Ralph Super-héros

`The Greatest American Hero' is a textbook case of a television show being a victim of `the powers that be.' I was in grade school during the time of its run, but I remember most of the behind the scenes drama. Though its initial debut was well received, it wasn't long before the show met an ill-fated course. First, it was an unfortunate victim of the 1981 Reagan assassination attempt, resulting in the horrific `Hinkley/Hanley' overdub. This event, followed by constant time changes, late season debuts, pre-empts, and the never-ending lawsuit with Warner Brothers and DC comics over its supposed `Superman-like' premise, kept it from reaching its full potential with viewers. Then, like those aliens in the desert, the show disappeared without a trace.

There are several theories as to why this show never reached its full potential. I personally think Warner Brothers and DC Comics made ABC executives nervous, hence the delays and time changes. While I can certainly understand their motives (the Superman movies were popular at the time) I considered each character to be a separate entity. I never thought William Katt was an exact clone of Christopher (or George, for that matter) Reeve's famous role. Superman (I thought) was a strong, supernatural hero from another planet who masqueraded as a human being. The Greatest American Hero was just an ordinary guy who stumbled upon good fortune and tried to utilize it in the best way he could to help mankind. It could have been anyone that night instead of Ralph Hinkley, for all we know (the lyrics of the theme song attempted to explain this). Katt simply provided a handsome, lovable example of the `imperfect hero.'

My mother and sister absolutely loved this show. I was the youngest, so I watched it mostly because they did! `The Greatest American Hero' did grow on me, though…so I, too, have fond memories. I was in love with the theme song, however, from the debut! Even if you didn't like the show, you have to admit that the theme song, `Believe It Or Not,' sung by Joey Scarbury, is one of the greatest of all time. The earlier comments were correct. `Believe It Or Not' is awesome.

Absolutely awesome!

I can still recall, quite fondly, watching the pilot episode of The Greatest American Hero. It can be corny and silly at times... but it was also humorous, warm, and uplifting. A group of people suddenly thrown into a situation where they have to "save the world". And working together (more or less :) ) they do it. From saving little kids, freezing in the wilderness to "baggin' bad guys" on the streets of L.A. My life is pretty dull and uneventful... oh but what I wouldn't do if suddenly >I< had a super suit. And while I'm old and getting gray now... I still dream, every now and again, of flying around in the sky... (and over the years I've gotten better at landing on my feet). Ralph wasn't the best... but he always gave it the old team try. You gotta love him for that!

If you aren't familiar with "The Greatest American Hero" you owe it to yourself to get the DVDs... you won't be disappointed. I used to watch the show as a kid and I loved it... they used to play it on Saturday mornings after the cartoons had ended and I never missed an episode. Flash forward twenty years and I'm amazed at not only how well the show has held up but at all I missed the first time around.

Ordinary schoolteacher Ralph Hinkley is given a supersuit by space aliens... when wearing the suit he has all the powers of a superhero. The trouble is he lost the suit's instruction book in episode one and has to figure out how it works as he goes along. He's partnered with crusty, by-the-book FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) and gets lots of help from his gorgeous girlfriend Pam (Connie Selleca). If you think this is a broad, goofy comedy or kid's show you couldn't be farther off... if you think it's kitschy nostalgia you'd be wrong as well. The Greatest American Hero is nothing short of one of the greatest TV shows of all time.

The concept of the everyman becoming superman allowed the show's creators and writers to examine different aspects of human nature... there's so much going on in every episode that getting the bad guy is almost secondary. In one of the best episodes "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," Ralph is forced to examine what it means to be a hero while Bill wrestles with having to arrest his OWN hero, a veteran police officer who has turned to a life of crime. The show was unbelievably human, and the three leads are a perfect triangle... Robert Culp grounds the show by not pulling any punches as the skeptical, impatient fed; his disbelief at the premise only serves to make the premise more real.

William Katt as Ralph is excellent, completely believable as a man trying to balance his roles as boyfriend, father, teacher and superhero. Connie Selleca is not just beautiful... she's a confident, funny actor, putting more into Pam than was on the page. This show is also wonderful as a time-capsule piece, a reminder of when TV could appeal to everyone and still be intelligent, dramatic, and FUN. (Today so many dramas open every episode with a corpse it's all but become the rule.) "GAH" is also one of the BIGGEST TV shows ever made... by that I mean its visual look and style of direction is grand, cinematic. If you get the DVD's you'll see that every episode is a mini-movie. You'll also see that it's one of the best transfers EVER done. The show, twenty years later, is more bright, clean and vivid than anything on TV today. And you also get the memorable theme song, which still gives old-time fans like myself instant nostalgia whenever we hear it.

In conclusion I highly recommend "The Greatest American Hero" to everyone... you will love it, your kids will love it, and it will stimulate your imagination, make you laugh and make you think. What more could you ask for?

GRADE: A+

The Greatest American Hero was one of the best concepts for a TV show that I have ever seen, and certainly the most unique take on the superhero genre. The show had charm, lighthearted fun, and was full of 80's magic. I can still remember watching this show back in the early 80's and when Ralph first tried to fly that red suit. He couldn't get it, and some little kid that saw him struggling gave him some advice. Now see, that's the kind of magic that TV shows in the 80's had. TV wasn't afraid of putting out a hero that got advice on how to fly from a goofy little kid. Ralph Hinkley (played by William Katt) was just a regular guy, a young high school teacher that wanted to make a difference. Then one night he is approached by aliens out in the desert, teamed up with a gung-ho FBI agent, and given a spectacular red suit styled in the classic superhero design of cape and longjohns.

Unfortunately poor Ralph promptly loses the instruction book to the suit, and must learn the suit powers through trial and error. Connie Sellecca played Hinkley's girlfriend Pam, I seem to recall later in the show they were married. I also remember that Ralph got another instruction book, only to lose it again. And if I remember correctly, this show was only on for a brief 2 years and had 3 seasons. I don't know why the network prematurely cancelled this series, the show sadly never got to live up to it's full potential. I think it only clocked in around 44 or 45 episodes because the network pulled the plug on it so soon. The low episode number is probably why we don't get the luxury of seeing TGAH on Sci-Fi channel, WGN, TBS, or TV Land. Even with only 2 years of episodes, this series is still fondly remembered by many as a part of 80's magic.

I remember The Greatest American Hero, I adored this hilarious series about ordinary guy Ralph Hinkley getting a magical supersuit from aliens (little green-guys) back in the 80's. Conceived by the legendary TV giant Stephen J. Cannell, this is the kind of show that when you think back on it gives you all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings inside. It just makes you feel good and reminds you how wildly imaginative and cool television was in the 80's. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in remembering this show that was cut down way too early. 2 years on the air just wasn't enough. The Greatest American Hero was made in the early 80's, when the trials and tribulations of the 1970's were still somewhat fresh on peoples minds. After the Vietnam War, high gas prices, Nixon-Watergate, and two more lousy presidents, the very idea that a man in underwear and flaky cape could run around saving the world like Superman or Batman was seen as a complete joke. This was an original and great idea to explore. One word to describe the way the series approached this idea would be "smart", like Star Trek this show seemed to have a definitive intelligent and creative force behind it. It was more of a human drama/comedy then a straight up conventional superhero show. What would happen to a regular person if they were given a magical superhero outfit? What would happen if they lost the instruction manual and didn't know how to use the goofy looking costume? The way people treated Ralph (they thought he was a nut) when they saw him in his super suit is probably the way people would react in real life if they came across a man dressed as a superhero. This series never seemed to get its just dues back in the early 80's, OK so The Greatest American Hero wasn't Mozart or The Great Gatsby. It was middle brow entertainment like many other crime and adventure shows, but it was very well made middle brow entertainment. It was smart and the witty dialogue in this show rivals any of the "more adult" TV shows from it's time. I do remember getting grief from my older siblings and cousins who never got the joke of The Greatest American Hero for liking it, they would purposefully sing the theme song 'Believe it or Not' off key to annoy me, "Look at what's happened to me...". I so wanted to hit my older sister when she did that. Ralph wasn't a wimp he was an ordinary man put into extraordinary situations, so he reacted like a regular guy would. Hence his screaming like a banshee would he couldn't control the suit in mid air. Others here have pointed out the many problems The Greatest American Hero had to put up with during it's brief 2 years on the air, one I would like to mention was it was constantly yanked around on its schedule. It may be cliché to repeatedly call ABC or any other network 'villains' when talking about how they shafted a particular TV series, but in this case it really is true. In the beginning the series was perfectly aired on Wednesday nights, but then for whatever reason the network moved it to Thursday nights, and then finally it was shifted to the death slot of Friday nights were it was beat up in the ratings by the real kids shows like The Dukes of Hazzard and Knight Rider. The Greatest American Hero was written with children in mind but was not soley targeted at kids. Without a teenage to adult audience to sustain it, the series died a quiet death at the hands of ABC. I hope that one day we see a return of The Greatest American Hero.