Bill Bixby TV Shows: Much More Than 'The Incredible Hulk'

Bill Bixby TV shows may have been limited to a total of five series — not counting guest appearances — but over a 20-year period he brought an everyman essence to his characters and an attention to overall quality that have allowed viewers to continue embracing him, and them, over 30 years after his death.

He was born January 22, 1934 in San Francisco, California, serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserve during the Korean War. He began his acting career with a number of guest appearances, but by 1963 already had his first co-lead role in the sitcom My Favorite Martian. Over the years, Bill Bixby TV shows would include The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Magician, The Incredible Hulk and Goodnight, Beantown.

Join us as we remember each of the Bill Bixby TV shows, and the actor himself: he passed away on November 21, 1993 at the age of 59 following a battle with prostate cancer.

My Favorite Martian (1963 to 1966): Bill Bixby TV Shows

CAST: Ray Walston (Uncle Martin O'Hara), Bill Bixby (Tim O'Hara)

PREMISE: When a martian's ship crash lands on Earth, he's found by newspaper reporter Tim O'Hara, who takes "Uncle Martin" in while he finds a way back home. Naturally Tim spends half his time keeping this "relative" out of trouble.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: For the show's official archivist, Peter Greenwood, a big appeal of My Favorite Martian is "idea that one of them is childlike on the one hand, and not on the other. So at any given moment the martian becomes the father then, in the reverse, Tim O'Hara does. Each has a Yin and a Yang to them."

The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969 to 1972)

CAST: Bill Bixby (Tom Corbett), Brandon Cruz (Eddie Corbett), Miyoshi Umeki (Mrs. Livingston), Kristina Holland (Tina Rickles), James Komack (Norman Tinker)

PREMISE: The challenges of single parenthood as widower Tom Corbett raises his young son, Eddie, to the best of his abilities, aided by housekeeper Mrs. Livingston.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: This was one of Bixby's most satisfying and personal roles, as he told the St. Louis Globe-Democrat TV Digest: "I was asked to be myself; no portrayal of any character. The thought scared the hell out of me, but after three weeks of looking at the daily rushes, I decided I'm like that man." He added on The Mike Douglas Show in 1972, "Eddie's father is a part of me, a part that I happen to like. I didn't know I had it until after I did the show. That was thanks to Brandon Cruz, because he's not an actor. He's a little boy, and you don't act against that."

The Magician (1973 to 1974): Bill Bixby TV Shows

CAST: Bill Bixby (Anthony Blake), Keene Curtis (Max Pomeroy), Joseph Sirola (Dominick)

PREMISE: Philanthropic magician Anthony "Tony" Blake decides to use his skills to help solve crimes as needed by the police department.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Creatively the show was in trouble from the start, went through a revamp halfway through its sole season and never pulled together script wise. Says writer Larry Brody, "Bill had the perfect combination of comic timing and 'serious drama actor' looks, but he couldn't really light up the screen, because of the script situation."

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The Incredible Hulk (1977 to 1982)

CAST: Bill Bixby (Dr. David Bruce Banner), Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee)

PREMISE: Based on the Marvel Comics character and taking its approach from David Janssen's The Fugitive, David Banner, having been exposed to gamma radiation and transforming into the Hulk and back again, is on the run after being presumed dead from a lab explosion that killed his assistant. In pursuit is newspaper reporter Jack McGee, determined to prove the existence of the Hulk and its connection to Banner.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Notes series creator Kenneth Johnson, "We had many knock down, drag out arguments about stuff, but it was never about bulls–t; never about star stuff. It was always about character or emotional line or a structure or a story point. Always something about making the project better and the best that it could be.”

MUST READ: David Janssen — 16 Man onf the Run Facts About The Fugitive Star

Goodnight, Beantown (1983 to 1984): Bill Bixby TV Shows

CAST: Bill Bixby (Matt Cassidy), Mariette Hartley (Jennifer Barnes)

PREMISE: Boston news anchorman Matt Cassidy discovers his new co-anchor, Jennifer Barnes, is also his apartment building neighbor, which doesn't exactly make for a smooth on-air relationship.

BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Mariette Hartley played David Banner's wife in the first The Incredible Hulk TV movie.

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