GCD Exclusive: The Greatest American Hero

Believe it or not, SyFy is airing a 20-hour GAH marathon this Sunday

We know there’ll be plenty of barbecues, fireworks and emergency room visits on July 4th, but just in case you get sick of all that—or if it rains in your area—Syfy is presenting a 20-hour Greatest American Hero marathon. Way before the current superhero frenzy, from 1981 to ’83, William Katt fought crime and prevented global disasters with a little help from FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) and a red suit granted to him by aliens. (Connie Sellecca played his super-hot and droll girlfriend, Pam.) Here, we take a look back at the show with Katt, who’s still quite busy in recent years, appearing on shows like Heroes and even voicing Hawkman for Cartoon Network’s Batman: The Brave and The Bold.

GCD: There’s been talk of a “Greatest American Hero” feature film. What’s the status?
Katt: It's been a couple of years now, but I read a wonderful script that was extremely funny, well written and I thought would make a wonderful film. That was now 18 months ago, so I don't know what's happened.

GCD: When you see flying effects now, do you think, “Man, why couldn't our show have looked like that?”
Katt: You know, I think it was real groundbreaking, what we did. You gotta remember when we first aired, they had me on piano wires, flying across a giant stage that was painted completely blue. So that was our first season. By the second and third season we were working on green screen and computers were doing all the work for them. So we were right at the cutting edge of new technology.

GCD: The theme song for the show, “Believe It or Not,” was very catchy, but back in 1981, did you ever get a little sick of hearing it?
Katt: [Laughs] I know they're gonna play that one day when I pass away. You'll see some horrible shot of me, like, in my red suit, flying through the air, falling, and they'll play that song. “William Katt died today and he will be remembered for...” [Laughs] It makes me a little nuts, but other than that I think it's a great song. And my God, George Costanza had it on his answering machine, and we got into Family Guy, for god’s sake. When Seth MacFarlane pays homage to you, you know you've achieved something.

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