A Bionic Christmas Carol

An episode of 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. First aired on December 12, 1976.

Steve Austin joins a group of TV Land favorites to teach an important government contractor the true meaning of Christmas.

Horton Budge (My Favorite Martian's Ray Walston) has little Christmas spirit, and none for his nephew Bob Crandall (Bewitched Darrin Number Two Dick Sargent) and his family. Bob at one time embezzled money from his uncle and must now work it off piecemeal, a virtual gofer/slave to his tyrannical uncle. Since Budge's attitude is also causing some problems for the vital services he provides the government, Steve dresses as a silent Santa Claus and uses bionic trickery to make Budge think he might be seeing the real thing. Among the things he shows Budge is that Bob had good reason to embezzle the money. Turns out he had asked his uncle for a loan to pay the medical bills to save the life of his desperately ill wife, but had been turned down. To the surprise of no one, Budge learns his lesson and begins to spend Christmas with his estranged family.

A notable adaptation for bypassing the three spirits and for combining the characters of Fred and Bob Cratchit. Adam Rich, soon to join the cast of 'Eight Is Enough', plays Bob Crandall's son, who is not the ill one in this version.