lucy hale

Click photo to enlargeWill Yun Lee and Michelle Ryan in "The Bionic Woman."?1?To paraphrase the intro to "The Six Million Dollar Man," they could have rebuilt the "Bionic Woman." They had the technology. They could have made her better than she was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.
Instead, they made her stiffer, weaker and more deadly dull.
This new series based on the 1970s cult hit of a woman who gets bionic limbs after an accident is hardly a mechanically enhanced remake.
In fact, for a series that's supposed to have better special effects, more grounded acting and updated and realistic sensibilities from the 1976 original, it's amazing how it fails on nearly all levels.
British actress Michelle Ryan plays the new Jaime Sommers who, instead of a being a tennis pro as Lindsay Wagner was in the original, is a San Francisco bartender with a troubled little sister (Lucy Hale) living with her.
In the pilot, which airs tonight at 8 on KSL Channel 5, Jaime is involved in a car accident that damages her legs, right arm, an eye and an ear. Fortunately for her, Jaime's boyfriend is a secret surgeon for the military who has been working on bionic limb research. He decides to save her by disobeying orders and outfits her with the limbs and implants.
Unfortunately, a bionic woman created by the researchers a few years earlier ("Battlestar Galactica's" Katee Sackhoff) didn't take the new machinery well and went on a killing

rampage.
It also looks like the "evil" bionic woman caused the car crash that injured Jaime in the first place.
The most obvious problem with the series is that the acting is one-dimensional, especially from Ryan, who should exhibit more initial regret and fear in getting new limbs that can crush metal.
The writing, which has characters lapsing into way too many metaphorical diatribes, is lifeless and unimaginative. And worst of all, the special effects that show off Jaime's speed and agility are laughably bad. (The 1970s intro for "The Six Million Dollar Man," which showed Steve Austin running along a fence, was much better.)
Yes, these women can kick butt, and for science fiction/comic fanboys, watching such physical specimens duke it out in leather pants and with rain-slicked skin is the ultimate fantasy. But where's the suspense if the only decent fight Jaime gets into the whole season is with the one person in the world with similar add-ons?
"Bionic Woman" could have been the kind of "Alias"/"Buffy" science fiction series that did something fresh in the genre. Instead, these upgrades to the show's mystique are anything but bionic.
Tonight, one of the fall's most highly anticipated shows, NBC's Bionic Woman, debuts. Playing the part of the Bionic Woman's younger sister, Becca Sommers, is Lucy Hale. The part was originally given to Mae Whitman but producers decided to recast and revamp the character before the show premiered. Hale first made her television debut at the age of nine of the show, American Juniors, and made it to the final five. Since then, she has appeared in shows such as Drake and Josh, The OC, and How I Met Your Mother. Her big break came when she was cast on Bionic Woman and today, she took time to talk to BuddyTV about tonight's premiere episode.



Hi, this is Gina from BuddyTV and I'm talking to one of the stars of NBC's Bionic Woman, Lucy Hale. Hey, good morning Lucy, how are you?

Hi! Good, how are you?


I'm good, thanks. Now I was reading in your bio online that the first time we saw you on TV was on American Juniors, is that right?

That's right!


Did you actually grow up singing and dancing and doing more of a musical theater background?

I actually have never done musical theater. I grew up singing, I took voice lessons and took some acting classes.


And was that experience of being on that show when you were so young, was that a good experience?

Yeah, I mean, I still consider it the best summer of my life so far. It's what forced me, to move out, well not force me but made me want to move out to LA. It was the first time I'd be out to LA and I got to see everything and I convinced my mom to come out for pilot season and do some auditions.


You have gotten to do some TV since American Juniors, but Bionic Woman is by far the most high profile thing you've done. What's it like to be part of something that's so highly anticipated?

It's really exciting. I still really cant believe it, I'm pinching myself. We all think we've got a good show on our hands and I'm working with some great people, great producers, great writers, and Michelle [Ryan] who plays Bionic Woman, is also great as well.


Now they revamped your character, can you talk a little bit about the changes that they made to Becca?

Becca, yeah, they just wanted her to be a little more typical teenager. They just wanted it to be a little lighter. My character, she's kind of witty, she kind of brings humor into some situations.


And your character is an up and coming hacker, right?

Yes, she knows all there is to know about computers.


Are you actually good with computers in life or is that more something your character does?

Ah, I'm alright. I wouldn't say I'm too bad, but definitely not hacker material.


The show is full of action. Will we see you doing any stunts or any action scenes?

I still don't even… I really hope so, because I've never done a stunt before. As of right now, I don't do any, unless they're not telling me anything. Hopefully!


Now, you're also in the upcoming movie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 right?

Right.


Can you talk a little bit about your character from the movie?

Yeah. I play… in the first one, there's four girls and one of the girls is Lena, played by Alexis Bledel, and I play her sister, Effie. Girls might be familiar with her if they read the books, she has a big part in the movie, she does something pretty crazy that changes the outcome.


It seems like suddenly things are really picking up for you.

They are. It's all going really fast. I've been out in LA for three years now, and things are happening and I'm really grateful.


Leading up to Bionic Woman, had you been trying out for lots of different pilots each year?

Oh my gosh, dozens and dozens and dozens. But, this one really stuck out to me, that's why it was such an honor to be in this, the remake of a hit show.


Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, there's got to be people who are partial to the original. What's different about the revamped version?

It's a lot more modern. Basically the only similarities are the name Jamie Sommers, and her bionic powers � she's got the hearing, the seeing, the arm, the leg. But how she obtains these powers is different, because she's not in a parachute accident, that's how she… I haven't seen the original but from what I hear, but that's how she got the powers in the original, but in this one she's in a car accident. And they added some characters, me, which there wasn't a sister originally. And it's a bit different, people who have seen the original will find it a bit different.


What can we look forward to tonight from your character on the premiere?

My character, well, so, Jamie Sommers, her going through the whole Bionic world, and then she comes home to me, which is another problem, because I complain a bit in this episode, I'm a little bit angry. I'm just your average teenager who thinks the world revolves around her, I guess.


Well, everyone at BuddyTV is so excited to watch tonight, and I just wanted to wish you good luck, and we can't wait to see it.

Thank you very much, take care.