The Incredible Hulk (TV Series) King of the Beach (1981) User Reviews

Reaching for a Dream

[flarefan-81906 · 8/10 · 30 November 2017]

David's a cook again, at a beachside place this time. There he meets an attractive con artist named Mandy, who sets her sights on his burly, mostly deaf coworker Carl, played by our good friend Lou Ferrigno. Mandy thinks Carl is a shoe-in for an upcoming bodybuilding competition with a $3,000 prize.

I'll admit I had my doubts, but Ferrigno more than pulls his weight with both roles this ep. You couldn't ask for a more human and sympathetic supporting character. The compulsively dishonest Mandy gets more and more endearing as the episode progresses, to the point where it's utterly gratifying to see a romance develop between her and Carl, and while said romance isn't particularly well-developed, the actors make it convincing.

As usual, the episode provides a few thugs for the Hulk to stomp on, but the story treats the villains as merely a side show to the main event, which is the evolving relationships between David, Carl, and Mandy, and their struggles to make Carl's dreams a reality. Such well-conceived focus on the human characters over their predicaments really make this episode. And the Hulk's reaction to the audience attention at the bodybuilding contest is unquestionably worth a view.

The Incredible Hulk - King of the Beach

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 13 November 2015]

Lou Ferrigno's dual role in this episode will perhaps make it a must-see for Hulk show fans. He plays a deaf but well functioning seaside beachfront cook hoping a weightlifting competition will bring in the financial funds to help start his own restaurant. Enter ambitious but naive Leslie Ackerman hoping to ride the gravy train that might come with Lou's success. Bill Bixby is currently working in the diner with Lou, a first that is kind of surreal in a way...seeing Lou, the cook, and Lou, the Hulk in the same scene at the end equally so. Lou getting a chance with performing on screen as a regular average Joe hoping to make it out of the back of a lowly diner could be quite a treat for Hulk fans, and the episode does allow Bixby to Hulk up against two crooks wanting to get even with Leslie for purposely skating in front of their car, knowing they are typically preying upon the elderly for their social security checks among other things. He also Hulks up when an agent's goons try to use Bixby as leverage to keep his man as the top bodybuilding guy when Lou's physique threatens to take the top prize his client has held for a few years. I'm not all that into bodybuilding which this episode focuses extensively on, but Lou getting a chance to do more than grow while made up green is a nice touch. Leslie is cute as the love interest for Lou who means well but often does more harm than good when trying to get him over as the ultimate in bodybuilding in their beachfront location. Bixby, as Lou's moral compass and listening ear when needing support, steps aside and lets Ferrigno have the story's central focus.

The Hulk posing during a media junket where bodybuilders are looking to be the next King of the Beach as cameras take pictures of him from an enthusiastic audience takes the cake...it is rather amusing to see this green version of Lou, growling and flexing as the crowd goes wild!

The BodyBuilder

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 22 November 2014]

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.

Nice story

[Johnny_West · 10/10 · 19 October 2017]

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.

Ferrigno shines

[wfw-93416 · 10/10 · 3 July 2022]

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.

My Favorite Hulk Episode!

[tbirdman-1 · 7/10 · 1 April 2014]

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.

Average episode but Ferrigno does well in his dual role

[ODDBear · 5/10 · 31 October 2008]

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.