"Martian Costars Are Reunited"

In an October 26, 1979 interview with the Elyria, Ohio Chronicle -Telegram, Ray Walston commented on watching a rerun of ‘Martian’ with Bill Bixby during breaks while filming his guest role on the ‘Hulk’. He also shared some thoughts about My Favorite Martian as well as The Incredible Hulk.

Mr. Walston said:

"It really was nostalgic to sit with Bill and watch that ‘Martian’ episode. It was the first one I’d seen since they stopped running it in 1966. Watching it brought back a lot of memories.

"…I never thought [My Favorite Martian] would get off the ground. Then when we were about to actually go on the air, all the agents and producers I talked to said, ‘Stay away from it. Fantasy won’t work on television’.

"We only ran three seasons, but we made an enormous impact…To the degree that ‘Martian’ introduced fantasy to television, we definitely broke new ground. ‘Bewitched’ followed us by a season and ran eight years. ‘I Dream of Jeanne’ went on the next season and ran five years. Those fantasy shows wouldn’t even have been conceived, if not for ‘Martian’.

"I think ‘Hulk’ is a very underrated show. Since doing my guest stint, I’ve paid close attention to this series. I have to say that the Hulk is not just some large green character.

"There’s a great deal of poignancy in much of what he does. The whole show has a haunting quality. Of course the kids are watching it but I think the parents are watching, too.

"Bill has always possessed an innate comedy quality that to this day I don’t think anyone else can do. He’s a master at energetic, physical comedy—at wild-but-always-controlled body movements, at jumping up and down at doing double-takes, yet still keeping it all believable. He’s an enormously bright and multi-talented fellow.

"I have to tell you that in the years following ‘My Favorite Martian’ people tended to regard me as an oddity. The question I was asked most was, ‘How did the antennae work?’

"But in the past few years I’ve been treated with respect as an actor again. Now my most asked question is, ‘What’s Bill Bixby really like?’

"I like the change."

 

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