747

Banner boards flight 14, a Chicago-bound 747, hoping to meet with a neuroscientist about his condition. A passenger in a neighboring seat passes out after drinking coffee, and Banner goes to inform the pilot, who asks Banner to follow him into the hold…at which point Banner is shoved into a cage and locked in. The pilot and a member of the flight crew are not what they seem: they’ve drugged the flight crew and put the plane on autopilot, and plan to parachute out after stealing prized artifacts hidden among the cargo. The pilot plans to dispose of his inconvenient witness, only to discover that the tight, pressurized confines of a passenger airplane don’t mix with the Incredible Hulk.

written by Thomas E. Szollosi & Richard Christian Matheson
directed by Sigmund Neufeld Jr.
music by Joe Harnell

Cast: Bill Bixby (David Bruce Banner), Jack Colvin (Jack McGee), Lou Ferrigno (The Hulk), Edward Power (Phil), Sondra Currie (Stephanie), Denise Galik (Denise), Brandon Cruz (Kevin), Howard Honig (Mr. Leggit), Don Keefer (Mr. MacIntire), Susan Cotton (Cynthia Davis), Del Hinkley (Pilot), Ed Peck (Captain Brandes), J. Jay Saunders (Controller), Shirley O’Hara (Mrs. McIntire), Barbara Mealy (Nurse)

Notes: Richard Christian Matheson may not be the Richard Matheson who wrote “I Am Legend”, numerous Twilight Zone scripts, and other works of speculative fiction, but he is that Richard Matheson’s son, and happens to be a prolific scribe in his own right; this and an episode of Three’s Company were his first two first produced scripts. He would go on to write episodes of Knight Rider, The Powers of Matthew Star, The A-Team (a show for which he was also story editor), Hardcastle & McCormick, Amazing Stories, Tales From The Crypt, Masters of Horror, and Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King.