"The Incredible Hulk" (1978) TV series 1978-1982

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

10 March 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry

Plot:

A fugitive scientist has the curse of becoming a powerful green monster under extreme emotional stress.

Plot Keywords:

Stress | Green | Scientist | Incredible Hulk | Fugitive

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Lou Ferrigno	...	The Incredible Hulk / ... (82 episodes, 1978-1982)
Bill Bixby	...	Dr. David Bruce Banner / ... (81 episodes, 1978-1982)
Jack Colvin	...	Jack McGee (56 episodes, 1978-1981)

Also Known As:

El increíble Hulk (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Chôjin haruku (Japan) [ja]
De Hulk (Netherlands) [nl]
Den otrolige Hulken (Sweden) [sv]
Der unglaubliche Hulk (West Germany) [de]
El hombre increíble (Venezuela) [es]
Hulken (Sweden) [sv]
L'incredibile Hulk (Italy) [it]
L'incroyable Hulk (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
O Incrível Hulk (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

60 min (87 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Marvel Productions

Trivia:

In 1984, two years after the series went off the air, Bill Bixby offered Nicholas Hammond a chance to reprise his TV role as Spiderman in a proposed Hulk/Spiderman TV-movie. Hammond agreed to the offer, but Universal Studios eventually canceled the project, claiming that Lou Ferrigno was unavailable. However, Ferrigno said that he was never contacted about the project, and had no knowledge of it until he discovered the information while working on his autobiography in 2003.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Hulk breaks through a brick wall, (typically at the end of the show) the clothing that he wears changes between his approach to the wall, and to the view of him running down the alley, and this is repeated in several different episodes, which clearly looks like the same stock footage being re-used.

Quotes:

[opening sequence to the episode: "A Death in the Family"]
Narrator: Dr. David Banner, Physician/Scientist, searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have. Then an accidental overdose of gamma radiation interacts with his unique body chemistry. And now, when David Banner grows angry or outraged, a startling metamorphasis occurs.
[while trying to change a tire during a thunderstorm, David changes into the Hulk]
Narrator: The creature is driven by rage and pursued by an investigative reporter.
David Banner: Mr. McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Surge of Power (2004)

Not like the comic book? Who cares?

A primary complaint about this TV show is that it wasn't like the comic book. Whether or not the TV show was like the comic book is irrelevant. The Hulk performed physical feats in the comic that would have been impossible to duplicate when this series was running, and comic books are so simplistic and often violent, they never would have allowed it on prime time TV.

That said, the Incredible Hulk was a good TV show with strong acting by Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno that was, mostly, harmless fun for the whole family. The Hulk represented a kind of "Elephant Man" character, who certainly looks scary, but is genuinely kind and gentle and wants to help people in trouble (sort of a one man A-Team). I don't remember him ever seriously hurting anyone, and most of the physical parts involved him bending gun barrels so they couldn't be fired or turning cars over on their roofs. With the kind of strength the Hulk had, he could have torn people in half, but he settled for bending steel piping around them and leaving them helpless for the police to take to jail. He was gentle with animals and young people as well as old.

The story is a very sad one: Bixby, playing scientist David Banner, is stuck in a life on the run from an obsessed reporter who wants to become famous by photographing the Hulk. Banner and the Hulk represent the ultimate misunderstood hero/antihero: someone who is a better person than most of us are, yet is persecuted because of other people's misunderstandings.

Harmless fun for the whole family, and some good lessons for youngsters about kindness and not judging others for their appearance.