King of the Beach

David Banner(Bill Bixby) is working as a dishwasher in a Venice, California beach café who befriends the cook, a partially deaf man named Carl Molino(played by Hulk actor Lou Ferrigno) who dreams of opening his own restaurant, but is also a competitive bodybuilder that a small-time hustler named Mandy(played by Leslie Ackerman) wants to use to make money, but Carl falls for her, and Mandy will also have a change of heart after their lives are threatened by gangsters who want Carl to lose, and poor David once again gets in the way trying to help... though story is unoriginal, Lou Ferrigno makes an effective and appealing speaking actor here, and of course is still perfect playing the Hulk as well.

In this episode, Lou Ferrigno plays a bodybuilder who is entering a contest that is fixed. In many ways, this episode is taking a shot at Joe Weider and the Mr. Olympia contest. Especially since the King has won several times before, and Lou Ferrigno is told that the promoter, Solly Diamond is going to make sure that "The King" wins again.

If you have seen Pumping Iron, which starred Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzeneggar, you can see the parallels in this episode, especially when the promoter makes fun of Ferrigno's hearing disability.

It is great to see some of the bodybuilders of the 1970s also appearing in the contest. Ken Waller stands out, playing the role of the "King" of bodybuilding. Lou Ferrigno is basically playing a younger version of himself, struggling to pay bills, to keep a job, and to compete in bodybuilding. Overall, it is a fun episode.

It was inevitable that that the creators of "The Incredible Hulk" would give Lou Ferrigno a speaking role after playing the big green dude for so long. Well, maybe it wasn't but I sure did like the fact they gave the guy a chance to play a normal person at last.

As is, "King of the Beach" falls in the average bin for there is nothing particularly memorable on display here (except for the obvious). Ferrigno does well and the writer inserted many real life scenarios from his life in the storyline, which was a very good idea I thought.

Not the cream of the crop as far the series is concerned but an enjoyable episode nonetheless.

Watch this one to see Ferrigno's performance and the great friendship between his character and Banner - which seems to mimic their offscreen camaraderie. So nice that the writers gave Ferrigno this opportunity and wrote his disability into the plot, all without pandering to the audience. One of my all time favorite episodes.

Out of all of the episodes of this classic TV series this one shines as my number one favorite. Am a longtime fan of Lou Ferrigno and this storyline gave him the opportunity to stretch his acting chops and the first and only time that he got to play a regular human character. David Beller is working at a beach side café for Carl Molino and his wife and he's an aspiring local bodybuilder who is hoping to win the Mr. Galaxy competition for the grand prize. David becomes more than his employee and befriends Carl when he gets into a very sticky situation while training for the contest. Overall not a great episode though still worth watching to see Ferrigno playing both the Hulk and a regular guy. I would have liked to have seen a follow up to this one though the ending is quite satisfying. You won't be disappointed.