Updated: October 08, 2025

The Six Million Dollar Man is an American science fiction and action adventure television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After being seriously injured in a NASA test flight crash, Austin is rebuilt ( At considerable expense, hence the title of the series ) with bionic implants that give him superhuman strength, speed and vision. Austin is then employed as a secret agent by a fictional U.S. government office titled OSI. The series was based on Martin Caidin's 1972 novel Cyborg, which was the working title of the series during pre-production.

Following three television films intended as pilots, which all aired in 1973, The Six Million Dollar Man television series aired on the ABC network as a regular episodic series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s.