TV Flashback: The Greatest American Hero

The Greatest American Hero was a comedy-drama series that ran on ABC Television from 1981-1983.

The series starred:

William Katt – Ralph Hinkley/Hanley
Connie Selleca – Pam Davidson
Robert Culp – Bill Maxwell

In a nutshell, the series revolved around a High School Special Education Teacher (Katt) who is given Superhero powers by aliens in attempt to save the world. He is accompanied by a FBI Special Agent (Culp) and the Attorney (Selleca) that would later become his wife on the series.

William Katt’s character was originally named Ralph Hinkley, but after the assasination attempt on President Reagan by John Hinkley Jr, the character was later referred to as simply “Ralph” or “Ralph Hanley”. By the start of the second season, the name had reverted back to Hinkley.

The show was created by Producer Stephen J. Cannell who was also behind such hit shows as Magnum PI, The A-Team, The Rockford Files, 21 Jump Street, and many others.

The theme song “Believe it or not“, sung by Joey Scarbury, reached #2 on the Billboard Top-40 charts in August of 1981.

The song was again popularized when George Costanza used a variation of it on his answering machine message on an episode of Seinfeld.

I have to admit that I watched the show solely for one reason….. Connie Selleca! As a prototypical High School male of the early 80′s (raging hormones)….I was totally infatuated with Connie Selleca. (And still am..if you ask my wife…) What a beauty!

William Katt auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars.

The symbol on William Katt’s Superhero outfit was created by Producer Stephen J. Cannell and was based on the square-handled scissors on his desk.

The character of Sheldon (Jim Parsons) on The Big Bang Theory occasionally wears a T-Shirt with the Greatest American Hero emblem on it.

Connie Selleca was originally supposed to appear in just one episode, with William Katt’s character having new girlfriends each week, but Selleca made such an impression that she was made a regular.

This is one of my wife’s all-time favorite shows from the 1980′s.

The show did not perform well in the ratings while it was on, but has become a cult classic since being released on DVD.

William Katt has done various acting roles since the series, both in Television and Film, and also created a Comic Book Series of The Greatest American Hero.

Connie Selleca went on to star in “Hotel” opposite James Brolin during the mid 1980′s and has been married to entertainer John Tesh since 1992.

Sadly, Robert Culp passed away of a heart attack in 2010. He was 79 years old.