Bill Bixby played swinging 1960s bachelors with glamorous jobs, cool pads, boss threads, and a never-ending supply of babes -- until one day something happened that changed everything, made his heteronormative hedonism seem trite and crude.
In My Favorite Martian (1963-66), his Tim O'Hara rescued a Martian scientist from a crashed spaceship, and had to keep him hidden from the world. But what started out as a standard "keep your unique talent hidden" sitcom like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched quickly developed into something more. Tim and his so-called "Uncle Martin" share a home and a life and generally ignore the attentions of female suitors. And though they rarely if ever disrobe on camera, they surround themselves with cute and muscular men:
In The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969-72), his Tom Corbett is widowed, left with a young son (Brandon Cruz), like the Dads on a dozen other 1960s sitcoms. But what started out as a standard "fix up Dad with a girl" plot quickly developed into something more. Tom isn't really interested in marrying again. Instead, he bonds with a coworker, magazine photographer Norman (James Komack).
In an iconic photo, the three share the same banana split, quite an unconventional family for the 1970s:Bill went on to buddy-bond with Lou Ferrigno off-camera, while they were both starring in The Incredible Hulk.
What I find interesting about Hull is how little loyalty it had to the source material. It's just a Jekyll and Hyde story, complete with trying to control anger with gamma radiation, somehow.
ReplyDeleteThe comic was a metaphor for nuclear war.
He also lost his supporting cast. Betty Ross (his love interest whose father is trying to capture the Hulk before he kills everyone) and Rick Jones (a teenager who he shielded from an atomic blast because comics, and that's how he became the Hulk). Those two are the only ones who can calm the Hulk down, and are often equated in the Hulk's mind, which explains why Rick's become something of a ho starting in the late 80s.
Rick Jones might be more of a sidekick than any of DC's characters. The subtext is there. He's often funny. (After he died in the Snap, he sold his story to the tabloids.) And he never outgrew his role, unlike a certain bird-themed vigilante I can name.
I always called them secret identities. Which are a MASSIVE Rorschach test. (Notwithstanding jokes about Mr Kovacs.)
ReplyDeleteYou are right about "The Courtships of Eddie's Father" the image of the two dads and their son sharing an ice cream float is very gay modern
ReplyDeleteHello, could you tell me which episode the My favorite Martian picture is from?
ReplyDeleteMy Favorite Martian - Season 1, Episode 34 - The Disastro-Nauts
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