Okay, if I'm writing about The Incredible Hulk, my font has to be green today. I remember liking the show a lot as a kid, but now that I'm watching re-runs on the Sci-Fi channel, I'm discovering I really didn't see that many episodes. At least I don't remember any of these episodes.
Anyhow, I'm rather disappointed because so many of the episodes are just pure crap. They were written very poorly, most of the acting was corny (but not Bill Bixby, ever) and the episodes were edited very poorly. The whole purpose of these crappy episodes was to get David Banner into situations where he would transform into the Hulk. So the story suffered for that. And then in each of these episodes, the circumstances that caused the transformation were nearly identical. Someone beats up on Banner, throws him into a wall, and there go the white eyes and the shirt ripping. And of course whoever was beating him up turns away or gets distracted so they never see Banner transform.
Not all of the episodes are that bad. Some were alright, not good, but not pure crap either. They had the same elements as discussed above, but the story was better, and the acting was better.
But every once in a while, there is an episode that just blows me away it's so good (at least comparatively to the rest of the show.) The story and the characters become much more important than forcing Banner into a transformation. And I've discovered that all of those really good episodes were written by the show's director, Nicholas Corea. These episodes are always showcases for excellent acting, as well. For example, there was an episode with a young Gerald McRaney (Simon & Simon) who guest stars as a detective in a murder case for which Banner is the suspect. But in questioning Banner, it becomes clear that the detective has split personalities and is responsible for the murders. McRaney gave me goosebumps he was so creepy in this epidsode.
And Bixby's acting was showcased in the episode "Dark Side", also written by Corea: Banner is experimenting on himself with a drug that is supposed to inhibit the primal right side of the brain, and thus allow him to control the Hulk or prevent transformation. But the drug has the opposite affect, and Banner's personality becomes primal. Bixby's acting in this episode was so intense it blew me away. The look in his eyes, the aggressiveness, there was nothing of the good David Banner left. And even Lou Ferrigno did a good job making the Hulk more primal and evil, which I would have thought would be hard to do since all the Hulk does is snarl and throw things. But he did it, you could see the difference in his face.
But I really admire Bixby's acting, it's always so honest and intricate, you can tell he's done his homework and has a deep understanding of who the character is, how the transformation affects him, all the tiny little details. But all of this homework shows in that the character becomes a complete and honest real person. I make a point of that because I've heard it said on "...The Actor's Studio" that the best actors have done their homework, but you can't see all the work they've put in. I can see the homework in Bixby's acting, but not in a bad way I think. It's just sometimes he'll make a choice based on the tiniest detail, and that blows me away because he thought of that detail in the first place, you know? And he must have done his homework to find that tiny little detail.
I guess the reason I keep watching the show at this point, even though the really good episodes are few and far between, is because I enjoy the discovery of those really good episodes, and I do admire Bixby's acting, although the show rarely gives him the opportunity to stretch.
No comments:
Post a Comment