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The Incredible Hulk: Created by Kenneth Johnson. With Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, Lou Ferrigno, Charles Napier. A fugitive scientist has the curse of becoming a powerful green monster under extreme emotional stress.
- (16K)
- 1978-03-10
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- 60
Nov 4, 1977 · The Incredible Hulk: Directed by Kenneth Johnson. With Bill Bixby, Susan Sullivan, Jack Colvin, Lou Ferrigno. A troubled scientist's accidental overexposure to gamma radiation curses him with the tendency to change into a bestial green brute under extreme emotional stress.
- (2.2K)
- Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
- Kenneth Johnson
- 1977-11-04
- Overview
- Summary
- Cast
- Recap
- Casting
- Theme music
- Quotes
- Highlights
- Trivia
is the pilot movie of the live-action TV series The Incredible Hulk. It originally aired on November 4, 1977.
A research scientist experiments on himself and is accidentally and unknowingly exposed to a massive dose of gamma radiation. Henceforth, when he becomes angry or outraged, he transforms into the rampaging, powerful green creature dubbed the "Incredible Hulk."
•Bill Bixby as David Banner
•Susan Sullivan as Dr. Elaina Marks
•Jack Colvin as Jack McGee
•Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk
•Susan Batson as Jessie Maier
•Mario Gallo as Martin Bram
It has been almost 11 months since Doctor David Banner lost his beloved wife Laura in a car accident. Since then he has been haunted by a recurring dream that always begins with happy memories of their idyllic relationship but turns into a nightmare of the accident and his failure to rescue Laura from the burning car. Not even Dr. Elaina Marks, his research partner at The Culver Institute can help rouse him from his anguish. He becomes even more morose when a subject they are interviewing describes the exact same car crash that David had, only the woman was able to lift the car and save her son. David and Elaina are studying the abnormal strength and abilities that come to people in moments of crisis; something that David believes if he had, he would have been able to save his wife. Why, David wonders, were they able to tap into that strength and he could not? Jack McGee, a reporter for The National Register, is also interested in the research and brusquely asks David for an interview, which he declines, knowing full well the quality of newspaper McGee works for—a tabloid newspaper.
As David and Elaina continue interviewing subjects and studying test samples of their blood they eventually discover that they all had a unique deviation in their DNA structure. At first, David is relieved to find what he believes to be the answer; until he checks his blood and not only does he have it but it is more abnormal than the others. That night, David stays late at the lab, trying to solve the mystery. By accident, he discovers that in each of the subject's cases, there was high sunspot activity but in David's case there was low activity. In sunspots, large quantities of gamma rays are emitted which have been known to interfere with biological activity. Anxious to tell Elaina of this development, but unwilling to wait till morning, David heads to the radiology department and subjects himself to a concentrated dose of gamma radiation. However, unknown to him, the machine has been re-calibrated to emit a far higher output, and David receives considerably more than his intended dosage. When it appears that nothing has changed, the frustrated scientist heads home. When a tire blows and he tries to change it in the middle of the night in a heavy thunderstorm, scraping his hand badly in the process, the anger and tension of the last few days boil to the surface and Banner suddenly begins to change, transforming into a huge, green-skinned giant who demolishes the car and rolls it into a ditch where it explodes. Howling his rage to the sky, the creature stalks off into the night.
The next morning, the thing that had once been David Banner encounters a father and his daughter fishing by a lake. The girl is so terrified she falls into the lake, but the creature pushes a tree into the water for the girl to cling to. The father shoots at the monster, wounding it in the shoulder. It then crushes the rifle with its bare hands and flings the father into the lake, then skulks away into the forest. A short while later, the creature stops by a stream. Seeing his reflection for the first time, he touches the water in puzzlement, and slowly the creature changes back to David Banner.
Elaina Marks' morning is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of David Banner; half-naked and with a gunshot wound in the shoulder. Although he can't remember anything after he started to change the tire, he does have vague memories of feeling incredibly strong; of someone else being with him and seeing his white eyes in the stream. Elaina starts to dress his wound and notices that it's almost completely healed. David then tells her about his discovery last night and his gamma injection (David unwittingly received almost seven times what he originally thought he did). As the two scientists wonder what to do next, there's a knock at the door. David hides in the bedroom as Elaina meets Jack McGee; again attempting an interview. Elaina deflects the reporter's request and sends him away, but not before he catches sight of David.
Deciding to be cautious they move to the Southwest Lab, an isolated building on the Culver Institute grounds which contains a hyperbaric chamber used for deep-sea experiments. Elaina discovers the truth about the modification to the radiology equipment that David used, who is horrified to learn the size of the gamma overdose he received. He seals himself in the chamber while Elaina monitors his body functions. Believing that more research is needed, the two try to recreate the environment of that night to provoke the feeling of strength but to no avail. Frustrated once again, David goes to sleep, only to have another nightmare of his wife's death which wakes him abruptly … with glowing white eyes.
Elaina is startled by an abrupt cessation in David's brain activity. When she goes to the chamber to get a closer look, a massive green fist shatters the six-inch plate glass window. Terrified, Elaina watches as the creature that Banner has become rips its way through a supposedly inescapable hyperbaric chamber; tearing the two-foot chromium steel walls like cardboard. Inexplicably, it doesn't attack Elaina; she is able to calm him down, and even draw a sample of blood from his lacerated knuckles. She actually gets him to sit down to rest, and before her eyes, the creature changes back to David Banner.
Bill Bixby was Johnson's first choice to play Banner. At first, Bixby resisted accepting the part; but, after reading the script, he quickly signed on.
Richard Kiel was initially cast as the Hulk, but shortly after filming began, it became apparent to the producers that he was not "bulky" enough to play the role. (One shot of Kiel remains in the pilot, he can be seen from directly above when the creature saves the little girl who falls in the lake.) Arnold Schwarzenegger was approached by producer Kenneth Johnson for the role, but he was already contractually tied to Conan The Barbarian. Schwarzenegger, however, recommended former body-building rival Lou Ferrigno.
Joe Harnell composed the music for the pilot movie and the series. The three most well-known tracks are:
•"The Lonely Man" is the most iconic and the piece most associated with the series. A sole, lamenting piano piece that plays over the closing credits as Banner hitchhikes down an empty road. A more orchestrated version is played over the opening titles.
•"The Love Theme", which serves as the shows' secondary theme, is played in its entirety over the opening montage of Banner's dream/nightmare in the pilot. A different version is used in the episode "Married", and it was this version that is included on the show's official soundtrack album. It is also sometimes used at the end of a Hulk-out when the creature calms down and shows affection to humans or animals, or when he displays his childlike fascination with the world.
•"Growing Anger" is the short, truncated string piece used to build tension, with overtones of Bernard Hermann's famous music for the film Psycho. In the pilot, it is played during the build up to the first Hulk-out, and it is frequently used in the series, either immediately before or during the Hulk's rampages.
•David: [to Elaina] My mother always used to tell me: 'Getting angry doesn't help.' Elaina: I always liked your mother!
•Elaina: But it won't kill because David Banner won't kill!
•McGee: Alright, Dr. Banner, but I don't give up easily.
•David: I want to be Dr. Banner, not Dr. Jekyll!
The movie was theatrically released in other countries: Australia, Finland, France (L'incroyable Hulk), Germany (Der Unglaubliche Hulk), Philippines.
Kenneth Johnson makes a cameo voice role as "Scotty" over the intercom in the Southwest Lab, when Banner is notified of the arrival of the state trooper and McGee.
Dec 31, 1976 · The Incredible Hulk. Pilot. Available on iTunes. S1 E101: A scientist, exposed to a massive dose of gamma radiation, transforms into a hulking monster when angered. Sci-Fi 31 Dec 1976 1 hr 30 min. Starring Susan Sullivan, Susan Batson, Charles Siebert. Cast & Crew. SS. Susan Sullivan. Guest Star. SB. Susan Batson. Guest Star. CS. Charles Siebert.
Nov 3, 1977 · Pilot. S1 E101: "The Incredible Hulk" is based on the popular comic book tale of the metamorphosis of a scientist who achieves mysterious superhuman strength when he is angered. Bill Bixby portrays scientist David Banner, who, while doing research on the incredible feats of strength accomplished by some individuals during moments of stress, is ...
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The Incredible Hulk Pilot is the first episode of season 1. Summary. A research scientist experiments on himself and is accidentally and unknowingly exposed to a massive dose of gamma radiation. Henceforth, when he becomes angry or outraged, he transforms into the rampaging, powerful green creature dubbed the "Incredible Hulk." Recap.
The series' two-hour television pilot movie, which established the Hulk's origins, aired on November 4, 1977. The series' 80 episodes were originally broadcast by CBS over five seasons from 1978 to 1982. It was developed and produced by Kenneth Johnson, who also wrote or directed some episodes.
