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The Greatest American Hero Companion
After a Close Encounter with aliens gives him a super suit, regular guy Ralph Hinkley reluctantly becomes...The Greatest American Hero!
There's never been a book about the beloved cult classic series, until now!
With The Greatest American Hero Companion, you will
*A Foreword by The Hero himself, William Katt!
*A Complete episode guide, exclusive photos & never-before-told stories!
Believe it or not, you will
*How the attempted assassination of a U.S. President changed the Hero's name!
*How Superman battled Ralph...in court!
*How Jerry Seinfeld made the theme song more famous than the show!
*How Stephen J. Cannell created the show to be ' Rockford Files with a superhero !'
*Which Cobra Kai Bully made his acting debut here...as a nerd!
*Which FRIENDS star was almost The Greatest American Heroine!
*How Katt & stuntman Dennis Danger Madalone survived Flying & fighting Andre The Giant
*How a nervous first time actress bluffed into a role posing as an Italian model!
From Patrick Jankiewicz, the Saturn Award & Rondo nominated author of You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm A Hulk Companion and Buck Rogers In The 25th A TV Companion comes The Greatest American Hero Companion!
There's never been a book about the beloved cult classic series, until now!
With The Greatest American Hero Companion, you will
*A Foreword by The Hero himself, William Katt!
*A Complete episode guide, exclusive photos & never-before-told stories!
Believe it or not, you will
*How the attempted assassination of a U.S. President changed the Hero's name!
*How Superman battled Ralph...in court!
*How Jerry Seinfeld made the theme song more famous than the show!
*How Stephen J. Cannell created the show to be ' Rockford Files with a superhero !'
*Which Cobra Kai Bully made his acting debut here...as a nerd!
*Which FRIENDS star was almost The Greatest American Heroine!
*How Katt & stuntman Dennis Danger Madalone survived Flying & fighting Andre The Giant
*How a nervous first time actress bluffed into a role posing as an Italian model!
From Patrick Jankiewicz, the Saturn Award & Rondo nominated author of You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm A Hulk Companion and Buck Rogers In The 25th A TV Companion comes The Greatest American Hero Companion!
528 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2023
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October 10, 2023
Finished reading this one last night. Not much I really need to say about other than that it’s a really good book about one of my top favorite tv shows growing up, “The Greatest American Hero” (1981-1983). The book is “The Greatest American Hero Companion” by Patrick Jankiewicz (BearManor Media, 2023).
Jankiewicz has written several books about shows like this from the late 1970 and 80s (my particular “golden age” of all things pop culture), including “You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry!: A Hulk Companion” (which I am also in the process of reading) and “Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century: A TV Companion”, as well as “Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion”.
Jankiewicz really does his homework, not only detailing the creation of the show by Stephan J. Cannell and the casting of series leads William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca, plus the obligatory complement episodes guide. He also has loads of interviews with everything, some conducted by him specifically for this book, others conducted earlier (for Cannell, the actors, and other significant people who had died).
This is a pretty definitive book resource about the making of this short lived but still widely remembered television series, one which came out in a lull period in terms of superhero pn TV (“The Incredible Hulk” was just finishing it’s run at the time that “Hero” was beginning). But it was a sign of things to come. I highly recommend “The Greatest American Hero Companion” to all fans of the series. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. (Copy read checked out from the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Jankiewicz has written several books about shows like this from the late 1970 and 80s (my particular “golden age” of all things pop culture), including “You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry!: A Hulk Companion” (which I am also in the process of reading) and “Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century: A TV Companion”, as well as “Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion”.
Jankiewicz really does his homework, not only detailing the creation of the show by Stephan J. Cannell and the casting of series leads William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca, plus the obligatory complement episodes guide. He also has loads of interviews with everything, some conducted by him specifically for this book, others conducted earlier (for Cannell, the actors, and other significant people who had died).
This is a pretty definitive book resource about the making of this short lived but still widely remembered television series, one which came out in a lull period in terms of superhero pn TV (“The Incredible Hulk” was just finishing it’s run at the time that “Hero” was beginning). But it was a sign of things to come. I highly recommend “The Greatest American Hero Companion” to all fans of the series. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. (Copy read checked out from the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review