The Greatest American Hero

It was the early ‘80s, and everywhere you looked were reports of UFO sightings and the imminent threat of nuclear war with the USSR. In "The Greatest American Hero", aliens give a red spandex suit with superpowers to an unlikely team, schoolteacher Ralph Hinkley (William Katt) and FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp). Red-blooded American Maxwell wants to use the suit to beat the commies. Liberal Hinkley is more interested in discovering the secret to the Bermuda Triangle and saving wild horses. Somehow, they manage to do both.

The spaceship effects look terrific. The flying effects not so much and watching 43 episodes over weeks, instead of years, makes the rampant use of stock footage painfully obvious. Get past that and clever writing and acting make it easy and you've got a series that's still enjoyable 20 years later.

The iron curtain may have blown wide open years ago, but in this post 9/11 world, some of the series' themes including terrorism, L.A. blackouts, and the death of astronauts aboard the Shuttle Columbia are disturbingly timely. The stories go downhill in Season 3; an interview with creator/producer Stephen J. Cannell puts the blame on meddling network executives.

Season 1 extras are interviews with several cast members and the failed pilot "The Greatest American Heroine". With Season 2, you get a couple more interviews. Season 3 has no extras.