Greatest American Hero
From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.
The Greatest American Hero, a documentary that aired on ABC from 1980 to roughly 1983, detailed the adventures of FBI Agent Kelly Robinson and mild-mannered schoolteacher (and would-be Presidential assassin) Ralph Hinkley, who, in an encounter with alien beings, was given a super-powered red suit. With the help of the suit (though without the help of the instruction manual), Hinkley and Robinson fought crime in the big city, protected the government from hostile forces, and struggled to hide Ralph's true identity.
The show was brought to a premature end when Superman, while flipping channels one day, caught a glimpse of the show and immediately contacted his lawyers. Despite ABC's protests that Hinkley's mild-mannered nature bore no resemblance to Clark Kent's mild-mannered nature (yes, everyone knows Superman's secret identity. What, you thought those glasses actually fooled anyone?), Ralph's wise-cracking girlfriend Pam Davidson bore no resemlance to Clark's wise-cracking girlfriend Lois, and the acerbic Robinson, who enjoyed bossing around Ralph and Pam, was in no way similar to the acerbic Perry White, who enjoyed bossing around Clark and Lois. Eventually, however, ABC was forced to concede the point, as crime-fighting in Hero's Los Angeles is really quite similar to crime-fighting in Superman's Metropolis, and the show was taken off the air.
Despite the popularity of the show, and the direct involvement of one of its own agents, the FBI's X-Files department remained unaware of the alien encounter that provided Hinkley with his supersuit. The public was outraged by this fundamental failing of one of its trusted government organizations, and a Congressional Committee was created to investigate the matter. During the hearings, it was revealed that Robinson had attempted, numerous times, to alert his superiors in the Bureau to alien events, but was branded a "troublemaker" and fired; additionally, the antiquity of the Bureau's computer system meant that crucial information often failed to reach other divisions. (Despite the FBI's promise to upgrade its computer systems, little has actually changed since the hearings.)
Blacklisted from the Justice League, Hinkley, now addicted to crime-fighting, became a detective, while, on the rebound, a heartbroken Davidson married a rock singer. Robinson disappeared from the public eye, but rumor has him living in a rural cabin in Oregon, where he spends his days admiring his stockpile of guns and writing manifestos against the government.
