From TVGuide.com July 25, 2003. Reprinted without permission. MEET TV'S NEW BIONIC MAN by Daniel R. Coleridge Looks like The Six Million Dollar Man is making a comeback of sorts. AOL Broadband used the "Gentlemen, can rebuild him" theme in its recent ads. And this fall, UPN's Jake 2.0 stars Christopher Gorham as a cyborg government agent. Think of a modern-day Steve Austin, the bionic dude Lee Majors played in ABC's iconic 1974-78 TV series. Jake 2.0 is "The Six Million Dollar Geek," exec producer Silvio Horta told reporters at the Television Critics Assoc. press tour in Hollywood. See, like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Gorham's Jake goes from nerd to superboy when these microscopic robots called "nanites" accidentally get inside his body. Unlike Steve Austin's case, no yucky amputations and mechanical limb replacements are necessary. (Phew!) With his offbeat good looks, the 28-year-old Gorham is perfect to play likeable misfits. Remember him as Harrison on Popular and Felicity's Trevor? Chicks dig guys like that. But will Jake have to stay as pristine as other TV white knights, like Smallville's virginal Clark Kent? "No," laughed Jake's other exec producer, Gina Matthews. "I mean, he's a nerd, but not a virgin." Thanks to those nanites, Jake's a human remote control who can access any computer, but he's also juiced up with super strength and speed. Just how enhanced is he in the, um, intimate sense? "That's where our minds go," Matthews chuckled. "That is going to be a really fun episode, the sex episode. We are really looking forward to it. We have to be mindful of what we can and can't do on television. It's such a sensitive issue. What happens? He's really strong. He's got all these superpowers. What's going to happen in the sack? You'll just have to watch the show and see." |