But those “flaws” are the charm. This is a low-budget, character-driven drama made before TV decided everything had to be a movie.

Dr. David Banner (not Bruce—the show changed his name) is a quiet, brilliant physician. After the car crash that kills his wife, he experiments with gamma radiation to unlock hidden strength in human cells. It backfires spectacularly. When rage or adrenaline takes over, he transforms into a 7-foot, 320-pound green behemoth.

Unlike the comics, Banner doesn’t fight costumed villains. He wanders from town to town, hitchhiking, doing odd jobs, and trying to find a cure for his "condition." Each episode follows the Fugitive formula: Banner helps local people with a problem (a corrupt sheriff, a wife beater, a mine collapse), hulks out for 90 seconds, smashes the bad guy, then sadly walks away into the night, thumb out, as sad piano music plays.

The 1978 Hulk is the best live-action adaptation of the character’s core idea : a gentle man trapped by his own emotions. The MCU Hulk became a joke (Ragnarok) or a plot device (Endgame). Edward Norton’s film tried the tragic angle but got buried in CGI.

Bixby makes you believe that being the Hulk is a curse, not a power.

"The First" (pilot) or "The Psychic" (season 2, episode 3) – a brilliant episode where a blind girl "sees" the Hulk as gentle.

★★★★☆ (4/5) – Don’t make me lonely. You wouldn’t like me when I’m lonely.