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| Production 45121 Original Airdate: October 3, 1976 | |||
 Episode Collage
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| Produced by Lionel E. Siegel | |||
| Teleplay by Jerry Devine | |||
| Directed by Phil Bondelli | |||
| Guest Cast | |||
| Guest Star(s) Simon Scott as Dr Barto | |||
| Special Guest Star(s) Flip Wilson as Billy Parker and African Prime Minister | |||
| Co-starring Mira L. Waters as Susan Rick Podell as Niko | |||
| With Jerome Guardino as 2nd Cab Driver Maryanne Kasica as Nurse Sandy Champion as Escort Borah Silver as Doorman | |||
| Broadcast Order | |||
| Season 4 | |||
| ← Previous | Next → | ||
| "Nightmare in the Sky" | "The Most Dangerous Enemy" | ||
Summary
Billy Parker is a second-rate comic who is unaware that an electronic instrument has been implanted in his head, through which a foreign power hostile to the public interests of the United States can manipulate his behavior by remote control. When the OSI learns of the situation, Steve Austin is assigned to pose as the comic's bodyguard to find out who implanted the device and why.
As it proves, Parker looks identical to the Prime Minister of the African republic of Vorzana. The Prime Minister is scheduled to make a speech before the U.N. in which he will announce that his nation is leaving the Soviet bloc and aligning with the West. But a man named Dr. Barto and his clients intend to kidnap the Prime Minister and replace him with Parker. Under the control of the implant, Parker will instead give the speech desired by Barto's clients — whose intended message is the opposite of the real Prime Minister.
Deconstructed
- This is Simon Scott's third appearance on the Six Million Dollar Man. He previously appeared as Dr. Samuel Abbott in "Operation Firefly." Before that, he played submarine skipper Captain Dawson in the TV movie Wine, Women, and War.
Novelization
Mike Jahn incorporated this storyline into his Six Million Dollar Man novel, International Incidents.
Trivia
- Oscar's new office makes its debut.
- Steve Austin also visited New York City in "The Pal-Mir Escort."
- In an establishing scene, stock footage of a New York City street at night shows a theatre. The movie listed on the marquee is from 1972, The Valachi Papers.
- Billy's prejudiced parrot joke (the punchline of which is never revealed) may be a reference to Monty Python's Parrot Sketch.
- Billy Parker's last line in the episode is "The devil made me do it!" This was Flip Wilson's trademark catchphrase. His best-known character, Geraldine Jones, often used the phrase. The title of Flip Wilson's 1970 comedy album was The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress. It won the 1970 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording.
Gaffes
Continuity
- The limo Steve and Oscar ride in after arriving in New York changes from a Cadillac to a Lincoln and back again.
- Steve says it's nearly midnight as his tests with Rudy continue. A short time later Oscar says their plane leaves for New York in 25 minutes, yet the plane takes off in broad daylight.
- In the scene where Steve is pushed into -- and then jumps out of -- the construction pit, Lee Majors' shoes are different than his stunt man's.
Nitpicks
- When Steve is skipping rope in Rudy's lab, he uses both arms to spin the rope at bionic speed.
- Steve and Oscar's plane lands in New York City, but the airstrip appears to be in a desert landscape with mountains in the background.
- The episode begins by establishing that Billy is identical to the African prime minister except for the mustache, yet later Oscar states that his team has been unable to identify any world leader that looks like Billy.
Gallery
