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The Greatest American Hero was 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, starring William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley,
Robert Culp as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson.
The series is a superhero drama-comedy where Ralph Hinkley the schoolteacher, is
determined to "get through" to his 'special students'. Coming back from a field trip, their bus breaks
down, forcing Ralph to seek help by walking through a desert. He encounters a swerving car driven by
Special FBI Agent Bill Maxwell (Culp). Maxwell, who is drunk and despondent after the death of his
FBI partner - claims that his car was also acting up. They both drive off in Maxwell's car only to be
stopped by bright lights from up above in the sky, which turns out to be an alien spacecraft!
The aliens communicate to Ralph and
Bill through his car radio, telling them 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 suitcase to help them on their mission. Ralph eventually opens
the suitcase to reveal that the aliens have given
him a special red suit which endows him with superhuman abilities. Maxwell runs off from fear but
later contacts Hinkley which is where the fun part begins.
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 involves Ralph clumsily trying to strip off his outer clothes to reveal the suit
before his enemies can get away.
In practice, Hinkley's superhero is more akin to a Buster Keaton-style clown where
he flies through the air under his own power usually show him flailing his arms and legs, instead of adopting
the Superman-like flight pose. Hinkley's first flight results in a terrifying
experience where he is hurtling out of control eventually ramming into a building. 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.
Maxwell partners with Hinkley on most adventures to help the schoolteacher use the suit (which he called
the "red jammies") to fight crime. Ralph's girlfriend, Pam Davidson a corporate attorney often joined Ralph
and Bill on the adventures and eventually became Ralph's wife. |
