The Greatest American Hero
Cover for the second season DVD of Greatest American Hero
Genre	superhero drama-comedy television series
Created by	Stephen J. Cannell
Starring	William Katt as Ralph Hinkley Robert Culp as Bill Maxwell Connie Sellecca as Pam Davidson Michael Paré as Tony Villacona Faye Grant as Rhonda Harris
Opening theme	"Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" by Joey Scarbury
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	44
Production
Running time	60 minutes (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	March 18, 1981 – February 3, 1983
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Greatest American Hero is an American television series which aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. It premiered as a two hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981. It starred William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley, Robert Culp as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson. Cover for the 2nd season DVD of Greatest American Hero This is a DVD cover. ... For the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, see Super Hero (Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode). ... Dramedy, a portmanteau of drama and comedy, is a genre of movies and television in which the lines between these very different genres were blurred. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Stephen Joseph Cannell, and known professionally as Stephen J. Cannell (born February 5, 1941), (IPA pronunciation: ), is an Emmy award winning American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor from the United States. ... William Katt is an American film and television actor. ... Robert Martin Culp (born August 16, 1930 in Oakland, California), and a 1947 graduate of Berkeley High School, is an American actor, best known for his work on television. ... Sellecca in Doomsday Rock (1997) Connie Sellecca (born Concetta Sellecchia on May 25, 1955 in The Bronx, New York City) is an Italian American actress. ... Michael Paré (born October 9, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ... Faye Grant (born July 16, 1957 in St. ... Joey Scarbury Joey Scarbury (born June 7, 1955) is an adult contemporary singer who had a hit song, Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not), in 1981. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The American Broadcasting Company ( oftenly known as ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 3 is the 34th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... This is a list of television-related events in 1981. ... // February 8 - Minipops premieres on Channel 4 in the UK. Though a ratings success, it is canceled after the first series due to heavy media criticism. ... The American Broadcasting Company ( oftenly known as ABC) operates television and radio networks in the United States and is also shown on basic cable in Canada. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... William Katt is an American film and television actor. ... Robert Martin Culp (born August 16, 1930 in Oakland, California), and a 1947 graduate of Berkeley High School, is an American actor, best known for his work on television. ... Sellecca in Doomsday Rock (1997) Connie Sellecca (born Concetta Sellecchia on May 25, 1955 in The Bronx, New York City) is an Italian American actress. ...

Premise

The series was a superhero drama-comedy. Ralph Hinkley was a schoolteacher for 'special students', and was determined to get through to them. Coming back from a field trip late one night, the school bus broke down, forcing Ralph to walk back through the desert to get help. He encountered a swerving car driven by Special FBI Agent Bill Maxwell (Culp). Maxwell - slightly drunk and despondent after the death of his FBI partner - claimed that his car also was acting up. The car started up and they drove on until they are stopped and locked into the car as bright lights above them shine down and almost blind them. For the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode, see Super Hero (Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode). ... Dramedy, a portmanteau of drama and comedy, is a genre of movies and television in which the lines between these very different genres were blurred. ... In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study or a practical skill. ...

They were surprised to find that the lights are coming from an alien spacecraft. The aliens tell Ralph and Bill (by way of the car radio) that they are to work together to save the world and Ralph will be given the power to change it. They are given a black case. Later Ralph opened it up to reveal that they have given him a special bright red suit which endows him with superhuman abilities. Maxwell runs off from fear but later contacts Hinkley and hilarity ensues. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A superhuman is an entity with intelligence or abilities exceeding normal human standards. ...

The novelty of the show was based on Hinkley's inability to properly learn to use the suit, and even learn of its various capabilities, other than by trial and error, because he lost the instruction manual in the desert. A revolving gag involved Ralph clumsily trying to strip off his outer clothes to reveal the suit before his enemies can get away. Trial and error is a method for obtaining knowledge, both propositional knowledge and know-how. ...

In practice, Hinkley's superhero was more akin to a Buster Keaton-style clown. For example, sequences where he flies through the air under his own power usually showed him flailing his arms and legs, instead of adopting the Superman-like "arms extended, legs together" pose. In fact, his first flight resulted in a terrifying experience of him hurtling out of control until he rammed head first into a building wall. The basic powers outside of flying included super strength, resistance to injury, invisibility, precognition, telekinesis, super speed, X-ray vision, and psychometry. He also showed signs of being able to control minds when he was exposed to high doses of plutonium radiation. Joseph Frank Keaton, Jr. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... An example of how an object could appear to be invisible through the use of mirrors Invisibility is the state of an object which cannot be seen. ... In parapsychology, precognition (from the Latin præ-, “prior to,” + cognitio, “a getting to know”) is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person perceives information about future places or events before they happen (as distinct from merely predicting them based on deductive reasoning and current knowledge). ... Psychokinesis (literally mind-movement) or PK is the more commonly used term today for what in the past was known as telekinesis (literally distant-movement). It refers to the psi ability to influence the behavior of matter by mental intention (or possibly some other aspect of mental activity) alone. ... Psychometry is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a psychic holds an object in his or her hands in order to obtain information about the object or its owner. ...

Maxwell partnered up with Hinkley on most adventures to help the schoolteacher use the suit (which he called the "red jammies") to fight crime.

Pam Davidson was an attorney who often joined Ralph and Bill on adventures. She was a corporate attorney who later became Ralph's wife.

Also co-starring on the show were Michael Paré and Faye Grant as two of Ralph's students. Michael Paré (born October 9, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. ... Faye Grant (born July 16, 1957 in St. ...

The series was created by producer Stephen J. Cannell and the show is typical of his style of character-driven quirky drama where the plot is secondary to the relationships between the characters. Stephen Joseph Cannell, and known professionally as Stephen J. Cannell (born February 5, 1941), (IPA pronunciation: ), is an Emmy award winning American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor from the United States. ...

The theme song (and variants of the theme) are used frequently throughout the show. "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 (more information below). Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil on September 29, 1944) is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer of music and theme songs for many of the most popular TV dramas first shown in the United States. ... Stephen Geyer (born Stephen George Geyer on November 21, 1950) moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after attending Towson State College (now Towson University), in Maryland, as an art major. ... Joey Scarbury Joey Scarbury (born June 7, 1955) is an adult contemporary singer who had a hit song, Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not), in 1981. ...

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. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... NBC (an acronym for National Broadcasting Company) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

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 the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast programs to multiple stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...

In 2004, it was announced that a motion picture based upon the television series was in the planning stages. This is a list of television-related events in 2004. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as...

Episodes

• Main article: List of Greatest American Hero episodes

DVD Releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment has released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. In addition, on October 3, 2006, they released a special 13-disc boxset that contains all 43 episodes of the series as well as other bonus collectors items. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The following is an excerpt of the article entitled DVD. For the sake of convenience, the terms Region 0, Region 1, Region 2, Region 3, Region 4, Region 5, Region 6, Region 7 and Region 8 redirect to this page. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cover for the 2nd season DVD of Greatest American Hero This is a DVD cover. ... April 5 is the 95th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (96th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

Typical plot lines

There were two typical plots of Greatest American Hero. Stephen J. Cannell explained the differences on the Greatest American Hero season 1 DVD set. As originally agreed to between Cannell and then ABC executives Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, the powers would be in the suit, not the guy. Also, Ralph would try to solve ordinary-type issues, such as trying to stop a fix in Major League Baseball ("The Two Hundred Miles-Per-Hour Fastball") or an assassination attempt {"The Best Desk Scenario"). The show would center around what Cannell referred to as "character comedy" based on human flaws such as envy (in the aforementioned "The Best Desk Scenario") or hypochondria ("Plague"). What Cannell was trying to avoid were "save the world" type episodes, a la the original Adventures of Superman tv series. Thomas C. Tom Werner (born April 12, 1950 in New Jersey) is an American television producer and businessman. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Hypochondria (or hypochondriasis, sometimes referred to as health anxiety, health phobia) refers to an excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. ... The cast of Adventures of Superman from 1953 to 1957. ...

The problem, according to Cannell on the DVD set, was that Carsey and Werner left ABC shortly after the show was sold. The network then wanted the show to be more like a kids show than an adults show. So they pushed the exact types of shows that Cannell did not want. This brought the second type of plot. This type of plot usually involved Ralph trying to stop some sort of calamity from happening, including nuclear war ("Operation Spoilsport") and even a Lochness Monster type of creature ("The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea"). Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ... The Surgeons photo of the Loch Ness monster The Loch Ness Monster—sometimes called Nessie—is a creature or group of creatures said to live in Loch Ness, a large lake in Scotland near the city of Inverness. ...

Trivia

• The hero persona never receives a "superhero name," either, although Scarbury sings the Elton John song "Rocket Man" in the pilot.

• The episode "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" was shot in St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands.

• The powers of the red suit were somewhat broad, but still were 'similar' enough to the abilities of Superman that Warner Bros., the owners of DC Comics, filed a lawsuit against ABC which was, ultimately, dismissed^[1] as 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.

• The main character's name was originally Ralph Hinkley, but after the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981 (only 12 days after the pilot episode aired), the character's last name was amended to "Hanley" for the Season 1 episode "Reseda Rose". For the rest of the 1st season, he was either "Ralph" or "Mister H". During the episode aired the night of the assassination attempt, the sound of a jet airplane was used to dub over the last name being spoken, and in subsequent episodes there was overdubbing of his students calling him "Mr. H" instead of "Mr. Hinkley." At the start of the 2nd season the name had changed back to Hinkley.

• The television show is often noted for its popular theme song "Believe it or Not", sung by Joey Scarbury and written by Stephen Geyer and Mike Post. "Believe it or Not" debuted in Billboard's Top 40 on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at #2 during the weeks of August 15 and August 22, and spending a total of 18 weeks in the Top 40. It is also one of the most popular of all TV theme songs.

• The show's theme song was featured prominently in an episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza used it as his answering machine message, with his own lyrics sung over the music. It was also featured during a lighthearted montage in the 2005 comedy film "The 40 Year Old Virgin", starring Steve Carell.

• The theme song also featured prominently in Michael Moore's 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Moore used it to underscore the famous scene where President George W Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

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

• On the DVD of Season 1, Stephen J. Cannell notes that the symbol was actually based on a pair of scissors that he had on his desk during the design of the uniform.

Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE [2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a multiple Grammy and Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... Warner Bros. ... DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... Showcase #4 (Oct. ... For the DJ, see DJ Green Lantern. ... It has been suggested that Selective assassination be merged into this article or section. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981 – 1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967 – 1975). ... John Warnock Hinckley, Jr. ... March 30 is the 89th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (90th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joey Scarbury Joey Scarbury (born June 7, 1955) is an adult contemporary singer who had a hit song, Theme from Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not), in 1981. ... Stephen Geyer (born Stephen George Geyer on November 21, 1950) moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after attending Towson State College (now Towson University), in Maryland, as an art major. ... Mike Post (born Leland Michael Postil on September 29, 1944) is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer of music and theme songs for many of the most popular TV dramas first shown in the United States. ... Billboard can refer to: Billboard magazine Billboard (advertising) Billboard antenna In 3D computer graphics, to billboard is to rotate an object so that it faces the viewer. ... June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... Poster for The 40-Year-Old Virgin The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a comedy film starring Steve Carell that is set to be released on August 19, 2005. ... Steven John Carell (born August 16, 1963)[1] is a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated American comedian, actor and writer, whose earlier role was that of Jon Stewarts correspondent on The Daily Show, from 1999 to 2004. ... Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American political-activist, a film director, author, social commentator, and political humorist. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A documentary is a work in a visual or auditory medium presenting political, scientific, social, or historical subjects in a factual and informative manner. ... Fahrenheit 9/11 is an award-winning documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore, which had a general release in the United States and Canada on June 25, 2004. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001 and re-elected in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ... Two United States Navy ships have borne the name Abraham Lincoln, in honor of the 16th President. ...

Notes

References

Greatest American Hero season 1 DVD set. 2005.

External links

• TheGreatestAmericanHero Yahoo Group
• Greatest American Hero collectibles and related memorabilia
• The Greatest Amercan Hero at imdb.com