El hombre increíble

My comments refer to the first season of The Incredible Hulk since it's the only one readily available as of yet.

Although the shows are fairly simple and monotonous they're very entertaining. Dr. Banner travels cross country hoping to some day finding a cure for his condition but along the way he gets into all sorts of trouble that forces the Hulk to surface and square matters. Every episode ends with David leaving before relentless reporter Jack McGee tracks him down.

The shows are made with passion, that's evident. Good quality writing for the most part, well done action sequences (compared to a 70's TV show anyway), compelling story lines in most episodes, nice location crew work and fantastic actors. As said, the premise is fairly simple as David transforms about 20-25 min. into each episode and during the climax. Also, he somehow manages to get into a whole lot of trouble by just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The first season shows are not all great and do showcase the limitations budget wise. The episode "Never give a trucker an even break" shamelessly borrows footage from Steven Spielberg's Duel, even the classic ending is fitted into the storyline. "Earhquakes happen" borrows quite a lot from Earthquake, the 70's disaster flick, but that's not as blatant as the previous example. Also there is a lot of stock footage used every now and then. Sometimes it's little snippets of Hulk action and sometimes it's David on the road hitchhiking.

But these quirks aside, there is a lot of professionalism on board here and a big effort put into making each episode. Series that are constantly on the road are expensive as there are no sets that can be used often and studio work is minimal. Instead viewers get a show that's always bringing new scenery in late 1970's America and the "on the road" feel has a big charm about it.

The Las Vegas episode "The Hulk breaks Las Vegas" is a personal favorite. Has some knockout Hulk action and a well written and suspenseful near confrontation between McGee and Banner. "747, The Waterfront story, Terror in Times Square and Life and Death" are all well written and produced episodes that should give a good example as to why the series has such a good afterlife.

And finally the cast is perfect. I doubt seriously that viewers would be as interested in David's quest had he not been played by Bill Bixby. Not only was Bixby a real quality actor with good range but also an irresistibly appealing guy who you find easy to sympathize with. Jack Colvin is also excellent as McGee, a convincing and charming actor who had a great presence on the episodes he was featured in. And Lou Ferrigno was the best possible choice to play the green giant. Managing to be both menacing and sincere is his depiction of David's primal side, he's simply great on the shows.

I did a review for the original pilot episode of this drama and I put down my thoughts about the Hulk and Banner as characters and how the themes in the original movie gave us things to think about. The series was the same.

The Hulk was a good family show. The late Bill Bixby did a wonderful job as Dr. Banner. Throughout the entire series I felt myself feeling really sorry for Banner like he was a close friend. Banner was a character who the audience could empathize with. He was a good man who travelled across the United States trying to avoid conflict for he knew that when he became the Hulk he was uncontrollable. He was pursued by ambitious reporter Jack McGee who wanted to capture the Hulk in order to become a star reporter.

Throughout the series Banner would encounter various characters who were having trouble in their lives. He would do his best to help but it would always fall to the Hulk to save the day. In a way I think this series was telling us that reason and diplomacy will only take us so far and that in the end it's down to strength to save the day.

Lou Ferrigno did a good job as the Hulk. There was an important lesson in this series;never judge anyone by what they look like. The Hulk was a good guy who always saved the day but as far as the likes of McGee were concerned the Hulk was a bad guy. In fact, McGee believed that the Hulk had killed Elaina Marks and David Banner in the original movie. So Banner did his best to avoid McGee for confrontation with him would reveal his secret.

The Hulk was in fact a good role model. He had the strength to do real damage to anyone or anything but he never killed throughout the series. On occasion he even saved the lives of bad guys who were trying to kill him. But still he was judged as a monster to be destroyed.

Philosophical thinking aside, the Hulk was a great action show. The Hulk did some amazing things throughout such as surviving a fall from a plane or tangling with a huge grizzly bear. He could not be hurt apart from the odd bullet he took.

The entire series was great. My personal favourite episodes were "The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas", "The Beast Within", "The Psychic", "The Snare" and "747."

If you remember the 1970s you will perhaps realize that film and television were not the best at distributing comic book adaptations until the year of 1978. This was partially due to the lack of visual effects which would encompass the characters in a realistic setting if they ever to arrive on the big screen.

"The Incredible Hulk" was one of the first comic adaptations to ever be distributed on the television screen. What could have been laughable television show about a giant green monster strutting around smashing things, instantly became a classic hit when it was deemed a serious and realistic drama for the time.

The show follows the compassionate and likable character Dr. David Banner who had been attempting to discover the secrets of human strength after his wife died in a car explosion. Banner is obsessed with finding these answers of hidden strength and ultimately renders himself to unpredictable experiment. He exposes himself to gamma radiation which unfortunately results in a horrifying metamorphosis. Whenever Banner becomes angry or outraged he transforms into massive green monster which we all know and love as the incredible hulk.

After the hulk is discovered and pursued by an investigative reporter named Jack McGee, Banner goes on the run hoping to stay hidden until he can find a way to cure himself from his dreadful manifestation I first discovered "The Incredible Hulk" In my teens when I was greatly entertained by comic books. When I first viewed the show I realized that it was different but different in a good way. Yes, the scenes with the hulk are slightly outdated but the story is where you really get involved. The show only features the hulk for about fifteen minutes at most sometimes even less.

People I'm acquainted with often complain that the hulk itself does not gain enough screen time. Simply this is because this show is not entirely about the hulk. Its a serious and persuasive drama that tells the story of man who has a condition that he desperately wants to rid himself of. The show may not be entirely faithful to its comic book counterpart but I believe the decision to alter the story line was well apprehended.

The hulk in this setting is more realistic and strays away from the comic book cheesiness. I honestly have to admit that this is one of the best live action comic adaptations to date. This show is well remembered and was apart of many people's childhoods. I greatly enjoy this series and I hope you will to.

The famous "Lonely Man" theme from "The Incredible Hulk" is one of the saddest things I've ever listened to. Seeing Bill Bixby hitchhike away from another town the Hulk smashed was always dramatic.

Okay, sure this show is like "The Fugitive", but I don't see Richard Kimble turning into a green monster every week. Bill Bixby turns in the performance of a lifetime, and even Jack McGee (the reporter who's after him) is shown in a few episodes to be a decent guy at heart.

Every week, David Banner would search desperately for a cure, and every week he'd help some person in need (similar to other traveling angel shows like "Quantum Leap" and "The Pretender"). Lou Ferrigno is a great Hulk.

I have such nostalgic memories of this growing up. I look back on it now and I think the series itself holds up really well. A few things I would like to comment on:

When David went back to himself after a change.....his clothes were always evenly ripped and cut....as if someone had cut them with scissors!!!

David Banner could have been one of the most talented guys on the planet. The amount of different jobs and trades he had were endless!!!

Where did he get those endless supplies of brown chords, checked shirts and beige coloured jackets???

He was the most gentle, helpful and polite guy ever and wherever he went, people could not wait to pick on him. They sort of saw him as a know all!!!

He pulled more women than 007!!!

Where did he get those fake surnames......Becker, Beamon, Beddiger, Beckham, Bannon, Bander.....etc????

All of this said...what a brilliant show it was and I am proud to have grown up with it. I loved the suspense when he changed and I also felt really sorry for Dave when he was alone, walking to a new town at the end with the famous tearjerking piano music in the background!!!

Respects to the late Bill Bixby. RIP.