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!

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.

watching g seson 3right now.

I don't think they'll ever be able to match Bixby's Dr. Banner. Norton did a good job, but Bixby had this aura around him that made you believe he truly was a tortured soul. He always looked like he was lost forever in a perpetual sadness for his curse. He was a very tragic hero.
The way they finally ended his curse was also very sad, with his final words being, "I am free."

"I only wish they could work him into the new hulk movie. Maybe a different Bixby show on some television screen in the background,"
Watch the Tv in the backgroudn when Banner is in peru, also look for the bulky friendly security guard AKA the man in green paint we all grew up watching.

i grew up watching hulk, swampthing, twilight zone.. miss him

While "The Hulk" may have not been great it hardly deserves that kind of lashing. It was a well written movie that just had a bad story. It was also very well directed and very well acted. The thing that killed it was lack of a real good bad guy. Nick Nolte and the mutant dogs just didn't cut it. Also the CG wasn't the greatest. This new movie is very good and I do consider it overall to be better than "The Hulk", but Zak Penn's terrible writing and Liv Tylers terrible acting did not do the movie service.
Who brought me here Forsaken depraved and wrought with fear
Who turned it off

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Re: It would make Bill happy
by - Keobasa on Sun Jun 15 2008 20:40:34
mommy4thomas2002, Bruce's father in the comics was abusive toward him and harmed him in the comics.this was central to Lee's film.
Keobasa
No, you are incorrect. What happened as is so often in these cases a pair of writers did a new adaption of Banners personal history sometime in the past 20 years or so and they decided to put that spin on his character. The Hulk when it debuted and ever after had no such story with his father. It was added in not too too l2000ong ago by some fools who took liberties with the story so that Keobasa is incorrect.

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I used to watch this when I was a kid too and I'm 25. I remember liking the show although I was scared when he transformed b/c the Hulk was definitely scary. This new movie with Edward Norton was definitely good
"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

How you say that no-one could touch Bill Bixby in the role of Banner, I heard a story that producer Kenneth Johnson wanted Bill Bixby for the role of Dr David Banner so much, that if Bixby had turned down the role, Johnson wasn't going to make the show at all, as he felt that no other actor would "capture" the role the same way.

Thanks for the nice synopsis Naillon. Bill Bixby was great. The Sci-Fi Channel has been playing old Hulk episodes and I dare say it might be one of the best shows of the era. Bill Bixby truly was a great actor too. He must have enjoyed television work because I think he could have easily been a great film actor too.

The film footage of Bill in the new Hulk movie made me squee like a total fan-girl. They really did great giving major props to the TV series:
The Bixby footage
Lou Ferrigno getting some actual lines besides being a passing figure like in the Ang Lee version.
The college reporter named Jack McGee.
And yes, the similar setup when he got the gamma radiation exposure.
And yes, the Lonely Man theme.
A most excellent movie that did well giving the nod to the TV series. Go see it. Loved it, loved it, loved it!

At the beginning of the new Hulk, Norton is flipping through channels on TV and he stops for minute on a scene of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father".
Also later as he's walking in a town in Mexico, the music is the same as the end of each episode. I don't know the name, but Stewie Griffen once called it "that sad walking away song from the hulk" so that's how I always think of it.
And of course Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno(sp?) were also in the movie.

Archive footage on the TV as Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is flicking through the channels.

Hey all! Totally agree that Bill Bixby was the ultimate Banner. If you remember David's full name in the Hulk series was "David Bruce Banner" Usually the character of Bruce Banner, especially in the comics was a character whose only reason to exist was for him to become the Hulk. Banner was nothing in the comic books, a null and void personality, he didn't need to be anything or do anything but become the Hulk.
Bill Bixby changed all that, his Banner wasn't only just a scientist and doctor but was a brilliant man and a decent man. For God's sake he even knew when a needle was being inserted the wrong way! The Banner Bill Bixby portrayed in the series, was that of a gifted and brilliant man who cared about people and who tried to right the wrongs he came across. He used his knowledge for the benefit of others, he was the epitome of what you would call a good doctor.
While I can't say the Hulk was Mr. Hyde to Banners Jeckell, simply because that wouldn't be a fair comparison. Remember the Hulk wasn't inherently evil. The Hulk would never kill because he WAS really a reflection of the man his human counterpart was. The apple really didn't fall far from the tree in the Hulks case. All that time David worried in the series what the Hulk would do or who he would hurt, turns out he never had to worry because David himself was a good human being, all the Hulk was, was a angrier, stronger and granted more primitive part of Banner. BUT it wasn't evil and it wouldn't really do anything the man himself wouldn't have done. The Hulk wouldn't have truly crossed any of the thresholds the man he was part of wouldn't have crossed.
Lots of people tend to forget that, and when you forget that then you lose a lot of what made Bill the ultimate Banner and the Incredible Hulk series on tv really noteworthy.
I heard that he has a "cameo" in the new "Incredible Hulk Movie" how they accomplished this is what I would like to know. His name doesn't appear in the cast credits for the new movie. Anyone know?

Ang Lee's version was not all based on the comics. The new movie draws more from the comics than Ang Lee's version did. Lee's version was much too heavy on the CG and came across as unbelievable. The new movie does have alot of CG, but it looks much better and more like the comics and more believable. I do not know exactly what the storyline will be, but from the commercials, it looks like it will be a good film. Lee's movie disappointed me and many other fans. This is the reason why they did another Hulk fim and took it in another direcion.
On a side note, I loved the T.V. show and Bill Bixby will always be in my mind as Dr. Banner and Lou Ferrigno will always be close to my heart as the Hulk. It was a decent show, very enjoyable. However The show was reworked for T.V. Meaning, it was not exactly like the comic either. I guess we will never see a show or film exactly as Banner and the Hulk are in the comics.

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agreed

As good as Edward Norton is, my opinion is that nobody will ever be able to touch Bill Bixby in that role. Bill so often played calm, easy-going characters, the kind you can't imagine ever losing it. That's what made his performance as David Banner so effective. His famous role of Tom Corbett in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" was a role he described as "playing myself". Then he was cast as a scientist with, shall we say, an anger management problem. The transformation of the even-tempered David Banner into the large green monster was all the more profound due to the way Bill was viewed by the public (which was probably an accurate view, from the interviews I've seen of him).
Edward Norton, on the other hand, is noted for playing edgy roles, so having him as Banner just won't have the same impact. I don't doubt that he'll do a good job, but it can never be the same as it was when Bill was playing the role.

sigh I miss him, too.