The Incredible Hulk
On the Line
TV Flash files “On the Line” as the last listed hour of season 3 — The Incredible Hulk (1977–1982) on CBS, season 3, episode 23, aired 1980-04-11, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E23: listed hour 57 of 82 in the The Incredible Hulk guide, last listed hour of season 3. It aired 1980-04-11 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Nine Hours” (S03E22). Next is “Prometheus (1)” (S04E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
David 'Brown' has walked right into a raging forest fire and is both forced to help out and accused of starting it all. McGee also joins the volunteers, looking for the Hulk.
Viewer FAQ
Where does On the Line sit in the The Incredible Hulk guide?
S03E23 is listed hour 57 of 82 — last listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 23.
When did The Incredible Hulk S03E23 air?
On the Line aired 1980-04-11 and is listed at 60 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…