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The Greatest American Hero (1981~1983)
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I never really saw Ralph as a klutz just because he lost the instruction booklet for the super-suit.

Let's examine the situation. He's in a remote desert with one intense F.B.I. agent with whom he had an earlier unpleasant encounter.

He's responsible for his high school class, so he's worried about them, not to mention his son back home.

The bus they're on mysteriously stops operating as I recall and its nighttime in the desert. Eerie setting and dangerous critters out there my friends.

He, and Bill Maxwell, have a stunning close encounter of the third kind with a highly advanced alien race. Now that's gonna unnerve even those of us who want to meet real aliens from another world.

On top of all this, Ralph is gifted (cursed?) with a phenomenal suit that possesses powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man.

Man, cut the guy some slack! He's just had one HELL of night with a lot of stress & fear packed into it!

He's rattled, rocked & rolled and all shook up.

So yeah, he loses the booklet amidst this incredible evening. How calm, cool and collected would any of us be under Ralph's circumstances? Not very, if we're honest.

So he tries to always do the right (moral) thing with this suit even though he doesn't fully comprehend how to use it entirely. He could have just utilized the super-suit as a self serving, greedy s.o.b. as we saw one gent did in a later episode (The terrific Joseph "Dr. No" Wiseman) when he received the same super-suit years earlier.

Ralph isn't seeking glory. Ralph is putting his career at risk in order to help others via his suit. He's risking his life 'cause while its a super-duper suit there still is the potential for him to be killed or severely injured using it. No guarantees against death here. He knows Pam is very worried when he is out and about using the suit. Not to mention that it puts a strain on their romantic relationship.

And while Bill Maxwell is his partner, Ralph has to battle Bill over when and where the suit should be used.

The fact that Ralph doesn't have the instruction book allows the show to have fun with the character, as well as show that he's just a regular dude struggling like the rest of us.

Naw, Ralph is a superhero, tried and true.


Last edited by Pow on Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:01 am; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 17, 2022 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Sir, my apologies. I stand corrected. Embarassed

Not having scene the series since it first aired, I didn't remember a single thing you described! So, I guess I shot my mouth off without really knowing what I was talking about.

Oh, well. At least I'm still good lookin'. Cool

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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

William Katt upon seeing "The Suit" for the first time.

"Well I'll tell you, I saw the suit for the first time, which was mortifying — horrible. It sagged in all the wrong places. It was cold in the winter, it was hot in the summer. Forty years later, it's become a very good friend of mine and something I am so proud to wear and met the public who I had no idea had such a wonderful time watching the show."

I can understand Bill's dismay. Of course, series creator Stephen J. Cannell was going for a dash of comedy with his superhero series. So he probably never intended Ralph's super suit to be a dramatic one in appearance which might work against the comedy elements. The look of the suit was just right. It wasn't Superman, but it also wasn't Captain Nice. Just right, as Goldilocks would say.

It did get me to musing. though. The suits created for Kirk Alyn in the Superman movie serials, George Reeves in the Superman television show, and even Chris Reeves in the lavish feature films did look like long johns. Snazy long johns, but still long johns. I don't mean that as a putdown at all. I realize that these productions did the best they could with the money & types of material they had at the time. Even Chris Reeves suit, with major $$$ behind its creation, still kind of looks like a circus performer.

I can only say that because once the present day Marvel & DC superhero movies came along, they resorted to using newer materials in the creation of the suits, and they look spectacular for it. These suits also have intricate detailing on them that enhances the sensational look to 'em. Kirk, George, and Chris's productions simply did not have these fantastic wardrobe material available in their day. And hey, I still like their costumes.

It made me wonder something. If TGAH had possessed such materials to use for Ralph's suit, would they have done so? Would it have been a good move? Would such an amazing and dramatic looking suit have taken away, at least somewhat, from the fun comedic moments of the show which fans like myself so enjoyed?

Then I got to thinking something else. We know from the remastered Star Trek: TOS that visual effects artist are able to awesomely upgrade the optical effects.

I'm wondering if they now possess the capability to go and alter movie and TV shows actors wardrobes? Could they upgrade Kirk, George, & Chris's costumes in their respective productions to look like the astonishing looking Superman suits we saw on Brandon Routh & Henry Cavill in their Superman movies? I'm not saying it should be done, but could it be done technologically? If not presently, then one day in the near future?

What if someone decided to try that with TGAH's suit? Morph it from what it actually looked like during its production, and alter it to look as incredible as the outfits we now see in the DC movies with Superman, Batman, Flash, Captain Marvel? Fun to think about at any rate.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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The use of CGI to enhance costumes — and even create them from scratch — has been around for years. They can use CGI to apply elaborate 'make-up", instead of using actual make-up.

They can even make old actors look young, and young actors look old,

Take a look at this video.


_________ 10 Superheroes Before And After CGI


___________

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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The suits created for Kirk Alyn in the Superman movie serials, George Reeves in the Superman television show, and even Chris Reeves in the lavish feature films did look like long johns.

The "S" looks a bit sloppy on the Kirk Alyn suit to me, but otherwise okay.



I always liked the George Reeves version, the "S", anyway; it looked "neater".



The Chris Reeve one just looked sloppy and home-made to me, even as a kid. I understand that it isn't applied, it's incorporated into the fabric itself, but still; yuck!



I don't like all of the armor-looking suits Hollywood insists on doing now. I know they're probably really doing it to sell branded fabric, but they all just have a sameness now to me.

Didn't most of the original superheroes made the costumed themselves? Where did (movie) Peter Parker get that fancy spiderweb-themed fabric from? At least (comics) Superman had his mommy make his from his old blankets Laughing

Ralph's super suit in GAH was fine with me when the show came out, and I did like the show for a while, but then it either petered out or I may have started working and not been able to continue watching.

I only even heard of The Greatest American Heroine a few years ago and did not care for that pilot one little bit.

I know they were recently trying to reboot GAH with an Indian-American female in the lead, but it seems to have disappeared, thankfully.

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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have to respectfully disagree with you.

I thought The Greatest American Hero pilot was terrific, and I quite enjoyed the series that followed. Stephen J. Cannell's bringing humor into a science fiction superhero action adventure show was a marvelous and welcome idea. Superhero TV shows and films can be relentlessly grimly dramatic, and I'm fine with that approach. However, the genre also works well when it's lightened up now and then.

The armor looking superhero suits are fabulous looking to me. It makes the heroes and villains look splendid and powerfully dramatic. Superior looking to those cloth costumes from decades past.

Chris Reeve's Superman suit was well done for its time. My only issue with it was the huge S emblem, never cared for it. The S size that George Reeves wore just works better for me. Less is more in this case.
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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Have to respectfully disagree with you.

I thought The Greatest American Hero pilot was terrific,

As did I, I hated the Greatest American Heroine pilot, though.

Pow wrote:
The armor looking superhero suits are fabulous looking to me. It makes the heroes and villains look splendid and powerfully dramatic. Superior looking to those cloth costumes from decades past.

Meh, agree to disagree Smile I think they're like car designs, they all have a sameness to them in my eyes. They also tend to be over-designed (tiny laser-etched "S"s all over Superman's "S" shield for example in Superman Returns]).

Pow wrote:
Chris Reeve's Superman suit was well done for its time. My only issue with it was the huge S emblem, never cared for it.

That's my only real beef with it. It looks like it was cut out with scissors in a hurry. I know they were starting the whole "it's not an S" thing with that film, but ugh.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 07, 2023 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keep in mind that Supermans' suit was patterned after early 20th/late 19th century circus acrobat, strongman and trapeeze costumes....right down to the cape!
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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
Keep in mind that Supermans' suit was patterned after early 20th/late 19th century circus acrobat, strongman and trapeeze costumes....right down to the cape!

Yeah, I never quite got why so many people lost their minds when Supes dropped his underpants...er, so-to-speak Laughing It's not like the suit looks exactly like it did in '38, and the "wrestling trunks" look isn't what it once was.

Getting back to GAH; we were lucky enough to meet William Katt a few years ago at a small, local convention and he's a super nice guy. I had a nice, long conversation with him (since none of the whippersnappers seemed to know who he was Confused ). We even indirectly named the rescue kitten we had just gotten that week after him; Pippin.

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PostPosted: Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The June 15, 2008 TV Land Awards Show had a marvelous opening with host Vanessa L. Williams.

Williams sings "I'm Flying" from the Peter Pan Broadway musical. With that we start to see actors from former television series rigged up with a harness and wires flying over the seated guests. And it's a heck of a lot of fun to witness Jerry Mathers, Dawn Welles, Allison Arngrim, and others floating over the crowd.

For me the one I got the biggest kick out of was William Katt in his full Greatest American Hero outfit who comes sailing along as Vanessa is singing. The other actors flew confidently (coached by experts, no doubt), but Katt paying homage to his character's awkward flying on the series makes sure to reprise just such jerky movements at the award ceremony making it a marvelous memory.
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tmlindsey
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
The June 15, 2008 TV Land Awards Show...we start to see actors from former television series rigged up with a harness and wires flying over the seated guests.

What a bizarre idea.Confused

_________ TVLA2008
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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That is absolutely AMAZING! How the hell did the "flying rig" operators handle that many people? Shocked

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Krel
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Years ago they were going to do a movie version of the show. One of the members of the Replica Props Forum worked on the movie "Sky High" (2005) was hired to work on the GAH film. He was a HUGH fan of the show, and even owned the suit's manual. It was years ago, and I don't remember if he was to write the script, or be an advisor on the story. He was very excited about the movie and his participation in the project. But he died unexpectedly and the film collapsed.

On the RPF he was know as Jet Beetle, and was very well liked. He is missed.

David.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2023 6:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Greatest American Hero Companion by Patrick Jankiewicz.

The Culp/Katt War:

"Oh, I just hated Bob in the beginning," William Katt chortles. "Bob and I didn't get along very well in the first two weeks. We were fighting over silly nonsense --- who is The Power On The Set?" "When we had our disagreements, I always reminded him that the show was called The Greatest American Hero, not The Greatest American Hero & Bill! I'm sure I was totally obnoxious about it." "We finally had a knockdown, drag-out fight in his trailer one day, exchanging words, but we worked it out and became great friends --- we were friends up until the day he died."
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

TGAH was a fun and entertaining series that unfortunately fell victim to a regime change at ABC.

The ABC execs that greenlit and supported the show had left, and the new ones put pressure on creator Stephen J. Cannell to produce more shows with science fiction elements and monsters.

Cannell's vision was that the series was about Mister Average-America who suddenly came into possession of phenomenal super powers. How does he decide to use such a gift/curse, what are the negative temptations, how does the alien super suit upend his personal life?

So there were battles between Stephen and the new network execs.

When ABC scheduled TGAH against the megahit Dallas, that's when TGAH cast and crew saw the writing on the wall. Their show had purposely been placed against another series that they could not possibly stand up against in the television ratings war.

It's an old network trick right out of their playbook.

It's a shame that a network does not always stand by their very own series merely because new people come on board who wish to make their mark at the expense of a marvelous series, as well as a devoted audience.
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