Fanvid: Greatest American Hero - Waking Up In Vegas

[sholio]

So basically on work breaks, this past couple of weeks, I started watching an early-80s superhero comedy on Youtube, Greatest American Hero. All episodes are on Youtube here. I loved this show when I was a kid, but, well ... it was the 80s, and I was a kid. I mainly just decided to check out an episode on my lunch break for nostalgia.

So I've been genuinely very surprised at how much I'm enjoying it. I'm not sure if I'd say it's actually good. It's very, very 80s, with a 2-dollar f/x budget and a whole lot of what you might call period-appropriate nonsense, ranging from silly but fun (amazingly unconvincing flying f/x, stock footage of things like rockets and submarines that they don't have the budget for, random nondenominational terrorists and Russians as baddies) and extremely unfunny (sexism played for laughs; no one finding it WEIRD AND CREEPY that the high-school teacher hero's female student has a crush on him).

But it's also very sweet and sincere at the most unexpected times. Apparently the creator intended the show to be a down-to-earth show about a superhero coping with little life problems, and the network wanted basically 1960s Batman, and what they got was a weird mix of both. In spite of how ridiculous some of it is, it's actually oddly grounded-feeling, almost like the Marvel Netflix shows in its general focus on ordinary people around the superheroes. I think aside from Heroes it's probably the most appealing superhero-ish thing I've seen that wasn't a Marvel or DC tie-in (a bar that's admittedly so low it's on the ground).

It's your basic "ordinary schmoe gets superpowers" kind of show, with, by the way, probably the most bonkers superhero origin story that I have EVER seen in ANYTHING, but I think what's making it work so well is that, for one thing, he's an extremely charming version of that character type, very earnest and sweet, and also, his girlfriend finds out in the first episode - telling her is actually one of the first things he does - so instead of what is basically set up as a buddy comedy/action show (naive hero + jaded, slightly unhinged gun-nut FBI agent sidekick), it turns into a 3-person ensemble comedy/action show. They are all very charming and adorable, and have great chemistry, and argue a lot and worry about each other. There are some uncomfortable scenes early on when the girlfriend, Pam, is getting unfairly jerked around by her boyfriend's new superhero career, but once the show starts settling in, the main couple is really adorable, with very little in the way of artificial obstacles inserted into the relationship; they're supportive and sweet and talk to each other about everything, and there's one episode in which everyone is quarantined for two weeks because of possible exposure to a disease (... relatable) in which it's not merely implied but as clearly stated as you can get away with in an all-ages 1980s show that they spend the entire two weeks more or less banging nonstop.

Anyway, I'm still watching the show - I'm only watching an episode every couple of days; progress is slow and I'm just now a little ways out of season one ... and they aren't long seasons - but I made a vid. As you do. Because I wanted one to exist and there is NOTHING.

Video quality is pretty low because I used the Youtube videos for source footage. I may someday remaster this, but honestly I was just making it for myself for fun, so why not? I've realized that one reason why I haven't actually vidded much lately is because it's gotten so complicated and hard, with an expectation of high-quality footage that can be difficult and expensive to get and slow to render. The most fun I ever had making vids was years ago, when I was just using episodes downloaded from the internet, taking clips was dead easy, and the results were good enough to make me happy and I didn't really care much about it beyond that.

So that's what this is: a fun little vid that I made for myself for play. Someday I might remaster it with nicer-quality clips (if I find a place to get them from; the show isn't available on iTunes and similar) but for now the vid is what it is, flawed and silly and earnest and fun, like the show itself. I don't think you have to worry about spoilers all that much; it's not really that kind of show.

Title: Waking Up in Vegas
Fandom: Greatest American Hero
Clips: Mostly season one, scattered clips from random other episodes
Warnings: None

Streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yatFZgARj6U
Download: Here (28 Mb zipped MP4)

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[pauraque]

Aw, I remember this show! I was really little, though, so mostly what I remember is the awesome theme song.

Cute vid. <3

[musesfool]

I was just going to post about how it might not have the f/x but it did have an amazing theme song!

[sholio]

Thank you!!

I love the theme song; it's so upbeat and fun and 80s in the best way. I usually skip the credits when I'm watching shows, but I keep letting that one play through because it's so much fun.

[leesa_perrie]

Great vid! The show looks fun (and yes, very 80s)! The older guy (FBI agent?) keeps getting that look on his face that Peter often had when Neal was up to his 'shenanigans', lol!! :D :D I might just check the show out. Something light and crazy may be just what I need atm!

[sholio]

I think you might like it, if you don't bounce off some of the humor! It's got a nice light upbeat vibe; the writing isn't always the best, but it's a show that feels like it genuinely likes its characters and wants them to be happy.

[magistrate]

I can't imagine that the superhero symbol is actually intended to be a Chinese character, but that is all I can see when I look at it.

Other than that: aww. Looks like some good fun! I like how the FBI character's chemistry with these other two comes through, even in vid. (Is he as much of a human disaster as he seems? Because "jerkass human disaster law enforcement officer with a heart of gold" seems to be A Type I enjoy.)

[sholio]

I mean, it is the 80s; it may be random chance or it may be that the creators saw the character somewhere and thought it looked cool and just appropriated it wholesale ...

(Is he as much of a human disaster as he seems? Because "jerkass human disaster law enforcement officer with a heart of gold" seems to be A Type I enjoy.)

I also enjoy this type! He sort of is and sort of isn't. I thought from the first episode that he was going to be a lot more of a disaster than he turned out to be; I don't know if the show backed off from it, or if I was just reading the character wrong, but he's sort of ... not really that, like he's about halfway to it but more trope-adjacent than actually hitting it.

[alessandriana]

I was just coming here to ask this. XD I've seen that symbol as a shirt at every convention I've ever been to, and I'd just assumed it was from an anime or something!

[lunabee34]

That is such a great vid! You do such a good job of matching the emotional beats to the music.

[sholio]

Thank you!! :) I miss vidding. I think I've largely stopped because these days there is just so much work to it apart from the part I like, which is the actual making-the-vid part.

[sovay]

Apparently the creator intended the show to be a down-to-earth show about a superhero coping with little life problems, and the network wanted basically 1960s Batman, and what they got was a weird mix of both.

I have never heard of this show! It sounds majority-delightful, especially the part where the hero and his girlfriend actually communicate. Also I like Robert Culp as far as I can tell based strictly on his performance in The Outer Limits' "Demon with a Glass Hand" (1964). Go know.

I think aside from Heroes it's probably the most appealing superhero-ish thing I've seen that wasn't a Marvel or DC tie-in (a bar that's admittedly so low it's on the ground).

You may have tried both and bounced, but in terms of non-Marvel, non-DC superhero media, I adored Fast Color (2018) and differently adored Mystery Men (1999).

[sholio]

It is on the whole VERY delightful and I think you might like it a lot.

I adored Fast Color (2018) and differently adored Mystery Men (1999).

Oh right, I forgot completely about Mystery Men! I loved that very much, you're right. Fast Color I haven't seen, but based on a quick skim of the first part of your review, it looks like it would be ENTIRELY my thing.

Also, I just remembered Megamind, which is another one that I really love but in yet another completely different way.

[starwatcher]

 
I love this show, and love your vid. Don't know the song (which is true for about 95% of the vids I see), but the whole thing is a lot of fun.

I read somewhere that the show's creator deliberately didn't want a really competent superhero, because it took away the "will he win?" question. That's why the powers were all in the suit, not the man, and why he lost the user's manual.

And yes, great theme song! Come to think of it, I really miss theme songs; too bad they went out of style.
 

[sholio]

I read somewhere that the show's creator deliberately didn't want a really competent superhero, because it took away the "will he win?" question. That's why the powers were all in the suit, not the man, and why he lost the user's manual.

It was a good choice, and I like it! Watching him struggle with his powers is a lot more fun than if he had them full-fledged from the beginning. As well as the fact that if you take the suit away, he's just a normal guy.

I feel like this show anticipated the kind of superhero media that's been popular for the last decade or so by 30 years - it's the down-to-earth focus on the human element that made the Marvel movies popular, and I think that's this show's main strength as well. Particularly since he's literally the only superpowered person in the world (that we know of), which helps a lot with having him completely out of his depth. There are no supervillains to fight, and he has to figure out from scratch what to do with these powers he's suddenly inherited.

[anna_wing]

This was one of my favourites when I was young! It was such a happy series. I couldn't tell you about a single episode, but it's just there in my mind as something bright and sweet and fun. And I still remember the theme song, obviously, that is one of the great earworms of all time, up there with Slade's "Run runaway".

[sholio]

Oh, I think that's a great way to describe it! That's actually my reaction to it watching it as an adult, too. It's just very happy and sweet and feelgood. It's one of those shows where - you know how with some shows, you really get the feeling that the actors really like each other, and the writers like the characters and want them to be happy? This show really comes across like that.

[schneefink]

That looks like fun :)

[sholio]

I have mixed feelings about it in various ways, but I'm definitely enjoying myself!

[chelseagirl]

Never watched the show, but I was just thinking that the theme for it is everywhere -- especially, of course, now that it's on an ad. And I was wondering about that afterlife and what the show was like. So now I know! Thanks.

[sholio]

The theme song is so iconic! I don't often watch theme songs all the way through beyond the first time or two when I'm watching a show, even if they're good, but I have trouble skipping this one.

[sheron]

I'm adding on my to-watch list because it looks like exactly the kind of thing that I would want when I'm in the correct frame of mind for it!

[sholio]

So we see how this is working out, then.

[timespirt]

I always loved that show.

[sholio]

It's really a lot of fun!

[sovay]

I would just like you to know that nearly three years on I still find this video so charming that I revisit it; I don't think it needs to be remastered at all.

[sholio]

I am genuinely really happy to hear this; thank you so much! <3333 I still rewatch this one sometimes for fun, and I'm so glad that it has staying power for you too.