Topic: Greatest American Hero Episode Reviews

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Episode Reviews

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.

Stars:
William Katt as Ralph Hinkley
Robert Culp as Bill Maxwell
Connie Sellecca as Pam Davidson

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Greatest American Hero: Season 1

William Katt stars as mild-mannered high school teacher Ralph Hinkley whose close encounter with aliens leaves him with a super-power suit that only he can control. But when Ralph loses the instruction manual, the safety of mankind is left in his fumbling hands. Now with the help of his attorney girlfriend Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca) and FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), the world's most unlikely flying crime fighter is ready for action. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO!

Michael Paré and Faye Grant co-star in the Emmy-nominated '80s hit created by Stephen J. Cannell. This collection features every first season episode — including the Emmy-nominated pilot — plus all-new interviews with the show's stars and the unaired pilot for the proposed spin-off series THE GREATEST AMERICAN HEROINE.

Season 1 Episodes:
1. Pilot
2. The Hit Car
3. Here's Looking at You, Kid
4. Saturday on Sunset Boulevard
5. Reseda Rose
6. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
7. Fire Man
8. The Best Desk Scenario

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I am still watching Bones right now... but just wanted to set up the threads for the shows that had a decent amount of votes in the poll I set up.

[Kathy]

I had never heard of this series but it was on sale cheap at Big Lots so I picked it up. The cashier told me she had loved it and that it would be one I could enjoy with the kids. I'm looking forward to your review so that I won't have to watch it ahead of time to see if its appropriate for children.

[DJ Doena]

Now I finally know where that symbol's coming from. Sheldon often wears a T-Shirt with it.

[addicted2dvd]

I had never heard of this series but it was on sale cheap at Big Lots so I picked it up. The cashier told me she had loved it and that it would be one I could enjoy with the kids. I'm looking forward to your review so that I won't have to watch it ahead of time if its appropriate for children.

Oh it is definitely safe for the kids. It is basically an '80s superhero spoof. It is a lot of fun to watch. Brittany enjoyed watching it with me when I first got the sets. One of the funniest things about the show is Ralph (the guy that gets the super-suit looses the instruction book... and has to learn how to do all the stuff the suit is capable of. Especially funny... a running gag in the series is that he never learns to fly straight... always crashing into things or having bad landings.

[addicted2dvd]

Now I finally know where that symbol's coming from. Sheldon often wears a T-Shirt with it.

Yup... it is also the avatar T!M uses over at Invelos.

[addicted2dvd]

Greatest American Hero: Season 1

1. Pilot
Air Date: 3/18/81
Schoolteacher Ralph Hinkley and F.B.I. Agent Bill Maxwell are brought together in the desert and encounter a spaceship whose occupants give them a red super suit and a book of instructions. Losing the book does not help them stop a takeover attempt of the U.S. government by a wealthy industrialist and the corrupt Vice President.

Guest Stars:
Michael Pare as Tony Villicana
Faye Grant as Rhonda Blake
Richard Herd as Adam Taft
G. D. Spradlin as Nelson Cory
Ned Wilson as Col. Shackelford

My Thoughts:
Being a fan of Superhero movies and shows I get a kick out of this series. Sure it is pretty silly... but it is fun all the same. Brittany has watched some of this show with me in the past... and she always got a kick out of how Ralph couldn't fly straight... which sure is fun for a while... but is something I found got old after a while. The pilot is a double length episode where Ralph first meets Bill and first gets the suit.

My Rating:

[addicted2dvd]

Greatest American Hero: Season 1

2. The Hit Car
Air Date: 3/25/81
Maxwell and Hinkley travel to San Francisco to bring a federal witness back to L.A., the fact she refuses to fly and mob threats against her life make the job a little harder.

Guest Stars:
Gwen Humble as Scarlet Wild
Gianni Russo as Johnny Damanti
Kene Holliday as DA Arnold Turner
Anthony Charnota as Mike
Faye Grant as Rhonda Blake

My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this episode quite a bit as well. A fun story. Ralph's girlfriend Pam not getting along with Bill yet is fun to watch. I also got a bit of a kick out of the idea of Ralph having his troubled students put on a play... seemed a little advanced for such a group though... I mean come on they made it clear they were not the best of students in the pilot... and he has them doing a Shakespeare play?

My Rating:

[Achim]

That show looks like it could be great fun for me too!

Now I finally know where that symbol's coming from. Sheldon often wears a T-Shirt with it.

Yup... it is also the avatar T!M uses over at Invelos.

Is it explained what it is? It does look like a Chinese character... (IIRC the same character is also used by the killer in Red Dragon.)


BTW, it's the Chinese character for "center" / "middle". It is also in the name of the country (China = 中國), which explains why it's sometimes called the "Empire of the Midddle" (well, at least in Germany we do). Same is true for Japan (=日本), which has the character of "sun" / "day" in the name, hence "Empire of the Sun".

[addicted2dvd]

I think it was in one of the extras of one of the season sets.... where it was told where they came up with that symbol... the guy was just sitting at his desk looking around his desk... and spotted a pair of scissors in his pencil cup... and that was the inspiration for the symbol he came up with.

[Achim]

 

I was clearly trying to read too much into it.

[addicted2dvd]

Greatest American Hero: Season 1

3. Here's Looking at You, Kid
Air Date: 4/1/81
Hinkley's plan to spend time with Pam's parents who are visiting from Minnesota are thwarted when he is called upon to defend his country's national security.

Guest Stars:
June Lockhart as Mrs. Davidson
James Whitmore, Jr. as Gordon McCready
Bob Hastings as Harry Davidson
Red West as Cliff
Michael Pare as Tony Villicana

My Thoughts:
Not terrible... but not what I would call a favorite either. The best part about this one was Ralph having to meet Pam's parents. I just felt I didn't care too much about the main storyline.

My Rating: