The Best Episodes of The Greatest American Hero

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
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   8.7/10(3 votes)

   #1 - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

   S1:E64/29/1981

   Ralph reconsiders his suit of powers after a flying mistake almost takes out a bus full of tourists. Bill also reconsiders his job path when one of his heroes is suspected of plotting out the theft of a precious diamond.

   Director:Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Director:Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
2. 

   8.3/10(3 votes)

   #2 - Operation Spoilsport

   S2:E211/11/1981

   Ralph and Bill must stop World War III by defusing a corrupt military leader's plans to launch a suprise missile attack against Russia.

   Director:Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Frank Lupo

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   Director:Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Frank Lupo
3. 

   8.2/10(6 votes)

   #3 - The Greatest American Hero

   S1:E13/18/1981

   Ralph Hinkley, an average school teacher, is given a suit with amazing powers by aliens. Now, Ralph must decide if he'll use his new powers to fight crime, even though he already lost the suit's instruction manual.

   Director:Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Director:Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
4. 

   8.0/10(2 votes)

   #4 - Reseda Rose

   S1:E54/15/1981

   Ralph uses his suit to help Rhonda, one of his students, after her mother is kidnapped by the Russians.

   Director:Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Juanita Bartlett

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   Director:Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Juanita Bartlett
5. 

   7.7/10(3 votes)

   #5 - The Hit Car

   S1:E23/25/1981

   Bill, who has been trying to bust open a drug ring for over 20 years, must drive a witness to Los Angeles for the trial of the gang leader and asks Ralph for help.

   Directors:Robert C. Thompson, Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Directors:Robert C. Thompson, Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
6. 

   7.7/10(3 votes)

   #6 - Here's Looking at You Kid

   S1:E34/1/1981

   When a secret gunsight is stolen, Bill asks Ralph for help in solving the case. However, Ralph runs into problems when he keeps turning invisible unexpectedly, and must deal with the pressure of meeting Pam's parents.

   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Juanita Bartlett

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   Director:Unknown

   Writer:Juanita Bartlett
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7. 

   7.7/10(3 votes)

   #7 - Fire Man

   S1:E75/6/1981

   Ralph lends Tony a hand by finding him a job as a car repossesser. When Tony is arrested for arson, Ralph and Bill team up to find the real criminal.

   Directors:Robert C. Thompson, Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Lee Sheldon

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   Directors:Robert C. Thompson, Gabrielle Beaumont

   Writer:Lee Sheldon
8. 

   7.0/10(3 votes)

   #8 - Saturday on Sunset Boulevard

   S1:E44/8/1981

   Russians are trying to find an heiress and her Russian husband in order to force them to establish a missile cache hold on their private island. Bill needs Ralph's help when he is suspected of failing a lie-detector test at FBI headquarters.

   Directors:Gabrielle Beaumont, Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Directors:Gabrielle Beaumont, Rod Holcomb

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
9. 

   7.0/10(3 votes)

   #9 - Don't Mess Around with Jim

   S2:E311/18/1981

   Ralph and Bill are kidnapped by a tycoon that actually had his own suit given to him years ago by the aliens. The suit corrupted this man to use it for personal fortune, and he did not lose the instruction book. The aliens did not like the way he was using the suit, and they took it away from him.

   Director:Robert C. Thompson

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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   Director:Robert C. Thompson

   Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
10. 

    7.0/10(3 votes)

    #10 - The Beast in the Black

    S2:E612/9/1981

    Ralph finds a window into the 4th dimension while scouting an old house. Bill gets possesed by a woman's spirit, and Ralph must return her through that window.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Juanita Bartlett

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Juanita Bartlett
11. 

    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #11 - Plague

    S2:E81/6/1982

    A psycho military cult leader tries to spread the small-pox virus.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
12. 

    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #12 - A Train of Thought

    S2:E91/13/1982

    Ralph crashes head first into a train, and gets amnesia. Pam and Bill have to convince him that the suit really works.

    Director:Lawrence Doheny

    Writer:Frank Lupo

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    Director:Lawrence Doheny

    Writer:Frank Lupo
13. 

    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #13 - Just Another Three Ring Circus

    S2:E122/3/1982

    Ralph takes a job at the circus as a human cannonball while trying to help Bill bust a crime ring that involves a phony dating service.

    Director:Chuck Bowman

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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    Director:Chuck Bowman

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
14. 

    6.3/10(3 votes)

    #14 - The Two-Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Fastball

    S2:E111/4/1981

    Ralph dons a baseball suit to trap Latino revolutionaries who plan to finance a coup by fixing ball games.

    Director:Georg Stanford Brown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Georg Stanford Brown

    Writer:Unknown
15. 

    6.3/10(3 votes)

    #15 - Hog Wild

    S2:E411/25/1981

    A motorcycle gang steals the super-suit, and tries to use it to take over a town. It only works on Ralph, so they must force HIM to do their dirty work while holding Bill captive.

    Director:Ivan Dixon

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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    Director:Ivan Dixon

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
16. 

    6.3/10(3 votes)

    #16 - Classical Gas

    S2:E512/2/1981

    Ralph's students start a band, and a promoter lands them a spot on a big ticket concert while trying to get Pam to go out with him.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Frank Lupo

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Frank Lupo
17. 

    6.0/10(4 votes)

    #17 - The Best Desk Scenario

    S1:E85/13/1981

    At FBI headquarters, promotions are being handed out. However, Bill considers retiring from his job. Meanwhile, Ralph must use his suit to save Pam when she discovers her boss is the head of an underground operation.

    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Unknown

    Writer:Unknown
18. 

    6.0/10(2 votes)

    #18 - Now You See It...

    S2:E101/20/1982

    While practicing flying in the desert with Bill, Ralph gets a vision of a plane crash. It's the suit showing it to him, and Bill can only see it when he touches Ralph. They rush to the scene to find no plane, and figure out that it must be something that hasn't happened yet, and they're supposed to prevent it. We come to find out that Pam is on that plane, and it's been hijacked. To make matters worse, the plane has an experimental cloaking device that makes it invisible to radar, and the Air Force would rather shoot it down than have the plane in enemy hands.

    Director:Robert C. Thompson

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Robert C. Thompson

    Writer:Unknown
19. 

    5.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - The Lost Diablo

    S2:E712/16/1981

    Bill has a treasure map, and takes Ralph and his class out to the desert to find the lost Diablo Gold Mine that vanished a long time ago, and are met with resistance from the local thieves.

    Director:Lawrence Doheny

    Writer:Juanita Bartlett

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    Director:Lawrence Doheny

    Writer:Juanita Bartlett
20. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - The Handpainted Thai

    S2:E111/27/1982

    Years ago, prisoners of war were brainwashed to respond to a code phrase. Now, someone is using them to commit acts of sabotage. Bill and Ralph investigate, but Bill inadvertently falls under a hypnotic trance, leaving the heroics up to Ralph.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writers:Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writers:Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell
21. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - The Shock Will Kill You

    S2:E132/10/1982

    A space shuttle is about to crash, and only Ralph can save it. He does so, but ends up supermagnetized, perhaps permanently. Worst of all, a strange creature aboard the shuttle heads towards Los Angeles, electricuting all who get in its way.

    Director:Rod Holcomb

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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    Director:Rod Holcomb

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell
22. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - A Chicken in Every Plot

    S2:E142/17/1982

    Ron O'Neill, John Hancock, Thalmus Rasulala, Lincoln Kilpatrick Scenario: When an old FBI buddy invites Bill to his Caribbean retreat, Maxwell takes Ralph, Pam and the students along. Unfortunately, they find themselves involved in a voodoo plot to take over the island's government.

    Director:Rod Holcomb

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Rod Holcomb

    Writer:Unknown
23. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

    S2:E152/24/1982

    Ralph and Bill hunt for the sea creature ""Carrie"" in the Bermuda Triangle thinking that the monster may be responsible for all of the boats that disappear there. They undercover a stolen boat ring, and never find the creature.

    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Frank Lupo

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    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Frank Lupo
24. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - It's All Downhill from Here

    S2:E163/3/1982

    Ralph skis like a pro with the suit on, and stands in at the Olympics for a Russian skiier so the man can defect to America, and hand over top secret information that he stole.

    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Unknown

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    Director:Sidney Hayers

    Writer:Unknown
25. 

    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Dreams

    S2:E173/17/1982

    An act of kindness backfires when Ralph uses the suit to help a coworker with a personal project. This leads his other co-workers to take daring chances for their own shots at success. Soon, he must don the super suit not only to prevent them from ruining their lives, but also to save Bill from a vengeful, recently paroled killer.

    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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    Director:Bruce Kessler

    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell