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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!

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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 hates wearing the suit, immediately loses its instruction booklet, and

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  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 18 - There's Just No Accounting...
    8.0/10(81 votes)

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

    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?

    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:Frank Lupo

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  2. The Greatest American Hero Season 1 Episode 6 - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
    7.9/10(153 votes)

    #2 - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

    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.

    Director:Gabrielle Beaumont
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  3. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 20 - Captain Bellybuster and the Speed Factory
    7.9/10(85 votes)

    #3 - Captain Bellybuster and the Speed Factory

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell

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  4. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 1 - Divorce Venusian Style
    7.9/10(93 votes)

    #4 - Divorce Venusian Style

    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.

    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 5 - The Newlywed Game
    7.9/10(79 votes)

    #5 - The Newlywed Game

    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.

    Director:Chuck Bowman
    Writer:Babs Greyhosky

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  6. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 17 - Dreams
    7.8/10(89 votes)

    #6 - Dreams

    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.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Greatest American Hero

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  7. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 21 - Who's Woo in America
    7.8/10(89 votes)

    #7 - Who's Woo in America

    S2:E21

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 22 - Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell
    7.8/10(90 votes)

    #8 - Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell

    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.

    Director:Robert Culp
    Writer:Robert Culp

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  9. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 6 - Heaven is in Your Genes
    7.8/10(88 votes)

    #9 - Heaven is in Your Genes

    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.

    Director:Christian I. Nyby II
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 7 - Live at Eleven
    7.8/10(82 votes)

    #10 - Live at Eleven

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Babs Greyhosky

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  11. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 1 - The Two-Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Fastball
    7.7/10(119 votes)

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

    S2:E1

    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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  12. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 2 - Operation Spoilsport
    7.7/10(110 votes)

    #12 - Operation Spoilsport

    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.

    Director:Rod Holcomb
    Writer:Frank Lupo

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  13. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 3 - Don't Mess Around with Jim
    7.7/10(104 votes)

    #13 - Don't Mess Around with Jim

    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.

    Director:Robert C. Thompson
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  14. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 6 - The Beast in the Black
    7.7/10(129 votes)

    #14 - The Beast in the Black

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Juanita Bartlett

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  15. The Greatest American Hero Season 1 Episode 8 - The Best Desk Scenario
    7.6/10(120 votes)

    #15 - The Best Desk Scenario

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 13 - The Shock Will Kill You
    7.6/10(86 votes)

    #16 - The Shock Will Kill You

    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.

    Director:Rod Holcomb
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  17. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 10 - Wizards And Warlocks
    7.6/10(85 votes)

    #17 - Wizards And Warlocks

    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.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Greatest American Hero Season 1 Episode 1 - The Greatest American Hero
    7.5/10(362 votes)

    #18 - The Greatest American Hero

    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.

    Director:Rod Holcomb
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  19. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 8 - Plague
    7.5/10(86 votes)

    #19 - Plague

    S2:E8

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 9 - A Train of Thought
    7.5/10(92 votes)

    #20 - A Train of Thought

    S2:E9

    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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  21. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 11 - The Handpainted Thai
    7.5/10(81 votes)

    #21 - The Handpainted Thai

    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.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writers:Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell

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  22. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 2 - The Price is Right
    7.5/10(84 votes)

    #22 - The Price is Right

    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.

    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:Stephen J. Cannell

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  23. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 15 - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
    7.4/10(90 votes)

    #23 - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

    S2:E15

    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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  24. The Greatest American Hero Season 2 Episode 19 - The Good Samaritan
    7.4/10(77 votes)

    #24 - The Good Samaritan

    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.

    Director:Bruce Kessler
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Greatest American Hero Season 3 Episode 4 - The Resurrection of Carlini
    7.4/10(82 votes)

    #25 - The Resurrection of Carlini

    S3:E4

    A magician killed performing his greatest trick seemingly returns from the grave to murder his three rivals. Ralph must use his suit to out trick the would-be killer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Frank Lupo

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Best Episodes Summary

"There's Just No Accounting..." is the best rated episode of "The Greatest American Hero". It scored 8/10 based on 81 votes. Directed by Ivan Dixon and written by Frank Lupo, it aired on 3/24/1982. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys".