Throughout the history of American pop culture, and especially television, superheroes have been a consistent staple. While the most obvious examples of TV superheroes come from the usual faces of Marvel and DC, such as 1966's "Batman" (who almost fought Godzilla once) and 1977's "The Incredible Hulk," the 1980s offered up a new kind of hero, one with no comic book origins. That hero was Ralph Hinkley, and from 1981 to 1983, he was "The Greatest American Hero."
"The Greatest American Hero" was a comedy-drama series that aired on ABC in the early-'80s starring William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca. It followed the misadventures of an average teacher gifted superhuman abilities by an alien suit, but with no consistent idea of how to use them.
This was a generally silly show, especially compared to the current trend of R-rated superhero shows, but did reasonably well for itself, lasting three seasons with a total of 45 episodes and securing several Emmy nominations. An unsuccessful attempt at a reboot was made, but the show still maintains a quiet position of prominence in the annals of pop culture history, particularly in the field of early-'80s sci-fi entertainment.
The Greatest American Hero followed a hapless everyman in a super suit
"The Greatest American Hero" followed Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), a Los Angeles high school teacher who, while on a field trip in a nearby desert, has a chance encounter with genuine aliens. Coincidentally, he also meets up with an FBI agent named Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp).
The benevolent aliens provide the two men with a mission: use a superpowered suit to fight evil around the world. Ralph's girlfriend and divorce lawyer, Pam Davidson (played by Connie Sellecca), also ends up inadvertently roped into this crusade for justice.
The series would see Ralph going about his daily life, but when crime or danger appears, he would be forced to don the suit and attempt to intervene with Bill and Pam's help. While the suit possesses numerous miraculous abilities like flight, invisibility, super speed, and more, Ralph unfortunately lost the manual for the suit after it was given to him, so he has no idea how to consciously activate any of its functions. Hi-jinks would ensue as Ralph attempted to get the suit to do what he needed, while Bill and Pam would run damage control on the current situation.
The show maintains a quiet presence in the history of pop culture
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"The Greatest American Hero" ran for three seasons before concluding, and while it never won any awards, it was nominated for several Emmys, including Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for a Series, Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series, and Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics. In fact, the show's theme song sung by Joey Scarbury, "Believe It or Not," was a chart placer in 1981, rising to the number two spot on the Billboard charts that summer.
Given its popularity, the idea of a modern reboot has been tossed around for a while. FOX ordered a reboot in 2014, and in 2018, the reboot was pitched to ABC with actress Hannah Simone in the lead. Sadly, ABC ended up passing on the pitch, and at the time of writing, no further attempts at reboots have happened.
Still, for fans of '80s pop culture, "The Greatest American Hero" remains an all-timer, and still pops up occasionally. In Season 7, Episode 5 of "Family Guy," Peter Griffin mimics "The Greatest American Hero" in an effort to create an original "Jackass" stunt, donning the costume and a curly blond wig and singing the chorus of the theme song before launching himself into the air.