The Greatest American Hero

[janradder]

My sister just sent me this in an email.

Ahh, what memories it brings back.  I woud watch it faithfully each Thursday night after coming home from swimming practice, the smell of chlorine filling the living room, my hair still wet and brittle (from said chlorine).  I really don't know why I watched the show again and again, week after week.  I hated it.  I was, however, obsessed with superheroes and this was a show about a superhero, albeit a lousy one.  Each week, I would hope, nearly pray that William Katt would finally learn how to use his suit and become a regular superhero.  But he never did.  The show was a one note joke, banged over and over endlessly -- here was this guy who was given a suit with super powers but he didn't have the instruction manual (I can't remember why) and so he was doomed to endlessly fly like a cat flung by its tail trough space, legs and arms flailing helplessly as he tries to keep from crashing into the ground or a wall or a building or people which he invariably always did.  Needless to say, for those who have not seen The Greatest American Hero, the joke became stale somewhere in the middle of the first episode.  And, still, I watched faithfully, hoping for a different outcome.

My disappointment and dissatisfaction with The Greatest American Hero was only matched by my equal displeasure in the John Ritter vehicle, Hero At Large.  Yet, as with GAH, I would inevitably watch HAL each time I saw it was on HBO at my grandparents' house.  I don't know what I thought would happen.  Maybe I thought that this time I'd like the movie.  Maybe I thought it would end differently.  Neither ever happened.  The movie always ended the same way it always did and I hated it just as much as the first time I saw it (but really, what should I have expected from a film that starred an actor who would later go on to star in both Problem Child 1 and 2?).

(And yes, I must admit, I knew the words to and loved the theme song, Believe It or Not.  Sadly, I also liked Christopher Cross.)

Comments

[st-writes.livejournal.com]

I also remember watching this faithfully every week. Obviously, I was far less sophisticated than you, since I LOVED this show. The list of shows I remember being utterly infatuated with when I was young is not long -- and this one is on it.

I have never claimed to be a particularly discerning tv viewer. I am happier that way.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd call myself a sophisticated viewer because I watched way too many tv hows that I didn't like (yet continued to watch them anyway for whatever reason). I also just had a weird sense of loyalty to certain shows whether I liked them or not --- if I started to watch them I felt I had to keep watching them (this probably explains my years of watching CHiPs, T. J. Hooker and The Hulk).

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I, like Stacey, loved this show. I've avoided seeing it as a mature, find-flaws-in-everything adult, because I suspect it wouldn't hold up. I remember liking Robert Culp a lot more than I liked William Katt, though, because William Katt was kind of a moron.

Also, I still love that dopey theme song.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

William Katt was kind of a moron but he had that Luke Skywalker quality to his moronishness which was why I really liked him and wanted him to become a real superhero. I also always identified with the morons and losers, hence my Bob Denver obsession.

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

oooh, I didn't know that theme song was real, thought it was a sick youtube joke.

Dude. WTF?

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it is a real song, sung by the immortal Joey Scarbury (and written by Mike Post who also wrote the theme songs for such tv classics as NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, Rckford Files, the White Shadow, the A Team, and Law and Order among others).

Unfortunately, for myself, I have had the damn thing stuck in my head all day. Oh well, I have no one to blame but myself, believe it or not (I'm walkin' on air I never thought I could feel so freeeeee!)

[geniusofevil.livejournal.com]

when I first read that I though you said it was the same theme song for all those tv shoes. Then I reread it. Just the same writer. Got it. Because I remember A-Team a bit differently.

[msboku.livejournal.com]

That was part of the charm of the show. You don't want an automatic hero. That is boring. He is an everyday guy like you and me. What do you think would've happened if you were given a supersuit and you lost the instructions? The show was very clever and I loved the approach.
http://youtube.com/profile?user=msboku

[janradder.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but as a 10 year old comics fan, I wanted a real superhero.

I like your photo with William Katt.