The Incredible Hulk
Death in the Family
TV Flash files “Death in the Family” as a desk essential hour — The Incredible Hulk (1977–1982) on CBS, season 1, episode 2, aired 1977-11-27, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E02: listed hour 2 of 82 in the The Incredible Hulk guide, hour 2 of 12 in season 1. It aired 1977-11-27 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “The Incredible Hulk” (S01E01). Next is “Final Round” (S01E03).
Essential hour: “Death in the Family”. Death in the Family is the early bruise. Fugitive endings as weekly grammar: the walkaway still hits because the series treats Banner as a mourner, not a merch mascot.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
David 'Benton' accidentally finds himself in the middle of a plot to kill a young, crippled girl named Julie Griffith so her greedy stepmother and physician can inherit the fortune left behind by her late father. With help from a distant rescuer, he manages to save her life and provide her with help so that she can walk again. Note: Originally a two hour movie, is shown in two parts in syndication.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Death in the Family sit in the The Incredible Hulk guide?
S01E02 is listed hour 2 of 82 — hour 2 of 12 in season 1, season 1 episode 2.
When did The Incredible Hulk S01E02 air?
Death in the Family aired 1977-11-27 and is listed at 120 minutes.
Why is he David Banner, not Bruce?
The CBS series used David in a looser comics adaptation. It is classic TV continuity, not later film continuity.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Bill Bixby's David Banner hunts a cure while Lou Ferrigno's Hulk does the misunderstood smash, then the credits send him hitchhiking again. CBS Marvel as tragic road drama: lonely piano, fugitive endings, no quip army. Don't make him angry — the walkaway still hits.
CBS dropped a Marvel property into the 1977 night and programmed it as tragic road drama, not a quip army. The Incredible Hulk (1977–1982) ran five seasons, 82 episodes, loosely adapted by Kenneth Johnson. Bill Bixby is the pathos; Lou Ferrigno is the muscle. The television version used David Banner rather than the later-common Bruce, leaned into fugitive drama, and often ended with Banner hitchhiking onward after the Hulk saved the day. Jack Colvin's Jack McGee pursued. Piano-sad theme replaced comic-book jokes.…
Filed against
- Bill Bixby as Dr. David Banner
Bill Bixby’s Tim O’Hara hid a Martian in a 1960s catalog reporter household, then The Incredible Hulk recast the nice-guy face as David Banner’s tragic road. TV Flash files him as the straight man who learned how to hitchhike: antennae…
- Lou Ferrigno as The Hulk
Lou Ferrigno did the misunderstood smash as the Hulk on The Incredible Hulk — Bill Bixby’s David Banner hunting a cure, CBS Marvel as tragic road drama, lonely piano, hitchhiking credits, no quip army. Don’t make him angry. TV Flash files…
- Jack Colvin as Jack McGee
Jack Colvin’s Jack McGee chased the Hulk with a notebook and no sense of when to quit — tabloid hunger on a CBS road drama that preferred lonely piano to quips. Bill Bixby’s Banner runs; Lou Ferrigno smashes; McGee is the scoop that will…