Ralph Hinkley was never supposed to be a legend. Honestly, if you look at the landscape of 1981 television, a high school teacher in a red spandex suit flying face-first into billboards sounds like a recipe for a swift cancellation. Yet, here we are, decades later, still humming that theme song. Believe it or Not, The Greatest American Hero didn't just survive its own absurdity; it redefined what a superhero could look like on the small screen before the MCU was even a glimmer in Kevin Feige's eye.
It’s weird.
The show is a total relic of the Reagan era, but it feels surprisingly modern in its cynicism. Stephen J. Cannell, the mastermind behind The A-Team and The Rockford Files, took a premise that should have been a cartoon and grounded it in the most mundane, frustrating reality possible. Ralph, played with a perfect "I'm too old for this" energy by William Katt, is given a super-powered suit by aliens. The catch? He loses the instruction manual.
That one tiny plot point changed everything.
Imagine having the power of flight but no steering. Imagine being invulnerable but still feeling the bone-jarring impact of every wall you hit. That was the core of the show. It wasn't about being a hero; it was about the sheer, unadulterated clumsiness of trying to do the right thing when you have no idea what you're doing.
Why Believe It or Not The Greatest American Hero Still Works
Most people remember the song before they remember the plot. "Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)," sung by Joey Scarbury and written by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer, is a legitimate miracle of pop songwriting. It hit number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. It’s a soft-rock anthem for the underdog. When those synthesizers kick in, you aren't thinking about a guy in a cape; you're thinking about your own life and how things rarely go according to plan.
But the show was more than a catchy tune.
It was a procedural masquerading as a fantasy. You had Robert Culp as Bill Maxwell, a hard-nosed FBI agent who was basically the "tough love" mentor Ralph never wanted. Culp played it straight. That was the secret sauce. If Culp had winked at the camera, the show would have collapsed under its own weight. Instead, he treated the "green guys" (the aliens) and the "magic jammies" with the same grim seriousness he’d give a racketeering case.
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Then there’s Connie Sellecca as Pam Davidson. In a lot of 80s shows, the girlfriend was just there to get kidnapped. Pam was different. She was a lawyer. She was often the smartest person in the room, trying to keep Ralph and Bill from accidentally starting World War III or getting sued into oblivion.
The Legal War with Superman
You can't talk about the history of the show without mentioning the lawyers. DC Comics and Warner Bros. were not happy. They looked at Ralph Hinkley and saw a copyright infringement of Superman. They actually sued.
They lost.
The courts basically ruled that Ralph was so incompetent and the tone was so parodic that no reasonable person would confuse the two. Superman is a god among men; Ralph Hinkley is a guy who accidentally falls out of the sky and lands in a trash can. The distinction was legally significant. It's funny because, in a way, the lawsuit proved exactly what made the show special: it was the "anti-Superman."
The Curse of the Name Change
There’s a bit of trivia that sounds like an urban legend but is actually 100% true. Shortly after the show premiered, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. The network panicked. The lead character's name was Ralph Hinkley—spelled slightly differently, but pronounced exactly the same.
To avoid controversy, ABC started dubbed-over lines in several episodes, changing his last name to "Hanley." Sometimes they just called him "Ralph." Eventually, the heat died down and he went back to being Hinkley, but for a few weeks, the show was in a bizarre state of linguistic flux. It’s a stark reminder of how much "real world" noise can bleed into escapist entertainment.
The Suit and the Symbol
Let's talk about the suit. It’s iconic, but have you actually looked at the symbol? It looks sort of like a stylized "A," or maybe a bird, or maybe just a bunch of lines. It wasn't a "S" for Strength or a "B" for Bat. It was alien. It was incomprehensible.
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The suit's powers were wildly inconsistent, which was the point. Ralph would discover a new ability—like psychometry or invisibility—only to realize he couldn't control it. This created a tension that most superhero stories lack. In a Marvel movie, you know the hero will eventually master their gift. In The Greatest American Hero, you were just hoping Ralph wouldn't break his neck during the landing.
Behind the Scenes Chaos
The production wasn't always smooth sailing. William Katt has been vocal in interviews over the years about how physically demanding the role was. Remember, this was before CGI. If Ralph was flying, Katt was strapped into a harness and hoisted into the air by a crane. It was painful. It was jarring. He often looked genuinely miserable on screen, which, coincidentally, fit the character perfectly.
Stephen J. Cannell was a factory of ideas. He liked to move fast. This gave the show a kinetic, slightly unpolished feel that feels very "indie" by today's standards. There was a lot of improvisation between Culp and Katt. Their chemistry was the engine of the series. They were the original "odd couple" of the superhero genre.
Why the Reboot Never Happens
Every few years, you hear rumors. "The Greatest American Hero is coming back!" There was a pilot in the 80s called The Greatest American Heroine where Ralph hands the suit to a woman named Holly Hathaway. It didn't get picked up, though the pilot was later edited into the syndication package.
In the late 2010s, there was talk of a reboot with a female lead, but it stalled in development. Why?
Maybe because the original lightning is too hard to bottle. The show was a specific reaction to the 70s era of "grim and gritty" TV and the shiny, untouchable heroism of the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. Today, we have The Boys and Invincible—shows that deconstruct superheroes with extreme violence and gore. The Greatest American Hero did it with a laugh and a face-plant. It was gentler, but in many ways, just as subversive.
The Legacy of the Theme Song
You can’t escape the song. It’s been covered, parodied, and used in commercials for everything from insurance to fast food. Most notably, Seinfeld immortalized it with George Costanza’s answering machine message: "Believe it or not, George isn't at home..."
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That parody alone probably did more to keep the show in the public consciousness than the actual episodes. It captured the essence of the show: a regular guy trying to project an image of importance while failing at the most basic tasks.
Breaking Down the "Ralph Hinkley" Archetype
Ralph represents the everyman. He’s a special education teacher. He’s a single dad (in the beginning). He’s someone who cares about his students and his community. When the aliens give him the suit, they don't choose him because he's a peak specimen of humanity. They choose him because he's a "good man."
That’s a heavy burden.
The show explores the morality of power in a way that’s actually pretty deep if you look past the slapstick. Ralph doesn't want to fight crime. He does it because he feels he has to. He’s constantly late for work. His personal life is a disaster. It’s a precursor to the "Peter Parker" problems we see in modern cinema—the idea that being a hero is actually a massive inconvenience.
Essential Episodes for Newcomers
If you're looking to dive back in, or see it for the first time, don't just start at the beginning and power through. Some episodes are definitely "filler." But there are gems:
- The Pilot: Obviously. It sets up the whole mythology and the lost instruction manual.
- The Reseda Rose: This is where you really see the chemistry between Ralph and Bill. It’s classic Cannell action.
- Operation Spoilsport: A heavy-hitter episode where Ralph has to prevent an accidental nuclear launch. It raises the stakes significantly.
- Divorce Venusian Style: Ralph tries to find the instruction manual again. Spoiler: it doesn't go well.
How to Watch It Today
Finding the show isn't as easy as it used to be. It pops up on streaming services like Peacock or Tubi from time to time, but licensing for 80s shows is notoriously fickle. The DVD sets are your best bet if you're a completionist.
Interestingly, the show has a massive following in Europe and parts of Asia. There’s something universal about a guy failing at flying. We’ve all been there, metaphorically speaking.
Believe it or Not, The Greatest American Hero remains a landmark because it dared to be silly when everything else was trying to be cool. It leaned into the awkwardness. It celebrated the mistake.
If you're a fan of television history, or just someone who feels like they’re constantly losing their own "instruction manual" for life, this show is a mandatory watch. It’s a reminder that you don't need to be perfect to be a hero; you just need to keep getting back up after you hit the wall.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Collectors
- Check Local Listings: Digital subchannels like MeTV or Catchy Comedy often run marathons of the show. Set your DVR.
- The Soundtrack: If you find the original vinyl of the Joey Scarbury album, grab it. It’s a collectors' item that holds its value well among 80s memorabilia fans.
- Prop Replicas: There are dedicated fan communities on forums like The RPF (The Replica Prop Forum) where people recreate the "Hinkley Suit" with insane levels of accuracy, down to the exact fabric weave.
- Support the Creator's Legacy: Check out the Stephen J. Cannell library. Understanding his work on Rockford Files makes you appreciate the DNA of Greatest American Hero even more.