and felt they were not being honest and in a recent interview he said there were other actors doing the same thing with that studio. Lee was not difficult on the Big Valley show Barbara was. Lee is a very self confidant person and she thought that was arrogant. Nobody other then her has ever called him arrogant but hes no wimp and will stand up for what he believes in. Peter Breck stated in some articles he wrote that he and Lee and Richard always got along great and had no problems but though he admired Barbara a lot she had a bad temper. Barbara did help Lee learn some things but I think mostly that is overstated
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elvisforever-633-689384 — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 11:44 AM)
No he did not have a dream of him and Farrah working together and in fact when offered a movie to work together he said no. Farrah wanted a career and Lee did everything he could to give her what she wanted and then she wanted the career more then she wantedh him and left. Ryan O'Neal was the worst mistake of her life
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censorshipsucks06 — 10 years ago(September 20, 2015 10:12 PM)
Interesting. I hadn't heard some of this. I do remember hearing/reading, even back in the 70's, that Majors wasn't keen on The Bionic Woman spinoff, but not to the extent you listed here. Afterwards though, when they did "The Bionic Boy" episode, he was not thrilled. And I also remember when they gave Jamie a "Bionic Dog" named Max, he told the studio that if they watered this subject matter any further with more absurd Bionic characters that he'd quit.
I will agree that the production values of the final season, and the overall quality, went into the crapper. The show had run it's course, but it also had one other major issue - Fred Freiberger. This guy was the Kiss of Death for TV shows. He presided over Star Trek TOS's terrible Season 3, where, coincidentally, production values went into the crapper. Then he did the same with Space 1999. Admittingly, SPACE 1999 was no classic. But Freidberger did his usual job of making things worse. The guy has his supporters, but IMO, his track record, which sucks, speaks for itself.
The final season of TSMDM feels like a shred of it's former self. Even the music score didn't feel right (and the same with the scores for TOS's last season). The tone just felt different.
It's a shame because I think both TSMDM and TBW both could have lasted a few more seasons. -
elvisforever-633-689384 — 10 years ago(November 30, 2015 09:10 PM)
When will you people learn no to believe everything you read in the internet. The gentleman that brought up Lindsay's salary has the story right as it was all about money but there were other things going on. Lee was having problems with Universal as they made many promises and never kept any of them and he was glad when it was over and as for Lindsay they remain close friends today. Would also like to add that Universal in Lee's mind broke their contract with him about residuals and he had them in court for many years. I believe that Lindsay to was glad when her show was over because of problems with Universal
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lwboho — 10 years ago(January 13, 2016 08:07 AM)
Say what you will about his troubles with Universal, but he did come back to do a series called.wait for it, The Fall Guy with Glen "i've been know to steal others ideas" Larson. This of course this after his short and uneventful movie career Norseman, Last Chase, Agency need i go on!?
Don't quote me, but wasn't that produced by Universal? -
elvisforever-633-689384 — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 11:30 AM)
No it was not it belongs to Fox and yes he made some bad movies a lot of actors do. He said he could not shake the image of Steve Austin for the rest of his career and even Lindsay Wagner said she knew that doing the bionic woman ruined a possible movie career
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lwboho — 9 years ago(January 03, 2017 01:25 PM)
It is simply the choices one makes. Both Majors and Wagner(the Paper Chase) had been in films prior to television roles. Back then it wasn't as easy to switch from one medium to another as it is today within Hollywood. Yes they were typecast or "pidgeon holed" to a certain degree. Majors had clout and tried to makes films albeit via his own production co.
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elvisforever-633-689384 — 10 years ago(November 30, 2015 09:10 PM)
When will you people learn no to believe everything you read in the internet. The gentleman that brought up Lindsay's salary has the story right as it was all about money but there were other things going on. Lee was having problems with Universal as they made many promises and never kept any of them and he was glad when it was over and as for Lindsay they remain close friends today. Would also like to add that Universal in Lee's mind broke their contract with him about residuals and he had them in court for many years. I believe that Lindsay to was glad when her show was over because of problems with Universal
