The further we go back in Hollywood history,
the more that fact and legend become intertwined.
It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
Donna Allen-Figueroa
 |
March
18, 1981
The
Greatest American Hero first aired.
The series that aired for three
seasons from1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created
by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981. The
series features William
Katt as
teacher Ralph Hinkley ("Hanley" for the latter part of the first
season), Robert
Culp as
FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam
Davidson.
The series chronicles Ralph's adventures after a
group of aliens gives him a red suit that grants him superhumanabilities. Unfortunately for
Ralph, who hates wearing the suit, he immediately loses its instruction
booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often
with comical results.
The main character's name was originally Ralph
Hinkley, but after the assassination attempt of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, Jr. on March 30, 1981, the character's last name was changed to
"Hanley". For the rest of the first season, he was either
"Ralph" or "Mister H". 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 season two, the name had changed back to
Hinkley. In the season three episode "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".
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
 Stay Tuned Tony Figueroa |
I represent the first generation who, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson. Read the full "Pre-ramble"
Monday, March 18, 2019
This Week in Television History: March 2019 PART III
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