6.4 /10 1 Votes
5.7/10 TV Country of origin USA Final episode date 3 October 1987 | 7.1/10 IMDb Composer(s) Dennis Dreith First episode date 19 September 1987 Number of seasons 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre Action-adventure
Situation comedy Created by Dusty Kay
Ira Steven Behr Directed by Kevin Hooks
Kevin Inch
Claudia Weill
Harry Hurwitz Starring Jeff Lester
Milo O'Shea
Robert Forster
Josh Blake
Caitlin Clarke Network American Broadcasting Company Number of episodes 7 (only 3 aired in the US) Cast Jeff Lester, Robert Forster, Milo O'Shea, Josh Blake, Dianne Kay Similar 3rd Degree, Life's Work, Frank's Place, Buck James, Nurses | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Once a hero episode 1 believers part 1
Once a Hero is an ABC 1987 science fiction comedy television series. The series stars Milo O'Shea as Abner Bevis, a down-on-his-luck comic book artist whose life is turned upside down when his creation, Captain Justice (Jeff Lester), comes to life. Also appearing in the series were Caitlin Clarke and Robert Forster.
Contents
Once a hero 1987 opening
Premise
Abner Bevis (Milo O'Shea) is the creator of a comic-book superhero called Captain Justice. Lately Bevis is in a rut and repeating old storylines, and children have lost interest in the comic, so the comic's owners want to kill off the title. Even the characters in the book's fictional world of Pleasantville have started to notice that their lives are repeating themselves, and the lack of reader interest is causing characters to start fading.
Captain Justice (Jeff Lester) decides to cross the Forbidden Zone into the real world, where he becomes a real human being with no superpowers. Also crossing over is a detective character called Gumshoe (Robert Forster), who's looking out for Justice. The Captain's attempts to fight real-world criminals renew interest in the comic, and the owners agree not to cancel it; also, Bevis is inspired to make it more contemporary.
Adding to the stories is suspicious newspaper reporter Emma Greely (Caitlin Clarke), who keeps snooping around. Her troubled and precocious son Woody (Josh Blake) knows the truth about Captain Justice, but she doesn't.
Cast
Production
Jim Turner was initially cast as Captain Justice, he was "was cast against type, a small, skinny guy ... It was supposed to be a joke", but when the producers became worried he might not be suitable as the lead, the role was recast with Jeff Lester. A pilot with Turner had been shot, and writer Ira Steven Behr suggested that key advertising-agency executives had seen the abandoned version of the pilot, which caused bad word-of-mouth for the show, ultimately dooming it.
Episodes
Seven episodes were created, but only three of them ever aired in the United States.
Reception
Many ABC stations preempted the show's first episode with Star Trek: The Next Generation, which they correctly decided would be more successful after watching the ABC show; one station stated that "Once a Hero is gone". Although widely promoted, the series was a ratings failure, and was cancelled after three episodes were broadcast.
Comics
Marvel Comics began publishing a comic book spin-off, Captain Justice, but this too was short-lived and was cancelled after two issues.