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* YouLookFamiliar: The actor who played Pam's Hardware store owner Dad in "Here's Looking at you Kid" shows up as a sports announcer in "It's All Downhill From Here".
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* YouLookFamiliar: The actor who played Pam's Hardware store owner Dad in "Here's Looking at you Kid" shows up as a sports announcer in "It's All Downhill From Here".Here" and "The Price Is Right".
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* ContinuityNod: Bill mentions getting Ralph into Major League Baseball ("The 200 MPH Fastball") during "It's All Downhill From Here".
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* YouLookFamiliar: The actor who played Pam's Hardware store owner Dad in "Here's Looking at you Kid" shows up as a sports announcer in "It's All Downhill From Here".
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* NoodleIncident: In "A Chicken In Every Plot", Tony is impressed that Ralph can hot wire a car. Ralph tells Tony to remind him to tell him someday about how he became a teacher.
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* CatchPhrase: While the show itself didn't spark any catch phrases of its own, two episodes feature ones which would become common in future Stephen J. Cannell programs. "Just Another Three Ring Circus" has Maxwell saying a variation of [[Series/TheATeam Hannibal Smith's]] "I love it when a plan comes together", while "The Shock Will Kill You" features Ralph repeatedly repeating [[Series/{{Hunter}} Rick Hunter's]] "Works for me."
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* [[FreeRangeChildren Free Range High School Students]]: Ralph is apparently free to take his class on spur of the moment field trips and search parties, free of any needed permission slips. Validated to an extent by the fact that the school has given up on them, and as Pam says, half of their parents practicly need to be introduced to their kids.
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* TechnologyMarchesOn: In "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys", A running gag has Ralph crashing into roof antennas, ruining people's TV reception.
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* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Kevin. He disappears completely by the third season.
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** In "Here's Looking at You, Kid", Bill is trying to get Ralph to move things with his mind when Ralph turns invisible instead.
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1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'', ''Series/HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''Series/LALaw'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
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1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" Not]])", which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'', ''Series/HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''Series/LALaw'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
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Created by Creator/StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
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Created by Creator/StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly Hinkley[[note]]briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the John Hinckley's assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan[[/note]], played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
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* TheKoreanWar: Bill Maxwell is a veteran of Korea. His old unit captain features in one episode as a cop gone bad.
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* TheKoreanWar: UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar: Bill Maxwell is a veteran of Korea. His old unit captain features in one episode as a cop gone bad.
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** One of the best is when he loses his invisibility in the middle of a restaurant and pretends to be an actor advertising a production of Shaw's 'Man and Superman'. It works.
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moved to trivia page
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* BreakawayPopHit: The theme song.
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* DawsonCasting: The high school students. So much so that Michael Pare (Tony) is only 3 years younger than Connie Sellecca (Pam). And Faye Grant (Rhonda) is only 2 years younger than Sellecca.
Deleted line(s) 46 (click to see context) :
* [[EditedForSyndication Edited For DVD]]: In "Operation: Spoilsport" the aliens pressed Ralph forward by continually playing the song "Eve of Destruction." Due to copyright issues the song is replaced in the {{DVD}} release.
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* ExecutiveMeddling: The temporary change in Hinkley's name.
** Plus the continued struggles between Cannell, who wanted a light comedy with real world problems as opposed to the network, who wanted Villain of the Week "Superhero" type plots.
** Plus the continued struggles between Cannell, who wanted a light comedy with real world problems as opposed to the network, who wanted Villain of the Week "Superhero" type plots.
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* HeyItsThatGuy: Didn't Bill Maxwell used to be [[ISpy Kelly Robinson]]? Must be a cover...
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* RealLifeRelative: In "Who's Woo in America," William Katt's real life mother, Barbara Hale, plays Ralph Hinkley's mother Paula.
** Robert Culp's sons appear in "Vanity, Says the Preacher."
** Robert Culp's sons appear in "Vanity, Says the Preacher."
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* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Series creator and executive producer Stephen J. Cannell had envisioned ''The Greatest American Hero'' as a show focusing on down-to-earth, real life problems, the powers would be in the suit, not the guy (though the suit would only work for him) and Ralph would try to solve ordinary-type issues. The ABC executives whom Cannell had pitched the show to, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, had actually agreed to go along with this. Unfortunately, however, after the show was picked up, Carsey and Werner left ABC to create their own [[CarseyWerner production company]], and the new network executives demanded that Cannell incorporate more fantastic plots, which ultimately alienated viewers.
** The final blow came when ABC moved it to [[FridayNightDeathSlot Friday Nights]]. The ratings went down so fast four episodes were left unaired.
** The final blow came when ABC moved it to [[FridayNightDeathSlot Friday Nights]]. The ratings went down so fast four episodes were left unaired.
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** The final blow came when ABC moved it to [[FridayNightDeathSlot Friday Nights]]. The ratings went down so fast four episodes were left unaired.
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* ThrowItIn: The scene of Ralph writing his name on the blackboard with the chalk breaking at the start of the third season's credits was a blooper.
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* [[WrittenByCastMember Written and]] DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication- unlike the pilot for some reason).
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[[caption-width-right:320:l-r: Connie Selleca, William Katt, Robert Culp]]
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* BadassTeacher: Ralph with or without the suit.
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* BadassTeacher: Ralph Ralph, with or without the suit.suit, will stop anyone from hurting his students.
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* BadassTeacher: Ralph with or without the suit.
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** If the ''MAD'' satire is anything to go by, he may have been called out on it even at the time ("Did you see the way (Clark Kent) has his hair styled? You ought to try it! I mean... you look like Shirley Temple!").
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* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[note]]unlike the pilot for some reason[[/note]]).
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* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: [[WrittenByCastMember Written and]] DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[note]]unlike syndication- unlike the pilot for some reason[[/note]]).reason).
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* FreudianTrio - TheKirk: Ralph, TheSpock: Bill, TheMcCoy: Pam.
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** William Katt and Robert Culp didn't get along at all at first (The main issue being that Culp resented not getting top billing, and Katt resenting Culp for resenting that). Luckly for the first few episodes Bill and Ralph don't care for each other too much ether. Katt and Culp quickly put aside their problems about at the same time their characters did the same on the show.
** In the pilot the distress on Katt's face as he looks at himself in the mirror in suit for the first time. He recalls thinking during that scene 'Here's William Katt, throwing away his career'.
** In the pilot the distress on Katt's face as he looks at himself in the mirror in suit for the first time. He recalls thinking during that scene 'Here's William Katt, throwing away his career'.
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** The final blow came when ABC moved it to [[FridayNightDeathSlot Friday Nights]]. The ratings went down so fast four episodes were left unaired.
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After building a reasonably good following for its first two seasons on Wensday nights, the show became a victim of TheFridayNightDeathSlot when ABC paired it up with a new Cannell show ''The Quest'', finally canceling it with four episodes unaired until syndication.
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After building a reasonably good following for its first two seasons on Wensday nights, the show became a victim of TheFridayNightDeathSlot The FridayNightDeathSlot when ABC paired it up with a new Cannell show ''The Quest'', finally canceling it with four episodes unaired until syndication.
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After building a reasonably good following for its first two seasons on Wensday nights, the show became a victim of TheFridayNightDeathSlot when ABC paired it up with a new Cannell show ''The Quest'', finally canceling it with four episodes unaired until syndication.
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* HumanPopsicle: In one episode, we see what seems to be other pairs of people "sleeping" inside the alien's ship, apparently replacements for the main characters if they are deemed a failure.
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* LastOfHisKind: The alien who gave Ralph his suit is hinted to be this, in the episode where he shows them his dead world (presumably destroyed by nuclear war.) He's trying to save humanity from the same fate.
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1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''TheRockfordFiles'', ''HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''{{LA Law}}'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
2. Though not the first show to come from [[StephenJCannell Stephen J. Cannell Productions]], it was the first to end with Cannell's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjqDpneJNc distinctive]] VanityPlate.
2. Though not the first show to come from [[StephenJCannell Stephen J. Cannell Productions]], it was the first to end with Cannell's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjqDpneJNc distinctive]] VanityPlate.
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1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''TheRockfordFiles'', ''HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'', ''Series/HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''{{LA Law}}'', ''Series/LALaw'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
2. Though not the first show to come from[[StephenJCannell [[Creator/StephenJCannell Stephen J. Cannell Productions]], it was the first to end with Cannell's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjqDpneJNc distinctive]] VanityPlate.
2. Though not the first show to come from
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-->''Believe it or not, I'm walkin on air\\
I never thought I could feel so free...''
Created by StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
I never thought I could feel so free...''
Created by StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
to:
I never thought I could feel so free...
Created by
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* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[hottip:*: unlike the pilot for some reason]]).
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* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[hottip:*: unlike syndication[[note]]unlike the pilot for some reason]]).reason[[/note]]).
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* WrittenInAbsence: Connie Selleca is absent from the early episodes of season two, apart from a scene or two where she's on the phone with Ralph. The explanation is that her character is in another city "working on a big case".
** She was pregnant.
** She was pregnant.
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* WrittenInAbsence: Connie Selleca Pam is absent from the early episodes of season two, apart from a scene or two few scenes where she's on the phone with Ralph. The explanation is that her character is she's in another city "working on a big case".
** Shecase". In reality, Connie Sellecca was pregnant.
pregnant and then on maternity leave at the time.
** She
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[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/greatest-american-hero_6268.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:l-r: Connie Selleca, William Katt, Robert Culp]]
-->''Believe it or not, I'm walkin on air\\
I never thought I could feel so free...''
Created by StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
The suit gives Hinkley the power of strength, flight, invisibility, flames, telekinesis, vision of events without being there, protection from bullets and fire ... in short, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands whatever powers are required by the plot]]. But he doesn't know everything it does at first, and only slowly discovers its abilities. Essentially, the entire series runs on HowDoIShotWeb.
Ralph must balance his new powers and responsibilities with his old ones, which not only include his students, but his girlfriend Pam (Connie Selleca) and his son Kevin. The basic concept of the show, combined with the quality of the performances was a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for television in the early 80s, even if it appears cheesy and lame to today's jaded audience.
The show has two legacies:
1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''TheRockfordFiles'', ''HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''{{LA Law}}'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
2. Though not the first show to come from [[StephenJCannell Stephen J. Cannell Productions]], it was the first to end with Cannell's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjqDpneJNc distinctive]] VanityPlate.
Recently, the show has been adapted into a comic series set in the current day. The characters are basically the same, but some things have been changed; Bill has a smartphone, for example (which he doesn't know how to use) and the FBI knows to some degree about Ralph and his supersuit with Max's hasty story that he's a test pilot of a prototype military weapon.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AchillesHeel
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "The Shock Will Kill You", Bill can't bring himself to believe at first that an extraterrestrial life form could be the problem, even though he has seen firsthand an alien spacecraft that gave Ralph the suit.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Way averted. Bill Maxwell is determinedly careful with his guns, or at least as much as possible when the circumstances permit. He never points his weapon at anyone he isn't willing to shoot (and he does this even when the person in question is his bulletproof partner, Ralph), keeps it on safe until he absolutely has to take it off safe, and when picking up or putting down a weapon always clears the weapon first.
** In one particular episode, Maxwell needs "backup" to intimidate and arrest the bad guys so he hands Pam Davidson an M-16 that we have just watched Bill unload, clear, and double-check before it ever left his hands. And when she accidentally points this weapon... which he knows is unloaded because he, himself, cleared it... at Ralph (who Bill knows is a bulletproof superhero), Bill pushes the barrel away and then shows her how to hold and carry it without pointing at anyone.
* BadassNormal: Bill Maxwell, not even multiple broken bones slow him down.
* BaseballEpisode: "The 200 MPH Fastball."
* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: In the episode "Operation: Spoilsport," Ralph and Bill keep passing the reanimated corpse of a dead man in the desert.
* BreakawayPopHit: The theme song.
* BrotherChuck: Kevin pretty much vanished after appearing in many first season episodes. He does rate a mention in a couple of second season episodes, but is not seen. Rhonda disappears with no explanation in season three.
* CapeSnag: Subverted...Ralph's cape is just about the only thing that '''didn't''' give him problems when he used the suit.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: All of Ralph's powers come from the suit.
* CowboyCop: Bill Maxwell, though he's technically a FBI agent.
* DawsonCasting: The high school students. So much so that Michael Pare (Tony) is only 3 years younger than Connie Sellecca (Pam). And Faye Grant (Rhonda) is only 2 years younger than Sellecca.
* DeadpanSnarker: All three main characters have their moments.
* DeconstructiveParody: Of superhero tropes, in that they don't quite apply in the real world, but that's how the suit works.
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Ralph breaks Bill's hand with a too-firm handshake.
* DogFoodDiet: Bill's preferred diet is dog food biscuits and hamburgers. He apparently developed a taste for the former after they were all the companions had to eat in "The Hit Car," the second episode of the series.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Bill is dead serious and played very straight by Robert Culp in the pilot, as opposed to the more easy-going, boss-ribbing, sometimes oblivious character he would later become. Ralph's hair is also huge in the pilot.
** Bill's behavior could be his way of dealing with the fact that his partner was just killed.
* EasyComeEasyGo: In "Divorce Venusian Style," Ralph is given a second instruction book to replace the first one that he lost. By the end of the episode he has lost the second book, leaving him no better off than before.
* [[EditedForSyndication Edited For DVD]]: In "Operation: Spoilsport" the aliens pressed Ralph forward by continually playing the song "Eve of Destruction." Due to copyright issues the song is replaced in the {{DVD}} release.
* EightiesHair: Hinkley is a superhero with ''a freakin' perm''.
* EmbarrassingButEmpoweringOutfit: The Suit, oh good heavens, the Suit.
* EmbarrassingCoverUp: Ralph comes up with all sorts of zany explanations for why he's wearing the suit when innocent bystanders happen on him, most of them embarrassing enough that people don't ask anything more.
* ExecutiveMeddling: The temporary change in Hinkley's name.
** Plus the continued struggles between Cannell, who wanted a light comedy with real world problems as opposed to the network, who wanted Villain of the Week "Superhero" type plots.
* {{Expy}}: This series is what you get when you combine {{Superman}} with GreenLantern and add more comedy.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Ralph never gets a complete handle on the suit, even losing a ''second'' instruction manual given to him by the mysterious aliens. Subverted in that he does get noticably better over time at flying and using certain powers like invisibility.
* FBIAgent: Bill.
* FlyingBrick: Just part of the powers he has. Although considering his landings, it's more "brick" than "flying."
* ForgottenPhlebotinum: In one episode, Ralph discovers that the suit gives him the power of {{Telekinesis}}. He never uses this telekinetic ability again in later episodes.
* GoldFever: Bill is hit especially hard with this in "The Lost Diablo." Even the kids from Ralph's class dump the water from their canteens in order to put more gold ore in them.
* GreenLanternRing: The Suit.
** AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: Ditto.
* HappilyMarried: Ralph and Pam, eventually.
* HauntedHouse: The house in "The Beast in the Black."
* HeyItsThatGuy: Didn't Bill Maxwell used to be [[ISpy Kelly Robinson]]? Must be a cover...
* HowDoIShotWeb
* HypnoFool: In "The Hand-Painted Thai," Bill falls asleep every time someone utters the word "scenario", [[MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks after consistently insisting that hypnotism is bunk and that it's impossible to hypnotize him]] thanks to his mental strength.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Ralph would balk at the slightest suggestion to use the suit for personal gain. Justified in an episode which depicts a former suit-wearer who used the suit to get rich and wound up becoming completely corrupted ''and'' losing the suit back to the aliens.
* InnerCitySchool: Where Hinkley works.
* IntimidatingRevenueService: In the episode "There's Just No Accounting..." Ralph, Pam and Bill are all harassed by an IRS agent who audits or threatens to audit them. It's hard to feel sorry for the IRS agent when the villain of the episode horsewhips him for also harassing said villain and his employees.
* TheKoreanWar: Bill Maxwell is a veteran of Korea. His old unit captain features in one episode as a cop gone bad.
** And in another episode, another of his commanding officers, now a general, [[GeneralRipper tries to start]] WorldWarIII.
* LeftHanging: Whatever happened to those pictures of Ralph in the suit that the PI working for his ex-wife took?
* LoyalPhlebotinum: Ralph's suit only works for Ralph.
* {{Magazine/MAD}}: "The Greatest American Zero."
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: Bill in "The Hand-Painted Thai."
* Creator/{{NBC}}: When the creators made the pitch film for NBC for the hoped for reboot, the episode title screen said "The Greatest American Hero" with the letters i-n-e added one by one to the sound of the NBC chimes.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Justified in that the suit had a ''lot'' of capabilities and Ralph did not know all of them. The show would also subvert this by having Ralph be unable to use his powers in quite the way he intended (e.g. pyrokinesis setting the wrong object on fire). See FailureIsTheOnlyOption above.
* NewSuperPower: In several episodes, he discovers new powers, some of which are never used again, such as mind control (which he developed after being exposed to plutonium) and the ability to shrink himself (his attempt at using the newly-acquired second instruction book).
* OddCouple
* PowerIncontinence
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Michael Paré and Faye Grant, as of season 2. Don Cervantes gets promoted for a single episode only.
* RealAfterAll: An episode involving a legendary sea-monster.
* RealLifeRelative: In "Who's Woo in America," William Katt's real life mother, Barbara Hale, plays Ralph Hinkley's mother Paula.
** Robert Culp's sons appear in "Vanity, Says the Preacher."
* ResetButton: You give up the suit, you make everyone forget (except you).
* [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Real Life Designs The Suit]]: Cannell based the emblem on Ralph's suit on the handles of a pair of left-handed scissors he kept on his desk.
** It's also very similar to the Mahjong tile 'Red' or 'Red Dragon' and the Chinese character for "center." The Cantonese-dubbed version was titled "Flying Red Center Hero."
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: William Katt and Connie Selleca were unavailable for a revived NBC series, leading to the retooling as ''The Greatest American Heroine'', a concept the network passed up.
* ReluctantHero: Well, at first.
--> ''Look at what's happened to me''
--> ''I can't believe it myself''
--> ''Suddenly I'm on top of the world''
--> ''It should have been somebody else...''
* RunningGags: Bill is constantly injured and is constantly wrecking his cars, accidental or not.
* SaveOurStudents: What Hinkley was doing before he got the suit.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Series creator and executive producer Stephen J. Cannell had envisioned ''The Greatest American Hero'' as a show focusing on down-to-earth, real life problems, the powers would be in the suit, not the guy (though the suit would only work for him) and Ralph would try to solve ordinary-type issues. The ABC executives whom Cannell had pitched the show to, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, had actually agreed to go along with this. Unfortunately, however, after the show was picked up, Carsey and Werner left ABC to create their own [[CarseyWerner production company]], and the new network executives demanded that Cannell incorporate more fantastic plots, which ultimately alienated viewers.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Subverted when Ralph and Pam get married.
* SuperHero
* SuperheroesWearCapes
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Tony Villicana was a prominent character for the first two season, but only appeared in one third season episode. For the rest of the season, a character named Joey filled his role. Justified since Joey was not a new character but had been a part of Ralph's class since day one.
* {{Telekinesis}}: In one episode, Ralph discovers that he can move objects with his mind -- but only if he clears his mind first. To clear his mind, he tries imagining a great big sheet of plain white paper. He has to concentrate on this image of white paper more dilligently [[DistractedByTheSexy at some times than at others]].
* ThematicThemeTune: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Q3orQhEcA Check it out.]]
* ThemeTunePowerUp: The instrumental version of the show's theme music often plays when Ralph takes flight or otherwise uses the suit to do something heroic.
* ThrowItIn: The scene of Ralph writing his name on the blackboard with the chalk breaking at the start of the third season's credits was a blooper.
* TitleDrop: As Ralph is exposed in the ''Greatest American Heroine'' pilot, the President greets him with "Thank you, Mr. Hinkley, you just proved what we've suspected for a while now...that this country truly has ... The Greatest American Hero".
* TouchedByVorlons
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: One of the show's {{running gag}}s has Bill snacking on a box of [[DogFoodDiet Milk Bones]].
* {{Uncanceled}}: Well, almost. About three years after it had been canceled by ABC, NBC expressed interest in reviving the show. A twenty minute presentation film was created which set up the premise for the revamped series - Ralph was found out after the media happened to film one of his rescues. At first reluctant to 'go Hollywood' he quickly became very famous and well known. The aliens return and insist that he has been compromised and demand he give up the suit to someone else to work with Bill Maxwell. To Maxwell's horror, Ralph gives the suit to a woman, making way for the title change ''Greatest American Heroine''. For a number of reasons NBC passed on it and the footage was edited with other footage to make one final episode for the syndication package and eventual [=DVDs=].
* UpUpAndAway: The first time Ralph tries to fly, a young bystander helpfully explains that he has to take three steps and jump, then adapt this pose. It sort of works.
** In one episode, Bill comes up with an idea -- rudders! The idea is that Ralph would attach them to his boots for stability. They don't help one bit.
* WeddingDay: Ralph and Pam finally get married in "The Newlywed Game." Naturally, the wedding doesn't exactly go as planned...
* WeirdnessCensor: Most of the people who see Ralph in the suit think he's nuts (which became a RunningGag), promoting a show, or make up various other rationalizations for his odd form of dress. Some of the bad guys that Ralph fights think he's a gymnast or martial arts expert. Police who arrest said bad guys assume they're delusional or lying when the bad guys start talking about a flying, super-strong man.
** In the current comics, most people assume he's a lucha libre fan, or even an aspiring luchadore. Max's excuse to other cops is that Ralph is the test pilot of a top secret military weapon.
* WideEyedIdealist: Hinkley when he starts teaching at the school.
* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[hottip:*: unlike the pilot for some reason]]).
* WrittenInAbsence: Connie Selleca is absent from the early episodes of season two, apart from a scene or two where she's on the phone with Ralph. The explanation is that her character is in another city "working on a big case".
** She was pregnant.
----
[[caption-width-right:320:l-r: Connie Selleca, William Katt, Robert Culp]]
-->''Believe it or not, I'm walkin on air\\
I never thought I could feel so free...''
Created by StephenJCannell, the show first aired in 1981 on Creator/{{ABC}} and was both a [[{{Dramedy}} comedy and a drama]]. Ralph Hinkley (briefly "Hanley" in the wake of the assassination attempt on then-President Reagan) played by William Katt, is a teacher to a class full of delinquents. He is a good, moral man, and because of this, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum aliens give him]] a special "[[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Superman suit]]" that gives him special powers -- but only works for him. Unfortunately, he almost immediately loses the instruction manual and [[HowDoIShotWeb must discover its powers by trial and error]]. He is paired up with FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp), whose determination to fully exploit Ralph's new abilities keeps them both busy.
The suit gives Hinkley the power of strength, flight, invisibility, flames, telekinesis, vision of events without being there, protection from bullets and fire ... in short, [[NewPowersAsThePlotDemands whatever powers are required by the plot]]. But he doesn't know everything it does at first, and only slowly discovers its abilities. Essentially, the entire series runs on HowDoIShotWeb.
Ralph must balance his new powers and responsibilities with his old ones, which not only include his students, but his girlfriend Pam (Connie Selleca) and his son Kevin. The basic concept of the show, combined with the quality of the performances was a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for television in the early 80s, even if it appears cheesy and lame to today's jaded audience.
The show has two legacies:
1. Its catchy ThemeTune, "Theme from ''The Greatest American Hero'' ([[RefrainFromAssuming Believe It Or Not]])" which made it to Billboard's #2 slot in 1981, and stayed on the charts for ''two years''. It was written (with Stephen Geyer) by Mike Post, who also did the themes for ''TheRockfordFiles'', ''HillStreetBlues'', ''Series/TheATeam'', ''HardcastleAndMcCormick'', and ''{{LA Law}}'', and turned Joey Scarbury into a OneHitWonder.
2. Though not the first show to come from [[StephenJCannell Stephen J. Cannell Productions]], it was the first to end with Cannell's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjqDpneJNc distinctive]] VanityPlate.
Recently, the show has been adapted into a comic series set in the current day. The characters are basically the same, but some things have been changed; Bill has a smartphone, for example (which he doesn't know how to use) and the FBI knows to some degree about Ralph and his supersuit with Max's hasty story that he's a test pilot of a prototype military weapon.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AchillesHeel
* ArbitrarySkepticism: In "The Shock Will Kill You", Bill can't bring himself to believe at first that an extraterrestrial life form could be the problem, even though he has seen firsthand an alien spacecraft that gave Ralph the suit.
* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: Way averted. Bill Maxwell is determinedly careful with his guns, or at least as much as possible when the circumstances permit. He never points his weapon at anyone he isn't willing to shoot (and he does this even when the person in question is his bulletproof partner, Ralph), keeps it on safe until he absolutely has to take it off safe, and when picking up or putting down a weapon always clears the weapon first.
** In one particular episode, Maxwell needs "backup" to intimidate and arrest the bad guys so he hands Pam Davidson an M-16 that we have just watched Bill unload, clear, and double-check before it ever left his hands. And when she accidentally points this weapon... which he knows is unloaded because he, himself, cleared it... at Ralph (who Bill knows is a bulletproof superhero), Bill pushes the barrel away and then shows her how to hold and carry it without pointing at anyone.
* BadassNormal: Bill Maxwell, not even multiple broken bones slow him down.
* BaseballEpisode: "The 200 MPH Fastball."
* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: In the episode "Operation: Spoilsport," Ralph and Bill keep passing the reanimated corpse of a dead man in the desert.
* BreakawayPopHit: The theme song.
* BrotherChuck: Kevin pretty much vanished after appearing in many first season episodes. He does rate a mention in a couple of second season episodes, but is not seen. Rhonda disappears with no explanation in season three.
* CapeSnag: Subverted...Ralph's cape is just about the only thing that '''didn't''' give him problems when he used the suit.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: All of Ralph's powers come from the suit.
* CowboyCop: Bill Maxwell, though he's technically a FBI agent.
* DawsonCasting: The high school students. So much so that Michael Pare (Tony) is only 3 years younger than Connie Sellecca (Pam). And Faye Grant (Rhonda) is only 2 years younger than Sellecca.
* DeadpanSnarker: All three main characters have their moments.
* DeconstructiveParody: Of superhero tropes, in that they don't quite apply in the real world, but that's how the suit works.
* DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength: Ralph breaks Bill's hand with a too-firm handshake.
* DogFoodDiet: Bill's preferred diet is dog food biscuits and hamburgers. He apparently developed a taste for the former after they were all the companions had to eat in "The Hit Car," the second episode of the series.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Bill is dead serious and played very straight by Robert Culp in the pilot, as opposed to the more easy-going, boss-ribbing, sometimes oblivious character he would later become. Ralph's hair is also huge in the pilot.
** Bill's behavior could be his way of dealing with the fact that his partner was just killed.
* EasyComeEasyGo: In "Divorce Venusian Style," Ralph is given a second instruction book to replace the first one that he lost. By the end of the episode he has lost the second book, leaving him no better off than before.
* [[EditedForSyndication Edited For DVD]]: In "Operation: Spoilsport" the aliens pressed Ralph forward by continually playing the song "Eve of Destruction." Due to copyright issues the song is replaced in the {{DVD}} release.
* EightiesHair: Hinkley is a superhero with ''a freakin' perm''.
* EmbarrassingButEmpoweringOutfit: The Suit, oh good heavens, the Suit.
* EmbarrassingCoverUp: Ralph comes up with all sorts of zany explanations for why he's wearing the suit when innocent bystanders happen on him, most of them embarrassing enough that people don't ask anything more.
* ExecutiveMeddling: The temporary change in Hinkley's name.
** Plus the continued struggles between Cannell, who wanted a light comedy with real world problems as opposed to the network, who wanted Villain of the Week "Superhero" type plots.
* {{Expy}}: This series is what you get when you combine {{Superman}} with GreenLantern and add more comedy.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Ralph never gets a complete handle on the suit, even losing a ''second'' instruction manual given to him by the mysterious aliens. Subverted in that he does get noticably better over time at flying and using certain powers like invisibility.
* FBIAgent: Bill.
* FlyingBrick: Just part of the powers he has. Although considering his landings, it's more "brick" than "flying."
* ForgottenPhlebotinum: In one episode, Ralph discovers that the suit gives him the power of {{Telekinesis}}. He never uses this telekinetic ability again in later episodes.
* GoldFever: Bill is hit especially hard with this in "The Lost Diablo." Even the kids from Ralph's class dump the water from their canteens in order to put more gold ore in them.
* GreenLanternRing: The Suit.
** AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: Ditto.
* HappilyMarried: Ralph and Pam, eventually.
* HauntedHouse: The house in "The Beast in the Black."
* HeyItsThatGuy: Didn't Bill Maxwell used to be [[ISpy Kelly Robinson]]? Must be a cover...
* HowDoIShotWeb
* HypnoFool: In "The Hand-Painted Thai," Bill falls asleep every time someone utters the word "scenario", [[MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks after consistently insisting that hypnotism is bunk and that it's impossible to hypnotize him]] thanks to his mental strength.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Ralph would balk at the slightest suggestion to use the suit for personal gain. Justified in an episode which depicts a former suit-wearer who used the suit to get rich and wound up becoming completely corrupted ''and'' losing the suit back to the aliens.
* InnerCitySchool: Where Hinkley works.
* IntimidatingRevenueService: In the episode "There's Just No Accounting..." Ralph, Pam and Bill are all harassed by an IRS agent who audits or threatens to audit them. It's hard to feel sorry for the IRS agent when the villain of the episode horsewhips him for also harassing said villain and his employees.
* TheKoreanWar: Bill Maxwell is a veteran of Korea. His old unit captain features in one episode as a cop gone bad.
** And in another episode, another of his commanding officers, now a general, [[GeneralRipper tries to start]] WorldWarIII.
* LeftHanging: Whatever happened to those pictures of Ralph in the suit that the PI working for his ex-wife took?
* LoyalPhlebotinum: Ralph's suit only works for Ralph.
* {{Magazine/MAD}}: "The Greatest American Zero."
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: Bill in "The Hand-Painted Thai."
* Creator/{{NBC}}: When the creators made the pitch film for NBC for the hoped for reboot, the episode title screen said "The Greatest American Hero" with the letters i-n-e added one by one to the sound of the NBC chimes.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Justified in that the suit had a ''lot'' of capabilities and Ralph did not know all of them. The show would also subvert this by having Ralph be unable to use his powers in quite the way he intended (e.g. pyrokinesis setting the wrong object on fire). See FailureIsTheOnlyOption above.
* NewSuperPower: In several episodes, he discovers new powers, some of which are never used again, such as mind control (which he developed after being exposed to plutonium) and the ability to shrink himself (his attempt at using the newly-acquired second instruction book).
* OddCouple
* PowerIncontinence
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Michael Paré and Faye Grant, as of season 2. Don Cervantes gets promoted for a single episode only.
* RealAfterAll: An episode involving a legendary sea-monster.
* RealLifeRelative: In "Who's Woo in America," William Katt's real life mother, Barbara Hale, plays Ralph Hinkley's mother Paula.
** Robert Culp's sons appear in "Vanity, Says the Preacher."
* ResetButton: You give up the suit, you make everyone forget (except you).
* [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Real Life Designs The Suit]]: Cannell based the emblem on Ralph's suit on the handles of a pair of left-handed scissors he kept on his desk.
** It's also very similar to the Mahjong tile 'Red' or 'Red Dragon' and the Chinese character for "center." The Cantonese-dubbed version was titled "Flying Red Center Hero."
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: William Katt and Connie Selleca were unavailable for a revived NBC series, leading to the retooling as ''The Greatest American Heroine'', a concept the network passed up.
* ReluctantHero: Well, at first.
--> ''Look at what's happened to me''
--> ''I can't believe it myself''
--> ''Suddenly I'm on top of the world''
--> ''It should have been somebody else...''
* RunningGags: Bill is constantly injured and is constantly wrecking his cars, accidental or not.
* SaveOurStudents: What Hinkley was doing before he got the suit.
* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Series creator and executive producer Stephen J. Cannell had envisioned ''The Greatest American Hero'' as a show focusing on down-to-earth, real life problems, the powers would be in the suit, not the guy (though the suit would only work for him) and Ralph would try to solve ordinary-type issues. The ABC executives whom Cannell had pitched the show to, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner, had actually agreed to go along with this. Unfortunately, however, after the show was picked up, Carsey and Werner left ABC to create their own [[CarseyWerner production company]], and the new network executives demanded that Cannell incorporate more fantastic plots, which ultimately alienated viewers.
* StatusQuoIsGod: Subverted when Ralph and Pam get married.
* SuperHero
* SuperheroesWearCapes
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Tony Villicana was a prominent character for the first two season, but only appeared in one third season episode. For the rest of the season, a character named Joey filled his role. Justified since Joey was not a new character but had been a part of Ralph's class since day one.
* {{Telekinesis}}: In one episode, Ralph discovers that he can move objects with his mind -- but only if he clears his mind first. To clear his mind, he tries imagining a great big sheet of plain white paper. He has to concentrate on this image of white paper more dilligently [[DistractedByTheSexy at some times than at others]].
* ThematicThemeTune: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Q3orQhEcA Check it out.]]
* ThemeTunePowerUp: The instrumental version of the show's theme music often plays when Ralph takes flight or otherwise uses the suit to do something heroic.
* ThrowItIn: The scene of Ralph writing his name on the blackboard with the chalk breaking at the start of the third season's credits was a blooper.
* TitleDrop: As Ralph is exposed in the ''Greatest American Heroine'' pilot, the President greets him with "Thank you, Mr. Hinkley, you just proved what we've suspected for a while now...that this country truly has ... The Greatest American Hero".
* TouchedByVorlons
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: One of the show's {{running gag}}s has Bill snacking on a box of [[DogFoodDiet Milk Bones]].
* {{Uncanceled}}: Well, almost. About three years after it had been canceled by ABC, NBC expressed interest in reviving the show. A twenty minute presentation film was created which set up the premise for the revamped series - Ralph was found out after the media happened to film one of his rescues. At first reluctant to 'go Hollywood' he quickly became very famous and well known. The aliens return and insist that he has been compromised and demand he give up the suit to someone else to work with Bill Maxwell. To Maxwell's horror, Ralph gives the suit to a woman, making way for the title change ''Greatest American Heroine''. For a number of reasons NBC passed on it and the footage was edited with other footage to make one final episode for the syndication package and eventual [=DVDs=].
* UpUpAndAway: The first time Ralph tries to fly, a young bystander helpfully explains that he has to take three steps and jump, then adapt this pose. It sort of works.
** In one episode, Bill comes up with an idea -- rudders! The idea is that Ralph would attach them to his boots for stability. They don't help one bit.
* WeddingDay: Ralph and Pam finally get married in "The Newlywed Game." Naturally, the wedding doesn't exactly go as planned...
* WeirdnessCensor: Most of the people who see Ralph in the suit think he's nuts (which became a RunningGag), promoting a show, or make up various other rationalizations for his odd form of dress. Some of the bad guys that Ralph fights think he's a gymnast or martial arts expert. Police who arrest said bad guys assume they're delusional or lying when the bad guys start talking about a flying, super-strong man.
** In the current comics, most people assume he's a lucha libre fan, or even an aspiring luchadore. Max's excuse to other cops is that Ralph is the test pilot of a top secret military weapon.
* WideEyedIdealist: Hinkley when he starts teaching at the school.
* WrittenByCastMember[=/=]DirectedByCastMember: Robert Culp in both capacities on "Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell", and "Vanity, Says the Preacher" (the latter was one of four episodes not shown in the network run, although it and the others did get shown in syndication[[hottip:*: unlike the pilot for some reason]]).
* WrittenInAbsence: Connie Selleca is absent from the early episodes of season two, apart from a scene or two where she's on the phone with Ralph. The explanation is that her character is in another city "working on a big case".
** She was pregnant.
----
