After his wife dies in a car crash that he feels he could have prevented it, Culver Institute scientist David Bruce Banner ("The Courtship of Eddie’s Father" star Bill Bixby) becomes obsessed with tapping into the hidden strength that human beings can display under stressful situations. Testimonial after testimonial indicates this is a real phenomenon, which only tortures Banner’s emotions further since he was unable to tap into that strength to save his wife from the burning wreckage. This research is observed and shared by Banner’s fellow scientist Elaina Marks (Susan Sullivan), who also worries that her friend’s blind pursuit of his answers might affect his ability to reason the risks he might encounter. Then one night, while experimenting with Gamma radiation on himself, Dr. Banner accidentally bombards his body with a higher-than-expected dose of Gamma rays. Furious that his research has apparently hit another dead end and that he’s forced to change a flat tire in the middle of a lightning storm in the dead of night, David Banner gets really, really angry!

He regains his senses a few hours later and many miles away from where he was changing his sports car’s flat tire. A bullet wound in his arm, his clothes shredded and with incomplete memories of what took place between his changing of a tire the night before and the present, Dr. Banner and his friend Elaina decide to investigate further by isolating themselves in a research facility to conduct experiments on the worried scientist’s brain. Then, while having a nightmare in which he relieves his wife’s death, Banner emerges from a souped-up isolation chamber as a green, tall and super strong beast (bodybuilding star Lou Ferrigno) that smashes his way out of his imprisonment. After a few moments calm befalls the creature, which then changes back to a stunned and confused Dr. Banner that has to be told by his colleague what had just happened. A visit to their lab later that afternoon by a police officer and nosy National Register tabloid reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) clues the scientists on what happened to Dr. Banner the night before.

Apparently the creature wrecked Banner’s car and then tried to save a young girl from drowning, but was shot in the arm by the girl’s father and was tossed several dozen yards inside a lake while the monster made toothpicks out of the man’s rifle. These news scare David Banner to no end, but they reassure Elaina that her friend’s violent alter ego cannot seriously harm or kill anyone because the creature reflects Banner’s personality (which isn’t prone to killing given the man’s background as a physician and man of science). Unfortunately Jack McGee’s attempts to scoop the truth out of the Elaine Marks and David Banner’s secret research project causes an accident (McGee doesn’t know he was responsible though) that is believed to have killed both scientists. Elaina, who had mutual feelings of affection that she and Banner chose to keep to themselves until it was too late, is believed to have been killed by the monster that McGee’s newspaper has nicknamed ‘Incredible Hulk’ (the only reference to the comic book character’s name in the whole show). David Banner is believed to be dead, and he wants people to think that he is dead as he embarks on a quest to rid himself of the monstrous alter ego that emerges whenever he can’t control his anger.

‘The Incredible Hulk: Married’ (Fall of ‘78):

The third "Incredible Hulk" movie of the TV series (after "Pilot" and the first season premiere), ‘Married’ is actually the season premiere for the show’s second season. The story brings David Banner to Hawaii (which is actually many California locales doubling for the aforementioned American State) to be studied and hopefully cured by the hypno-therapy techniques of Dr. Caroline Fields (Mariette Hartley, who won the show’s only Emmy nomination and award). Unfortunately Dr. Fields is leaving on an extended sabbatical as Banner arrives, the result of Dr. Fields’ decision to use all her energy to combat a terminal illness that has her days numbered. Banner helps the woman when she suffers an epileptic seizure of sorts, and reveals to her who he really is; this scene between Hartley and Bixby (Ch. 4 or 5 I believe) is particularly touching because it reveals how Dr. Banner’s selfishness in his pursuit of human strength sidetracked the research into the cures of illnesses like the one afflicting Caroline. Reluctantly the two agree to try to help each other deal with their respective illnesses, and gradually begin to fall in love.

As a hurricane approaches the Hawaii islands and Caroline’s health (and sanity) begins to fade away the two scientists realize they have nothing to lose. They take private marriage vows despite the unexpected Hulk-outs Dr. Banner experiences a couple of times (one of them in bed!), and for a brief period of time both Caroline and David experience happiness. This is a Kenneth Johnson made-for-TV "Hulk" movie though, which means tragedy and sorrow can’t be too far behind in either of these character’s lives. Despite the annoying presence and words of wisdom from a little boy that always seems to hang outside of Caroline Fields’ beach house (Meeno Peluce, star of the TV show "Voyagers" and half-brother of the actor that played Punky Brewster on the NBC sitcom of the same name) ‘Married’ works as a quiet and semi-intellectual melodrama of two desperate souls that find each other in the midst of their quiet desperation. Neither ends up happy, but happiness is an experience that you watch them experience for a good portion of its duration. For David Banner at this point of the TV series happiness is in short supply, and he’s happy to oblige by sharing that happiness with a dying woman that is his intellectual and emotional better half.

As written, directed and produced by TV sci-fi veteran Kenneth Johnson ("The Bionic Woman," "V: The Original Miniseries," etc.), these two episodes of "The Incredible Hulk" are lean and well-paced 95 min. chronicles of the unfolding tragedy that overwhelms a decent guy that keeps suffering one too many negative twists of fate. Equal parts "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and a Shakespearean tragedy (Johnson mentions Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’ in his commentary track as a source of inspiration), these early installments of the show choose the more complex path of attempting to mimic reality in order to make the fantastic seem possible by the way it affects its characters. You’re not fixated on the creature as it decimates the isolation chamber in ‘Pilot’ (Ch. 13) because it looks cool (which it does), but because you’re concerned about what will happen to Elaina Marks once the monster breaks free from its makeshift prison! And you will not cry at the end of ‘Married’ because Banner’s wife couldn’t cure herself or help him deal with his problem. You’ll cry because you know something that Banner doesn’t know (and will never know because he was the creature at the time): Elaina Marks’ final words to him at the end of ‘Pilot’ (Ch. 17), which could provide some solace at a time when he needs it the most.

Johnson (skillful and unobtrusive in his direction), Sullivan (touching and lovely in the above-mentioned final scene), Hartley (lovely as a middle-aged woman discovering love just as she was about to lose hope) and Bixby (superb and believable as a driven and self-centered man that is dealt too many bad hands he hadn’t bargained for) could have just thrown character development out the window and make these "Hulk" movies just another exercise in camp, ala Adam West’s "Batman" TV show (or the "Hulk" movies from the late 1980’s). Instead these TV people play it straight and invest their characters with the type of dignity and believability that makes their plight all the more harrowing and sad. Yes, this is a freaking TV show that makes you sad. What’s wrong with a Network TV drama that makes you experience an emotion that today’s popular culture (riddled to no end with lame sitcoms, predictable dramas and too many reality shows to count) seems to be afraid to peddle to the masses? Escapism like the one the upcoming "Hulk" movie is poised to deliver is fine, but I’ll take Kenneth Johnson and Bill Bixby’s interpretation of Stan Lee’s creation over Ang Lee and Eric Bana’s anyday (and twice on Sundays).

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