The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama superhero television series that aired on ABC.[1] Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981, and ran until February 2, 1983.[1] The series features William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley, Robert Culp as FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson.[1] The lead character's surname was changed from "Hinkley" to "Hanley" for the latter part of the first season, immediately after President Ronald Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. The character's name was reverted to "Hinkley" after a few months had passed.
The Greatest American Hero
Mike Post
United States
English
3
45 (5 unaired) (list of episodes)
Stephen J. Cannell
Juanita Bartlett
Frank Lupo
Christopher Nelson
Jo Swerling Jr.
Santa Clarita, California
Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California
Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
60 minutes (with commercials)
Stephen J. Cannell Productions
March 18, 1981 –
February 3, 1983
The series chronicles Ralph's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red and black suit that grants him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately for Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, he immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often with comical results.
Revivals[edit]
The Greatest American Heroine[edit]
During 1986, the original principal cast reunited for a pilot movie for a new NBC series to be named The Greatest American Heroine,[12] which did not result in a new series, and the pilot was never broadcast by NBC. Ultimately, the pilot was re-edited as an episode of the original series (complete with original opening credits and theme), and added to syndication sets of the original series aired on several local television stations in the late 1980s, for which it is the final episode. Immediately after the beginning credits, the episode's title card is superimposed over a nighttime view of the Los Angeles skyline, reading "The Greatest American Hero" before appending the letters "i n e" individually to the sound of the NBC chimes. The chimes were a nod to NBC and its president, Brandon Tartikoff, who had expressed interest in reviving the series.[13]
The pilot movie 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 angers 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. Once the transfer is made, they explain, all memory of Ralph's exploits will be purged from the world's memory and remembered only by Ralph, Pam, and Bill.
Bill begins their search by researching people with desired hero qualities, but Ralph finds a young woman named Holly Hathaway (Mary Ellen Stuart), an elementary school teacher who spends her off-hours time looking for lost kittens, raising environmental awareness, and serving as a foster mother. Bill, Pam, and Ralph meet in the desert, where Ralph tells Bill about Holly. He reacts visibly to his new partner being a "skirt" before Holly arrives, flying in wearing a new version of the suit made for her, and she pledges to help Bill. The original trio say their final farewells, and even the stoic Maxwell reveals his true emotions as he says goodbye to Ralph and calling Pam a trouper—"...one of the best!" Holly reacts emotionally to the fond farewells, but breaks the sombre mood as she accidentally pulls the door off of Bill's sedan.
The rest of the episode deals with Holly learning how to use the suit with Bill Maxwell's guidance, and the pair trying to develop a working relationship. It ends with Bill overhearing a conversation between Holly and her foster daughter in which Holly refers to Bill as a good person. Bill is then shown speaking into a recorder he uses as his "diary" to suggest that maybe Holly is the right person to wear the suit after all.
Remake[edit]
On August 29, 2014, Deadline Hollywood published an article reporting that the Fox Network had ordered a pilot for a new version of the show.[14] The pilot was to be produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, both of whom wrote and directed The Lego Movie.
Deadline reported on September 8, 2017, that Rachna Fruchbom and Nahnatchka Khan would produce a female-led remake for 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios. The suit was to be donned by Meera, an Indian-American woman.[15] Actress Hannah Simone was cast as the lead for the reboot.[16]
On February 12, 2018, Simone was announced as the lead in ABC's reboot;[17] however, ABC declined to pick up the series.[18]
Comics[edit]
During July 2008, it was announced that Katt was writing a comic book series based on the television series for his publishing company, Catastrophic Comics, in conjunction with Arcana Studios. The three-issue mini-series debuted later that year, featuring an updated retelling of the original pilot episode set in the present. Katt also contributes to the show's Facebook page.[19]