Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The Greatest American Hero Is Coming To Theaters



 

In Hollywood's mad rush to make a movie about pretty much every superhero ever made, it looks like a classic of 80's TV is now due for a film treatment too.

 

The Greatest American Hero; one of the truly awesome, although totally cheesy, would-be superheros shows is getting made into a big budget movie.  Speaking at a Screen Actor's Guild reunion panel for the show, the series creator Stephen J. Cannell confirmed the movie rumors:

 
"We've written a screenplay, and we've hired a director, and we're in the midst of putting this together for the future," Cannell told an audience in Hollywood on Sept. 7 at the Screen Actors Guild's 25th-anniversary reunion.

 

The director is reportedly Stephen Herek, known for such '80s kitsch as Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Critters--a fact Cannell did not confirm at the reunion panel.

 

The entire cast, producers, writers and famed stuntman Dennis "Danger" Madalone joined Cannell for a lengthy Q&A session moderated by John Tesh, a Hero historian and husband of star Connie Sellecca.

 

John Tesh?  Seriously?  As in the former host of Entertainment Tonight?  The same John Tesh who makes really crappy elevator music that only people over the age of 85 love?  Wow.  Ok, that's random.

 

For those of you either too young to remember, or who sadly missed out on watching the show as a kid, let me explain.  The Greatest American hero is about a regular guy named Ralph Hinkley.  He's a teacher who, through a random series of circumstances, comes into the possession of an Alien red supersuit that gives whoever wears it all sorts of super powers.  The only problem is he looses the instruction manual and has no idea how to use any of them.  Even things like flying and landing properly don't seem to work right. 

 

The result of this setup is pure superhero storytelling genius as Ralph literally has to learn how to become a superhero.  I can't wait to see this movie.  I really hope they don't screw it up.

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