The Checklist: The Incredible Hulk (S1 Ep3) “Final Round”

Since the Adventures of Superman first flew into living rooms in the 1950’s, comic book heroes have made a name for themselves on the small screen. As I type this there are over a dozen superhero themed television shows on network schedules and streaming services and there are more on the way.

One of the first shows I can remember liking as a kid was The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. The pilot for The Incredible Hulk aired as a two hour movie on CBS in November of 1977. The pilot established the origin story of David Banner (Billy Bixby) and the gamma ray experiment that went awry that causes the mild mannered Banner to transform into The Incredible Hulk when he is angered.

In this edition of The Checklist I’m going to examine the first one hour episode of the series that originally aired on March10, 1978 on CBS. The episode had a boxing theme and was titled “Final Round”…

• Synopsis: David Banner finds himself in Wilmington, Delaware where he is quickly greeted by some muggers in an alley. Fortunately for David, Henry “Rocky” Welsh, a boxer with championship aspirations comes to David’s aid and befriends the drifter. David soon realizes the young man who saved him is in need of some saving himself.

1. Were there any notable guest stars? 

The role of Henry “Rocky” Welsh was played by Martin Kove. This performance by Kove was a great example of how Kove could convincingly play both sides of the fence. While I prefer my Martin Kove to be a villain like he was in The Karate Kid movies, I can’t deny that Kove got the job done as the good hearted, somewhat naïve “Rocky” character. What Henry lacked in actual boxing skills, he more than made up for with his enthusiasm and work ethic. But unfortunately for Henry he was being taken advantage of by a less than ethical fight promoter played by Al Ruscio. Ruscio’s Mr. Sariego dupes Henry into transporting heroin for him around town and Henry never questions what is in the packages he is delivering because Sariego lets him come to the gym whenever he wants to train for his dream to be the next “Rocky”.

Ruscio was a prolific television actor during the course of his career appearing on shows like The Fall Guy, TJ Hooker, The A-Team and MacGyver. He occasionally dabbled in motion pictures including Deadly Force starring Wings Hauser.

John Witherspoon of Friday fame plays one of the other boxers who works out at Sariego’s gym. And last but not least, Gene LeBell plays the referee when Henry gets a match with a top contender. If you were a producer and needed a referee for your boxing or wrestling match scene, Gene LeBell was the first name on the list to call! 1/1

2. Did David warn anyone not to make him angry?

David was getting his ass kicked before he could warn anyone about his anger management issues in this episode. First at the beginning when he is mugged, then after discovering Sariego’s plan to kill Henry by poisoning the water in his water bottle during Henry’s big fight. David is knocked the eff out by Sariego’s goons and then tied up, gagged and thrown inside a shark cage (which was then suspended high above the arena like David’s name was James E. Cornette).

When David comes to the first round of the fight is underway, he looks down and sees his friend “Rocky” drinking the poisoned water, unable to scream out to him David starts to gets angry which prompts him to transform into The Incredible Hulk and Hulk then makes a grand entrance jumping from the cage high above to the ring down below! 1/2

3. Did tabloid reporter Jack McGee show up?

There is a lot you can dislike about the Jack McGee character (played by Jack Colvin). The fact that he is a tabloid reporter for The National Register, the fact that he believes The Incredible Hulk is a killer or just his face. But you gotta hand it to ol’ Jack McGee he can track down The Hulk like nobody’s business. David Banner is drifting all over the country in the series, but Jack is always right behind him. McGee is actually ringside for Henry’s big fight and gets to see The Hulk up close and personal! 2/3

4. Did David remember to wear his flexible jeans? 

David Banner’s transformation into The Incredible Hulk destroys a lot of shirts, shoes and socks… but some how, some way, the pants are indestructible or at least extremely flexible because the same jeans that fit Davd, fit Hulk (they do become shorter pants) and then when the Hulk turns back, the jeans STILL fit David.

Now there are obvious reasons for why Hulk’s pants stay intact while his other garments are completely shredded… the character originated in a comic book geared towards children and the show was on broadcast television so having Hulk go completely nude with his Hulk hog swinging around really was not an option. And even if it was, who was going to paint Lou’s junk green!?!? 3/4

5. Did the episode end with David walking away alone while Joe Harnell’s “The Lonely Man” playing? 

While it was not the long dramatic walk away while hitchhiking that The Incredible Hulk would become know for, we do see David walk away from his friend Henry as the sad and depressing music plays, just before Henry is about to be interviewed by that nosy Jack McGee.

If there any industrious YouTubers out there, may I suggest compiling all the David Banner walking away footage and making a montage set to White Snake’s “Here I Go Again”. I think you’ll find you’ll have a much less depressing look at the life of David Banner. 4/5

• Final Score = 4/5 (80%) “Final Round” was just the beginning of The Incredible Hulk and it had not yet reached its peak performance but it would. The show ran for five seasons and years after the show ended on CBS it returned to rival network NBC in a series of made for TV movies.