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Stillanerd’s Retrospective: The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (1977) review

By Mike McNulty

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The second of two made-for-TV movies acting as an introduction to The Incredible Hulk, it may look sillier than the first, but it’s not without it’s charm.

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If you recall from my retrospective on The Incredible Hulk TV pilot, I said this beloved series started off as two 90-minute episodes. The one we’ll be looking at today is the second of these. While I wouldn’t describe it as one the series’ great episodes (certainly not one which needs the extra 45 minutes) it does serve as ideal introduction to the basic formula for the series.

Entitled “Death in the Family” when released in syndication, it first aired as another made-for-TV movie called The Return of the Incredible Hulk. As a matter of fact, both the TV pilot and this had theatrical releases outside of the United States, which technically makes them the first live-action Hulk movies to debut on the big screen.

So what is “Death in the Family” about? Well, if the pilot TV movie serves as the Hulk’s origin, this second made-for-TV movie shows what viewers could expect each week. Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby) hitchhikes his way from town to town looking for a cure to his condition. As luck would have it, he winds up in situations where he has to help someone, usually from criminals. This would also result in him “hulking out” at least two-to-three times. Afterwards, David would say goodbye and head on down the road.

Credit: NBC/Universal; from “Death in the Family” (1977) of The Incredible Hulk

Here, David, while heading towards a hospital with an experimental CAT scanner, befriends a young heiress (Laurie Prange) of a major conglomerate. The heiress lost her ability to walk after a boat explosion killed her father, and is also prone to dizziness. Hired on as a field hand for the estate’s Orange grove, David discovers the heiress’ stepmother (Dorothy Tristan) and her doctor (William Daniels) are secretly poisoning her. It’s up to David and a reluctant, alcoholic hermit (John McLiam) to save the heiress, and perhaps help her walk again.

If you’re thinking, “This sounds like one of those prime-time soap operas my parents and grandparents watched back when there were only three channels,” you’re not far off. The story has more cheese than a bowl of nachos. There are stock characters like the foreman (Gerald McRaney) who’s smitten with the heiress, so, of course, he’s jealous of David. And the mystery behind the heiress’ father’s death is pretty easy to piece together.

Credit: NBC/Universal; from “Death in the Family” (1977) of The Incredible Hulk

Then again, that’s not what viewers were really tuning in for. They’re waiting for the big, mean, green, one-man wrecking crew known as the Hulk to do what he does best: smash things and toss around puny, stupid humans. And “Death in the Family” doesn’t disappoint. Watch as the Hulk demolish an entire bunkhouse. Laugh as the Hulk takes a swig of whiskey. Gape in awe as the Hulk wrestles a swamp bear–and, at times, a not-so-convincing stuffed one in-between edits. He even leaps great distances, albeit like Linda Carter in the Wonder Woman TV show.

You may notice this film omits David’s guilt over his wife’s death. Instead, David now feels guilt over the death of his close friend and colleague, Dr. Eliana Marks (Susan Sullivan), who died during the pilot. On top of this, the Hulk is wrongfully accused of the murders of Eliana and David. Since David can’t prove his innocence without revealing himself as the Hulk, he’s forced into hiding under various assumed names.

This is also where Jack Colvin’s Jack McGee character fully comes into play. Inspired by Victor Hugo’s novel, Les Miserables, showrunner Kenneth Johnson envisioned McGee as the Javert to Banner’s Jean Valjean. In actuality, David and McGee parallel Dr. Richard Kimble and Lt. Philip Gerard from The Fugitive. Since McGee is a reporter, his goal is uncovering the truth about the Hulk. Moreover, despite his integrity and professionalism, McGee doesn’t get much respect simply because he writes for the equivalent of the National Enquirer.

Credit: NBC/Universal; from “Death in the Family” (1977) of The Incredible Hulk

As far as performances go, everyone gives a good show. Bixby not only portrays David as a sympathetic everyman, but a heroic one. After all, he’s willing to put aside his own chance at curing himself of the Hulk to save someone he just met. That David also doesn’t give up on her while encouraging her to walk makes him more commendable. Bixby also comes off as a parental, which makes sense given Prange is playing an orphan. It’s clear from the script, however, that McLiam’s hermit will be this early on.

Bixby playing a father-like figure to Prange also makes the jealous foreman subplot feel extraneous. Sure, it plays into an early scheme by the stepmother and the doctor to stop David, but even so, Bixby clearly looks older than Prange. If Bixby looked younger than McReany’s jealousy might be more credible. Besides, McReany’s character gets put into a hospital from the Hulk’s rampage at least a half-hour into the movie.

I also wondered why the other field hands suddenly became the stepmother’s hired killers all of a sudden. In the first half, it seems like they have no idea the heiress’ stepmother is even poisoning her stepdaughter. Then, after the Hulk rescues the heiress, she sends the field hands out after them to hunt down and kill them all. There’s not even any pretense about it.

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There are better episodes of The Incredible Hulk, one which we’ll look at for next time. “Death in the Family,” a.k.a The Return of the Incredible Hulk, isn’t terrible, however. It may not be up the same quality or standards of today’s television series, but there’s a certain charm about it. For all the times it takes itself a bit too seriously, there’s enough substance here that it doesn’t turn into complete camp. Besides, The Incredible Hulk wouldn’t have become the hit series it was back in the day if this hadn’t gotten off the ground first.

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