| The Greatest American Hero | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Stephen J. Cannell |
| Starring | William Katt Robert Culp Connie Sellecca Michael Paré Faye Grant |
| Theme music composer | Mike Post Stephen Geyer |
| Opening theme | "Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)" Performed by Joey Scarbury |
| Composer | Mike Post |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 45 (5 unaired) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Stephen J. Cannell |
| Producers | Juanita Bartlett Frank Lupo Christopher Nelson Jo Swerling Jr. |
| Production locations | Santa Clarita, California Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California |
| Running time | 60 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production company | Stephen J. Cannell Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | March 18, 1981 – February 3, 1983 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama superhero television series that aired on ABC.[1] Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981, and ran until February 2, 1983.[1] The series features William Katt as teacher Ralph Hinkley, Robert Culp as FBI agent Bill Maxwell, and Connie Sellecca as lawyer Pam Davidson.[1] The lead character's surname was changed from "Hinkley" to "Hanley" for the latter part of the first season, immediately after President Ronald Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. The character's name was reverted to "Hinkley" after a few months had passed.
The series chronicles Ralph's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red and black suit that grants him superhuman abilities. 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.
- ^ a b c Erickson, Hal (2016). "The Greatest American Hero". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.