Television series

The Incredible Hulk

Name: The Incredible Hulk
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Released: 1977
Cast: Lou Ferrigno, Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin

Forget the leaping, quipping superhero you might expect. This is a hushed, melancholy road drama with a monster grafted on. Bill Bixby's David Banner drifts town to town under fake names, outrunning his own rage and a tabloid reporter on his trail. Lou Ferrigno's Hulk barely speaks — the tragedy stays entirely human. Slow, sincere, occasionally silly; built for patient viewers who like their heroes sad.

TVMaze rating

7.4

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The Fugitive1963

This is the show Hulk borrowed its entire skeleton from: an innocent man drifting town to town under assumed names, doing good deeds, staying one step ahead of a dogged pursuer. Same lonely rhythm, minus the green paint.

But Black-and-white, four seasons long, and paced like the early sixties — patience required, especially early on.

Kung Fu1972

A wandering exile solves other people's problems with quiet wisdom instead of fists, town after town, never staying long enough to be known. It's the calmer, more philosophical cousin to Banner's drifting.

But Its slow, meditative pacing and constant flashbacks can feel more like a sermon than a drama some weeks.

Quantum Leap1989

Another lonely traveler, another new town and new face each week, another life to fix before moving on with nothing but the ache of never quite arriving anywhere. The engine's identical; the tone's lighter.

But The time-travel mechanics and frequent comic relief push it further from Hulk's melancholy than you might expect.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde1931

The Hulk's entire premise — civilized man, buried rage, monstrous alter ego with no memory of what it did — is a direct descendant of Stevenson's story; this 1931 version is the clearest, ugliest telling of it, decades before Banner got his lab accident.

Long before gamma rays, this is the story Hulk is quietly retelling: a decent man unlocks the violence hiding inside himself and can't always call it back. Fredric March's transformation is still unsettling.

But Early-sound-era pacing and theatrical acting will feel stagey and slow to modern eyes.

Highway to Heaven1984no page yet

An anthology drifter show with its heart entirely on its sleeve — a stranger arrives, quietly fixes a broken life, and leaves before the credits roll. Pure televised comfort food with real feeling behind it.

But Unapologetically sentimental and moralistic; if you found Hulk's earnestness a lot, this is more of it.

Beauty and the Beast1987no page yet

A gentle monster hiding a man's soul, loved by someone who sees past the face — this leans hard into the romance the Hulk mythos always flirted with but never fully allowed itself.

But Leans soap-opera in places, and the fantasy-New-York setting asks for more suspension of disbelief.

Logan2017

A tired, aging body that hurts every time the claws come out, a hero who just wants the pain to stop — this is what Banner's fatigue would look like with modern stakes and violence.

But Brutally violent and bleak in ways the 1977 show, for all its sadness, never came close to.

Route 661960no page yet

Two drifters cross the country in a Corvette, landing in a new town's crisis every week — the existential loneliness of the open road that Hulk borrowed wholesale, minus the rage issues.

But No fantasy element at all; if the Hulk part was the actual draw, this might feel thin.

The Six Million Dollar Man1973

Same network, same era, same idea of a body rebuilt by science into both a gift and a burden — a fun double bill for anyone curious what else CBS was doing with its damaged men in 1974.

But Far more gadget-and-mission driven, with none of the mournful, on-the-run structure that defines Hulk.

Werewolf1987no page yet

A cursed young man wanders America searching for a cure while trying not to hurt anyone during his monthly transformations — practically Hulk's structure copied wholesale, gamma rays swapped for lycanthropy.

But Cheaply made, short-lived, and harder to find than the shows above; a genuine cult curiosity, not a polished pick.

Devilman Crybaby2018

Same core wound — a good person housing something violent they can't fully steer — reimagined in a completely different medium and register: adult anime instead of network TV, nihilism instead of hope.

A shy, gentle teenager gains monstrous demonic power and can't fully control what it does when it's loose — the same tragic bargain as Banner's, told as unflinching, explicit, gorgeous Japanese animation.

But Extremely graphic sex and violence, and a bleak, apocalyptic back half; nothing here is family-hour television.

The Toxic Avenger1984

Take the Hulk's premise — science accident turns bullied everyman into a giant, town-terrorizing creature who's secretly the good guy — and strip out every ounce of solemnity: same shape, opposite tone, gloriously trashy inversion.

A mild-mannered mop boy gets dunked in toxic waste and turns into a hulking, deformed monster who beats up bullies — the exact same origin story, played entirely for gross-out laughs instead of grief.

But Deliberately cheap, gory, and tasteless; a world away from the show's sincerity, and proudly so.