Stephen J. Cannell groaned when ABC executives broached the idea of creating a superhero show.
"I never got superheroes. I had severe dyslexia as a kid, so I didn't really get into reading comics. And then when I became a writer, I didn't like them because they had everything. If the only thing that can get you is a piece of kryptonite, then that's not very interesting to me; I was always more interested in the flaws in character."
Finding flaws in tough guys has been a signature for Cannell, who created or co-created The Rockford Files and Baretta.
On that day in 1980, he wasn't enthusiastic about a man in tights, but didn't say no.
"I had learned never to say no in an office; I once said no to Brandon Tartikoff on a pitch of 'MTV Cops' and that turned out to be Miami Vice.
The "maybe" became The Greatest American Hero, a quirky show about a school teacher who gets a mysterious costume of alien origin but loses the instruction book on how to use its super-powered gifts. Years before Hancock and The Incredibles toyed with the comedic possibilities of frustrated heroes in a workaday world, Cannell's hero flew a shaky course in the sky.
There's a revival under way: William Katt, the man who wore the red suit, has launched a comic book that continues the adventures; there are animated shorts being made online; and Cannell is in talks about a film that would introduce the brand to a new generation. Cannell and Katt view the 1981-83 series as a heroic moment.
"This show was one of the high points," Cannell said. "We had the right actors. The right writers. The right cinematographers. The right tone."
Cannell had a three-pilot deal with ABC; the first series, Tenspeed and Brownshoe, fizzled. When the network suggested a hero show, Cannell realised that the secret sauce of Rockford might work again.
"With Rockford, the idea was, 'How would I act if I were a private detective?' I wouldn't act like Sam Spade. I wouldn't act like Joe Mannix. If someone pulled a gun on me, I wouldn't say, 'I'm going to feed that to you.' I'd give them my car and my watch.
"We started this show with this idea: 'What if I, Stephen Cannell, were out in the desert and a spinning ship came down and aliens gave me a suit that would let me fly? What would that do to my life? And what if it was a really stupid-looking suit?' The first time you get caught in it, you can tell your wife or girlfriend that you're on the way to a costume party.
"But the second time, well, you're toast."
Cannell, who has film remakes of his 21 Jump Street and The A-Team in the pipeline, said a Hero movie is ramping up.
"We have a script. We have a director. It's going to fly again."
