The Greatest American Hero is an American
comedy-dramaComedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
television series that aired for three seasons from
1981The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.- Events :...
to
1983The year 1983 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1983.For the American TV schedule, see: 1983-84 United States network television schedule.-Events:...
on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Created by producer
Stephen J. CannellStephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor, and the founder of Stephen J. Cannell Productions.-Early life:...
, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981. The series stars
William KattWilliam Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
as teacher Ralph Hinkley ("Hanley" for the latter part of the first season),
Robert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell, and
Connie SelleccaConnie Sellecca is an American actress and former model, primarily known for her roles on television.- Early life :She was born Concetta Sellecchia in The Bronx, New York, New York to Italian parents. At age twelve, she moved to Pomona, New York and attended Pomona Junior High School...
as lawyer Pam Davidson.
The show chronicles Ralph's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red suit that gives him
superhumanSuperhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
abilities. Unfortunately, Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use his powers by trial and error, often with comical results.
Premise
The series is a
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
drama-comedy; actor
William KattWilliam Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
once described it as satire. Ralph Hinkley is a
high schoolHigh school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
teacher of
special educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
students. Determined to get through to them, Ralph takes them on a "geological survey" field trip to the desert. Coming back from the field trip later that night, 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 (Culp) that stops just in time to avoid hitting Hinkley. Maxwell insists that he could not control the car. An alien spacecraft appears and the
aliensIn popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
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
superhumanSuperhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
abilities. Pam Davidson is an attorney, who often joins Ralph and Bill on their adventures. She is an attorney who handled Ralph's divorce and later becomes his wife.
Cast and characters
- William Katt
William Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
as Ralph Hinkley/Hanley
- Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as Bill Maxwell
- Connie Sellecca
Connie Sellecca is an American actress and former model, primarily known for her roles on television.- Early life :She was born Concetta Sellecchia in The Bronx, New York, New York to Italian parents. At age twelve, she moved to Pomona, New York and attended Pomona Junior High School...
as Pam Davidson
- Don Cervantes as Paco Rodriguez
- Faye Grant
Faye Grant is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Career:Her first television role was on the TV series The Greatest American Hero as "Rhonda Blake"...
as Rhonda Blake
- Michael Paré
- Early life :Paré was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Joan, a homemaker, and Francis Paré, who owned print shops. He had six sisters and three brothers. Paré's father was of French-Canadian ancestry and his mother of Irish ancestry....
as Tony Villicana
- Jesse D. Goins
Jesse D. Goins is an American film and television character actor. He is best known for his role in the 1980s television series The Greatest American Hero as Cyler Johnson....
as Cyler Johnson
- William Bogert
William Bogert is an American character actor best known for his semi-regular role of Brandon Brindle on Small Wonder from 1985 to 1989. He also portrayed Kent Wallace, the host of Chappelle's Shows Frontline spoofs...
as Les Carlisle
Ralph's name
The main character's name was originally Ralph Hinkley, but after the
assassination attemptThe Reagan assassination attempt occurred on Monday, March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr...
of
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
by
John Hinckley, Jr.John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, as the culmination of an effort to impress teen actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since...
on March 30, 1981 (only 12 days after the pilot episode aired), the character's last name was changed to "Hanley" for the Season 1 episode "Reseda Rose". For the rest of the 1st season, he was either "Ralph" or "Mister H" (a style of nickname popularized by Fonzie's calling the Cunningham parents "Mr. and Mrs. C" on the contemporary series
Happy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
). During the episode that aired the night of the assassination attempt, the sound of a jet airplane was used to dub over the last name being spoken, and in subsequent episodes there was overdubbing of his students calling him "Mr. H" instead of "Mr. Hinkley." In the episode where Ralph is given a promotion and his own office space, we see the name "Ralph Hanley" on the door plaque. At the start of the 2nd season the name had changed back to Hinkley. In Season 3 episode 7 "Live At Eleven" Ralph is given a name tag at a political rally with his last name spelled "Hunkley" and Ralph gives up saying "it's close enough for politics".
Production
On the series' season 1 DVD set Stephen J. Cannell explained that he had envisioned
Greatest American Hero as a show focusing on down-to-earth, real life problems, whereas when a change of management occurred in ABC, they requested more heroic, save-the-day type episodes. As originally agreed to between Cannell and then ABC executives
Marcy CarseyMarcy Carsey is American television producer. She is best known for her work with fellow producer Tom Werner forming the company Carsey-Werner Productions in 1981.-Life and career:...
and
Tom WernerThomas Charles "Tom" Werner is an American television producer and businessman who, via his investment in New England Sports Ventures, is chairman of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool Football Club....
, the powers would be in the suit, not the guy (though the suit would only work for him) and Ralph would try to solve ordinary-type issues, such as trying to stop a fix in
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
("The Two Hundred Miles-Per-Hour Fastball") or an assassination attempt ("The Best Desk Scenario"). The show initially centered on what Cannell referred to as "character comedy" based on human flaws such as envy (in the aforementioned "The Best Desk Scenario") or
hypochondriaHypochondriasis or hypochondria refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the body’s condition despite the absence of an actual medication condition...
("Plague"). Cannell was trying to avoid save-the-day type episodes, a la the original
Adventures of SupermanAdventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
TV series, but according to Cannell on the DVD set, when Carsey and Werner left ABC (shortly after the show was picked up by the network) the new network executives wanted the show to be more like a kid's show than an adult's show. So they pushed for the exact types of shows that Cannell did not want, shows that involved Ralph trying to stop some sort of calamity from happening, including
nuclear warNuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
("Operation Spoilsport") and even a
Loch Ness MonsterThe Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next....
-type of creature ("The Devil in the Deep Blue Sea"). For the second season finale, a serious and appropriate for the time (the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
was in full bloom in 1982) episode was produced; "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", written and directed by Robert Culp. The episode story line revolves around a
KGBThe KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
mole (played by guest star
Dixie CarterDixie Virginia Carter was an American film, television and stage actress, best known for her role as Julia Sugarbaker in the CBS sitcom Designing Women...
) placed into the FBI with the sole purpose of discovering the methods used by agent Bill Maxwell in catching spies and other assorted bad guys. Cannell gave Culp free rein to make the episode as he saw fit.
Theme song
The theme song (and variants of the theme) are used frequently throughout. "Believe It or Not" was composed by
Mike PostMike Post is an American multi-Grammy and Emmy Award winning composer best known for scoring some of the most popular TV theme songs in the United States, for primetime series such as Law & Order, NYPD Blue, The Rockford Files, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Magnum, P.I., Hill Street Blues, among numerous...
(music) and
Stephen GeyerStephen Geyer , a songwriter, moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after attending Towson State College , in Maryland, as an art major. Since coming to L.A., Stephen has made a name for himself as the writer of hit songs, popular TV themes, TV and film scripts, a non-fiction author, and studio and...
(lyrics) and sung by
Joey ScarburyJoey Scarbury is an adult contemporary singer best known for his hit song, "Theme from The Greatest American Hero ", in 1981.-Childhood and early music career:...
. The theme song became a popular hit during the show's run. "Believe it or Not" debuted in the Top 40 of the
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on June 13, 1981, eventually peaking at #2 during the weeks of August 15 and August 22, and spending a total of 18 weeks in the Top 40. It also peaked at the #1 position on the Record World Chart.
Superman connections
The powers of the red suit were somewhat broad, but still were "similar" enough to the abilities of
SupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
that
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, the owners of
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, filed a lawsuit against ABC, which was ultimately dismissed.
In the pilot episode, while Ralph ponders whether to accept the suit, he observes his son watching the "Superfriends" cartoon. Batman is heard to say, "We need one more Superfriend who can fly!" In a later scene, having yet to convince Pam he really is a superhero, Ralph desperately cracks, "Look at it this way. You're one step ahead of Lois Lane: she never found out who Clark Kent really was." In "Saturday On Sunset Boulevard," Ralph needs to change quickly. Spotting a phone booth, he grumbles, "No! Never!", but ends up using it.
The Greatest American Heroine
In 1986, the original principal cast reunited for a pilot film for a new
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series to be called
The Greatest American Heroine.
The Greatest American Heroine did not result in a new series, and the pilot was never broadcast by NBC. Ultimately, the pilot was reedited as an episode of the original series (complete with original opening credits and theme), and added to
syndicationIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
packages of the original series, where it airs as the final episode. Immediately following the opening 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 chimesThe NBC chimes, named for the radio and television network on which they have been used, consists of a succession of three distinct pitches: G3, E4, and C4 , sounded in that order, creating an arpeggiated C-major chord in the second inversion, within about two seconds time, and reverberating for...
. Once famous, Ralph is said to have hosted
Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
and become a regular guest on
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
both of which are signature NBC series.
The pilot 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 upsets 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, to be remembered only by Ralph, Pam, and Bill.
As Bill runs their desired hero qualities through databases, 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. Most of the episode deals with her learning how to use the suit under Bill Maxwell's guidance, and the pair trying to develop a working relationship.
One of the independently produced series of webisodes based upon the
Greatest American Hero begins with a flashback to Holly not Ralph, before jumping ahead to the present day, some months after her murder, and centers on her former foster daughter and a biological daughter named Morgan Hathaway, who apparently gets the suit. That said, only one part of this story was shown, and the exploits of the new wearer were never shown to audiences.
Reboot
In 2009,
Nathan FillionNathan Fillion is a Canadian actor, currently starring as Richard Castle on the ABC series Castle. He is also known for his portrayal of the lead role of Captain Malcolm Reynolds in the television series Firefly and its feature film continuation, Serenity.He has acted in traditionally distributed...
stated in an interview with
MTV newsMTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
that he would be interested in rebooting the series with him as the lead role.
However, as of November 2011, no reboot has been confirmed.
Comics
In July 2008, it was announced that Katt was writing a comic book series based on the TV show 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 day. Katt also contributes to the show's
FacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page.
Ralph's uniform and hero persona
Ralph's uniform grants him the powers of flight, super strength, resistance to injury (including direct bullet hits to areas covered by the suit),
invisibilityInvisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
,
precognitionIn parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
, telekinesis,
x-ray visionIn science fiction stories or superhero comics, X-ray vision is the ability to see through physical objects at the discretion of the holder of this superpower. The most famous possessor of this ability is DC Comics' iconic superhero character, Superman....
, super speed,
pyrokinesisPyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words and , was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for the ability to create or to control fire with the mind that he gave to the protagonist Charlie McGee in Firestarter...
, holographic vision, shrinking, psychometry, and sensitivity to the supernatural. In the episode "Fire Man" he displays resistance to fire/heat and uses "superbreath" (blowing out a flamethrower), he also uses it in "There's Just No Accounting..." to blow out a
molotov cocktailThe Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
. He also showed signs of being able to control minds when he was exposed to high doses of plutonium radiation. In the second season finale episode "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell," Ralph is shown to control a dog through a holograph. This may have been an improvisational power of the suit, but was never tried again. In "The Shock Will Kill You," he (or the suit) becomes strongly magnetized.
In the second season episode "Don't Mess Around with Jim," Ralph and Maxwell learn that they are not the first duo who received a uniform. Jim "J.J." Beck had received the suit, and Marshall Dunn was his partner, much like Ralph and Maxwell operated. But Jim was overwhelmed with the power of the suit, and he used it selfishly until it was taken away. It is unknown if there were others before Jim who were visited by the aliens. In "Divorce Venusian Style," the pair meet the alien, whose world was apparently destroyed (which hints as to why it wants to protect humanity) and calls Earth one of the few remaining "garden planets." It is also revealed that there are several other people in seeming "
suspended animationSuspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
" aboard its ship (Bill speculates that they are possible replacements for them). Ralph is given another instruction book—supposedly the aliens's last copy, but he loses it as well, when he and the book shrink to a fraction of their normal sizes, and he is not holding the book when he returns to his original height.
The hero persona never receives a "superhero name," either, although Scarbury sings the
Elton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
song "Rocket Man" in the pilot. However, in the episode "The Shock Could Kill You," Ralph sarcastically refers to himself as "Captain Gonzo."
Like his own character of Ralph Hinkley/Hanley, William Katt found the suit very uncomfortable and hated wearing it. Producers made various modifications to the suit to help him out, and accommodated him by scheduling shoots so he would not have to wear it all day.
Uniform symbol
On the DVD of Season 1, Stephen J. Cannell notes that the symbol was actually based on a pair of scissors that he had on his desk during the design of the uniform. However, in Jeff Rovin's book,
The World Encyclopedia of Superheroes, the author claimed that it was actually an "open book and needle emblem." The issue was even further confused by the use of Elton John's song "Rocket Man" in the pilot episode, leading some fans to assume that the suit's logo actually did depict some kind of rocket.
The symbol on Ralph's uniform resembles the Chinese character "center" [中]. As the symbol is red in color, Hong Kong television station TVB called the Cantonese-dubbed version of the show [飛天紅中俠], translated to mean "Flying Red Center Hero".
The symbol's bilateral symmetry seemingly avoided the "backward S" problem encountered on the
Adventures of SupermanAdventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
. On the low-budget 1950s series, film editors would on occasion "flop" stock footage of George Reeves in flight, causing the "S" shield to appear reversed. However, in many Greatest American Hero composite flying sequences, Ralph wore a watch- and the timepiece jumps from one wrist to the other, especially in extended flying sequences.
The symbol often appeared on the wrestling attire of
ECWExtreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
wrestler
Super NovaMichael "Mike" Bucci is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. Bucci is probably best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling as Nova, Super Nova, and "Hollywood" Nova and World Wrestling Entertainment as Simon Dean...
, whose "gimmick" was that he was a
superheroA superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
.
In popular culture
At the end of "The Cooper-Hofstadter Polarization," an episode of
The Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, two Chinese computer nerds are shown, one of whom wears a shirt bearing the emblem from
The Greatest American Heros costume.
The Season 3 episode of
Robot ChickenRobot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...
, "Yancy the Yo-Yo Boy," features a sketch where a nerd receives the alien super suit. But unlike Ralph, the nerd discovers none of the suit's powers, instead being knocked unconscious after attempted flight.
Robert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
reprises his role of Bill Maxwell and takes the unconscious nerd on several adventures (most notably using the nerd (and his invulnerable costume) as a shield to fend off bullets or as a bludgeon to beat up bad guys), ending with the aliens reclaiming the suit and leaving the barely conscious and naked nerd vulnerable to humiliation by two girls mocking his "third leg."
During Season 7 of
Family GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, during the episode "
The Man with Two Brians"The Man with Two Brians" is the fifth episode of the seventh season of the animated series Family Guy. It premiered on Fox in the United States on November 9, 2008. The episode centers on anthropomorphic dog Brian after he is injured during a stunt being enacted by his owner, Peter, after he...
,"
Peter GriffinPeter Griffin is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated comedy series Family Guy and the patriarch of the Griffin family. He is voiced by cartoonist Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the family in the 15-minute short on December 20, 1998....
, imitating the MTV show
Jackassjackass is an American reality series, originally shown on MTV from 2000 to 2002, featuring people performing various dangerous, crude, ridiculous, self-injuring stunts and pranks...
, rides roller skates down a hill while being towed by a car; he is dressed as the Greatest American Hero and sings the theme song before being launched off a ramp into Lake Quahog.
In the 8th season
SeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
episode, "
The Susie"The Susie" is the 149th episode of the sitcom Seinfeld. This was the 15th episode for the 8th season. It aired on February 13, 1997.-Plot:...
," George's answering machine is a parody of
The Greatest American Heros theme song, "Believe It or Not," with
Stephen GeyerStephen Geyer , a songwriter, moved to Los Angeles in 1972 after attending Towson State College , in Maryland, as an art major. Since coming to L.A., Stephen has made a name for himself as the writer of hit songs, popular TV themes, TV and film scripts, a non-fiction author, and studio and...
's lyrics altered to reflect George's whereabouts.
The
Gilmore GirlsGilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
season 5 episode "Tippecanoe And Taylor, Too" has Lane Kim's band Hep Alien play Jackson's favorite song "Believe It or Not" at his inauguration as Stars Hollow's selectman.
In the 13th season of
ER (TV series)ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
episode 3 "Somebody To Love", Dr. Archie Morris played by
Scott GrimesScott Richard Grimes is an American actor, voice artist and singer. Some of his most prominent roles are his appearances in ER as Dr. Archie Morris, Party of Five as Will McCorkle, Band of Brothers as Technical Sergeant Donald Malarkey, and the popular animated sitcom American Dad!, voicing Steve...
drives a convertible down a highway, singing the theme tune to
Greatest American Hero at the top of his voice despite being late for his first day of work as an ER attending.
In the CBS sitcom
The Big Bang TheoryThe Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
the character
Sheldon CooperSheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
frequently wears a
Greatest American Hero t-shirt, along with a collection of other t-shirts with superhero logos.
The website "
Homestar RunnerHomestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. It mixes surreal humor with references to retro pop culture, notably video games, classic television, and popular music.The cartoons are nominally centered on the title character, Homestar Runner...
" featured a Halloween-themed cartoon short called "The House That Gave Sucky Treats" in which the series' title character, Homestar Runner, is dressed as the Greatest American Hero and sings a short parody of the show's theme song.
Online reviewer The Cinema Snob also uses a portion of the show's theme as his own.
DVD releases
Anchor Bay EntertainmentAnchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time in 2005. In addition, on October 3, 2006, they released a special 13-disc boxed set that contains all 43 episodes of the series as well as other bonus collectors items. NOTE: Both the individual DVD sets and the complete boxed set are missing original performances by Mike Post and Joey Scarbury whenever the song concerned originated by another artist. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print.
On October 14, 2009, it was announced that
Mill Creek EntertainmentMill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
had acquired the rights to several
Stephen J. CannellStephen Joseph Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist and occasional actor, and the founder of Stephen J. Cannell Productions.-Early life:...
series including
The Greatest American Hero. They subsequently re-released the first season as well as a complete series box set on May 18, 2010. Season 2 was re-released on October 12, 2010.
| DVD Name |
Ep # |
Release Date |
| Season 1 |
9 |
May 18, 2010 |
| Season 2 |
22 |
October 12, 2010 |
| Season 3 |
13 |
TBA |
| Complete Series |
44 |
May 18, 2010 |
External links