The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983)

A teacher is asked to be a superhero using a special alien suit with powers he can barely understand or control.

Creator:

Stephen J. Cannell

Stars:

William Katt, Robert Culp, Connie Sellecca

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
William Katt	...	Ralph Hinkley (44 episodes, 1981-1986)
Robert Culp	...	Bill Maxwell (44 episodes, 1981-1986)
Connie Sellecca	...	Pam Davidson (41 episodes, 1981-1986)
Don Cervantes	...	Paco Rodriguez (23 episodes, 1981-1983)
Faye Grant	...	Rhonda Blake (22 episodes, 1981-1982)
Michael Paré	...	Tony Villicana (21 episodes, 1981-1983)
Jesse D. Goins	...	Cyler Johnson (19 episodes, 1981-1983)

Storyline

A pair of strangers, liberal high-school teacher Ralph Hinkley and right-wing FBI agent Bill Maxwell, have a close encounter in the Southern California desert one night with "little green men", who give our heroes a red superhero suit. The suit works only for Ralph, and the two, accompanied by Ralph's cute lawyer girlfriend Pam, reluctantly team up to battle criminals. Problems ensue when Ralph loses the suit's instruction book, so he had to master the suit's powers on his own.

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Plot Keywords:

suit | teacher | alien | superhero | california | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Stephen Cannell Productions

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

El gran héroe americano

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 30 min (43 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The shows theme song was sung by Joey Scarbury and released as a single, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Charts during the summer of 1981.

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Quotes

Ralph Hinkley: Pamela I love you very much and... I would like us to be a real team.
Pam Davidson: [cries] Ralph, are you asking me to marry you?
Ralph Hinkley: Yes I am.
Pam Davidson: [cries, then nods happily] Yes.

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits of the pilot "Greatest American Heroine", the three-note NBC theme is heard as the letters "i-n-e" appear one at a time on screen. (An in-joke as NBC was the network the series was being pitched to at the time)

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Video Violence 2 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Believe It or Not"
Written by Mike Post & Stephen Geyer
Performed by Joey Scarbury
(theme song)

User Reviews

One of the Greatest American TV Shows

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+