« What does this button do? | Home | RIP »

Learning to fly can be quite painful!

In what may be one of the coolest developments ever, the early 1980’s cult classic, The Greatest American Hero, was finally released on DVD this month. A ridiculously dated and often campy piece of fantasy/adventure television fodder, The Greatest American Hero nonetheless holds a special place in my heart.

My favorite Hero memories? Read on…

As anyone who has ever seen the show may recall, the main character, kindly special education teacher Ralph Hinkley, was given a superhero costume by a group of aliens with the best of intentions. Unfortunately for our poor hero, he lost the accompanying instruction manual in the very first episode. As a result, Ralph was forced to learn how to use his new costume “on the fly”, so to speak, which obviously resulted in an unending series of disasters.

As a child, I would often go sledding with my buddies at the legendary “Hospital Hill” in my hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin. While my friends, understandably enough, would use their conventional rectangular plastic sleds, lie on their stomachs, and “fly” headfirst down the hill pretending they were Superman, I employed an altogether different strategy. Imagining I was the Greatest American Hero, I would instead opt for the dangerously unpredictable circular saucer sled, take off like a bat outta’ hell, flail my arms about like my dopey hero, and, of course, end up in a heaping pile of blood and snow amongst the trees at the bottom of the hill…and then go do it again.

Brings a smile to my scarred face just thinking about it.