"The Incredible Hulk" TV series on DVD, starring B. Bixby & L. Ferrigno (1977-1982) - Blu-ray Forum

AnamorphicWidescreen · 07-21-2021, 12:10 AM

When I started watching The Fugitive for the very first time recently, I was immediately strongly reminded of a TV show I used to sporadically watch as a kid, The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982), starring the late Bill Bixby as David Banner & Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk. The storyline of Banner drifting from town to town because of his terrible "secret" (and also needing to escape his past), and his relentless pursuit by reporter Jack McGee - was obviously directly inspired by The Fugitive.

However, I never made this connection when watching TIH in the '70's/early '80's, given that I had never seen TF at that point. And, when I initially saw the show back in the day, I remember being extremely disappointed that the series wasn't more like The Incredible Hulk Marvel comic book. In the colorful comic, Hulk fought monsters, robots, aliens, etc. & he was also a lot bigger than in the TV show.

Conversely, the TV series was much more grounded in reality. I.e., The Hulk fought bullies, criminals, etc. And, there is no way TIH would have been as good or well-received if it had been a straight super-hero show featuring Hulk fighting super-villains/monsters/robots every week. They wouldn't have had the money to do this anyway. But - even if they wanted to try, the limited special effects of the era & the limited budget of a network TV series would have definitely hindered the look of the show. And, as the years went by - the series would have aged poorly due to this.

So, it's certain that TIH wouldn't have lasted for five seasons under those circumstances. And, while the kid in me would have strongly preferred a show more similar to the Marvel comic, the adult in me completely realizes that the more realistic approach the writers/producers of the show took was best.

I clearly remember "The Lonely Man" theme song of the show, which typically played near the end (though sometimes in the middle/beginning) of the episodes, when David Banner was walking away - alone - down the road/highway. This set the tone for the show perfectly. (IIRC, the soundtrack in the 2008 TIH film featured a snippet of this). I recently heard this for the first time in years, and it was very nostalgic. Here's an extended version of this great theme:

AnamorphicWidescreen · 07-21-2021, 12:13 AM

Recently finished TIH S01. It was a short season; the DVD set only included the two TWO movies (The Pilot & "A Death in the Family, which I believe had initially been two episodes) and 10 stand-alone episodes. Excellent season! Some of the more notable individual episodes:

"A Death in the Family": This involves David "Bruce" Banner helping a seemingly disabled/sick woman

[Show spoiler]

This TV movie featured four great "Hulk-outs", including one where he beat up some thugs/bullies & almost completely destroyed a wooden cabin in the process; and another where he fought a large bear. A humorous scene here was when he completely lifted the bear up & threw it across a lake, like a rag doll - LOL.

The story-line somewhat reminded me of "The Homecoming", one of the best episodes in S01 of The Fugitive. Since TIH's basic story-line is similar to TF's in many ways - this obviously wasn't coincidental.

"Final Round": Banner forms a friendship with aspiring boxer Henry "Rocky" Welsh (Martin Kove from Karate Kid I-II; Cobra Kai) after Henry saves him from a group of thugs. Henry gets Banner a job working at the gym where he trains.

[Show spoiler]

"747" - one of the best episodes in the series; I remember seeing this on regular TV back in the day. Banner is flying to Chicago to meet with a doctor there, and the plane is hijacked. The pilots are incapacitated,

[Show spoiler]

"Earthquakes Happen" - Banner pretends to be someone else in order to get access to a nuclear power plan that is studying gamma radiation. While there, an earthquake occurs - trapping Banner and others in the plant, and putting everyone in the area at risk due to the possibility of a melt-down.

The above two episodes were obviously in line with a lot of the "disaster" movies that were popular in the 1970's, i.e. Airport, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, etc.

edmonddantes · 07-21-2021, 01:55 AM

theres a pretty good BD version made by a french company, I think Elephant, that I'm thinking about buying. Problem with these classic series is most of the time have crappy bonuses on BD.

OceanBlue · 07-21-2021, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edmonddantes

theres a pretty good BD version made by a french company, I think Elephant, that I'm thinking about buying. Problem with these classic series is most of the time have crappy bonuses on BD.

The Fabulous Films UK Blu-ray release of The Incredible Hulk series I considered getting (had got the UK DVD releases of the first two seasons, and the North American DVD releases of the last three seasons). The French Blu-ray release by Elephant Films was looking to be an improvement on the UK release. However, it appears that at least one episode has cuts (see the thread for the Elephant Films release in the France sub-forum). So for the time being, I'm going to keep my copies of the DVD sets.

DawnShadow · 07-22-2021, 12:46 AM

Has anyone checked the German Blu-ray release for cuts?

OceanBlue · 07-22-2021, 09:12 PM

The last episode I watched of The Incredible Hulk (from the DVD sets) was the next episode after the feature-length season two opener "Married", "The Antowuk Horror".

I don't recall seeing in the end credits of "Married" any mention of filming in Hawaii (where I believe it was set). Correct me if I'm wrong.

I especially liked the episodes which character Jack McGee was in. It's a pity

[Show spoiler]

OceanBlue · 07-23-2021, 10:17 PM

Found out several weeks ago about a book about the Incredible Hulk TV series (starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin and Lou Ferrigno) which I'm adding to my list of TV and film reference books which I want to get, You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry. One of the Amazon customer reviews says though, that there isn't much in the book about Jack Colvin.

carminepesce · 07-23-2021, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Found out several weeks ago about a book about the Incredible Hulk TV series (starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin and Lou Ferrigno) which I'm adding to my list of TV and film reference books which I want to get, You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry. One of the Amazon customer reviews says though, that there isn't much in the book about Jack Colvin.

I have the book, it’s a great read!!! I couldn’t wait for Friday nights to watch the Hulk when I was a kid!!! My favorite episode to this day is still “The First”. Dick Durock was great at playing that role!!!

carminepesce · 07-23-2021, 10:58 PM

I wish they would release an American Blu-ray of the series!!!

AnamorphicWidescreen · 07-27-2021, 03:04 AM

General observations about TIH:

-There are generally two "Hulk-outs" in each full-length episode, and more in the TV movies. The green eyes (contact lenses?!) that indicate that Banner is going to "turn" are iconic and memorable. The Hulk transformation is very cool as well, even by today's special effects standards.

-It's 'convenient' that whenever Banner changes into the Hulk in S01, he always does this when he's in the shadows/behind something/in a dark corner/down a series of steps, etc. so that in S01 no one actually 'sees' this happen; and, no one ever connects the two together....

[Show spoiler]

I know this changes in later seasons.

-While Banner's first name was "Bruce" in the comic book, they modified this in the series so that his first name is "David".... though "David Bruce Banner" is his full name - according to his "mock" gravestone".

-Though Banner always has an endless supply of purple pants in the comic book (I guess the Hulk's green skin went well with purple), I liked the more realistic approach the show took of showing Banner is different clothing, which is obviously ripped up (except for the pants) when the Hulk transformation occurs. Though, I believe one S01 episode did feature purple pants.

-The Hulk never seems to seriously injure his assailants (or rather Banner's assailants). He usually just incapacitates them by throwing them around a room so that they crash into something; sometimes he'll throw them through a window, into water, etc. If they are seriously injured/wounded, this is rarely made obvious. I suspect this was probably due to network TV restrictions on violence ATT.

-I'm surprised that, while Jack McGee follows Banner/The Hulk all over the country & even sees him on at least one occasion in S01 (during the boxing match episode), he stupidly never carries a camera with him to take any pictures of The Hulk. I know this was in the era before digital cameras, I-phones, etc. but you would think he would carry a camera around on the off-chance he would see the Hulk so he could take a picture for his paper. I know that in later seasons, he does have a camera with him.

OceanBlue · 07-27-2021, 09:22 PM

Sure I read somewhere that with the fourth season, possibly due to budget cuts, the number of Hulk-outs per episode were reduced.

Regarding the fifth season, I was a bit confused over whether it was a fifth produced season, or whether it was part of the fourth produced season (the season the fourth season was from, there was a strike which meant many North American series on the main TV networks started later than normal and had a shorter number of episodes, with the following season having a larger number of episodes).

merlinjones · 07-27-2021, 09:34 PM

I recall reading somewhere CBS required WB to have at least 3 Wonder Woman transformations in every hour (more than we got with WW84).

BerryTheMusicMan · 07-27-2021, 09:35 PM

The French Blu-ray release by Elephant Films is the best version out there and I put my word on that !

playgames1970 · 07-27-2021, 09:53 PM

Fairly recently I plunked down the money for the DVD set of the show and also got ahold of the TV movies, and now am up to Season 4. I'll probably finish everything off in about two weeks at my current rate, so a Blu-ray set for the US market will surely be announced in three weeks, right after I finish!

LexInHD · 07-28-2021, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carminepesce

I wish they would release an American Blu-ray of the series!!!

HD masters exist and were made for the DVD releases and syndication packages. For whatever reason, Universal simply hasn't released the show or films in any HD format outside of the Fabulous Films release.

Mikezilla3k · 07-29-2021, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DawnShadow

Since the French Blu-ray set is known to contain edited episodes

Wait, what was edited in the French release?

LexInHD · 07-29-2021, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Wait, what was edited in the French release?

When Universal did their older masters, they did syndication versions that had cuts for time/content. Knight Rider, Airwolf, and others have missing scenes because of that.

AnamorphicWidescreen · 09-14-2021, 07:11 PM

Also saw TIH S02 over the summer. Excellent!! It's worth noting this was the first full-length season, given that S01 only had 10 episodes. As with S01, I find this to be another excellent season, with no bad episodes.

Some S02 episode reviews:

"Married" and "Bride of the Incredible Hulk": Banner travels to Hawaii to seek the help of psychologist Dr. Carolyn Fields (Mariette Hartley) - who may be able to help him control his Hulk transformations. However, Dr. Fields is suffering from an incurable illness, and David tries to help her find a cure. In the process of her doing an experiment on David, he does turn into the Hulk....which she witnesses. Not that surprisingly, they fall in love & have a brief marriage.

[Show spoiler]

These are definitely two of the best episodes in the series. Very poignant. These are two of the few episodes I remember seeing as a kid during their initial broadcast.

"Ricky": David is working on a race-track in NM, and befriends a young disabled man named Ricky. Ricky is coerced into driving a defective race-car, and the Hulk has to save him.

It seems obvious that the Ricky character here is based on "Rick Jones", the teen that Bruce Banner saves from the Gamma Radiation test - in the initial Hulk comic origin story.

"Haunted": David helps a woman who is convinced her large ancestral home is inhabited by ghost(s). Creepy episode.

"Mystery Man - Parts I-II": David's face is bandaged after a bad accident. And, after meeting the bandaged David in a hospital, reporter Jack McGee offers to help him go to a specialist in L.A. While flying there on a small plane, David & McGee crash-land in the mountains. They are the only survivors, and have to rely on each other to stay alive.

AnamorphicWidescreen · 09-14-2021, 11:33 PM

Some general observations about the show, and some specific observations re: S02:

When Banner turns into the Hulk, the Hulk does definitely have some sort of residual "memory" about the events leading up to the transformation; so, he'll know enough to go after the bad guys & to leave the innocent people alone, etc. Conversely, when the Hulk turns back into Banner after an "event", Banner has no recollection of what he did as the Hulk.

The Hulk has a soft spot for children, most women (other than the evil/manipulative ones), the elderly, and the handicapped/disabled.

In S02, I noticed there were more sequences were people actually saw Banner transform into the Hulk. Conversely, in S01 that barely happened.

In S02, I noticed that Jack McGee did carry a camera with him & took some pictures of the Hulk at times (unlike S01).

Quote:

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

The last episode I watched of The Incredible Hulk (from the DVD sets) was the next episode after the feature-length season two opener "Married", "The Antowuk Horror".

I don't recall seeing in the end credits of "Married" any mention of filming in Hawaii (where I believe it was set). Correct me if I'm wrong.

I looked it up, and "Married" was filmed in CA, not Hawaii - where it was set. However, it looked enough like Hawaii that I was fooled. Great scenery!!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078904/locations

Quote:

Originally Posted by playgames1970

Fairly recently I plunked down the money for the DVD set of the show and also got ahold of the TV movies, and now am up to Season 4. I'll probably finish everything off in about two weeks at my current rate, so a Blu-ray set for the US market will surely be announced in three weeks, right after I finish!

You weren't far off. TIH Blu set was recently announced for an October release - but it appears to be Region-free?! not Region 1 (US). However, that's close enough for some people.

OceanBlue · 09-16-2021, 09:43 PM

My hope is that the North American Blu-ray release of the series ends up being the definitive release. Have looked at some of the discussion in the discussion thread for the release, and it appears not all of the extras from previous physical media releases have been ported over. Then there is the question of whether the episodes are uncut and whether the masters are the same as on previous Blu-ray releases. I have held out on getting The Incredible Hulk on Blu-ray, because I want the best looking release possible (in other words, no problems with the transfers) with the episodes uncut and as they originally aired in the States.

07-21-2021, 12:13 AM	#2
AnamorphicWidescreen Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Feb 2014	Recently finished TIH S01. It was a short season; the DVD set only included the two TWO movies (The Pilot & "A Death in the Family, which I believe had initially been two episodes) and 10 stand-alone episodes. Excellent season! Some of the more notable individual episodes: "A Death in the Family": This involves David "Bruce" Banner helping a seemingly disabled/sick woman [Show spoiler] This TV movie featured four great "Hulk-outs", including one where he beat up some thugs/bullies & almost completely destroyed a wooden cabin in the process; and another where he fought a large bear. A humorous scene here was when he completely lifted the bear up & threw it across a lake, like a rag doll - LOL. The story-line somewhat reminded me of "The Homecoming", one of the best episodes in S01 of The Fugitive. Since TIH's basic story-line is similar to TF's in many ways - this obviously wasn't coincidental. "Final Round": Banner forms a friendship with aspiring boxer Henry "Rocky" Welsh (Martin Kove from Karate Kid I-II; Cobra Kai) after Henry saves him from a group of thugs. Henry gets Banner a job working at the gym where he trains. [Show spoiler] "747" - one of the best episodes in the series; I remember seeing this on regular TV back in the day. Banner is flying to Chicago to meet with a doctor there, and the plane is hijacked. The pilots are incapacitated, [Show spoiler] "Earthquakes Happen" - Banner pretends to be someone else in order to get access to a nuclear power plan that is studying gamma radiation. While there, an earthquake occurs - trapping Banner and others in the plant, and putting everyone in the area at risk due to the possibility of a melt-down. The above two episodes were obviously in line with a lot of the "disaster" movies that were popular in the 1970's, i.e. Airport, The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, etc. Last edited by AnamorphicWidescreen; 07-21-2021 at 03:42 PM.

07-21-2021, 01:55 AM	#3
edmonddantes Special Member Member since:Jun 2020 Location:Bogotá, Colombia Blu-ray collection:4	theres a pretty good BD version made by a french company, I think Elephant, that I'm thinking about buying. Problem with these classic series is most of the time have crappy bonuses on BD.

07-22-2021, 12:46 AM	#5
DawnShadow Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Aug 2014 4K collection:103 Blu-ray collection:851 DVD collection:181 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:223	Has anyone checked the German Blu-ray release for cuts?

07-22-2021, 09:12 PM	#6
OceanBlue Blu-ray Baron Member since:Sep 2013 Location:Midlands, UK	The last episode I watched of The Incredible Hulk (from the DVD sets) was the next episode after the feature-length season two opener "Married", "The Antowuk Horror". I don't recall seeing in the end credits of "Married" any mention of filming in Hawaii (where I believe it was set). Correct me if I'm wrong. I especially liked the episodes which character Jack McGee was in. It's a pity [Show spoiler]

07-23-2021, 10:17 PM	#7
OceanBlue Blu-ray Baron Member since:Sep 2013 Location:Midlands, UK	Found out several weeks ago about a book about the Incredible Hulk TV series (starring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin and Lou Ferrigno) which I'm adding to my list of TV and film reference books which I want to get, You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry. One of the Amazon customer reviews says though, that there isn't much in the book about Jack Colvin.

07-23-2021, 10:58 PM	#9
carminepesce Active Member Member since:Jul 2013	I wish they would release an American Blu-ray of the series!!!

07-27-2021, 03:04 AM	#10
AnamorphicWidescreen Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Feb 2014	General observations about TIH: -There are generally two "Hulk-outs" in each full-length episode, and more in the TV movies. The green eyes (contact lenses?!) that indicate that Banner is going to "turn" are iconic and memorable. The Hulk transformation is very cool as well, even by today's special effects standards. -It's 'convenient' that whenever Banner changes into the Hulk in S01, he always does this when he's in the shadows/behind something/in a dark corner/down a series of steps, etc. so that in S01 no one actually 'sees' this happen; and, no one ever connects the two together.... [Show spoiler] I know this changes in later seasons. -While Banner's first name was "Bruce" in the comic book, they modified this in the series so that his first name is "David".... though "David Bruce Banner" is his full name - according to his "mock" gravestone". -Though Banner always has an endless supply of purple pants in the comic book (I guess the Hulk's green skin went well with purple), I liked the more realistic approach the show took of showing Banner is different clothing, which is obviously ripped up (except for the pants) when the Hulk transformation occurs. Though, I believe one S01 episode did feature purple pants. -The Hulk never seems to seriously injure his assailants (or rather Banner's assailants). He usually just incapacitates them by throwing them around a room so that they crash into something; sometimes he'll throw them through a window, into water, etc. If they are seriously injured/wounded, this is rarely made obvious. I suspect this was probably due to network TV restrictions on violence ATT. -I'm surprised that, while Jack McGee follows Banner/The Hulk all over the country & even sees him on at least one occasion in S01 (during the boxing match episode), he stupidly never carries a camera with him to take any pictures of The Hulk. I know this was in the era before digital cameras, I-phones, etc. but you would think he would carry a camera around on the off-chance he would see the Hulk so he could take a picture for his paper. I know that in later seasons, he does have a camera with him.

07-27-2021, 09:22 PM	#11
OceanBlue Blu-ray Baron Member since:Sep 2013 Location:Midlands, UK	Sure I read somewhere that with the fourth season, possibly due to budget cuts, the number of Hulk-outs per episode were reduced. Regarding the fifth season, I was a bit confused over whether it was a fifth produced season, or whether it was part of the fourth produced season (the season the fourth season was from, there was a strike which meant many North American series on the main TV networks started later than normal and had a shorter number of episodes, with the following season having a larger number of episodes).

07-27-2021, 09:34 PM	#12
merlinjones Senior Member Member since:Oct 2008	I recall reading somewhere CBS required WB to have at least 3 Wonder Woman transformations in every hour (more than we got with WW84).

07-27-2021, 09:35 PM	#13
BerryTheMusicMan Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Jan 2016 4K collection:1371 Blu-ray collection:6266 DVD collection:509 Digital collection:1530 iTunes collection:3 Blu-ray reviews: 19 Trading Score:7	The French Blu-ray release by Elephant Films is the best version out there and I put my word on that !

07-27-2021, 09:53 PM	#14
playgames1970 Member Member since:Sep 2013	Fairly recently I plunked down the money for the DVD set of the show and also got ahold of the TV movies, and now am up to Season 4. I'll probably finish everything off in about two weeks at my current rate, so a Blu-ray set for the US market will surely be announced in three weeks, right after I finish!

09-14-2021, 07:11 PM	#18
AnamorphicWidescreen Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Feb 2014	Also saw TIH S02 over the summer. Excellent!! It's worth noting this was the first full-length season, given that S01 only had 10 episodes. As with S01, I find this to be another excellent season, with no bad episodes. Some S02 episode reviews: "Married" and "Bride of the Incredible Hulk": Banner travels to Hawaii to seek the help of psychologist Dr. Carolyn Fields (Mariette Hartley) - who may be able to help him control his Hulk transformations. However, Dr. Fields is suffering from an incurable illness, and David tries to help her find a cure. In the process of her doing an experiment on David, he does turn into the Hulk....which she witnesses. Not that surprisingly, they fall in love & have a brief marriage. [Show spoiler] These are definitely two of the best episodes in the series. Very poignant. These are two of the few episodes I remember seeing as a kid during their initial broadcast. "Ricky": David is working on a race-track in NM, and befriends a young disabled man named Ricky. Ricky is coerced into driving a defective race-car, and the Hulk has to save him. It seems obvious that the Ricky character here is based on "Rick Jones", the teen that Bruce Banner saves from the Gamma Radiation test - in the initial Hulk comic origin story. "Haunted": David helps a woman who is convinced her large ancestral home is inhabited by ghost(s). Creepy episode. "Mystery Man - Parts I-II": David's face is bandaged after a bad accident. And, after meeting the bandaged David in a hospital, reporter Jack McGee offers to help him go to a specialist in L.A. While flying there on a small plane, David & McGee crash-land in the mountains. They are the only survivors, and have to rely on each other to stay alive.

09-16-2021, 09:43 PM	#20
OceanBlue Blu-ray Baron Member since:Sep 2013 Location:Midlands, UK	My hope is that the North American Blu-ray release of the series ends up being the definitive release. Have looked at some of the discussion in the discussion thread for the release, and it appears not all of the extras from previous physical media releases have been ported over. Then there is the question of whether the episodes are uncut and whether the masters are the same as on previous Blu-ray releases. I have held out on getting The Incredible Hulk on Blu-ray, because I want the best looking release possible (in other words, no problems with the transfers) with the episodes uncut and as they originally aired in the States.

Best DVD Deals