WTF Happened to The Greatest American Hero (1981-1983)?

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  • Опубліковано 11 січ 2023
  • The Greatest American Hero is a show that’s much beloved by folks of a certain generation. If you grew up in the seventies or eighties, the theme song is instantly iconic. In fact, the track “Believe it or Not” by Joey Scarbury actually made it all the way to the number 2 spot on the Billboard Charts. It was actually a bigger hit than the show itself, which only ran for two and a half seasons before being cancelled with five unaired episodes in early 1983. Yet, it remains part of the pop culture, with talk of rebooting it every now and then.
    A reboot would definitely make sense given how obsessed people are with superheroes, with the red and black suit the hero wears iconic in its own way. The show starred cult horror icon William Katt (House) as Ralph Hanley, a teacher who’s endowed with superhuman abilities by aliens, who give him the red and black suit, which he never really figures out how to use. The show was a solid mixture of adventure and fantasy, with heavy doses of comedy, with Hanley a reluctant hero who hates to fly. He’s aided by an FBI agent played by TV vet Robert Culp (I Spy), and the show hailed from Stephen J. Cannell, the man behind The Rockford Files, The A-Team and many more.
    In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten, which is written by Jessica Dwyer, edited by Cesar Gabriel, and narrated by Travis Hopson, we dig into this classic show. We examine how the show was conceived, how it was an initial hit, and why it was abruptly cancelled. We also dig into failed reboots and sequels, such as the Greatest American Heroine, and how the show also introduced us to the great Michael Paré before Eddie & the Cruisers and Streets of Fire made him a heartthrob.
    Do you have fond memories of The Greatest American Hero? Let us know in the comments!
    For more MOVIE NEWS, visit: www.joblo.com
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    #GreatestAmericanHero #WilliamKatt #gonebutnotforgotten
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 736

  • @JoBloOriginals
    @JoBloOriginals  Рік тому +6

    Hey guys!
    This episode of GBNF was made from suggestions from fans who emailed us demanding this show be covered on this series. If you want to make suggestions for future episodes of GBNF then e-mail GBNFSeries@gmail.com and maybe we’ll cover your show!

    • @mikeysuzefour
      @mikeysuzefour 4 місяці тому +1

      Please add that FilmRise Television Productions (UA-cam channel) has ALL 3 seasons of The Greatest American Hero free to view and thanks Travis for this retrospective episode!

  • @SovereignKnight74
    @SovereignKnight74 Рік тому +261

    Such a classic. There will never be a time like the 1980's again. Glad to be a Generation X'er.

    • @jamesfrench7299
      @jamesfrench7299 Рік тому +11

      I hated the 1990s when they rolled around as it was not the same as the 80s. It didn't have the feeling of wonder.

    • @pdxoneway
      @pdxoneway Рік тому +19

      I'm so glad that our generation got to be normal kids . Playing outside , riding our bikes , hide and seek games with the whole block playing till it was dark. Not having a phone to be called inside but rather knowing when the street lights came on it was time to head home. Oh and being a kid without worrying about getting shot by another kid. The last generation before it all went to sh**. 76'

    • @palikariena7292
      @palikariena7292 Рік тому +12

      we had the best of everything. we were still a free nation too

    • @retired4365
      @retired4365 Рік тому +7

      Word! 🤣

    • @jamesfrench7299
      @jamesfrench7299 Рік тому +3

      Maybe it was because I never wanted to grow up, that I felt differently, but no, everything became blander and less adventurous to my mind.

  • @christopherwaldrop5293
    @christopherwaldrop5293 Рік тому +164

    Even watching this as a kid I realized that, by having Ralph lose the instruction book, the writers could pretty much give him any power he needed for any situation. I thought it was really clever.

    • @DeusExAstra
      @DeusExAstra Рік тому +9

      In a sense, this makes it fit even more with the Green Lantern parallel. GL can do pretty much anything he/she can think of... at least over the years that was the case. Now they are much more limited, but in the old days GLs could do pretty much anything.

    • @brianerickson6775
      @brianerickson6775 Рік тому +10

      Also, added a sense of discovery.
      "You mean I can do that"-sense of wonder.
      Remember, 70's Superman was god-like.
      While Ralph was an everyman, an underdog.
      Losing the instruction book was pure genius.

    • @HariSeldon913
      @HariSeldon913 Рік тому +10

      And he lost it twice. "I just set it on that boulder right there..."

    • @sambas9257
      @sambas9257 Рік тому +4

      Yes...and they used it in different times during the 3 seasons. There were the superman flight, super strength, invulnerability, x-ray vision then he discovered also he could be invisible...then..telekinesis, pyrokinesis and in the first episode of the third season he shrinked like ant-man because aliens gave him the second manual that he loses again.

    • @John-ct9zs
      @John-ct9zs Рік тому +7

      Yeah losing the instruction book was a genius move, as Ralph could discover new powers/abilities of the suit. Plus, since he didn't have the instruction book, and didn't have mastery of his powers and it also limited his powers, so he never became all powerful like Superman and too "boring".

  • @Pre10tious
    @Pre10tious Рік тому +75

    I actually have the DVD box set. It is in a metal case and came with a cape, alien instruction manual, and a book about the show.

    • @DarthJ1977
      @DarthJ1977 Рік тому +21

      I hope you didn't lose the book! 😆

    • @SumDumGy
      @SumDumGy Рік тому +4

      I think that’s the only set that ever had the finale included.

    • @markuhler2664
      @markuhler2664 Рік тому +6

      That's a boxed set I would buy.

    • @kevinramsey417
      @kevinramsey417 Рік тому +3

      Do you still have the instruction manual?

    • @garicrewsen1128
      @garicrewsen1128 Рік тому +1

      You've got quite the relic there. Never let it go!

  • @tkskagen
    @tkskagen Рік тому +144

    Next to the "A-Team", this show had by far the absolute best "Theme Song".
    As I was only in 3rd Grade, we where taught this song, and I will never forget the lyrics!

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому +7

      Yeah, to the point where people have completely forgotten about the show, how, bizarre.

    • @KenAdams426
      @KenAdams426 Рік тому +6

      Street Hawk was another cool show with the motorcycle. And because i'm in IT i gave away a picture with the A-Team in cuz they are a team and they work as a team. Team team team.

    • @dexterriley
      @dexterriley Рік тому +5

      Hardcastle and MccCormick is in the mix with "Drive"

    • @jamesellis701
      @jamesellis701 Рік тому +7

      WKRP in Cincinnati

    • @tomchien7692
      @tomchien7692 Рік тому

      "A-Team"?!? wwwwAT?!? U've been SMOKIN'?! PFFFFT! BLEH! 1. Not a lyrical theme, so not in the same league, but nevertheless, I would name TGAH theme "Best in (TV) Show" period, lyrical or not. 2. Even for instrumentals, A-Team theme is a nonstarter. It can't even *imagine* the league that Hill Street Blues theme is in or even, just for military-style tv instrumental themes, the JAG theme!

  • @Deathtank75
    @Deathtank75 Рік тому +15

    William Katt, what a legend, not only this show, the horror movie "House" is by far one of my favorites too!

    • @hackman669
      @hackman669 Рік тому +2

      Meow🤗😻😸😺😿🦧

    • @mikeysuzefour
      @mikeysuzefour 4 місяці тому +3

      We own House & House II:The Second Story films--Katt was great as well as in the OG Carrie playing Tommy Ross! 🎥

    • @jesushchrist285
      @jesushchrist285 2 місяці тому +2

      oh there's an actual movie named "House", I thought they were calling out that one time he appeared on House MD as the teen preacher's dad.

  • @jamesprovosthemingway4285
    @jamesprovosthemingway4285 Рік тому +71

    Always loved this show! Especially the song 🎵 every time I hear the song it takes me back to growing up as a child in the 80's

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому +1

      Yeah, too bad that series, was, Too Good To Last, miserably nasty.

    • @jnnx
      @jnnx 8 місяців тому +1

      @@matthewdaley746to. To last. (Said in disapproving southern accent)
      “I SAY, Now I say son, Did none of ya’ll get taught proper grammar?”

    • @raymondcanessa7208
      @raymondcanessa7208 8 місяців тому +1

      Believe it or not, George isn't at home
      Please leave a message at the beep
      I must be out, or I'd pick up the phone
      Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not home

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 5 місяців тому

      ​​​@@jnnxFixed, disgust are over.

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 5 місяців тому

      ​​​@@raymondcanessa7208Soundtrack to a generation.

  • @elizabethhurlbut1475
    @elizabethhurlbut1475 Рік тому +41

    That theme song touched everyone. In an episode of My Name is Earl, Earl and his brother Randy fall through the roof of an empty water tower were they trapped inside suspended by ropes. After waking up to find themselves still hanging in the air, with seemingly all hope lost, the two brother's start to sing, "Believe it or Not". 😂

  • @mrmc9278
    @mrmc9278 Рік тому +3

    In 1982 my mom sewed me a Greatest American Hero costume. It looked just like the one in the show. She bought me a blonde, curly wig and that year for Halloween it was my costume. I was in second grade. Not only did I win 1st place in the costume contest at school, but she actually sent a picture of me in costume to ABC in care of William Katt. Fast forward 2 months, and I got a picture of Katt in the mail autographed by him. He actually took the time to write a brief inscription on the picture saying how he loved the picture and how we looked just alike.

  • @hunterprice3320
    @hunterprice3320 Рік тому +43

    I love this show. I was born in the early 2000s and me and my mom were at a rummage sale when I was a kid and they had the first 2 seasons on dvd and they literally just gave them to us because no one else bought them. My mom remembered the show and thought I would like it. Needless to say I'm a huge fan and have been since I was in like 2nd grade lol. After watching this show I decided to create my own superhero as a kid and I still plan to write stories with the character I made.

    • @garicrewsen1128
      @garicrewsen1128 Рік тому +4

      Nurture and love that dream. All the best in your endeavors.

  • @robert_bbiii
    @robert_bbiii Рік тому +40

    Culp was so good. He added so much.
    There were two things I heard I loved. He always made sure to check the gun he had. In one scene even one Bill knew wasn't loaded. So it was just instinct to check it to be safe.
    The other was that he had written some notes about what Bill's apartment should look like and noted Bill would have a murphy bed. Set designers saw the notes and replicated it exactly.

  • @Trilaan
    @Trilaan Рік тому +20

    Robert Culp was one of the greatest television actors of his day, and a personal favorite of mine. I'm glad he didn't live to see what was revealed about his friend and I Spy co-star Bill Cosby.
    The Beast in the Black actually had some really good, creepy moments in it and is one of my favorite episodes.

    • @Ashas.Garden
      @Ashas.Garden Рік тому +3

      Revealed? Imma say he knew well before we did.

    • @robzilla730
      @robzilla730 Рік тому +2

      @learnercass yup. Code of silence I'm sure...

    • @jnnx
      @jnnx 8 місяців тому

      Cosby’s dalliances were a well kept industry secret. . .

  • @briwanderz
    @briwanderz Рік тому +51

    one of the most underrated tv shows out there.. this and misfits of science. they both deserved so much more, and especially for misfits a longer series.

    • @daniellogan-scott5968
      @daniellogan-scott5968 Рік тому +7

      OOh. Misfits of Science with little Courtney Cox.

    • @brianerickson6775
      @brianerickson6775 Рік тому +3

      Yes. And the misfits kept the iceman's truck.😁
      Loved Johnny's special effects.
      Great show.

    • @jaymillymills
      @jaymillymills Рік тому +4

      Ohhh you made my morning. I didn't think anyone remembered the Misfits of Science

    • @jimperry1501
      @jimperry1501 Рік тому +3

      I have a VHS of the first episode or two.
      #GoodnightBunnies
      #ClassDismissed!
      #KevinPeterHall

    • @briwanderz
      @briwanderz Рік тому +1

      most of the episodes of misfits are actually on youtube.. 14 episodes. for some reason looks like no episode 4 or 5, but they do have the unaired episode 16. channel name is "series" they are unfortunately only in 360p

  • @Krullmatic
    @Krullmatic Рік тому +12

    This was one of my favorite shows of all time, as a young teenager! I even had the theme song on 45. I wore the crap out of that record.

  • @09NXN06
    @09NXN06 Рік тому +10

    The theme song blend perfectly with the show along genuine nostalgia I wish I could experience those moments again.

  • @cyrusq5999
    @cyrusq5999 Рік тому +2

    Loved the "horror" episodes best:
    The alien that stowed aboard a shuttle returning to earth, only to escape underground and feed on electricity. The evil ghost, haunting a soon-to-be-demolished house, and desperate to escape from her dimension to live again, and finally, the sea monster (a plesiosaur-like beast) terrorising vacationers (and pirates) on the high seas in the Caribbean. A shame more episodes in this style weren't produced.
    The series was repeated in the morning weekdays, back in the '90s. Unfortunately, the episodes were edited for commercial breaks, sometimes losing whole scenes. Discovered this for myself when I bought the complete show on DVD.
    Great show (and theme)!

  • @mathieuaustin7190
    @mathieuaustin7190 Рік тому +12

    So much to love!
    As a Robert Culp fan, I, too, loved Bill the most. And, like most, crushed hard on Connie Selleca.
    Finally, 1 year, 1 of my students was the granddaughter of the theme’s writer. No shock, her classmates didn’t care, but I was blown away! 😅

    • @billkeithchannel
      @billkeithchannel Рік тому

      While Hero was airing new episodes, reruns of I Spy was being shown on retro cable channels.

  • @davidjames1389
    @davidjames1389 Рік тому +24

    Absolutely love this show. I recently did a rewatch and it actually holds up far better than most 80s shows. The effects are obviously dated, but the dialogue and banter between the characters is still just as sharp and funny as ever.

    • @hackman669
      @hackman669 Рік тому

      Remakes!!!✌

    • @vlweb3d
      @vlweb3d Рік тому +3

      @@hackman669 The show does not need a remake,
      it needs to be preserved.
      A remake today will just turn it into trash.

    • @hackman669
      @hackman669 Рік тому

      What abut a continuation with the original theme. Leave out politics and focus on character issues instead.

    • @garicrewsen1128
      @garicrewsen1128 Рік тому +1

      It was effortless to suspend disbelief when watching this show. I think the loss of the Instruction Book multiplied this effect for many of us.

    • @amystreasuresdesign
      @amystreasuresdesign Рік тому

      Agreed. I caught a few episodes one day when MeTV was running a marathon. It was fun watching it again for the first time since it originally aired.

  • @gelfie2208
    @gelfie2208 Рік тому +21

    I have four favourite shows from the 80s. Magnum P.I, Hardcastle and McCormick, Quantum Leap, and Greatest American Hero. And the thing that drew me to them then, and continues to make them rewatchable, is the great and very genuine feeling buddy teamups between the principle characters.

    • @valentinrobert1192
      @valentinrobert1192 Рік тому +1

      Knight rider is not on your list that was good and hunter and fallguy that was great show

    • @gelfie2208
      @gelfie2208 Рік тому +1

      @@valentinrobert1192 Watched Knight Rider as a kid, and loved it of course. I've not seen it as an adult, but I'm not sure it would hold up. I have some very faint memories of The Fall Guy, but not enough to make any comments on it.

    • @davidconner-shover51
      @davidconner-shover51 Рік тому

      @@gelfie2208 To think David Hasselhof did better in Baywatch, then as a singer in Germany for many, many years afterwards is interesting to me, he didn't do too bad after the show cancellation

  • @bjw4859
    @bjw4859 Рік тому +6

    I remember this show from the 80's, as kids we had some really amazing shows that I look back fondly from today & I bet if you dressed up as this hero & went to any comic based convention, you'd be recoginised at once.

  • @Zebrowsky79
    @Zebrowsky79 Рік тому +11

    Child of the 80's I loved this show and the theme song

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому +1

      I, did, too, speaking of which, Bionic Six, Dinosaucers, and, Peter Pan, And, The, Pirates, all, did the worst, possible, thing a cartoon can do, they wasted a great opening.

    • @hackman669
      @hackman669 Рік тому +1

      Greatest Amerucan Heroine haha

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому +1

      @@hackman669 Great, joke, just, unquestionably.

  • @LatitudeSky
    @LatitudeSky Рік тому +7

    Cannell had a truly magic typewriter. Hit after hit. Genius casting. The best theme songs.

    • @wyup
      @wyup Рік тому

      I was amazed to hear Katt in an interview say that Cannell had a tragic lost during TGAH. Still he carried on to make The A-Team..

  • @grapeshot
    @grapeshot Рік тому +12

    I most definitely remember watching this show back in the day and then all of us kids talking about his crazy flying style the next day.

  • @NottyGurlStyle
    @NottyGurlStyle Рік тому +5

    I remember watching Greatest American Hero as a child and just loved it! I would laugh at all the crashes lol it was just a great show that will always be in my heart. I still remember the theme and sing it all the time.
    The best was went George used it as his voice message. Loved it!!! It was a wonderful surprise.
    I will have to try and put it on for my son to see if he would like it but we will see.
    I recently bought a magnet of the show for my fridge. I just smile when I look at it.
    This show will never be forgotten ❤

  • @cryptojihadi265
    @cryptojihadi265 Рік тому +14

    Those were the days of Connie Selleca, Linda Carter, Erin Grey. Wow, just WOW!

    • @robertcoggeshall3071
      @robertcoggeshall3071 Рік тому +2

      3 absolutely stunning women. Agree 👍.

    • @slc40
      @slc40 Рік тому +1

      I was absolutely in love with Connie and close friend with Erin.

  • @aronsmith1635
    @aronsmith1635 Рік тому +5

    This was my all time favorite show. Thank God for the digital age where I can sing along with the theme every chance I get.

  • @captainsensiblejr.
    @captainsensiblejr. Рік тому +8

    At my high school in New Zealand, at the time, we had a female teacher who looked EXACTLY like Connie Selleca. I swear some guys went insane when she took over the Harriers running club.

  • @creativewritingcorner
    @creativewritingcorner Рік тому +4

    One of the best TV memories of my childhood was watching this show with my dad, singing along with the theme song.

  • @cgluck
    @cgluck Рік тому +4

    I so loved this show as a kid. And still love the theme song (It is on one of my 70's playlists on Spotify). They are always bringing back shows. They could do so on this one too.

  • @garicrewsen1128
    @garicrewsen1128 Рік тому +5

    This show's theme song brings tears to my eyes within the first few bars every time I hear it. The nostalgia of a more wholesome and pure existence in my neighborhood, and our communities, cities, states, country and world. Times haven't simply changed since then, they've moved dimensionally to an existence I never expected nor foresaw. It physically and emotionally hurts to remember where we all once were when this show began to shape the ideas and ideals of who many of us then, young and old, aspired to be. Sadly, maybe even inevitably, much of that dream was swept away during the near and distant past, which was, back then, our near and distant future. I think and feel that's why this theme song so easily brings a tear because it equally reminds us what could have been and what was lost. (oops, my feelies fell out!)
    Thanks for covering this JoBlo!! You're my Greatest American Hero❕

    • @jnnx
      @jnnx 8 місяців тому

      Time can’t change “dimensionally”, it can only move one direction, Forwards. And you are drunk, take off those nostalgia googles.

    • @raymondcanessa7208
      @raymondcanessa7208 8 місяців тому

      Believe it or not, George isn't at home
      Please leave a message at the beep
      I must be out, or I'd pick up the phone
      Where could I be? Believe it or not, I'm not home

  • @KevinStCroix
    @KevinStCroix Рік тому +2

    I will always remember the episode shot in Saint Croix. It was at my dads house who was a radio engineer on the island. He called to tell me that they filmed an episode there. It took over a year for that episode to air. I waited and watched every single week for it to come out!
    The most exciting episode ever!
    Well I always love the show and growing up in the 80s!

  • @artboymoy
    @artboymoy Рік тому +16

    Loved this show as a kid. The theme still holds up as a classic tune full of optimism, which matched the show. I'm glad you brought up Green Lantern because after watching that train wreck, I thought, "Why don't they just use the TGAH feel?", with Hal Jordan not knowing how the suit really worked, what his abilities were, where it actually came from, why it was given to him, etc... At least just for the first movie. Keep the stakes low and his power low as well. Then second movie you take him off planet to fill in the GL Corps and training and back to Earth to fight some bigger dangers. The third movie you could have had him join the Corp in fighting the biggest bad, Parallax (a being not a cloud) and be among many of the other GL that sacrificed their lives to end it. At the end the ring flies off back to Earth... roll credits.

    • @garicrewsen1128
      @garicrewsen1128 Рік тому +1

      Your account icon/thumbnail is a heap of awesomesauce. Live long and prosper.🖖

    • @artboymoy
      @artboymoy Рік тому

      @@garicrewsen1128 Thank you! When visiting Vasquez Rocks you have to do it right.

    • @spartanx169x
      @spartanx169x Рік тому +1

      I truly don't know where the hate comes from for the Green Lantern movie. I thought it was pretty good. The only thing I really didn't like was the enemy being so big in relation to the Green Lantern. was it as good as Batman Begins? No. Was it entertaining ? Yes. Did I want to see a sequel when it was over? yes.

    • @artboymoy
      @artboymoy Рік тому +1

      @@spartanx169x I'm a comic guy so maybe I felt the storytelling could have been a lot better in building it up. Plus, I really didn't care for the suit. It looked like slabs of green muscle was all over him. I just really wish they paced it out better because after beating a galactic threat, where do you go for a sequel?

  • @Oonagh72
    @Oonagh72 Рік тому +13

    Fun trivia. All of those guest stars that came on the show were not just because is Robert Culp or Stephen J Canell connection. William Katt is the son of actors Barbara Hale and Bill Williams. His mom was Della Street on Perry Mason and his dad was the star of The Adventures of Kit Carson. William Katt later starred with his mother in the Perry Mason movies as her son.

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому +2

      He played the son of William Hopper's character, a, PI.

    • @HariSeldon913
      @HariSeldon913 Рік тому +1

      His mom also made a guest appearance as Ralph's mother in one episode. I do wonder which way it went - did they make an episode showing Ralph's mother so she could be on or did they write the episode then ask Katt to see if his mother would do it.

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому

      @@HariSeldon913 An interesting performing circumstance.

    • @Oonagh72
      @Oonagh72 Рік тому

      @@matthewdaley746 Paul Drake, Jr. Was William Katy’s character. Paul and Della got married producing Paul Drake, Jr. I should have given the entire character story. Sorry, I didn’t give the entire character backstory.

    • @Oonagh72
      @Oonagh72 Рік тому

      @@HariSeldon913 I bet it was a bit of both. Someone probably said it would be nice to have her on the show. Then they wrote an episode with his mom and asked if she might be willing to do it.

  • @jediknightjairinaiki560
    @jediknightjairinaiki560 Рік тому +12

    Finally! It's because of this show, that people think teachers are heroes. Now it all makes sense.

    • @billkeithchannel
      @billkeithchannel Рік тому +1

      Jamie Sommers was a teacher and would keep them in line by tearing an Ojai phone book in half. Oh yeah, and she used her bionics to help out the government too.

    • @jediknightjairinaiki560
      @jediknightjairinaiki560 Рік тому +1

      @@billkeithchannel Hey, Kevin. Try to get a grasp on sarcasm. You'll enjoy the joke and the social commentary more, instead of walking around with a stick up your @$$.

  • @richardryley3660
    @richardryley3660 Рік тому +2

    This has always been one of my favorite shows of all time. Katt may have hated that he never learned to fly well, but the losing the instruction manual gimmick was genius. Not only could they make up powers to fit the plot, but even as a kid I understood the idea of "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".
    Since Ralph couldn't control his powers he could never rely on them. For example, I thought it was amusing that he was bullet proof, but he always shielded his head. His head was exposed, so he couldn't assume it was protected, and it was too dangerous to shoot himself in the head just to see.

  • @Fedge378
    @Fedge378 Рік тому +5

    I absolutely loved that theme song from the series premiere. When they started playing it on the radio, I was elated lol. I still know the lyrics lol.

  • @SirKnight1096
    @SirKnight1096 Рік тому +4

    Still my favorite Superhero show

  • @vlweb3d
    @vlweb3d Рік тому +2

    Used to watch this show
    back in the 80s.
    The theme song and Ralph's flying
    never leaves your head :)

  • @snackbarqueen
    @snackbarqueen Рік тому +1

    One of my FAVORITE shows of all time ! I was 7 yo when this show came out and I watched it every week....I LOVED the fact that Ralph was horrible at the flying and landing, it cracked me up 🤣😆 I've actually went back and watched the series in 2015, it might be time again to have another rewatch ! ❤

  • @DeusExAstra
    @DeusExAstra Рік тому +8

    I'm still waiting for a good remake of this show. Loved it as a kid and the theme song of course is iconic. I just hope that if we eventually get a remake, that it doesnt suck and that the creators respect the source material.

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому

      Hope is a dangerous thing, everything worked out perfectly, once, we shouldn't expect it to happen again, Ghostbusters, is, The, Poster Child, for, this.

    • @HepCatJack
      @HepCatJack Рік тому

      With Netflix no longer producing Marvel superheroes may properties like this one will become interesting. They could public domain heroes, and maybe sprinkle in Ralph, Automan maybe characters from the Shadow Hunters for a super team. There was a precursor to Spider-Man that was called the Spider, it was sort of another company's version of "The Shadow".

    • @shadowfaxcrx5141
      @shadowfaxcrx5141 Рік тому

      Never happen. It'll be like the Knight Rider reboot. That one went from a fun campy romp that knew it was schlock and leaned into it to a dark show that was so badly written it should have been on MST3k but was completely unaware of how not-epic it was, and where the bad guy of the week was ALWAYS a terrorist. If they bring back GAH, it'll be the same thing as the Batman reboots. Progressively more "edgy" and "gritty" and with none of the fun of the original.

  • @maryjoyspohrer256
    @maryjoyspohrer256 Рік тому +1

    The fact that he was a teacher, still makes my heart happy.

  • @BeatlesFanSonia
    @BeatlesFanSonia Рік тому +1

    I love that show! I was going through with a divorce and I would sing that song all day! My husband hated it so much he broke my record!

  • @becfinnerty
    @becfinnerty Рік тому +2

    I used the theme song at my wedding n plan 2 use it at my funeral. Love it

  • @skyden24195
    @skyden24195 Рік тому +9

    My dad and I used to love watching this show back when it originally aired. Ralph's haphazard flying/landing was probably our favorite aspect of the show, (it was mine at least.) Also, whenever the theme song came on the radio it always got our full attention, even in the years after the show was cancelled.
    -Just a quick bit of trivia to mention about the Robert Culp show, "I Spy;" the TV-show ("I Spy") was the first (U.S.) nationally broadcast television show to feature a black actor (Bill Cosby) in a leading role, and was executive produced by Sheldon Leonard, a former Hollywood-Golden-Age character (typically gangster) actor turned TV exec-producer who exec-produced such shows as, "I Love Lucy," "The Andy Griffith Show," and the first recognized spin-off show, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."

    • @billkeithchannel
      @billkeithchannel Рік тому +1

      * correction * (oops)
      -Sheldon Leonard- Sidney Sheldon and I Dream Of Genie must always be said within the same breath.

    • @skyden24195
      @skyden24195 Рік тому

      @@billkeithchannel wow! Really? That was one I did not know about. Thank you for that great bit of info. Also, nice to communicate with someone who as well understands the greatness of, and I believe to be underacknowledged, Sheldon Leonard.

    • @billkeithchannel
      @billkeithchannel Рік тому +1

      @@skyden24195 Oh crap! I am getting old. Sidney Sheldon was I Dream Of Genie.

    • @skyden24195
      @skyden24195 Рік тому

      @@billkeithchannel lol, okay, that explains why I hadn't heard/known of Sheldon Leanard being a part of I Dream of Genie.

  • @robertwilliams2762
    @robertwilliams2762 Рік тому +1

    I remember this show always gave me a laugh and a warm feeling. It really cheered me up.

  • @SUPASLY75
    @SUPASLY75 Рік тому +3

    Criminally underrated show!!

  • @vader0872
    @vader0872 Рік тому

    Wow! Brings back a lot of memories from what was arguably one of my favorite and “Greatest” TV shows of my generation. Thanks for the throw back!
    Next mission, track down those unaired episodes of the series finale!

  • @joelsteverson
    @joelsteverson Рік тому +1

    One of my all time favorite shows. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

  • @michaellatta7699
    @michaellatta7699 Рік тому +1

    Greatest American Hero was my first experience with Robert Culp. What a great actor. Loved that show as a kid. And if you missed an episode for some odd reason then tuff luck.

  • @mikeattard3543
    @mikeattard3543 Рік тому +1

    Awesome show. I was in 6th grade band and my Dad bought me the sheet music for the theme song to play on my saxophone.

  • @corrosionoc69
    @corrosionoc69 Рік тому +1

    I loved that show growing up. I have shown it to my kids...and they love it as well

  • @mickesmanymovies
    @mickesmanymovies Рік тому +1

    Saving this video for later, but before watching it I gotta say that I love you guys for doing this! I was 6 years old when this aired on Swedish television, and in all honesty I think it might have sparked some sort of really early interest in the awesomeness of movies and tv... A spark that the tv-show 'V' would pick up and set absolutely ablaze about four years later!

  • @jamesbutts9202
    @jamesbutts9202 Рік тому +1

    I was 17 when the show came out. October 1981, I was hit by a truck and flew 52 feet before crashing. I took "Believe it or Not" as my theme song.

  • @blackpatflynn
    @blackpatflynn Рік тому +2

    i grew up in the 80s i watched this show alot...it wasnt until about 10 years ago that i realized he dropped the instruction manual....mind blown

  • @americanuprising7628
    @americanuprising7628 Рік тому +1

    I showed my eight year old this show he loves it. We got all three seasons, and bugs to watch it every week lol. Such a great show, hokie for sure but, a sweet show for sure.

  • @officialbrucewayne
    @officialbrucewayne Рік тому +1

    This is the first show I bumped into culp and was happy he was in it cause it led me to a lot of other stuff and everytime I'd see him I'd be oh Robert culp and he was just one of the best

  • @deke76
    @deke76 Рік тому +1

    Loved this show as a kid, and Bill was my favorite character.

  • @fredlandry6170
    @fredlandry6170 Рік тому +3

    I loved this show when I was a kid!

  • @madshad3351
    @madshad3351 Рік тому +1

    This show had me in front of the TV religiously. I always wondered how the FBI guy would get hurt. Every episode!!!! I never knew about the Heroine show. Wow. Ty. This was a trip down memory road for me. 👊

  • @shannonalaminski2619
    @shannonalaminski2619 Рік тому +1

    I still hear this song on the radio from time to time and I can still see the guy awkwardly trying, crashing, trying and then flying. Yes, I'm smiling right now.

  • @tryllyam
    @tryllyam Рік тому +1

    I loved this show so much when I was in junior high. And you are right - just mentioning the theme song gets it stuck in my head!

  • @thestepfordlife2015
    @thestepfordlife2015 Рік тому

    Thank you for this. I was seven when this aired. I remember it well and fondly.

  • @danielwalker4881
    @danielwalker4881 Рік тому

    My Family LOVED this show! We were All disappointed when it was cancelled! I did not know that there were unaired episodes, so I will be searching, and watching them accordingly! Actually may run through the whole series! Thanks!

  • @efrainsantiago5225
    @efrainsantiago5225 Рік тому +1

    Thank you for the video. It was a great show.

  • @sean4339
    @sean4339 Рік тому +1

    Good classic and the song for the show is awesome love it,love the 80s forever ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  • @johnnycardwell3110
    @johnnycardwell3110 Рік тому +2

    I loved that show. I was disappointed that it only had 3 seasons

  • @kimberlywiederhold627
    @kimberlywiederhold627 Рік тому +2

    In an interview Robert Culp said he wanted to do Greatest American Hero because it was like Close Encounters by Mel Brooks. And yes my favorite character was Bill Maxwell.

  • @Forcemaster2000
    @Forcemaster2000 Рік тому +2

    Probably my all-time favorite show, ever!

  • @virgil3241
    @virgil3241 Рік тому +2

    Loved this show. I have the DVD boxed set a few years ago. Just a fun show

    • @SMaamri78
      @SMaamri78 Рік тому

      Me, too. One of my favorite shows of all time.

  • @smdias65
    @smdias65 Рік тому

    Thanks for the video! I missed a lot of this series, including the pilot episode, but enjoyed what I did see. Guess I need to check out the episodes on Freevee.

  • @DaveCM
    @DaveCM Рік тому +1

    I loved that show so much as a kid. And, yes. I did tape record the theme song.

  • @JohnnyBeane
    @JohnnyBeane Рік тому

    I loved this show in 81 when i was a kid but i guess i missed most of it because when i bought the series on DVD in 2005 i watched every episode and only remembered a few shows. Now i know every episode and can watch them again and again!

  • @evanm.jacobson1514
    @evanm.jacobson1514 Рік тому

    Fabulous job! Thank you for sharing. We need more didactic shows to inspire creation and positivity in our dynamic universe!👍

  • @reinaldogarcia70
    @reinaldogarcia70 Рік тому +1

    Me and my cousin
    still watching this tv show in syndication
    in the year 1985

  • @craigreid7178
    @craigreid7178 Рік тому +1

    Always loved this feel-good show. The characters were well developed and the story lines were just the right blend of humor and compassion. And, yes, I still hum the theme from time to time.

  • @wolfchief7952
    @wolfchief7952 Рік тому +1

    I Loved the show as a kid, I try not miss an episode.

  • @88happiness
    @88happiness Рік тому +1

    Loved the theme song!! Thanks for playing abit at the end. I never realized that the symbol on his suit is basically the Chinese/Japanese character for 'middle' 中

  • @timreeves8937
    @timreeves8937 Рік тому +2

    This is a show dying to be remade. It was an extremely clever idea held back by the times and they just could not pull off the special effects really needed to really launch this into a top show of all time. The banter between Katt and Culp made up for it, but if they could have really shown Ralph being afraid or being lousy at all kinds of other effects besides flying, it would have really been a whole another level.
    And I think that the theme song is still the only TV theme song ever to actually be a mainstream hit and I think made it to number 2 on the charts. It is catchy as hell. Seinfeld and many shows have referenced it through the years.

  • @RedDragonM1
    @RedDragonM1 Рік тому +2

    I still want to see a big screen movie remake of this show.

  • @kemarieblack3730
    @kemarieblack3730 Рік тому

    Loved this show. One of my Dad's favorites. I bought all the episodes for him.

  • @juliusnepos6013
    @juliusnepos6013 Рік тому +2

    I absolutely love the theme song of this show

  • @gazbot9000
    @gazbot9000 8 місяців тому

    I just loved that Ralph didn't really know how to fly, and never stopped being utterly terrified of this ability. Any time he took flight, he did so wailing and flailing all the way.

  • @robbyrdog
    @robbyrdog 5 місяців тому

    House is one of my favorite movies of all time! William Katt is so underrated it’s criminal.

  • @ericmadsen7470
    @ericmadsen7470 Рік тому +1

    I liked William Katt and Robert Clup in this series. They did a great job as a comedy duo.

  • @billkeithchannel
    @billkeithchannel Рік тому +1

    The theme song for Angie - Different Worlds also got radio airplay. It was a really good song.

  • @bradbruhn9586
    @bradbruhn9586 Рік тому +1

    Loved this Show. Own all three Seasons on DVD...Don't forget Danny Glover was a guest star in Season One

  • @danielvandersall6756
    @danielvandersall6756 Рік тому +2

    One of the most memorable themes of all time; right up there with A-Team and Magnum P.I.

    • @matthewdaley746
      @matthewdaley746 Рік тому

      Speaking of which, the reboot is an absolute atrocity, CBS, for, once in their history, didn't keep a program on too long, the reprieve is, indefensible.

  • @RobGordon
    @RobGordon Рік тому

    He's right - after all these years, that song never left my head.

  • @CitizenKate
    @CitizenKate Рік тому

    Great story, I finally get to meet Mike Post, and when the (instrumental version of the) theme played at the end, all the lyrics were still fresh in my memory after more than 30 years of never thinking about it, much to my astonishment!

  • @ThisBytesForYou
    @ThisBytesForYou Рік тому +1

    as a kid, I used to love this show, I used to always dream I was him and I would fall many times while flying, flying is tough ;)

  • @maryjoyspohrer256
    @maryjoyspohrer256 Рік тому

    I love to sing along at work when the theme song plays on the loop!!!

  • @JasonMarsdenOfficial
    @JasonMarsdenOfficial Рік тому +1

    Loved the show, loved the theme song! So much so I would sing it everywhere I went. It got to the point where I would be called upon to perform it at family gatherings. I mean, at 6 years old, I wasn't great...but I was great in a living room. ;-) Plus, I had the 45 and wore - it - out! Very much sad at its sudden discontinuation. Had no idea about the four episode follow up or the "Heroine" pilot. Nor did I truly realize Culps prowess as writer/director of a few eps. Outstanding. I loved this show so much, when my son was just a toddler, he had blonde, curly hair, like Katt. I had my mother make him a GAH suit for Halloween. ;-D

    • @dreadzone518
      @dreadzone518 Рік тому

      Holy crap! You're Jason Marsden! I've been a fan since THE MUNSTERS TODAY! You were great as Burt Ward in BACK TO THE BATCAVE. I had no idea you had a YTchannel. And certainly no idea you were a GAH fan. It's a pleasure to "meet" you.

  • @SVSky
    @SVSky Рік тому +1

    The song hits my headphones on random play while hang gliding occassionally. Describes the moment perfectly!

  • @roberticvs
    @roberticvs Рік тому +3

    I had a roommate who left the DVD on all night, with the theme song playing in the menu. "Believe it or Not". All night.

  • @michaelwilson8461
    @michaelwilson8461 Рік тому +1

    A few years ago my wife got me the box set of this show. It came with a cape , an iron on patch of his emblem and the best part is it came with the instruction book All packed in a nice black box (that was supposed to be the case his suit came in). Always loved the show as a kid. Never forgot the episode where he went into the 4th dimension.

  • @saltymisfit6566
    @saltymisfit6566 Рік тому +1

    Being an eighties kid I can tell you for a fact that was definitely a decade of TV yes there are still some good shows out now but back then almost every show was a huge hit with a great cast of characters fantastic writing an amazing story lines that went on week after week

  • @graemevincent2149
    @graemevincent2149 Рік тому

    The theme was really something else when you compare it to any other series from the 80's. Even all these years later I can still remember it word for word.

  • @Godless_Guru
    @Godless_Guru Рік тому

    No way! Literally re watched TGAH a couple of weeks ago on you tube! Perfect timing😅

  • @turnerdcentury
    @turnerdcentury Рік тому +1

    what I really really liked about the show was that Ralph taught a special education class I was in special education and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that shown on television 1981 thru to 1983

  • @jeffr23817
    @jeffr23817 Рік тому

    I LOVE this show!!!! Used to watch it when it originally aired on TV and I have all the seasons on DVD!