A look Bak at 'The Greatest American Hero' 1981 - 83

Before there was KICK-ASS, there was Ralph Hinkley,  THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO.

Ralph Hinkley is a high school teacher of special education students. Determined to get through to them, Ralph takes them on a field trip to the desert. Coming back the school bus breaks down. Ralph starts to walk back through the desert to get help and he encounters a swerving car driven by FBI Special Agent Bill Maxwell that stops just in time to avoid hitting Hinkley.  An alien spacecraft appears and 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 opens it and finds a red suit (with cape), which endows him with superhuman abilities. Pam Davidson is an attorney, who often joins Ralph and Bill on their adventures.

The series debuted as a two-hour pilot on March 18, 1981, where it settled in the Wednesday, 8pm time slot, for ABC. Its main competition was NBC's REAL PEOPLE, which was a top 15 show. After a year and a half of not making the top 30, but still popular, ABC moved TGAH to Friday nights, opposite DALLAS. That lasted two months before it found it final resting place on Thursdays, opposite MAGNUM P.I.

As a kid, I loved this show. It had a nice balance of funny with action and mystery. I think I may have watched all 44 original episodes. But looking back, its downfall was that most episodes followed the same structure. We had a mystery, Then Ralph trying to fly and crashing into things. They solve the mystery and the bad guys are caught. For a 13 year old, that was great. For an adult, Not so much after the 5th episode.

Low ratings and creative disagreements between the shows creator (Stephen J. Cannell) and ABC, saw THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO gone in under two years. It never made it to series and the failed pilot was later added to the original series for syndication distribution.

Apparently there were two later attempts to revive the franchise. in 1986, NBC commission a pilot, with the original primary cast, for THE GREATEST AMERICAN HEROINE

Then in 2009, Nathan Fillion attempted a reboot of the series. Nothing ever came of his attempt, but there is a photo of him being somewhat in character. I think the powers that be did not allow this to happen, thankfully!

Even if you don't remember this series, I bet you have heard its theme song. the hit single "Believe It Or Not." Written by composer Mike Post and sung by Joey Scarbury, the very catchy tune spent 18 weeks on the top 40 Billboard charts, peaking at #2.


Cast:
Ralph Hinkley (William Katt)
Agent Maxwell (Robert Culp)
Pam Davidson (Connie Sellaca)