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(More customer reviews)Although it's now fashionable to watch a superhero struggle with his or her abilities in movies and TV, it wasn't always the case. William Katt played Ralph Hinkley an ordinary guy who is left a gift from aliens from outer space-a suit that gives its wearer the ability to fly, super strength, invisibility and much more. Suddenly, he had all these super powers but lost the owner's manual to tell him how to use it correctly. Ralph ends up flying into walls and generally having as many mishaps as a superhero could possibly have. Befriended by FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) Hinkley partners with him and decides to fight for good. These first eight episodes (including the two hour pilot ) made up the first season of the series. The two hour pilot soars with nice comedic touches by Katt, Connie Selleca and the perfect straight man in Culp. In fact, Culp plays it so seriously that it comes off almost as a parody of a government agent.
With an exceptionally good transfer, "The Greatest American Hero" looks almost as if it was invulnerable to the ravages of time. The transfers look very nice with solid blacks and color reproduction. Considering the show is twenty five years old, there are few of the flaws that one might expect. The image is occasionally soft but and has some minor analog imperfections (such as dust, dirt particularly during the effects shots) on the whole, Anchor Bay has done a meticulous job in transferring this series to DVD. The sound while limited by the technology of the time (it was broadcast in mono) has good presence with the dialogue very clear. Some minor background hiss crops up from time to time. Although the box says this is in stereo it sounds like mono to me.
We get a pilot for a spin off entitled "The Greatest American Heroine". While only one episode was shot, what we have is quite good and promising. Sadly, no network picked up the spin-off so, until recently, it has sat on the shelf. In the spin off Hinkley hands off the suit to a young woman and she takes up where he left off. We also get interviews with stars William Katt, Robert Culp, Connie Selleca and writer/producer/creator Stephen J. Cannell. Culp provides some interesting tidbits in his interview. For example, the reason Bill Maxwell comes across so intense and humorless is because Culp decided to play the role that way. He figured that there with others playing for laughs, presenting his character as serious would provide an anchor to reality and prevent the show from becoming too tongue-in-cheek. With over an hour of interviews, this portion of the set is extremely generous. No commentary tracks from anyone but, really, the interviews do make up for that. Hopefully in future sets we can have commentary tracks on key episodes by the actors and Cannell.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Greatest American Hero - Season Three (1981)
It's the third and final season for reluctant superhero Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), his lawyer girlfriend Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca) and by-the-book FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), but the high-flying fun is far from over! In this season, Ralph is reunited with the ‘green guys' from space, stumbles into danger at his high school reunion, fumbles his way to his and Pam's wedding, and tangles with doomed rockers, ruthless ranchers, strange gamers, killer magicians, the KGB, Central American revolutionaries, a genetic Nazi monster and more. Believe it or not, he's still walking on air as THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO! This collection includes all 13 third season episodes of the action-comedy hit created by Stephen J. Cannell (THE COMMISH, 21 JUMP STREET, HUNTER) and features such guests stars as David Paymer, Bob Saget, Rick Dees, Tawny Little, June Lockhart, André The Giant and more.
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