Trivia / The Incredible Hulk (1977)

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• Acting for Two:
  • In season 3's "Broken Image", David meets his exact double, a mobster named Mike Cassidy.
  • Later, in season 4's "King of the Beach" Lou Ferrigno (in his first speaking role) plays a bodybuilder in addition to being the Hulk. The two meet during the climax of the episode.
• Christmas Rushed: During the making of the episode Homecoming where David temporarily reuintes with his father and sister (played by Diana Muldaur), Stan Lee recalls overhearing someone in the studio discussing the idea of Diana Muldaur in a Spin-Off as a Distaff Counterpart to David. This caused Lee to call the Marvel offices immediately and arrange for the very hasty creation of She-Hulk. He knew that if the studio created a female Hulk first, then they would co-own the character and concept.
• The Danza: Jack Colvin as Jack McGee.
• Dawson Casting: Bill Bixby was approaching his mid-40s when he was first cast as David Banner, who is implied to be around his mid-30s.
• Died During Production: During production of the second season, Ted Cassidy (who provided the Hulk's vocal effects for the first two seasons) died in January 1979 due to complications from heart surgery. As such, he was replaced by Charles Napier. The crew kept Cassidy's narration in the opening credits, to honor his memory.
• Directed by Cast Member: Jack Colvin directed two episodes, "Goodbye, Eddie Cain" and "East Winds". Bill Bixby directed one, plus two of the TV movies.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: "King of the Beach" features Lou Ferrigno (playing a role other than his usual green-skinned one) as Carl Molino, a man who like Ferrigno in real life has a hearing deficit.
• Enforced Method Acting: Since Banner wasn't supposed to have any memories of what he did as the Hulk, Bill Bixby made it a point not to watch the Hulk's scenes, feeling it would make his portrayal more authentic.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Bruce Banner's name was changed to David because Kenneth Johnson did not want the main character to have what he regarded as a "stereotypically comic-booky alliterative name", although Lou Ferrigno claims that CBS thought the name "Bruce" sounded "too gay."
  • Kenneth had also wanted to change the Hulk's skin color itself from green to red, believing red was more symbolic as "the color of rage". However, Marvel vetoed this idea, stating the Hulk's green skin was an iconic image and could not be changed.
• Looping Lines: Lou Ferrigno played the Hulk on set and his vocal effects were re-recorded during post-production.
• The Other Darrin:
  • Due to Ted Cassidy dying of complications from heart surgery in January 1979, Charles Napier provided the Hulk's vocal effects in his place.
  • In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Newton da Matta replaced Nilton Valério as David's voice actor from the third season on. In the telefilms made after the series finale, Leonardo Camilo voiced David.
• The Other Marty: Richard Kiel was cast as the Hulk before Lou Ferrigno, and even filmed a few scenes for the pilot. However, the creators ultimately decided that despite his height he didn't have the kind of muscular physique they were looking for, so he was recast with Ferrigno, but a single shot of Kiel as the Hulk can still be seen in the pilot.
• Playing Against Type: In "Never Give a Trucker an Even Break", Grand L. Bush, who usually played lawmen, played a villainous hijacker.
• Quietly Cancelled: Back in the early eighties, the series was renewed for a fifth season, but only seven episodes were filmed (and aired) before it was unceremoniously cancelled, leaving loyal viewers wondering what happened. Word got out later that it was due to the expense of filming a hero-on-the-run series in different locations every week. Did TPTB not take that into consideration when renewing it in the first place?
• Troubled Production: It wasn't too much trouble, but a scene where the Hulk fights a bear was complicated by the fact that the bear found the gelatin mix that was used to color Lou Ferrigno green was delicious and was more interested in licking it off than properly imitate fighting the actor. You can actually see some of the paint on the bear if you look closely.
• Uncredited Role: Though Ted Cassidy and Charles Napier voiced the Hulk, they received no on-screen credit.
• Underage Casting: Lou Ferrigno is almost two decades younger than Bill Bixby and was only in his mid-20s when he got the role of the Hulk.
• Unfinished Episode:
  • Shortly after the series ended, Bill Bixby wanted to do a crossover film with The Amazing Spider-Man (1978), and Bixby even had Nicholas Hammond (Spidey's actor) onboard and ready to go, but Universal Pictures passed. Their claim was that Lou Ferrigno was unavailable, though Ferrigno would later reveal that he'd never even been contacted nor had he even heard of the proposal until 2003.
  • A fourth television film, Revenge of the Incredible Hulk, would have seen Banner resurrected, and with the ability to control his Hulk power. Apparently dying didn't exactly cure him. It just would have made it so that Banner could control himself when he transformed... that and actually talk, something the Hulk really didn't do outside of the two-part episode "Prometheus" when Banner was trapped halfway between human and Hulk. However, the movie was cancelled due to Death of the Incredible Hulk receiving low ratings. Another movie that would have been a backdoor pilot for Iron Man was also being considered, and a She-Hulk movie was in pre-production at one point as well. However, it turns out the real plot of the film was that Banner is revived and discovers he can no longer turn into the Hulk, he is kidnapped by the villains who want him to make Hulk-Agents, in the Hulk decides Banner decides to recreate the accident that turn him into Hulk in order to stop the Villains.
• What Could Have Been: Both Richard Kiel and Arnold Schwarzenegger had been considered for the role of the Hulk. Arnie was turned down for being too short, and while Kiel got the job initially and even filmed a few scenes, it was ultimately decided that he also lacked the proper physique (muscle mass, in this case) and was replaced. Kiel wrote in his autobiography that the results were for the best, as his being blind in one eye caused problems with the contact lenses and even resulted in a hair-raising partial loss of vision while he was driving home from the shoot.
• You Look Familiar: Several times, most notably Gerald McRaney, who showed up in four episodes as different characters.

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