The Bionic Woman, who has been making life interest­ing for the Six Million Dollar Man (not to mention the boost she's given his ratings), sallies forth in her own hour-long series debuting tonight at 8 on ABC.

It's a two-part story (originally scheduled to kick off last Sunday on Six Million Dollar Man, but delayed until tonight) in which series star Lindsay Wagner gets to leap tall buildings in a single bound, crumble locks and safes, tear a door from a car, even open a can of tuna with her fingernails.

If it sounds like it's stretching credibility too far, re­member the stunts Elizabeth Montgomery pulled off all those years with just the twitch's of a witch's nose on Be­witched. That's really the bottom line here: Either you go along with the bionic, superhuman gimmick, or forget it.

Tonight's opening half of "Welcome Home, Jaime" is de­voted to restoring the memory of the Bionic Woman (she was once given up for dead, but was revived only to suf­fer amnesia) and to getting her settled in a new teaching job in Ojai. So far, so good. This part is handled effectively.

Unfortunately, the conclusion (to be seen next Wednes­day) becomes contrived. In the plot, Bionic Woman Jaime Sommers is the target of a corrupt businessman who wants to use her powers to benefit his shady dealings. But the dishonest man has an idealistic son, fresh from law school, who is troubled by his father's methods, so it be­comes a question of whether good or evil will prevail. You need more than bionics to make that cliche work.

Lindsay Wagner is believable as the Bionic Woman, blonde, willowy, attractive with an engaging personality. Richard Anderson has quiet strength as Oscar Goldman, boss of the government agency that handles assignments for the Six Million Dollar Man and now for the Bionic Woman (he'll be working in both series). Richard Lenz, Martin E. Brooks, Ford Rainey and Martha Scott also register here in roles they play on The Six Million Dollar Man.

Dennis, Patrick and Kip Niven are father and son in next week's potboiler, with Gordon Jump in a supporting role.

The Bionic Woman was brought to life by executive producer Harve Bennet, written and produced and creat­ed for TV by Kenneth Johnson. With a ready-made au­dience of fans from the Six Million Dollar Man, she should deliver well for ABC on Wednesday nights . . . unless she's tripped up by weak material.

Aleene MacMinn, The Los Angeles Times