L'incroyable Hulk

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."

I faithfully watched this show as a kid and I've come to appreciate it more as an adult.

Bill Bixby plays the role of David/Bruce Banner perfectly. As a kid I always wanted to be like him and as an adult I really admire his acting.

The only real complaint I have is the action. The Hulk is far from super human in most scenes (he mostly grows and throws chairs, which just about anybody could do). And they use the worst trick in the 70's TV play book; slow motion. The Six Million Dollar Man started it, and The Incredible Hulk copied it, having the Hulk do everything in slow motion. It's less than impressive and actually makes the action scenes less interesting than the conflicts that David/Bruce gets into.

But the plots were well written, and the show had a lot of lasting drama that has remained with me years later. Great show.

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 remember watching this series growing up, and feeling so bad for poor David Banner, who was played to perfection by the late Bill Bixby; without him, this series would not have worked, and would likely be forgotten. He was able to convey the melancholy plight of this man remarkably well, and was aided immeasurably by Joe Harnell's haunting and poignant piano theme "The Lonely Man", which suited his performance perfectly. The sight of David walking away alone on another road, duffel bag over his shoulder, as he hitchhikes or walks into the next episode is so powerful it can make the viewer cry, yet Bixby portrayed David with dignity and respect to balance out the pathos.

It should be mentioned that Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno was highly effective in his performance and huge body made him perfect casting. Creator Kenneth Johnson was inspired to present this premise seriously, and ground the plots and action in reality. The contribution of these men should not be overlooked! A great pity this series was canceled without proper closure, but it is available on DVD, so can be viewed and appreciated by all.

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.