Believe it or not, The Greatest American Hero ran for 44 episodes over three seasons, before being cancelled by ABC, on February 3, 1983. Teacher, Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), receives a super-powered suit from aliens, who tell him that he and FBI agent Bill Maxwell (the late Robert Culp) must save the world. The two form an unlikely alliance, as Ralph learns to master the suit (the instructions to which he lost). They are helped along by Ralph’s divorce lawyer/girlfriend, Pam Davidson (Connie Selleca).
In August 2014, we reported FOX was walking on air at the thought of rebooting the Stephen J. Cannell series — to the point of investing in a put pilot. Fifteen months later, FOX has made a pilot production commitment to a series reboot, with a creative team including Rick Famuyiwa, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Tawnia McKiernan (who, per Deadline, is Cannell’s daughter). Continue on for details.
From Deadline:
Written and to be directed by Famuyiwa, Greatest American Hero is the story of what happens when great power is not met with great responsibility. An ordinary man, completely content with being average, wakes up with a superpower suit he never asked for and has to deal with the complications it brings his life.
Miller, Lord and McKiernan executive produce with Lord Miller’s President of Television, Seth Cohen. Fox and 20th TV are bullish on the title with a second stab at rebooting it, hiring a casting director to start working on finding the lead.
Lord and Miller also were behind last year’s Fox/20th TV Greatest American Hero remake with a different writer, Rodney Rothman, which had a put pilot commitment.
Before you fly away on a wing and a prayer, check out our coverage of the original ABC series, The Greatest American Hero.
What do you think? Are you, too, walking on air at the thought of FOX rebooting The Greatest American Hero TV series? Do you plan to check it out?
I look forward to seeing the remake. I enjoyed the original series immensely. I have two concerns, however, the first being who they would get to do the part of Bill Maxwell. The late great Robert Culp was a master at comedic timing. Finally at the end of the series the aliens and Ralph pass the suit on to a girl. I saw that final movie episode starring the girl. It was not very memorable because I can’t even remember her name. I hope they treat the remake better than the ending of the original series.
Mike, I had forgotten about Culp! I just found a fan sight for GAH, does this have your answer about the actress? http://the-greatest-american-hero.com/tgaheroine.html
And, A sing along for all of us:
Mike, the actresses name is Mary Ellen Stuart!! I happen to have the full set of the show of The Greatest American Heroine!!
Yeah, thanks “Vicki”.
I wish shows that have been cancelled recently were revived, instead of so many reboots of older shows like this. :/ Don’t get me wrong, some reboots from the last four years or so have been good. However, I think certain networks should actually hear fans out on some popular shows that were cancelled hastily as of late and try to revive them.
I think it would be great if they brought it back. Why critic a great show?
I think why can;t these networks come up with a new original idea instead of going back to old shows back in the 1970’s & 1980’s . Please stop!!!
I love the original series, and own the entire series on dvd. I will definitely be watching for the new show!
How desperate can Fox be? Fox has officially run out of ideas. Stop with the remakes! I didn’t like this the 1st time around. CBS is redoing Star Trek too to run on their All Access Streaming service. These networks need new blood with new ideas of their own. No one seems to respect “older” viewers/people and yet all they seem to do is reuse the ideas from that same generation that they want to pretend doesn’t exist and don’t want as viewers. The joke is on them as they can’t apparently think for themselves.
Here’s a trivia-type of side note. When this show first debuted in mid-March I was an editor for my local paper; I watched the first couple of them, thought it was really cute (loved the theme song). Then, the third or fourth show I noticed something really strange. Every time the main character’s name was mention, it was blipped out. At first I thought it was my TV, but no, the whole show, the name “Hinkley” was blipped out. Why? March 30, 1981 had happened, the day Pres. Reagan was shot by…John Hinckley. I contacted ABC and did a story… Read more »
Thanks Vicki for that bit of trivia! I watched the show back then and don’t remember the name being blipped out. Of course back then, the audio quality of TV’s was not so great. I loved the theme song! I still sing it even today!!!