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The Best Episodes of The Greatest American Hero

Every episode of The Greatest American Hero ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Greatest American Hero!

The Best Episodes of The Greatest American Hero

The chronicles of  teacher Ralph Hinkley's adventures after a group of aliens gives him a red suit that gives him superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, Ralph, who...

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  1. 7.9/10(143 votes)

    #1 - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

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    S1:E6

    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.

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  2. 7.8/10(73 votes)

    #2 - There's Just No Accounting...

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    S2:E18

    Bill convinces the parents of a kidnap victim to pay the ransom, certain that Ralph can recover it when he saves their little girl. Ralph finds himself being audited by an overzealous IRS agent who's convinced he took the ransom money. Meanwhile, Ralph and Bill keep getting shot at in drive-by shootings, but by who?

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    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:Frank Lupo
  3. 7.8/10(84 votes)

    #3 - Divorce Venusian Style

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    S3:E1

    After a loud argument with Bill, Ralph quits the hero business and turns in his super-suit. Unknown to both men, a gang of neo-Nazis plans to murder them.

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    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:N/A
  4. 7.7/10(81 votes)

    #4 - Dreams

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    S2:E17

    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.

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  5. 7.7/10(77 votes)

    #5 - Captain Bellybuster and the Speed Factory

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    S2:E20

    Bill recieves hot tips on a speed factory working out of a fast food chain, and a newspaper reporter publishes pictures of Ralph flying.

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    Director:N/A
  6. 7.7/10(81 votes)

    #6 - Who's Woo in America

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    S2:E21

    Ralph's mother is re-marrying to a man who planted a much wanted micro-chip in her engagement ring.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Greatest American Hero

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  8. 7.7/10(72 votes)

    #7 - The Newlywed Game

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    S3:E5

    Ralph and Pam's wedding is almost ruined when Ralph receives special orders from the President to fly a mission over the North Pole. Bill discovers the orders were faked, and that Ralph has accidentally given the Russians valuable military secrets.

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  9. 7.7/10(81 votes)

    #8 - Heaven is in Your Genes

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    S3:E6

    A former Nazi genetic engineer fakes Bill's death to use him in an experiment, but Ralph realizes his friend is still alive. He flies off to rescue Bill and the evil doctor's other victims, but a genetic horror created in an earlier experiment waits to battle him.

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    Writer:N/A
  10. 7.7/10(76 votes)

    #9 - Live at Eleven

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    S3:E7

    An Aging TV anchorman plans to retire in grand style. He hires a band of mercenaries to sabotage a nuclear plant, hoping that his coverage of the event can launch a Presidential campaign. Ralph must stop the plant from exploding, but the saboteurs, now dying of radiation poisoning, are determined to succeed.

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    Director:N/A
  11. 7.6/10(110 votes)

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

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    S2:E1

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

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    Writer:N/A
  12. 7.6/10(103 votes)

    #11 - Operation Spoilsport

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    S2:E2

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

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    Director:Rod Holcomb
    Writer:Frank Lupo
  13. 7.6/10(98 votes)

    #12 - Don't Mess Around with Jim

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    S2:E3

    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.

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  14. 7.6/10(122 votes)

    #13 - The Beast in the Black

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    S2:E6

    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.

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    Director:N/A
  15. 7.6/10(82 votes)

    #14 - Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell

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    S2:E22

    Bill falls in love with a female FBI agent, and wants to tell her about the suit. She turns out to be a spy, and is ordered to kill him.

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    Director:Robert Culp
  16. 7.5/10(342 votes)

    #15 - The Greatest American Hero

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    S1:E1

    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.

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  17. 7.5/10(112 votes)

    #16 - The Best Desk Scenario

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    S1:E8

    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.

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  18. 7.5/10(77 votes)

    #17 - The Shock Will Kill You

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    S2:E13

    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.

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  19. 7.5/10(79 votes)

    #18 - Wizards And Warlocks

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    S3:E10

    King Abu Al-Fahad asks Ralph and Bill to help find his son, Prince Aha, who was kidnapped by Middle Eastern terrorists while playing a Dungeons and Dragonsesque game, Wizards and Warlocks. Their search leads them from Aha's college campus -- where they meet Aha's Keeper of the Clock, Joey Margolis -- to the game's author himself, Norman Fackler.

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    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:N/A
  20. 7.4/10(87 votes)

    #19 - A Train of Thought

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    S2:E9

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

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  21. 7.4/10(74 votes)

    #20 - The Handpainted Thai

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    S2:E11

    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.

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  22. 7.4/10(78 votes)

    #21 - The Price is Right

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    S3:E2

    While attending a high-school reunion, Ralph discovers that the wife of a famous pro football player is held hostage to ensure her husband will throw the big game.

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  23. 7.3/10(80 votes)

    #22 - Plague

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    S2:E8

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

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    Director:N/A
    Writer:N/A
  24. 7.3/10(70 votes)

    #23 - The Good Samaritan

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    S2:E19

    Tired of using the suit to fight crime, Ralph decides to branch out. He tries to intervene in a battle between an old man fighting for his home and the city taking it away, but Bill has him on the hunt for bank robbers.

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    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:N/A
  25. 7.3/10(73 votes)

    #24 - Vanity, Says the Preacher

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    S3:E13

    It seems that 30 years ago Bill helped some revolutionaries overthrow a corrupt regime in an unnamed Central American country, where he is now regarded as a hero. But now Bill's old revolutionary compadres have turned up, and they soon kidnap him and try to get him to help lead another revolution.

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    Director:Robert Culp
  26. 7.2/10(117 votes)

    #25 - Reseda Rose

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    S1:E5

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

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Best Episodes Summary

"My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" is the best rated episode of "The Greatest American Hero". It scored 7.9/10 based on 143 votes. Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont and written by Stephen J. Cannell, it aired on 4/29/1981. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "There's Just No Accounting...".