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Post by Randle-El on Aug 2, 2016 22:03:49 GMT -5
Sorry, this thread keeps reminding me of things I loved about the show.  Sometimes Banner would change into the Hulk due to truly dangerous circumstances. Other times... I think #3 is my favorite. |
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Post by Randle-El on Aug 2, 2016 22:11:39 GMT -5
I love the pilot episode for the TV show, but the rest of the series felt utterly repetitive to me (TV movies aside). I guess that was true of the comic as well, though. Maybe the difference for me is as follows: With the TV show, the part I loved was Dr. Banner. Bill Bixby was so utterly likable. Meanwhile, the Hulk itself was a bit of a joke. With the comic, The Hulk was the endearing part (especially when Len Wein was writing and portraying him as an innocent child with a temper who only wanted a friend), but Dr. Banner was a stick in the mud who took valuable time away from the character we really wanted to see. So both had their strengths and their weaknesses. Incidentally, I've still yet to read The Hulk magazine, which (I believe) was written to be more in line with the television series. It absolutely was repetitive. But when you're seven years old, you don't care. When you think about it, quite a few shows that we grew up on were formulaic. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 2, 2016 22:11:44 GMT -5
Sorry, this thread keeps reminding me of things I loved about the show. Sometimes Banner would change into the Hulk due to truly dangerous circumstances. Other times... I think #3 is my favorite. It would be great to do a mix-up of late night infomercials and those classic Hulk-outs: "Are you tired of pill jars that just won't open...?" |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 2, 2016 22:12:24 GMT -5
It absolutely was repetitive. But when you're seven years old, you don't care. When you think about it, quite a few shows that we grew up on were formulaic. I cared at age 7. I'd pretty much have the show on in the background and tune-out, playing with my toys, until the Hulk-out happened. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 2, 2016 22:16:03 GMT -5
I was pretty indifferent to both. I watched the show and liked it, but it wasn't special. I read the occasional Hulk comic, but never really followed the book for any length of time.
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Post by earl on Aug 2, 2016 22:36:41 GMT -5
The Hulk series was too weird to work as a long running series and the show got goofier as it went, but I saw the pilot movie again couple of years ago home from work sick and thought it held up ok.
Can't really compare it to the comic, while premise is obviously similar they are very different mediums.
I do think there was a bit of influence of one of Michael Crichton's early books called "The Terminal Man" which was filmed starring George Segal when they adapted the Hulk for TV.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2016 23:39:23 GMT -5
Watching the clip that Randle-E! provided - My favorite one is #2 the Bear being tossed!
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Post by dupersuper on Aug 3, 2016 0:56:57 GMT -5
I've seen the odd Bixby Hulk episode, but this was my Hulk TV show as a kid:  |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 3, 2016 7:14:10 GMT -5
I used to watch the old '70s Hulk show quite a bit as a kid, but I have never, ever been a reader of the Incredible Hulk comics. The character just doesn't interest me at all as far as the comics go. Actually, although I watched the Hulk pretty regularly as a kid, it sort of used to bore me until the inevitable hulk-out occurred. It's like I was wading through the first 30 minutes of the show, just to get to the good part when somebody or something would make Banner angry. I've watched a few episodes of the show again recently on Sky TV and my feelings towards it haven't really changed at all; it holds up reasonably well, yes, but it's still a bit boring until Banner becomes the Hulk. The other thing I liked about that show was that they used an actual person (albeit a huge one) to play the Hulk ... Having a normal sized man transform into seven foot tall, more muscular version of himself seemed more plausible than having him turn into a giant. I completely agree with this. It's a testament to the makeup and special effects departments on the show that it wasn't until I was well into adulthood that I realised that it was actually two different people playing the parts of David Banner and the Hulk. Having the change start with his eyes turning white was also brilliant -- it was a very unsettling image. Again, completely agreed. The close up of Banner's "pale green" irises (they weren't quite white, were they?) used to simultaneously excite me and really freak me out as a kid. Lou Ferrigno's portrayal of the Hulk was also quite frightening...he was just so angry.  The Hulk series was too weird to work as a long running series... The show ran for five seasons from 1977 to 1981. I'd call that a reasonably long running series and it was obviously popular enough to keep on getting renewed. |
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Post by The Captain on Aug 3, 2016 7:38:18 GMT -5
I love the pilot episode for the TV show, but the rest of the series felt utterly repetitive to me (TV movies aside). I guess that was true of the comic as well, though. Maybe the difference for me is as follows: With the TV show, the part I loved was Dr. Banner. Bill Bixby was so utterly likable. Meanwhile, the Hulk itself was a bit of a joke. With the comic, The Hulk was the endearing part (especially when Len Wein was writing and portraying him as an innocent child with a temper who only wanted a friend), but Dr. Banner was a stick in the mud who took valuable time away from the character we really wanted to see. So both had their strengths and their weaknesses. Incidentally, I've still yet to read The Hulk magazine, which (I believe) was written to be more in line with the television series. It absolutely was repetitive. But when you're seven years old, you don't care. When you think about it, quite a few shows that we grew up on were formulaic. Like that episode of Three's Company where there's a misunderstanding that leads to wacky shenanigans. |
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Post by brutalis on Aug 3, 2016 8:52:40 GMT -5
For many it is true they only watched waiting for the Hulk Out with Ferrigno because they wanted to see the big green machine do his demolishing. For me, it wasn't that it was a comic book show about the Hulk but more an updated horror story about a man fighting to control the monster inside himself. It was Bill Bixby's Banner ongoing struggles which kept me watching and then the little boy in me could geek out for the Hulking portion of the show. So the show was able to appeal to different aspects of the public viewing presence which enabled it to stay on the air for 5 seasons. Look how the other Marvel show's could never catch on: Spider-man, Captain America and Doctor Strange never appealed to a wide enough demographic of viewers. But oh how good Strange could have been going with the horror and occult if only it had been given a chance. I thought it was a very good take on sorcery and magics for a 2 hour television movie.
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Post by Honeystinger on Aug 5, 2016 11:52:08 GMT -5
I was always a little puzzled by Jack Colvin's character, journalist Jack McGee. He seemed to spend years fruitlessly travelling around the country trying to track the Hulk, purely on his own initiative. Who was paying him? Why were they paying him? If I was his editor, I'd have told him fairly early on to either come up with a genuine story, or get another job. Also, McGee-and thanks to him, the authorities-apparently believed that the Hulk was guilty of the murder of David Banner; that's why the Hulk was a fugitive from justice. I'd have thought it would be fairly easy for Banner to prove the Hulk's innocence. Surely, all he'd have had to do was walk into a police station somewhere and say "Hi, I'm David Banner-I'm not dead, I haven't been murdered"? Why is that so difficult? The man hadn't actually committed any crime, that anyone could prove. Why was he running? Frankly, Jack McGee was my favorite character in the show. I saw him as a man who wanted to be believed when he told the truth. And his attitude toward the Hulk changed over time, acknowledging that the creature had saved his life several times. He began urging "John Doe" to turn himself in and get medical help. There were hints that McGee had once been a reputable journalist who'd fallen on hard times. In the episode where he and Banner (whose face was concealed by a bandage) survived a plane crash together, Jack spoke about wanting to re-establish his reputation and "get my column back" by uncovering the truth about the Hulk. Then there was the episode with the journalism student (anyone recall her name?) who was assigned to work with McGee. In the beginning, she told him that the National Register (McGee's paper) "wasn't my first choice"; but in the end, she admitted, "You were my first choice." In that same episode, McGee told the young woman she'd done the right thing by giving up a chance to discover the Hulk's human identity to save a disturbed young man from committing suicide. "Yes, you could have (learned the Hulk's identity)--if you hadn't cared whether Harold jumped or not," McGee told her. It seemed to me that Banner was really running from the admission that he'd botched a dangerous experiment. |
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RikerDonegal
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Post by RikerDonegal on Sept 14, 2016 16:24:13 GMT -5
The Hulk TV show is one of my favourite TV shows, and one of the best shows ever made. I have all of it on DVD and have recently started season 3. Some of these episodes I've seen 5/10 times on VHS. Like any show, it has it's highs and lows and while some episodes are repetitive because they stick to formula there are many episodes in each season which don't use the formula and tell unique stories. Even within the formula episodes, the show was 'serious' drama and very different to other comic book/fantasy shows on TV at the time. Now, I love Bionic Woman and SMDM and Wonder Woman and a multitude of shows from that time-period that only lasted 13 episodes (Lucan, anyone?) but Incredible Hulk was a different beast. It had more in common with 'quality' shows like Quincy and Lou Grant and it attempted, quite often, to deal with 'important' issues. Simplistic by today's standards, yes, but for 1978-1982? This was top tier stuff.
Friday, March 31st, 1978 was when the TV show first aired in Ireland, with the two-hour pilot airing from 7 to 9. I was 7 years old and I had no idea what this was, but it was promoted in the RTE Guide with a drawing of the Hulk so I (incorrectly) assumed it was a cartoon show. It wasn't. It absolutely terrified me. And I loved it.
Sometime after that, I was with my mother in a newsagent and spied Marvel UK's Rampage Magazine starring the Hulk! Issue 7. Mom bought it for me. My first Marvel comic. I still have it. I got another issue, too. And eventually a hardcover UK annual. All the while watching new episodes of the show. At first the adventures in the comics mystified me. His name was different?! The Hulk talked?! Which one was Jack McGee?! I thought Bereet was very sexy, so I liked her, but I had no idea how this fit into the 'reality' of the TV show I was watching.
Eventually, I got more Marvel comics and got used to the differences and how the Marvel Universe worked. Al told I've probably read more Hulk stories than any other character. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 14, 2016 18:51:04 GMT -5
I've seen the odd Bixby Hulk episode, but this was my Hulk TV show as a kid: Next to BTAS, this is my favorite animated opening ever. Love that epic music. |
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Sept 14, 2016 20:01:00 GMT -5
I really like the premise of the show. The idea that "David" Banner is presumed murdered by the Hulk is a really cool twist, and I just love the idea of Banner being totally alone with no real supporting cast, just wandering from place to place. I also liked that he wasn't this totally unstable basket case with layers of personality disorders. 99% of the time he was able to function as a totally normal human being which made his inevitable transformation into the Hulk so much more disruptive and tragic to me. And the fact that the series ultimately ended with Banner's death, with him never having cured himself, cleared the Hulk's name or restored his old life, adds to the pathos of the TV show that just isn't there in the comic. The Hulk was giving an ending and it was not a happy one, very rare for superheroes. Next to BTAS, this is my favorite animated opening ever. Love that epic music. It truly was epic. The shot of his bulging arm with his veins glowing green was burned into my brain as the most badass thing ever. |
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