Why I DON'T like Alan Moore's Superman tales

[dto]

The WWII predecessor of the CIA was the OSS, or Office of Strategic Services.  It was founded in 1942, and disbanded a month and a half after the war ended.  But almost immediately thereafter President Truman established the Central Intelligence Group, the immediate predecessor to the CIA.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services

By the way, while the Golden Age/Earth-2 Superman might not have worked with the OSS, I believe Wonder Woman did in the first seasons of the Lynda Carter TV series, and so did the Earth-2 Diana in the Wonder Woman comics published during the TV series run.

[nightwing]

For what it's worth, Wonder Woman worked for Army Intelligence in the first season (set in WWII), then in later seasons jumped ahead to the 70s, where she worked at the fictional Inter-Agency Defense Command.  There were plenty of fictional intelligence agencies around in the 70s, including Oscar Goldman's Office of Scientific Intelligence.  A pretty dumb name, but not as dumb as putting Steve Trevor in any job that involves "intelligence."

I think one of the reasons why the CIA had so many opponents early on is that it was set up in such a way that it doesn't really answer to anyone, be it the Pentagon, the President or Congress.  That was as scary a notion then as it is now. 

[MatterEaterLad]

Everytime I think of the WW II OSS I STILL get reminded of the "OSI", I had no idea the "Six Million Dollar Man" had that much influence on me...

[nightwing]

 

Everytime I think of the WW II OSS I STILL get reminded of the "OSI", I had no idea the "Six Million Dollar Man" had that much influence on me...

Face it, SMDM had a huge influence on anyone old enough to remember it.  To this day I still run in slow motion while making funny noises.  Granted, that has more to do with joint issues now, but in my heart I'm still Steve Austin!

Bring back leisure suits! 

[Aldous]

Everytime I think of the WW II OSS I STILL get reminded of the "OSI", I had no idea the "Six Million Dollar Man" had that much influence on me...

I just double-checked my dog-eared old copy of "Cyborg" to find that Steve as originally created worked for the OSO or Office of Special Operations.

The TV show did have a big influence on all of us. In its heyday it was the highest-rating TV show in the world, wasn't it? Full credit to Lee Majors.

[nightwing]

The OSO acronym appeared in the first TV movie, as well.  Steve's boss in that outing was a real jerk named Oliver Spencer, played by the great (and sadly late) Darren McGavin.  Spencer treated Steve as government property and wasn't very sympathetic at all to his depression over becoming half-machine (a neat subplot dropped after season one).  Interestingly, McGavin gave Spencer a cane and a limp, which supplied a neat subtext to the whole thing (ie: maybe he's jealous of Steve's prostheses?).  At the end of the film, he asks Dr Wells whether they could just put Steve to sleep and store him somewhere until the next assignment. 

By the time of the second movie, if memory serves, Oscar Goldman was in place and the name was changed to OSI.  (In the novel, I think Goldman was just a middle-management type and not the director).

Blast it, why isn't this show on DVD?!?!?!

[Permanus]

Well, anyway (cough!), Brought to Light isn't about WW2.

[Aldous]

The OSO acronym appeared in the first TV movie, as well.  Steve's boss in that outing was a real jerk named Oliver Spencer, played by the great (and sadly late) Darren McGavin.  Spencer treated Steve as government property and wasn't very sympathetic at all to his depression over becoming half-machine (a neat subplot dropped after season one).  Interestingly, McGavin gave Spencer a cane and a limp, which supplied a neat subtext to the whole thing (ie: maybe he's jealous of Steve's prostheses?).  At the end of the film, he asks Dr Wells whether they could just put Steve to sleep and store him somewhere until the next assignment. 

By the time of the second movie, if memory serves, Oscar Goldman was in place and the name was changed to OSI.  (In the novel, I think Goldman was just a middle-management type and not the director).

Blast it, why isn't this show on DVD?!?!?!

But it is on DVD, Nightwing. I have rented the whole first season on DVD from my local store. The set included "The Six Million Dollar Man" ("The Moon and the Desert" pilot film), both subsequent TV movies (which I don't like), and all of the first season episodes from "Population: Zero" onwards.

Yes, I know the pilot film well as I have watched it recently again. I think one of my earliest memories is sitting down with my Dad to watch the new "Six Million Dollar Man" TV show. Those were the days. That regular opening sequence still sends a thrill down my spine every time I see it. I thought Steve was pretty darn cool in those days! I think Lee Majors did a top job and the success of the show is thanks mainly to him. I also think his charisma and good looks held the whole thing together long after it descended into outright nonsense.