The Greatest American Hero
Jul. 21st, 2005 05:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeI've been watching DVDs of The Greatest American Hero this week--the first three episodes (including the pilot) so far. I used to LOVE this show--I had a massive crush on William Katt (along with Harrison Ford) and was well-known for my wall of WK pictures and posters. It's interesting watching it again 20+ years later; for one thing, it is glaringly obvious how much this show is a product of its time. It is achingly early '80s, with the attendant gung-ho American rah rah stuff (the title, the FBI character), the Welcome Back, Kotter rejects with their dese-dem-dose accents (jigga-wha? This show takes place in LA, what's with the Brooklyn accents?), the cheesy cold war plots, and the HAIR. My God, the HAIR. William Katt's hair deserves its own credit, it is GINORMOUS. It's like a blonde 'fro. Robert Culp's (Bill Maxwell's) hair is pretty damn long as well--it's all so noticeable. So weird.
There's also a lot of uneasy jokes/references to women's upwardly mobile status--Bill calls Pam "something of a feminist" and her mother obviously doesn't take her career that seriously, even though she's an attorney (!). June Lockhart and some whitebread guy play her Minnesota parents, BTW, which is distracting--I look at that family unit and think "adoption." (Another weird family unit--Ted Danson and Glenn Close in Something About Amelia--these two blonde, fair-skinned parents with two dark-haired, dark-eyed, olive-skinned daughters.) Connie Sellecca, BTW, is flat-out gorgeous, like an older Phoebe Cates.
So I watched three episodes so far, and I have so say, the pilot actually stands up fairly well. It has that awkward, expositional quality that all pilots have, but it's amusing and you like Ralph. And the talent is pretty good--the three leads are great, but Michael Pare as Tony was really quite a standout. His character is such a cliche, but he did a good job with it, nicely underplayed it.
I'm reading reviews of the series, including some of the great 2nd season episodes, like the absolute scariest one, "The Beast in the Black." God, that was a great one! Bill and Ralph are at some old house and somehow Bill gets possessed by some woman and you only know it when his eyes turn blue. And there's some beast in black that kicks Ralph's ass in the dark. Thpooooo-ky! Can't wait to see it again.
There's also a lot of uneasy jokes/references to women's upwardly mobile status--Bill calls Pam "something of a feminist" and her mother obviously doesn't take her career that seriously, even though she's an attorney (!). June Lockhart and some whitebread guy play her Minnesota parents, BTW, which is distracting--I look at that family unit and think "adoption." (Another weird family unit--Ted Danson and Glenn Close in Something About Amelia--these two blonde, fair-skinned parents with two dark-haired, dark-eyed, olive-skinned daughters.) Connie Sellecca, BTW, is flat-out gorgeous, like an older Phoebe Cates.
So I watched three episodes so far, and I have so say, the pilot actually stands up fairly well. It has that awkward, expositional quality that all pilots have, but it's amusing and you like Ralph. And the talent is pretty good--the three leads are great, but Michael Pare as Tony was really quite a standout. His character is such a cliche, but he did a good job with it, nicely underplayed it.
I'm reading reviews of the series, including some of the great 2nd season episodes, like the absolute scariest one, "The Beast in the Black." God, that was a great one! Bill and Ralph are at some old house and somehow Bill gets possessed by some woman and you only know it when his eyes turn blue. And there's some beast in black that kicks Ralph's ass in the dark. Thpooooo-ky! Can't wait to see it again.
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Re: BEAST IN THE BLACK
Date: 2005-07-22 01:40 pm (UTC)Can't wait to see Apathy! Is it cool if I bring my cute friend?