This is the first season of the 1977 series, The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby as Bruce Banner, and bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk (mostly referred to as "The Creature"). It is adapted from but changed significantly from the comic book series. Some of the changes (like changing the lead character's name from Bruce Banner to David Banner) irked Stan Lee, but overall, I think the changes worked for what the showrunners wanted to do and probably kept the series from getting canceled after 2-3 seasons which had been the fate of series like Batman and Wonder Woman. It was, up until the 1990s series Lois and Clark, the live-action comic book series with the most episodes (80) after the 1950s George Reeves Superman series (which had 104 episodes). Lois and Clark just edged it out with 88 episodes.
As my headline says, it is the character of the Hulk set in the real world. The series started with two made for tv movies. The pilot episode established that David Banner is a scientist looking into why people get superhuman strength in life-threatening situations, and why he did not when he was in a car accident that ended up killing his wife. He ends up giving himself a massive dose of Gamma Radiation which triggers the transformation to the Hulk when he gets angry or scared. Banner and his co-worker are presumed killed by the Hulk, so Banner becomes a drifter looking for a way to cure himself. As he moves around from location to location he always finds someone who needs help from some criminal element and always ends up transforming into the Hulk to save the day.
This set consists of the 10 "regular" episodes and the two made for tv movies that began the series. Those run about an hour and a half and then the regular episodes run about 50 minutes, give or take. The show definitely has a 1970s look and feel to it. It mostly holds up well 45+ years down the line, but parts of it are definitely dated. The DVD set includes a commentary track by the executive producer (and writer and director of the pilot and some of the regular episodes throughout the series run) Kenneth Johnson. It is a good commentary in which he goes through the process of filming the pilot and why he made the changes he did.
The series is well written (even if some of the dialog is a bit hokey now) and fairly well-acted. I think it worked to not have the Hulk going against supervillains, or Banner getting his powers because the military was trying to develop super-soldiers, as were the origins of the character in the comic books. Also, since the series was made before the advent of CGI (and did not have the budget for what little there was available), almost everything was done with practical effects. Of course, Ferrigno was painted green and put in wigs and sometimes silly-looking prosthetics. It is interesting that a different actor who was taller but not as muscular as Ferrigno (who was 6'5" and about 270+ pounds) was originally cast for the role, so they often filmed Ferrigno from below and with a different camera lens to make him look like he was seven feet tall (of course in the comics the Hulk was nine-feet tall), but every so often the shots would establish that he was not much taller than some of the extras. You definitely have to suspend a lot of disbelief not only of the premise of someone transforming into a big green creature as a result of Gamma Radiation overdose versus just getting cancer and/or dying instantly, or that David could have just said he was not killed in the accident and the Hulk did not harm anyone, but then the series would not have come to be.
Overall, the season is good, even if it is dated. The cast changes a lot, and if you are old enough you will recognize some of the character actors. In the first season, the two most recognizable guest stars are Gerald McRaney who would go on to have a pretty prolific TV career, and Martin Kove who is best known for playing Kreese in the Karate Kid movies and the series Cobra Kai. It is definitely worth watching even though it has a much different feel than today's superhero shows.
As my headline says, it is the character of the Hulk set in the real world. The series started with two made for tv movies. The pilot episode established that David Banner is a scientist looking into why people get superhuman strength in life-threatening situations, and why he did not when he was in a car accident that ended up killing his wife. He ends up giving himself a massive dose of Gamma Radiation which triggers the transformation to the Hulk when he gets angry or scared. Banner and his co-worker are presumed killed by the Hulk, so Banner becomes a drifter looking for a way to cure himself. As he moves around from location to location he always finds someone who needs help from some criminal element and always ends up transforming into the Hulk to save the day.
This set consists of the 10 "regular" episodes and the two made for tv movies that began the series. Those run about an hour and a half and then the regular episodes run about 50 minutes, give or take. The show definitely has a 1970s look and feel to it. It mostly holds up well 45+ years down the line, but parts of it are definitely dated. The DVD set includes a commentary track by the executive producer (and writer and director of the pilot and some of the regular episodes throughout the series run) Kenneth Johnson. It is a good commentary in which he goes through the process of filming the pilot and why he made the changes he did.
The series is well written (even if some of the dialog is a bit hokey now) and fairly well-acted. I think it worked to not have the Hulk going against supervillains, or Banner getting his powers because the military was trying to develop super-soldiers, as were the origins of the character in the comic books. Also, since the series was made before the advent of CGI (and did not have the budget for what little there was available), almost everything was done with practical effects. Of course, Ferrigno was painted green and put in wigs and sometimes silly-looking prosthetics. It is interesting that a different actor who was taller but not as muscular as Ferrigno (who was 6'5" and about 270+ pounds) was originally cast for the role, so they often filmed Ferrigno from below and with a different camera lens to make him look like he was seven feet tall (of course in the comics the Hulk was nine-feet tall), but every so often the shots would establish that he was not much taller than some of the extras. You definitely have to suspend a lot of disbelief not only of the premise of someone transforming into a big green creature as a result of Gamma Radiation overdose versus just getting cancer and/or dying instantly, or that David could have just said he was not killed in the accident and the Hulk did not harm anyone, but then the series would not have come to be.
Overall, the season is good, even if it is dated. The cast changes a lot, and if you are old enough you will recognize some of the character actors. In the first season, the two most recognizable guest stars are Gerald McRaney who would go on to have a pretty prolific TV career, and Martin Kove who is best known for playing Kreese in the Karate Kid movies and the series Cobra Kai. It is definitely worth watching even though it has a much different feel than today's superhero shows.
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