The Incredible Hulk
"Terror in Times Square"
Originally aired Mar. 31, 1978
This episode stands out as being the source of the photo of the Hulk running through Times Square that comes into play in later episodes, though we don't see it being taken.
various stills were used in innumerable magazines, national and local TV guides covering the series
That, too!
Anyway, McGee gets some early screen time, with an unseen between-episodes Hulk sighting setting up why he happens to be in the Big Apple at the same time as David.
So this week it's David Blake--David doesn't get any awards for originality after using David Blaine last week. (Though maybe he should have used Blaine in this episode, given how shoes and socks magically appear on his feet in the alley after his first Hulk-Out.)
So...does the teeny tiny phone call that establishes why David's in New York qualify this as a cure-related episode? It definitely stretches the definition, as it doesn't factor into the main plot at all. (Noting the name Dr. Everett Lewis in the unlikely event that it gets referenced again.) At least they gave us a better reason for his being in NY than they did for his walk through Beverly Hills.
This definitely qualifies as an undercover doctor episode with the tutoring angle that gives David access to a stethoscope for safe-cracking. They're pushing credibility a bit having David be so savvy about things like gathering evidence to expose drug operations.
This episode reminds me more than a little of "The Final Round"...takes place in a major East Coast city, David runs afoul of a drug-related criminal operation (complete with a scene of David eavesdropping through a door), McGee's on the scene to see the creature in person after the second Hulk-Out....
There's also a flirtatious but not out-and-and out romantic angle with the main female guest star, as in "The Beast Within."
The protection racket boss was actually a pretty nice guy to David at first...not the usual suspicious on first sight type...it's too bad for David that Norm and Uncle Leo chose this week to stand up to him. And note how David's lack of background plays a role in the plot by drawing suspicion to him later.
(And how can one of those names not remind me of
Seinfeld?)
Got a good laugh when the hood told David "You really don't wanna make me angry." So early and the show's already being winky-nudgy about the famous title sequence catchphrase. Trying to get away from the thugs was an unusually risky move on David's part, but he was trying to trade in a certain Hulk-Out for the desperate chance to avoid one.
First Hulk-Out: -26:28...about a minute and a half sooner than "The Beast Within," but still the better part of six minutes later than the notably early example in "The Final Round."
David should have just stuck around until Norm and Uncle Leo came to, or at least left them a note.
If David had to get to Park Avenue faster than he could on foot, maybe he should have tried the subway. But we get what has to be the most comical excuse for a Hulk-Out to date, rivaling the later payphone gag. David's such an annoying backseat driver that the cabbie should have Hulked Out on him!
Second Hulk-Out: -9:05--The earliest yet in an hour-long episode. Guess they had to allow some time for the money shots of Ferrigno running through Times Square. And in case you couldn't tell that this show was made in the late '70s, there's some very conspicuous
Saturday Night Fever product placement for posterity.
David's back to the beige jacket in this one. The way he specifically mentions schlepping back to California could support my theory about the production order of the episodes from "The Beast Within"...which takes place in a California location that's maybe supposed to actually be California, and has David referencing that he'd recently been in NYC.
And that's so obviously not the back of Bixby's head that it took me out of the Lonely Man scene.
He also tells Carol Abrams that he "spent several years in the Medical Corps." Not sure if this is a reference to his military background, or not.
Ah, good catch! I heard it but it didn't click. Either he spent time in the military or he likes to use it as a cover story.
since it mentions Hulk sightings in cities like Chicago and St. Louis, which don't correspond to any episodes so far.
Damn, another thing I should have caught--I was a bit distracted while this one was running. IIRC, there's an episode set in Chicago that takes place at the
National Register's main office, but I don't think it's coming up this season.
Oh, by the way, this episode barely counts toward the tally of episodes where David is seeking a cure, because there's a passing reference to him trying to track down a genetics expert, but it has no bearing on the plot.
OK, I guess that's another grudging vote for counting this as a cure-related episode.
