HULK DEATH DOESN’T
WORRY BIXBY
by J. Bobbin
(abridged version)
Oregonian
ORE. Feb 18, 1990
It’s a risk to kill
off a popular character, but Bill Bixby seems to have no worries
about announcing “Death of the Incredible Hulk” at 9pm Sunday.
The actor is in a
good position to know of what he speaks since he is the executive
producer and director of the new NBC movie, the third drama
to revive the marvel Comic character that he played—sharing the
role with
muscular Lou Ferrigno—on
a weekly CBS series from 1978 to 1982
Bixby again stars
as David Banner ,the mild mannered scientist who “Hulks out” when
angered, reluctantly changing into the fearsome green-skinned
and exceptionally strong creature (portrayed at that point by
a growling Ferrigno)
This time, he consults
a doctor, (Phillip Sterling) about his transformation problem,
but terrorists led by a chameleon-like beauty (newcomer Elizabeth
Gracen) also want to acquire the solution for their own use… and
the resulting showdown is what leads to the “Death” that is guaranteed
by the personable Bixby, though he enigmatically hinted that future
“Hulk-outings” could still be possible.
“It’s certainly the
best thing I’ve ever done as a director, and I’m very pleased
with my acting in it. It’s a very emotional show, as the title
would imply. If the ratings are good you never can tell what might
happen, but there is a sense of finality to it. While we
were working on the last scene in the picture, several people
in the room were crying, and no one could speak when the lights
came up.”
Having been associated
with “The Incredible Hulk” for quite a while, Bixby readily stated,
“I really do love it. I have great respect for Kenneth Johnson
(the producer who brought the show to TV and who now supervises
the FOX Broadcasting series “Alien Nation”) and once I had this
finished I put his first “Hulk” show up on the projector, then
went from the very end of it directly into mine. I wanted
to have a flow of the style that really was established by Kenny
and to bring it into the 1990s and it worked. I really could not
be more pleased.”
The “style” that Johnson
set down in the “Hulk” series was to treat the main character
in a no-nonsense vein and as a conscience-stricken man with a
highly problematic dilemma…and the result appealed to both younger
and older viewers, leading not only to the original show's healthy
run, but also to the first two TV movies that NBC had aired.
However, each of those
films was also used as a potential series pilot for another Marvel
Comics figure, the first (1988’s “The Incredible Hulk Returns”)
featured the Viking god Thor,while the second (1989’s “The Trial
of the Incredible Hulk” which Bixby also directed) included the
sight-impaired Daredevil.
The newest entry is
pure Hulk, for which Bixby professes to be very grateful. “This
is the whole reason for which the Hulk was born,” he says, “and
it doesn’t involve many outside characters. It’s a story
in itself, a wonderful love story and a very thrilling adventure.”
Bixby adds that ABC has a “She-Hulk” project in the works in which
he has been asked to appear, which, given that “The Incredible
Hulk” is supposed to “die” this week, could prove quite interesting.
Bixby is a very familiar
television face, having starred in several other series (“My Favorite
Martian,” “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” “The Magician” and
“Goodnight Beantown”. “I think a good percentage of the
country has grown up
with me,” he reflected, “and they’ve just stayed with me. I’m
very, very fortunate in that way...knock wood.”
“…Producing, directing
and acting—all have different titles for a reason. They are all
full time jobs, so I’ve been going for about four months without
really taking a day off and I don’t think I’ll do that again.
Now, I isolate time, going off and resting after I do a project.
I just have to be more careful and surround myself with more wonderfully
dependable people, so I can delegate authority.”
Whatever path the
future of the Hulk may take, Bixby has new series plans in the
works. He is preparing to direct and star in “The Oath”
a medical drama that he said, “...is just simply the best pilot
I’ve ever read in 30 years of being in this business.”
|
