The Greatest American Hero

Premiered: March 18, 1981

The Greatest American Hero is an American television series which aired from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. It premiered as a two hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981. It starred William Katt as Ralph Hinkley, Robert Culp as Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as Pam Davidson.

The series is a superhero drama-comedy. In it, Hinkley is a schoolteacher who encounters aliens who give him a special bright red suit which endows him with superhuman abilities. The novelty of the show was based on Hinkley's inability to properly learn to use the suit other than by trial and error, due to his having clumsily lost the instructions. However, the underlying drama is the struggle of a trio of ordinary people to cope in superhero adventures in the real world. The show is typical of producer Stephen J. Cannell's style of character-driven quirky drama where the plot is secondary to the relationships between the characters.

The suit's powers were substantial, so much like those of the character Superman that Warner Bros., the owners of DC Comics, filed a lawsuit against ABC which was, ultimately, dismissed.[1] However, the premise's core concept of a human receiving an alien costume/weapon to fight evil was closer to that of the Silver Age Green Lantern.

In practice, Hinkley's superhero is more akin to a Buster Keaton-style clown. For example, sequences where he flies through the air under his own power usually show him flailing his arms and legs, instead of adopting the Superman "arms extended, legs together" pose. In fact, his first flight results in a terrifying experience of him hurtling out of control until he rams head first into a building wall. The basic powers outside of flying included super strength, resistance to injury, invisibility, precognition, telekinesis, fast running, seeing through walls and getting "vibes" through objects that people have touched. He also showed signs of being able to control minds.

Maxwell is an FBI agent who partnered with Hinkley on most adventures to help the schoolteacher use the suit (which he called the "red jammies") to fight crime. Davidson is Hinkley's girlfriend, and they later married.

The series was produced by Stephen J. Cannell, and the theme "Believe It or Not" was composed by Mike Post (music) and Stephen Geyer (lyrics) and sung by Joey Scarbury. The theme song became a popular hit during the show's run.

In 1986, the original cast reunited for a pilot film for a new NBC series that was to have been called The Greatest American Heroine. The pilot reveals that several years after the final episode, Hinkley's secret identity was finally revealed to the public. This upsets the aliens who gave him the suit, and they charge Hinkley with finding a new hero to wear the costume and use its powers for fighting evil. Hinkley finds a young woman (Mary Ellen Stuart) who spends her time looking for lost kittens and teaching young children, and most of the episode deals with her learning how to use the suit under Bill Maxwell's guidance.

The Greatest American Heroine did not result in a new series, and the pilot was never broadcast by NBC. Ultimately, the pilot was reedited as an episode of the original series (complete with original opening credits and theme), and added to syndication packages of the original series, where it airs as the final episode.

In 2004 it was announced that a motion picture based upon the television series was in the planning stages.

A North American DVD release of the first season occurred on February 15, 2005. Special features in the three-disc set include extensive interviews with the original cast members, and The Greatest American Heroine pilot episode. Season 2 was released on April 5th, 2005 with interviews with Mike Post and Cannell. Season 3 was released on August 2nd, 2005.
[edit]

Trivia

* The main character's name was originally Ralph Hinkley, but after the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. the character's last name was amended to "Hanley" for the season one episode "Roseda Rose". For the rest of the season, he was either "Ralph" or "Mister H". After fan outcry, Ralph's last name reverted to "Hinkley" for season two, although it was used sparingly.

* The television show is often noted for its popular theme song "Believe it or Not", written by Stephen Geyer and Mike Post. "Believe it or Not" became a #1 hit on the popular music charts on July 18, 1981.

* In the episode "The Susie", of the popular sitcom Seinfeld, George Costanza sets his answering machine message to the tune of "Believe It or Not". The theme by Joey Scarbury was also used in Michael Moore's documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and in the 2005 hit comedy The 40 Year-Old Virgin starring Steve Carrell.

* In the episode "Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too" of the WB show Gilmore Girls, the character Lane Kim and her band plays a rock/punk version of "Believe It or Not", as they are asked to play at a candidate's political rally for their town's local election.

* In the August 31, 2005 episode of Battle of the Network Reality Stars, William Katt briefly refereed a touch football game between the various teams. An image of present-day Katt appeared onscreen beside an old photo of him in his superhero costume. Several participants began to sing "Believe It or Not"; Katt smiled and took a bow.

* In the 2001 Homestar Runner Halloween episode, Homestar Runner dresses as the Greatest American Hero for his Halloween costume. Also, when he first appears, he sings a modified version of the “Believe it or Not” theme song.

* The symbol on Hinkley's uniform resembles the Chinese character "centre" [中]. As the symbol is red in colour, Hong Kong television station TVB called the Cantonese-dubbed version of the show "Sky Flying Red Centre Hero" [飛天紅中俠].

* In the episode of "My Name is Earl" that was aired on Thursday, March 2, 2006, Earl and Randy sing "Believe It or Not" while trapped inside a water tower.

* In an advertisement for E3 that aired on G4, three men watching television see an advertisement for the aforementioned convention and begin performing a modified version of the "Believe it or Not" theme song.

* Mayor Mitchell Hundred, a superhero from Brian K. Vaughan's comic series "Ex Machina", has "Believe it or Not" as his cell phone's ringtone.