Another WizWorld Austin has come and gone! This year’s was great too. It finally had a gauntlet of people I wanted to see, meet, have photos with and get autographs of. Then comes the buying of crap but on the upside, I also find cool things for friends: toys, shirts, whatever.
Firstly though, I got to meet a childhood hero of mine. Lee Majors. In the Sixties he was in some Western show called The Big Valley so my parents knew him from that. In the Seventies, he was the star of The Six Million Dollar Man. Every week Lee was Col. Steve Austin, an astronaut who was in a horrible accident. Through technology (aka cybernetics), Steve was brought back to life with a new bionic eye, right arm and both legs. Then he was made an operative for the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence), a less odious espionage/counter-intelligence agency. We didn’t get into the show until about half-way through its run due to our age. My brother and I did have the cool toys from Kenner. In the Eighties, Lee re-invented himself in another series we watched on ABC called The Fall Guy. The premise of a stuntman supplementing his income chasing down bail jumpers was plausible. I’d say it gave birth to some reality shows.
I got to speak to him and tell him about how he used to be my hero as a little kid, namely how I campaigned for him as president against the Fonz in Cub Scouts. There was a cool kid in my den who got everyone else to follow him with the Fonz, but I wouldn’t budge and with the help of the other five dens, Col. Austin prevailed!
Overall, Lee was a cool guy who is enjoying a minor comeback playing Ash’s dad in Bruce Campbell’s ongoing show on Starz.
There he is as Col. Steve Austin in his trademark red jumpsuit!