The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978)

The show's final season would run for 21 episodes from Fall 1977 to Spring 1978. With its sister show, The Bionic Woman moved to NBC, there would be no further joint appearances between the two lead characters (though at least one NBC Bionic Woman episode, "The Bionic Dog", references Steve in dialogue). However, in a situation that as of 2014 remains unique in American television, Richard Anderson and Martin E. Brooks continued to appear as Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells in both series, despite the shows airing on competing networks. The final season would visit the moon and bring back Bigfoot, Death Probe and sport a cameo by Steve Austin creator Martin Caidin. After losing the mustache late in Season Four, Steve loses the parted hair in Season Five in favor of a mod-for-the-time perm. Nonetheless, the opening credits remained unchanged from Season 4 - the only time the opening stayed consistent for more than one season - retaining the 1973-era images of Majors. With a total of five two-parters (six in syndication when a two-hour episode was reedited), the final season sets a record for over half its episodes being extended narratives- not to mention the legacy behind “Bigfoot V” and “Return of Death Probe”. Replacing Lionel E. Siegel and Alan Balter as producer would be Fred Freiberger (of Star Trek's and Space: 1999's final seasons) alternating with Richard H. Landau.

The season remembered for Steve's infamous mustache would feature two full-blown crossover epics with The Bionic Woman, starting with the shows’ joint premiere, “The Return of Bigfoot” and culminating in the three-part adventure “Kill Oscar”. Running for 22 episodes during the Fall of 1976 to the Spring of 1977, Season Four would wind up edging out Season Two for the most episodes in syndication. Season Four would introduce what would perhaps be Steve’s last great nemesis, the Death Probe. A Bionic Boy would be created. The show intro would see its final revision, with Martin E. Brooks joining Lee Majors and Richard Anderson (who would gain a new shot of himself on the red phone) in the opening credits, but would remain otherwise the same, Steve's new look not being included in the revised credits. Austin's/Major's mustache would not survive to the end of the season, being shaved off towards its end, though not before starting to tentatively appear on some merchandise, including an issue of the Six Million Dollar Man comic book and a lunchbox. After nearly a year of turmoil after the passing of Oliver Nelson, the show would settle down musically for Season 4 with veteran composer J. J. Johnson, who would lend the year a distinctive sound, and also revive a number of Nelson's earlier compositions for the show in episodes like The Thunderbird Connection and The Infiltrators. Replacing Producer Kenneth Johnson (who would continue on The Bionic Woman in that capacity) was returning producer Lionel E. Siegel, who would be joined later in the season by Alan Balter, but unlike the producing teams of the first 2 seasons, Siegel and Balter would alternate. For reasons that have been lost to the years, broadcast of the season finale episode, "The Ghostly Teletype", was separated from the rest of the season by a hiatus of two months.

The third season of The Six Million Dollar Man was a period of major change for the show, running for 21 episodes from the Fall of 1975 to the Spring of 1976. Jaime Sommers would return and gain her own series, while Martin E. Brooks would replace Alan Oppenheimer (who would nevertheless reprise the role one last time this season) as Dr. Rudy Wells and what may be the series’ most famous episode would air, The Secret of Bigfoot. A slight alteration to the mix would be the only change to the show intro, while Steve's bionic sounds would add a few new ones for jumping. Both Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner would appear on one another's shows six times after her appearance in the premiere (for a complete list of joint appearances, refer to the Crossovers article). Tragedy would strike the show in late October 1975 as series composer Oliver Nelson passed away suddenly of a heart attack. The show continued to use music composed by Nelson throughout the Season, but as time wore on, new material was exhausted. Reuse, or "tracking" of Nelson's Season 3 work was done for some remaining episodes. After several new composers were hired later in the Season, beginning with "The White Lightning War," the show would settle on J. J. Johnson the following Season, but Nelson's theme and musical legacy would continue to guide the show's music for the remainder of its run. Replacing producers Lionel E. Siegel and Joe L. Cramer would be Kenneth Johnson, the creator of The Bionic Woman. Siegel would return, however, to produce “The Wolf Boy" and others before resuming full-time producing the following year. Recurring characters introduced would be Dr. Michael Marchetti, and the legendary Sasquatch (Bigfoot) with his alien masters. Returning would be Barney Hiller (formerly Miller) and Kuroda as well as Steve's parents.