The Greatest American Hero - Season 2

by: BigBack November 07 2006

Believe it or not, I’m flying on memories...Wow!

Anyone who watched television in the early 80’s is bound to be familiar with the lovable song “Believe it or Not” composed by Mike Post, which is the theme song for the television series The Greatest American Hero. It might be one of the better television theme songs of all time if you ask me. For those of you you have never heard the theme song, click here to listen. You won’t be disappointed.

So when I hit play on my dvd player after inserting disc 1 of the Season 2 box-set, a world of great memories came flooding back. All started, of course, by the great theme song. The Greatest American Hero is the story of Ralph Hinkley (played by William Katt), a school teacher who is bestowed with a super powered suit by aliens in order to bring goodness to the world. Joined by FBI agent Bill Maxwell (played by Robet Kulp of I Spy fame) and lawyer Pam Davidson (played by Connie Sellecca) Ralph sets out on a marathon of adventures ranging from saving baseball teams to searching for sea serpents. What sets The Greatest American Hero apart from todays super powered movies and culture is that Ralph literally has no idea how to work the super suit and is more often than not, bumbling around flying into walls or consistently off balance while flying through the air. It makes the hero kinda human feeling and as I remember watching the show as a young lad it was great.

The production quality is what you would expect from a television series done in the early 80’s. The special effects and super scenes are really almost laughable by today’s standards, but it’s part of the charm rather than a real draw back.

The other interesting point of watching these shows 20 some years later is the range of actors you see and where they ended up going. From Connie Sellecca (to later star in Hotel) to special guest stars that included Markie Post (of Night Court fame), Dixie Carter (of Designing Women fame. not that I watched Designing Women mind you!...I am just saying.) it was cool to see where some of these actors came from so to speak.

The behind the scenes features had some interesting interviews with the creators, a DVD-ROM based script and an interesting translation of one of the episodes. For those of you who want to know more about “interesting translation” you will have to go see for yourselves. I can’t give everything away here now can I?  In particular, I enjoyed the interview with Mike Post the composer.

Overall if you are a fan of The Greatest American Hero you will definitely want to pick up season two to add to your collection. For those of you looking for a memorable collection of television shows with some really loveable characters and stories, you might just want to give “The Greatest American Hero” a shot.