The Six Million Dollar Man
In 1975, a two-part episode entitled "The Bionic Woman", written for television by Kenneth Johnson, introduced the lead character Jaime Sommers (played by Lindsay Wagner), a professional tennis player who rekindled an old romance with Austin, only to experience a parachuting accident that resulted in her being given bionic parts similar to Austin. Ultimately, her body "rejected" her bionic hardware and she died. The character was very popular, however, and the following season it was revealed that she had actually survived, having been saved by an experimental cryogenic procedure, and she was given her own spin-off series, "The Bionic Woman". This spin-off ran until 1978 when both it and "The Six Million Dollar Man" were simultaneously cancelled, though the two series were on different networks when their final seasons aired.
Evel Knievel
Knievel made several television appearances, including frequently as a guest on talk shows such as "Dinah!" and Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". In 1977, Evel made a guest spot on "The Bionic Woman", where he played himself, getting inadvertently caught up in East German espionage while appearing in West Germany. Actual footage from Evel's L.A. Coliseum jump over crushed cars was used in the beginning of the episode, and an indoor jump over 11 cars and 1 van was used at the end of the show. Also in 1977, Warner Bros. released "Viva Knievel!" This movie starred Knievel as himself and co-starred Lauren Hutton, Gene Kelly and Red Buttons. Similar to "The Bionic Woman," actual footage from the Wembley jump was used in the movie. In addition, the 1999 children's TV series "Hilltop Hospital" featured a character based on Knievel called Weasel Kneasel, who was the focus of an episode of the same name.