The Worst Episodes of The Greatest American Hero
Every episode of The Greatest American Hero ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst 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 hates wearing the suit, immediately loses its instruction booklet, and thus has to learn how to use its powers by trial and error, often with comical results.
Lowest Rated Episodes Summary
The worst episode of "The Greatest American Hero" is "The Lost Diablo", rated 6.4/10 from 71 user votes. It was directed by Lawrence Doheny and written by Juanita Bartlett. "The Lost Diablo" aired on 12/16/1981 and is rated 0.2 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Hog Wild".
6.4/10 71 votes#1 - The Lost Diablo
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 12/16/1981
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
6.6/10 90 votes#2 - Hog Wild
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 11/25/1981
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
6.6/10 80 votes#3 - Classical Gas
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 12/2/1981
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
6.7/10 73 votes#4 - A Chicken in Every Plot
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 2/17/1982
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: N/A
6.8/10 71 votes#5 - It's All Downhill from Here
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 3/3/1982
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: N/A
6.8/10 71 votes#6 - Space Ranger
Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 1/27/1983
One of Ralph's students invents a radio telescope capable of decoding Russian satellite messages. The KGB tries to steal his system. When that maneuver fails, they decide to kill him before he can share his discovery with the CIA.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Writer: N/A
7.0/10 173 votes#7 - The Hit Car
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 3/25/1981
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.
Director: Rod Holcomb, Robert C. Thompson
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.0/10 141 votes#8 - Here's Looking at You Kid
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 4/1/1981
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: N/A
Writer: Juanita Bartlett
7.0/10 74 votes#9 - Just Another Three Ring Circus
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 2/3/1982
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
7.0/10 74 votes#10 - The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 2/24/1982
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
7.0/10 59 votes#11 - Thirty Seconds Over Little Tokyo
Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 2/3/1983
A young Chinese scientist has invented a deadly particle "ray gun" weapon. A local gang kidnaps his uncle, hoping to obtain the gun. Bill's plan to save the Uncle backfires, and Ralph must test his suit against the deadly ray.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/10 79 votes#12 - It's Only Rock and Roll
Season 3 Episode 11 - Aired 2/17/1983
Bill is called by the manager of a rock group that is aboard a plane threatened by a bomber, who has hidden a device set to explode if the plane descends below 1000 feet. Ralph flies into action, but matters escalate when Pam is kidnapped and a band of bikers threaten Bill's life.
Director: N/A
Writer: Babs Greyhosky
7.1/10 66 votes#13 - Desperado
Season 3 Episode 12 - Aired 2/24/1983
A weekend in the country leads Ralph, Pam and Bill into a race to save a wild stallion from a cruel rancher. The man blames the horse for a crippling injury. His men are also selling horses for use as dog food.
Director: N/A
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.2/10 109 votes#14 - Reseda Rose
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 4/15/1981
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
7.2/10 106 votes#15 - Fire Man
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 5/6/1981
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.
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert C. Thompson
Writer: Lee Sheldon
7.2/10 78 votes#16 - Now You See It...
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 1/20/1982
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: N/A
7.2/10 68 votes#17 - The Resurrection of Carlini
Season 3 Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/1982
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: N/A
Writer: Frank Lupo
7.2/10 65 votes#18 - Vanity, Says the Preacher
Season 3 Episode 13 - Aired 3/3/1983
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.
Director: Robert Culp
Writer: Robert Culp
7.3/10 112 votes#19 - Saturday on Sunset Boulevard
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/8/1981
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.
Director: Gabrielle Beaumont, Rod Holcomb
Writer: Stephen J. Cannell
7.3/10 75 votes#20 - Plague
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 1/6/1982
A psycho military cult leader tries to spread the small-pox virus.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/10 65 votes#21 - The Good Samaritan
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 3/31/1982
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: N/A
7.3/10 71 votes#22 - This is the One the Suit Was Meant For
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 11/12/1982
With their relationship in trouble, Ralph convinces Pam to go on a vacation without Bill or his suit. Unfortunately Bill shows up unannounced with his suit and trouble ensues.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Writer: Babs Greyhosky
7.4/10 82 votes#23 - A Train of Thought
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 1/13/1982
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
7.4/10 69 votes#24 - The Handpainted Thai
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 1/27/1982
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
Writer: Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell
7.4/10 72 votes#25 - The Price is Right
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 11/5/1982
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