It would make Bill happy…
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jf_moran49 — 14 years ago(October 16, 2011 12:17 AM)
I agreee with you it would be nice to have a tribute to TV's "The Incredible Hulk." But, of course, Bixby didn't originate "The Hulk" on television. There was a syndicated, animated series ("The Marvel Super Heroes," 1966; among which one of the five, weekday segments was "The Incredible Hulk"), before the CBS live action series starring Bixby, which aired 1978-82.
And also, Bixby would have to share any such honors with Lou Ferrigno, who portrayed the green monster superhero post-metamorphosis.
"The Incredible Hulk" placed in the Nielsen Top 30 just once its four seasons, tied for #26 (in a three-way tie with ABC-TV's "Family" and "Welcome Back Kotter") its first season. The series debuted as a mid-season replacement series in March 1978.
The TV series for which Bill Bixby is best known, coincidentally, is another gimmicky one (also broadcast on CBS), "My Favorite Martian," which placed in the Nielsen Top Ten (#10) its first season, #24 its second. The show lasted one season after that.
The series in which Bixby had his warmest, most realistic role was ABC's "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," which, although fondly remembered by many, was never even a Top 30 show.
In that series, Bixby portrayed a young widower juggling career, dating, and fatherhood to an adorable son (of the series' title), with help from his Japanese housekeeper, "Mrs. Livingston."
The series also had a memorable theme song, sung and written by legendary pop/rock songsmith Harry Nilsson. Nilsson also performed the series' incidental music for a third (10 episodes or so) of the first season. Thereafter, the cue and incidental music was performed by Nilsson-sound-alikes.
In this same period, Nilsson had a huge hit with "Everybody's Talkin'," from the Academy Award-winning film "Midnight Cowboy" (starring Dustin Hoffman & Jon Voight, the first and only X-rated film ever to win a Best Picture Oscar). Nilsson also won a 1969 Grammy Award for his rendition of the Fred Neil song, the first of his two Best Male Pop Grammys (the second came with his incredible rendition of Badfinger's "Without You" in 1973).
Perhaps Bixby's most personal role was also his biggest flop, NBC's "The Magician", which aired one season, from 1973-74. Bixby was also an amateur magician in real life.
So, in the span of two decades, Bixby appeared in four popular TV series (starring in three of them), on each of the then-three major TV networks. Like his contemporary, Michael Landon, Bill Bixby was a 1908hard-working and very popular TV actor who died too young. -
Chopperbubba — 11 years ago(December 01, 2014 01:17 PM)
Well said. TIH was such a huge part of my fondest childhood memories. Bill was such an incredible person, it makes me sad to think he was taken from us at such a young age. Always thinking of you Bill!