The Greatest American Hero
It's Only Rock and Roll
TV Flash files “It's Only Rock and Roll” as hour 42 of 45 in the TV Flash guide — The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983) on ABC, season 3, episode 11, aired 1983-02-17, 45 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E11: listed hour 42 of 45 in the The Greatest American Hero guide, hour 11 of 14 in season 3. It aired 1983-02-17 (45 min). The listed hour before it is “Wizards and Warlocks” (S03E10). Next is “Desperado” (S03E12).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Ralph and Bill find themselves protecting a rock star after an attempt has been made on his life.
Viewer FAQ
Where does It's Only Rock and Roll sit in the The Greatest American Hero guide?
S03E11 is listed hour 42 of 45 — hour 11 of 14 in season 3, season 3 episode 11.
When did The Greatest American Hero S03E11 air?
It's Only Rock and Roll aired 1983-02-17 and is listed at 45 minutes.
Is the theme bigger than the show?
Believe It or Not did more cultural work than a lot of the plots — a chart hit that still ambushes karaoke. The series is still the smirk: a klutz in a suit without the manual.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Ralph Hinkley's alien suit arrives without the instruction booklet, so Cannell's superhero is a klutz who keeps crashing into trees. William Katt, Robert Culp's barking FBI handler, and that Joey Scarbury theme — Believe It or Not — do more cultural work than the plots. Superhero TV learning to smirk, years before the cape genre owned prime time.
Believe It or Not — the group chat will sing it before anyone recaps a plot. (I said spoiler-free. The suit arrives without the instruction booklet; that is the premise, not a twist.) ABC's The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983), Stephen J. Cannell, makes William Katt a klutz who keeps crashing into trees while Robert Culp barks as FBI handler Maxwell and Connie Sellecca holds the civilian world. Ralph gets an alien super-suit with missing instructions; Maxwell co-opts him for good. Warm superhero comedy years…
Filed against
- William Katt as Ralph Hinkley
William Katt’s Ralph Hinkley crashed into trees in The Greatest American Hero — an alien suit without the instruction booklet, Cannell’s superhero as a klutz, Robert Culp’s barking FBI handler, Joey Scarbury’s Believe It or Not doing more…
- Robert Culp as Bill Maxwell
Robert Culp’s Kelly Robinson served tennis-bum cover stories on I Spy — globe-trotting equals with Bill Cosby’s Alexander Scott sharing the frame — then barked FBI handler energy at The Greatest American Hero’s klutz in an alien suit.…
- Connie Sellecca as Pam Davidson
Connie Sellecca played Pam Davidson on The Greatest American Hero — Ralph Hinkley's alien suit arriving without the instruction booklet, Cannell's superhero as a klutz who keeps crashing into trees. William Katt, Robert Culp's barking FBI…