Talk:The Incredible Hulk (1978 TV series)

The Hulk's size

The Hulk doesn't look very big like he does in the comics. And how do they change Bill Bixby into Lou Ferrigno?Scorpionman 23:43, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

Lou would be fitted with clothes that are too tight and he would move his body to "rip" the clothes. Bixby for a few seasons would undergo a transformation where he would wear green makeup with the contact lenses so in essence, the change was done in three stages.

So, basically, the change from Banner to the Hulk happens off screen? They can't actually show him growing into the Hulk on the camera? Scorpionman 23:43, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

If you read the article carefully, it says that they actually did show the full metamorphosis into the Hulk up until season 3. They stopped this due to production costs and Bill Bixby's refusal to wear green makeup for the transformation. The metamorphosis was at first done in a way very similar to the Wolf Man: they would put a layer of makeup on Bixby, and then take a still shot; when this was done, they would play the series of shots, and it looked like Bixby was actually changing into the Hulk. This was quite troublesome and time-consuming, however, so they stopped after a while and just showed his clothes ripping and his eyes turning whitish green. 4.158.60.251 03:46, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Actually, that's not quite correct. The lap-dissolve process you describe here was (as far as I recall, and based on the season 1 DVD set) only ever used to transform the Hulk back into David. In the scenes where Banner changed into the Hulk, they just used the white contacts and shirt-ripping technique (although occasionally, as in the episode "747", we got a few shots of a semi-Hulked-out David with green face-paint). So, by way of answering the initial question, no, the transformations didn't happen off-camera per se, but the metamorphosis never happened "before our eyes" in a direct way either. Chalkieperfect 04:10, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Height: Richard Kiel > Lou Ferrigno > Arnold Schwarznegger

Muscularity: Arnold Schwarznegger > Lou Ferrigno > Richard Kiel

Richard Kiel was taller than Lou Ferrigno but Lou Ferrigno was more muscular than Richard Kiel, because Richard Kiel had less muscle mass than Lou Ferrigno? nagara373 18:02, 9 Aug 2007 (JST)

Death of the Hulk?

In the TV movie Death of the Incredible Hulk, the Hulk took a supposedly fatal fall from an airplane. In the comics, he survived falls a lot more severe than this! Also, the show eliminates the incredible leaps that Hulk can make! Furthermore, the Hulk doesn't need to use any kind of shield to block bullets from hitting him. His skin is too strong for any bullet to penetrate! The show is fairly good, but it strays too far from the comics! Scorpionman 23:42, 25 November 2005 (UTC)

You're absolutely right; the TV Hulk was, although certainly super-human, not nearly as indestructible as his comic book counterpart. However, it bears mention in response to your criticism that in the very first issue of the Hulk comic, he takes a bullet to the shoulder which leaves a minor wound once he reverts to Banner -- the pilot episode of the TV series featured a nearly identical incident. Furthermore, it's not fair to say the TV series eliminated his "incredible leaps." Granted, the comic-book Hulk could practically fly in some issues, but the TV Hulk does his fair share of leaping (I'm thinking in particular of "A Death in the Family," where he jumps a good 20 feet into the air, but there are other examples). Still, your points are good, and this article would be well-served by a section dedicated to the "toning down" of the Hulk in comparison to the comics. Chalkieperfect 04:23, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I hate to be nitpicky, but the way I remember the death of the Hulk, he fell from a helicopter and not an airplane. Anyone else remember it this way, or am I imagining it? Pacific1982 22:38, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

You are correct, Pacific1982. The Hulk did die from a fall from a helicopter. Also, there was an explosion which caused him to fall to his death. 24.251.20.115 19:26, 13 September 2006 (UTC)Jack Griffin.

I'm afraid not. It's definitely a small airplane. I'm looking at the DVD right now. There's a helicopter in the scene, but the Hulk falls from a plane, no question. Chalkieperfect 04:15, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Myostatin

I added the myostatin info-- a drug mentioned in an Hulk episode, but that didn't actually exist until 20 years later. Maybe it's not worth mentioning, but, it's kinda cool. What's even cooler is that Myostatin controls <drumroll> muscle growth-- a mutation of the gene that produces Myostatin can result in hyper muscle growth causing abnormal strength. No green skin though... --Alecmconroy 16:36, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

question

hallo,

my name is barry. and i want to ask you if there is a hulk full ore some seasens of the tv serie,s fore sale in dutch subtitle,s. the english version is for sale. i hope there is a dutch one.

regards

Barry

List of Aliases Used By David Banner in "The Incredible Hulk"

Has anybody started a wiki list like that? It would be really useful. For example, if your name is David B---- and you want to know whether that name was ever used...? Plus it would really show off the Wikipedia's strengths... --not registered —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 218.167.174.185 (talk • contribs) 10:00, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

Why the year?

Why did someone add the year to the name of the series when this is counter to the naming conventions? -- Antaeus Feldspar 05:07, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

There is a series is 1996. I think there might have been other series before that as well, but they could have been just appearances in other series.  BIGNOLE   (Question?)  (What I do)  14:47, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

The 1996 series was animated, however. It would have made much more sense, IMHO, to keep this article at The Incredible Hulk (TV series) and let the 1996 series be at The Incredible Hulk (animated series) if anyone creates an article for it. -- Antaeus Feldspar 20:25, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

It does exist. I don't remember when it changed to "1977". That's the problem with moves, you don't actually see them unless you go into the history. If you want to move both pages, to what you suggested, I'd back you up.  BIGNOLE   (Question?)  (What I do)  22:25, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Genre?

Wouldn't this fit better under the 'Adventure' heading? Caswin 00:33, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm willing to argue in favor of drama/sci-fi, as listed. It certainly has its share of adventure here and there, but the main thrust of the show is drama-oriented with sci-fi elements. Chalkieperfect 04:26, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Differences from the comic

I think there should be a section devoted to the differences from the comic book. The article touches on these, but it would be useful to have them in a dedicated section. Chalkieperfect 04:30, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Notable episodes

This section is highly opinionated. Who is to say which episode is notable and which isn't. There is a List of The Incredible Hulk episodes page, and I'm working to reformat the page and fill in the blanks. We should just link to the List of episode pages, as must TV series articles do.  BIGNOLE  (Contact me) 20:13, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I was thinking the same thing. While it's intention is good, it seems to be someone's personal "best of" episodes in many respects. Jay Firestorm (talk) 17:44, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Plot Hole

• Was there one episode when McGee comes Face to face with Dr Banner-a supposed dead man-recognizes him-yet doesn't make the conenction that Banner is the Hulk? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 134.53.145.162 (talk) 14:30, 17 April 2007 (UTC).

Um, I think that was "Stop the Press", in season 2. Also, these types of questions should go to IMDb or other forums.  BIGNOLE  (Contact me) 19:15, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Kiel or Cassidy?

This is the second source--both online and, no offense to anyone as I include myself here, amateur--that says the real-life giant who unsuccessfully tested for the Hulk and whose test footage had a bit--possibly too brief to be identified--edited into the first pilot was Richard Kiel, but I heard at the time it was Ted Cassidy. This would explain how he was handy to do the narrative voice-over (not the sort of thing he was known for--cartoon voice work, mostly for Hanna-Barbera, notwithstanding) and the growls & roars, which go well beyond the opening credits as someone put in the article (his January 1979 death prevented him from doing this for the whole run, obviously). Does anybody have a really, good substantial source for it being Kiel? Ted Watson 18:31, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

It's Kiel. Watch the first episode with commentary for your source. Kenneth Johnson says it's Kiel and points out the one scene were you can see it's Kiel and Lou. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.79.88.255 (talk) 18:15, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Sorry I took so long to respond to this. It's my own negligence and nothing else. I have removed my hidden message from this point in the text, and added a parenthetical reference to the commentary. For the record, I still have my doubts and suspect that so many years after the event Johnson misremembered which real-life giant he had auditioned (others have confused the physically very similar men, and I am absolutely certain that while one can tell it's not Ferrigno in the shot, determining whether it's Kiel or Cassidy is not possible), but that's not good enough for the article, of course. Ted Watson (talk) 20:51, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Stock Footage

The episode "747" used stock footage from "Airport 1975." The same footage and sets were used in an episode of Voyagers ("All Fall Down"), in which time-traveller Jeffrey Jones lands a plane under similar circumstances.

This should be expected, since both shows were produced by Universal, and both had James D. Parriott as a line producer and scriptwriter. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.228.155.151 (talk) 01:10, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

It might be worth noting that the first season episode 'Never Give a Trucker An Even Break' heavily uses footage from the movie 'Duel'. Speilberg was so unhappy about this that, following this episode, the rules on what could be used as stock footage by such shows, without proper clearance and royalties, were altered. Jay Firestorm (talk) 17:47, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

I've got a citable source (a Starlog episode guide) for the heavy use of shots from Duel, but the effect is not mentioned. We'll neeed another source for that. --Tbrittreid (talk) 22:37, 21 August 2009 (UTC)

Les Miserables?

What on earth is that line about getting the inspiration for the TV adaptation from Les Miserables? Seems to me a prankster hath struck, but I guess if somebody can give a citation it is just one of those strange cases of reality being stranger than fiction. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patrickthemediocre (talk • contribs) 13:27, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

It's true. Watch the special features on the DVDs for season 2.

Called "the Hulk"

Someone keeps putting in the article a statement to the effect (version up at this writing): [Jack McGee] is the only main character in the series to ever refer [to] the creature as "The Hulk." As I have said in my edit summaries on several previous reversions of it, this is simply not true. I effectively conceded that David's use of it in conversations with McGee during his amnesia in "Mystery Man" don't really count as him using it, but he said to Li Sung (played by Mako) in either "Another Path" or "The Disciple" (I don't remember which one, but I remember the scene, as it was lifted out and used in a frequently aired commercial for the reruns): "Now that the Hulk has been seen, my time will be growing short." And I believe he used the word in "Interview with the Hulk" as well. I don't know if your definition of "main character[s] in the series" includes major guest roles, but mine certainly does, and that also throws it out. National Register publisher Steinhauer's daughter takes over his office for a while, and uses the term in conversations with Jack {"Proof Positive" which Starlog magazine's episode guide claims is also known as "Nightmare," BTW). I am certain there are others. It is not true, you don't source it, and I will keep removing it every time you put it back in. Please stop. --Ted Watson (talk) 22:53, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Don't exclude these T.V. "VAMPS"

I added SUZANNE CHARNEY and KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT to the list of guest stars. Although neither of them became "major" stars, they have attained nigh legendary status for their roles in two Cult T.V. Classics: Ms. Charney portrayed a powerful female vampire in an episode of KOLCHACK, THE NIGHT STALKER. Meanwhile Ms. Scott is known to DARK SHADOWS fans not only as the actress who played JOSETTE DuPRES(lover and obsession of the vampire Barnabas Collins) but also as the editor\author\publisher of POMEGRANATE PUBLISHING. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MARK VENTURE (talk • contribs) 06:21, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

A New Live-Action Hulk TV Series?

This subject was added, then removed. And though it is true (or at least there have been rumors), I don't think it belongs in this article. --Musdan77 (talk) 23:44, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

Name

His full name on the TV series is David Bruce Banner as shown on his tombstone. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.91.171.36 (talk • contribs) 18:50, April 26, 2011 (UTC)

Right. What's your point? The Bruce middle name is already stated in the Development section. -Fnlayson (talk) 23:44, 26 April 2011 (UTC)