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The Greatest American Hero Trivia 1981-1983 SCI-FI
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Greatest American Hero
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Ralph Hinkley was minding his own business, when his car mysteriously drove itself out into the desert. Ralph was visited by aliens, who had decided to endow him with superhuman powers to fight the battle for truth justice and the American way. To this end, they gave him a special suit and an instruction manual. Unfortunately, Ralph managed to lose the instruction manual before getting the hang of using the suit. He then reluctantly teamed up with FBI agent, Bill Maxwell, played by Robert Culp, who wanted Ralph to use the suit for large missions like ending the Cold War.
credited cast:
William Katt .... Ralph Hinkley
Connie Sellecca .... Pam Davidson/Pam Hinkley/Hanley
Robert Culp .... Bill Maxwell
Michael Paré .... Tony Villicana
Faye Grant .... Rhonda Blake
Jesse D. Goins .... Cyler Johnson
Don Cervantes .... Rodriguez
Brandon Williams (II) .... Kevin Hinkley
Trivia
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After the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, William Katt's character's name was changed from Ralph Hinkley to Ralph Hanley to avoid association with would-be assassin John Hinkley Jr.
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In the first episode, the pair are spoken to by Bill's (dead) ex partner, a black agent. This is a tip of the hat to Culp's role in I Spy, where he partnered with Bill Cosby.
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Ralph's son Kevin was only seen occasionally during the first season and was phased out as the show went on.
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William Katt's real life mother, Barbara Hale, played Ralph's mother Paula Hinkley in a few episodes. Hale was famous for her role as Perry Mason's secretary. William Katt in turn appeared on the Perry Mason TV movies in the 80's as Paul Drake, Jr.
Ralph's Insignia Symbol
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On the DVD of Season 1, Stephen J. Cannell notes that Ralph's chest superhero symbol was actually based on a pair of scissors that he had on his desk during the design of the uniform. However, in Jeff Rovin's book, The World Encyclopedia of Superheroes, the author claimed that it was actually an "open book and needle emblem.
The symbol's bilateral symmetry seemingly avoided the "backward S" problem encountered on the Adventures of Superman. On the low-budget 1950s series, film editors would on occasion "flop" stock footage of George Reeves in flight, causing the "S" shield to appear reversed. However, in many Greatest American Hero composite flying sequences, Ralph wore a watch- and the timepiece jumps from one wrist to the other, especially in extended flying sequences.
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The symbol often appeared on the wrestling attire of ECW wrestler Super Nova, whose "gimmick" was that he was a superhero.
Theme song
The theme song (and variants of the theme) are used frequently throughout. "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.
"Believe it or Not" debuted in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 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. (This is a rare example of a title song being more popular than the show itself.)
The Suit
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The Season 3 episode of Robot Chicken, "Yancy the Yo-Yo Boy" features a skit where a nerd receives the alien super suit. But unlike Ralph, the nerd doesn't find out any of the suit's powers, instead being knocked unconscious after attempted flight. Robert Culp reprises his role of Bill Maxwell and takes the unconscious nerd on several adventures (most notably using the nerd (and his invulnerable costume) as a shield to fend off bullets or as a bludgeon to beat up bad guys), ending with the aliens reclaiming the suit and leaving the barely conscious and naked nerd vulnerable to humiliation by two girls mocking his "third leg".
Superman Connection
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The producers faced a lawsuit from DC Comics accusing them of plagerizing Superman with this series. However, the suit was rejected as the judge ruled the lead character was sufficiently different, especially since the basic concept of the character who is given an alien uniform and weapon to fight evil is far closer to another DC Comics character, Green Lantern.
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In the pilot episode, while Ralph ponders whether to accept the suit, he observes his son watching the "Superfriends" cartoon. Batman is heard to say, "We need one more Superfriend who can fly!" Whereupon Ralph stares back at the camera, seemingly disgusted by the corny writing of that show. In a later scene, having yet to convince Pam he really is a superhero, Ralph desperately cracks, "You're one step ahead of Lois Lane: she never did find out who Clark Kent really was. Yeah, I know. Bad joke."
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In "Here's Looking at You, Kid", Ralph exits a crowded restaurant while in costume, pretending to promote a local theater production of George Bernard Shaw's "Man and Superman."
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In "Saturday On Sunset Boulevard," Ralph needed a quick change. Spotting an actual phone booth, he grumbles, "No! Never!" But, pressed for time, he decides, "Aw, what the hell." Pam finds this painfully funny to watch.
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In the pilot when Ralph is taken to a mental hospital wearing his super outfit, a man tells him, "That's a bad suit, Jim!" A similar line ("Say Jim, that's a bad out-FIT!") was said to Christopher Reeve in Superman (1978) movie.
The Greatest American Heroine
In 1986, the original cast reunited for a pilot film for a new NBC series to be called The Greatest American Heroine. The pilot reveals that several years after the final episode, Ralph's secret identity was finally revealed to the public, resulting in his becoming a celebrity. This upsets the aliens who gave him the suit, and they charge him with finding a new hero to wear the costume and use its powers for fighting evil. He finds a young woman named Holly Hathaway (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. You can find it on the DVD of Season 1
In July 2008, it was announced that Katt was writing a comic book series based on the TV show for his publishing company, Catastrophic Comics, in conjunction with Arcania Studios. A series of animated webisodes are planned with Katt, Culp and Selleca supplying the voices of their characters from the TV show. A live-action feature film is also in the works and is expected to begin production in 2009. William Katt is quoted in the September 2008 issue of Geek Monthly Magazine as saying, "Stephen Cannell is starting a feature film this year. I read a recent script that he gave me and it's quite good and lots of fun. There's plenty left in that character."