Kenneth Johnson

With his unique, often literary take on popular genre material, writer-producer-director Kenneth Johnson became one of the more successful players in the television industry during the 1970s and 1980s. A story contribution to the hit adventure series "The Six Million Dollar Man" (ABC, 1974-78) for producer Harve Bennett led to Johnson helming the nearly as popular spin-off "The Bionic Woman" (ABC/NBC, 1976-78). Having gained a solid reputation for handling fare of a fantastic nature, he was next tasked with taking "The Incredible Hulk," (CBS, 1978-1982) from the pages of Marvel Comics to the TV screen. The show proved another smashing success for Johnson, whose original idea for the allegorical alien invasion saga "V" (NBC, 1982) became one of the biggest ratings winners of the season. He approached similar material, albeit with a different theme, for the TV adaptation of "Alien Nation" (Fox, 1989-1990), another solid performer that was unfortunately doomed by the financial difficulties of its fledgling home network. In addition to several later "Alien Nation" made-for-TV films, the veteran storyteller also wrote and directed the contemporized "Sherlock Holmes Returns" (CBS, 1993) and the Shaquille O'Neal superhero adventure "Steel" (1997). For an entire generation of fans, Johnson remained the man responsible for some of the most exciting television adventures of their childhood.