7 Reasons to Love the Greatest American Hero

Believe it or not, the short-lived 80s comedrama The Greatest American Hero ranks as up there with Family Ties and The Facts of Life as one of the most beloved television shows of my childhood. But why? From its far-fetched premise to its colorful cast of characters and goons, there are nearly too many reasons to count. But I'm up for a challenge: Below are some of the best reasons to love The Greatest American Hero, even in light of the rise of HD TVs, digital cable and, er, more sophistocated acting technique.

William Katt's Hair. Few white dudes can pull of what amounts to a jheri curl with quite the same jois de vivre as left-wing high school teacher turned unwitting superhero Ralph Hinkley. He was stylin' in that special 80s kind of way.

Connie Sellecca. As Ralph's girlfriend/wife Pam Davidson, the dark-haired beauty brought a splash of estrogen (and often, common sense) into an otherwise male-dominated cast. Props for girl power!

The Theme Song. The Greatest American Hero theme song is so stinkin' good and so stinkin' catchy that it managed to outlive the show itself by, well, a lot of years. Really, who doesn't love it? I know I do, Believe it Or Not!

The Opening Credits. Seriously, I defy you to find a set of opening credits that better explains the premise of a TV show than those of The Greatest American Hero. See alien spacecraft, see Ralph and Bill encounter spacecraft, see all-important suit, see Ralph struggle with controlling suit in hilarious TV-primitive flying scene; the greatness just goes on and on! Oh, and the theme song, too. It bears repetition: It ROCKS.

Robert Culp's Sunglasses. Culp's Right-leaning FBI agent Bill Maxwell remains one of my favorite TV characters of all time, nearly 30 years after the show's three year run came to an end, beating out the likes of Mike Seaver, Tootie and Greg Brady on my illustrious top 10 list. That self-assured gruffness, that hair, ooooh. But really, it was all about the shades. Maxwell worked those aviator glasses just about everywhere he went - in daylight, at night, while flipping his cars, everywhere.

The Red Suit. Why not love it? After all the bright red, skin-tight, emblem-emblazoned superhero suit was essentially The Source. The source of Greatest American Hero Ralph's 'ability' to fly, to see through walls, to perform superhuman feats like creating major windstorms with nothing more than his breath! Dorky long underwear vibes aside, it's too central to not love it. And the unreadable/misplaced instruction manual included when Ralph and Bill received it from the Little Green Guys was just gravy.

The Cheese Factor. Overdone facial expressions, cheesy lines, bad accents, usually delivered by guest stars and supporting cast. (I can't rightfully throw stones at the awesomeness of Ralph, Bill and Pam now, can I?!) They were all par for the course for the weekly dose of our favorite comedrama. But you know what? They made it rock. (Again, in that special 80s sort of way.)

So there you have 'em: A handful of reasons to love The Greatest American Hero. To sum it up, it takes me back to a time when things in life were simpler and when anything at all was possible, even a skinny guy in a red suit who had the power to fly and fight crime.