When I was a kid, one of my favorite shows was "The Greatest American Hero." I just bought the Anchor Bay DVD release. I was going to wait until the Wonder Woman set claim and do them together, but I think there's enough here for me to natter about.
Technically the set is only okay. I don't know what kind of restoration work they did, but their releases of "Three's Company" are much better in video and audio quality. The audio is also too low.
Anyway, some random thoughts:
1. Robert Culp was an incredible talent, and so were William Katt and Connie Selleca. Robert Culp is an accomplished writer and director as well as an actor. He wrote and directed several episodes of Hero but he'd been doing it since "I Spy." He quickly became one of my favorite actors, and Bill Maxwell was my favorite character. I realized watching this show that he's kind of a jerk. I'm also kind of a jerk, and I wonder if some of that is from emulating Bill Maxwell.
2. William Katt was an incredible performer. His performance in the Bob Fosse directed "Pippin" is on DVD. I encourage everyone to give it a gander. Skiddooo!
3. Connie Selleca doesn't get much play as one of the great television beauties of the time compared to: Suzanne Sommers, Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett, Victoria Principle, Veronica Hamel, Erin Gray, Cathy Lee Crosby, Lynda Carter, Catherine Bach, et al. But she was really very stunning. And she has incredible comedic timing.
4. Steven J. Cannell is one of the great tv writers. I'd like them to fire JMS, and give Cannell a gcrack at some comics. I'd like to see his Batman for a start.
5. I don't really game that much, does anyone know if any of the superhero based RPGs like Champions, DC Heroes or Marvel Superheroes ever did stats for Ralph? If not, I have a request, since I know the other curmudgeons do game, and most of them professionally, and a regular reader, also writes for games. What are his stats?
In Marvel superheroes, I guess:
Fighting: Good
Agility: Remarkable
Strength: Incredible
Endurance: Amazing
Reason: Excellent
Intuition: Monstrous
Psyche: Good
Flying Incredible speed (Poor agility)
Body armor: Amazing
Clairvoyance: Monstrous
Invisibility: Incredible
How does that look?
6. I now have hopes that another of my favorites, to wit "My Secret Indentity" will come to DVD. Especially since I missed the last season. And where is "The Rockford Files," which is a must for LSH completists?!!!
Posted by Mike Chary at March 6, 2005 10:54 PM