Sunday, January 25, 2026

1977 Incredible Hulk Season 1 Locations

In the 1977 Incredible Hulk, David Banner has been travelling all over trying to find a cure for himself. When he turns into the Hulk it attracts a journalist who is trying to find out about the Hulk so he moves to another place. Here is the intro:

I thought it would be fun to map out where the Hulk has travelled. I made a map of his locations below. You can click on the map to zoom in. He is mostly in California. This map is just what is shown in the episodes. It is clear from the show that he has travelled to other places not shown in the episodes. In episode 7 journalist Jack McGee mentions that he has tracked him to Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland though this is not shown in any episode and I did not put it on the map.

Here is a summary of the season and his travels. Each of the episodes the reason he leaves is because the journalist shows up:

Episode 1. The Incredible Hulk. This was basically a TV movie. It tells of his origin. He keeps having flashbacks of a car accident he got in with his wife. He flung out of the car, his wife was trapped inside. Her door was toward the ground while the car was on fire. He attempted to lift it but it was too heavy. His wife died in the fire. Afterward, he studied people who had extraordinary strength in times of crisis. He found that the people who were able to be very strong in times of crisis all had the same gene mutation and the event occurred at a time when there was higher than normal gamma radiation from the sun. The car accident with his wife took place when there was low gamma radiation which is why his gene mutation did not help him have extraordinary strength. Naturally, he went and strapped himself in and exposed himself to a ton of gamma radiation. The intro says his exposure to gamma radiation was accidental, that is because he meant to expose himself to a lower level than he did. He found that he would turn into the Hulk when angry. A journalist from a tabloid newspaper called the National Register named Jack McGee is trying to find out about the Hulk. He breaks into the lab and accidentally starts a fire when he is caught. Banner's lab partner is killed and it is believed that Banner is killed as well. The Hulk is wanted for murder. Banner pretends to be dead so people won't find out he is the Hulk. This first episode took place near Sacramento, California.

Episode 2. Death in the Family. Banner travels to the fictional town of Everett, California. I put the location where Piru, California is because that is where it was filmed. Here he stumbles on a plot where he stumbles on a plot to kill a woman for her inheretance. He hulks out and saves the day.

Episode 3. Final Round. This takes place in Wilminton, Delaware. Here he becomes friends with a boxer who gets him a job. The boxer has been delivering packages in exchange for free gym access. He finds out that it is drugs and is considering reporting to the police. The villains of the story plan to drug the boxer. Banner finds out and hulks out and saves the day. He can't just become the hulk at will but he becomes the hulk after being angered by the villains attacking him.

Episode 4. The Beast Within. This takes place at the San Diego Zoo. Banner got a job there because he was interested in one of the experiments a scientist was doing there that he thought might be applicable to curing himself. She was very interested in his research and kept showing it to him not knowing that he was Banner. Unbeknownst to her, there is a drug smuggling ring where people were smuggling drugs inside of animals and then they would kill the animals. Banner found out and the villains attempted to kill him and the scientist. He becomes hulk and saves the day. I strongly disagree with Banner's decision to leave the zoo here. It makes no sense. It was the perfect place for him to conduct his research and the other scientist wanted him to stay. He would have had access to the best lab possible to try to cure himself. But he flees because Jack McGee came around. He should have just left for about a month until McGee moved on and then returned. With the villains arrested, he would likely be able to research in peace without turning into the hulk. Then the rest of the hulk series would just be Banner never turning into the hulk and successfully finding a cure for himself. For the rest of the season after every episode I think how he should have stayed at the zoo.

Episode 5. Of Guilt, Murder, and Models. This episode didn't give an exact location so I had to do some guessing. One of the characters mentioned Portland being north. The Hollywood like atmosphere makes me think it is near Los Angeles. In this episode, he starts out as the Hulk. He can never remember what he does while he is the Hulk and it looks like he killed a woman. He gets a job as a valet to have access to the crime scene to investigate. He find out that the Hulk was framed for murder. He solves the case and the villains try to kill him in a car crusher machine at the dump. He hulks out and escapes.

Episode 6. Terror in Times Square. He gets a job in New York City at an arcade. The villain makes his boss pay protection money. When his boss shorts him, the villain tries to force Banner's boss to kill another guy to set an example. His boss plans to kill the villain but is not likely to succeed as the villain is an experienced mobster type. Banner finds all this out and hulks out and saves the day.

Episode 7. 747. This episode starts in San Francisco. Banner boards a plane to Chicago but it ends up going to Denver instead. Banner plans to go to Chicago to meet a doctor who he believes can help him with his research for a cure. One of the pilots and a flight attendant poison the other pilot and plan to parachute out with some valuable Egyptian artifacts that are secretly being transported on the plane. Banner finds out their plan, he hulks out and knocks the other pilot out. The pilot attempted to shoot the Hulk and shot the hydraulic line which causes problems later on. When Banner comes to, he is directed from the ground on how to land the plane. He is about to crash because the hydraulic line is damaged. He hulks out which gives him the strength to pull the steering wheel up and land the plane. I thought this was one of the funnier uses of turning into the hulk. This is the first episode where Jack McGee does not appear at the end.

Episode 8. The Hulk Breaks Las Vegas. This episode takes place in Las Vegas. Banner is working in a casino. He stumbles on to a plot to kill a reporter who has a story exposing some mob activity in Vegas. The reporter convinces Banner to deliver a package to Jack McGee. Banner does so in a way that McGee never sees him. When the hulk turns into the hulk they show his shirt ripping. I believe this is the episode where his shirt rips after it has already ripped. In this episode, hulk saves Jack McGee. McGee seemed afraid of him at first but then he started to attempt to interview him. Hulk was starting to calm down. It looked like he was going to transform back into Banner right in front of McGee but then a villain shoots Hulk, angering him. Hulk runs off into the desert.

Episode 9. Never Give a Trucker an Even Break. This episode takes place on the road somewhere between Las Vegas and Carson City, Nevada. Banner is hitchhiking which he often does to travel. He gets picked up by a woman who gets him involved in this plan of hers to get a semi truck back from a bunch of villains who stole it from her. There was a lot of car chasing on here. Hulk saves the woman.

Episode 10. Life and Death. This episode takes place in the fictional city of Marysville, Oregon. I am judging this to be in the location of the real city of Corvallis, Oregon. This city used to be called Marysville and has similar characteristics as Marysville in the show. Banner is going here to be a part of dangerous and experimental research that he believes might cure him. He finds out the doctor doing the research is also part of an illegal adoption scheme where they give women money in exchange for their babies. He does this to fund his research. He believes that Banner and another woman are undercover agents. The doctor attempts to kill Banner and the woman. Banner hulks out and saves the day.

Episode 11. Earthquakes Happen. This episode takes place in the fictional city of San Tomas, California. I put the mark on the map at Barstow, California. I did this because it needs to be near an earthquake faultline, in the desert, and footage of an earthquake in Los Angeles is used in this episode so Los Angeles is nearby. This is the first episode since episode 1 where Banner didn't stumble upon a crime. This time it is him who is committing the crime. This is also the rare episode where McGee shows up before he turns into the Hulk. Similar thing happened in episode 9 but usually he shows up because he is chasing the hulk. He impersonates a nuclear safety inspector to get access to the plant. He wants to expose himself to high levels of radiation, thinking this might cure him. Right as he is about to give himself the radiation, one of the scientists stops him and then there is an earthquake. A bunch of people get trapped. Hulk saves them and stops the nuclear meltdown and flees.

Episode 12. The Waterfront Story. This episode takes place at Galveston, Texas. Banner is working as a bartender. He discovers who murdered his boss's ex-husband. The villains attempt to kill the woman. He hulks out and saves her. She wants him to stay, but he flees due to his search for his cure and because McGee is there again.

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd Review

My tenth podcast is Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd. It was tenth when I listened to it, it is the eleventh right now. The show was hosted by Dax Shepherd and Monica Padham. They interviewed country music singer Christ Stapleton. Dax and Monica said one of the goals they had with this podcast is that they don't want to be a part of the division. Chris Stapleton gave some background information on his life. He said he doesn't like deadlines and that there is no such thing as a country music emergency. They asked him what he listened to and he said he doesn't listen to anything because he likes the silence. Ideas for his music come during silence. I see the value in silence though I also see the benefit of what I do. Currently, I am learning through listening to different podcasts. I am trying to add some silent contemplation through my meditation goal. I have found it easier to meditate in the morning than at night my first night meditating. My meditation goal involves listening through prayer. I believe giving some time to silence will help me to hear what God wants to tell me. Dax told a story about people trying to provoke him in the streets. They were taking his picture and attempting to provoke him by yelling at him about if he was still trying to freeze his eleven year old daughter's eggs. He said this was completely made up and they were just trying to get a reaction out of him. He says he views this kind of harassment as a sign that he has been successful so he should not be angry with it. I give this podcast a 3/5. It got 3 points for being interesting some of the time. One point off for some cursing and one point off for times that I was not interested.

Friday, January 23, 2026

Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast Review

Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast is my ninth podcast. It is still ranked number nine on Spotify's podcast list. It is quite the switch to go from the Huberman Lab to this. The hosts are "comedians" Matt McCusker, Shane Gillis, Steve Gerben, and Billy. This podcast reminded me of This Past Weekend with Theo Von in that both podcasts were unfunny comedians trying to get laughs with shock value. I listened to a talk from Spencer W. Kimball today that reminded me of this podcast. In the October 1974 Friday morning session he said, "Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly." I would say the same goes for comedy and would alter the quote to say, "Profanity is the effort of an unfunny comedian to get a laugh." Jerry Seinfeld said "Most of the time, when you hear the dirty words sprinkled in, it’s someone who’s lost and scared and uses swearing to save their tail." I can't find the quote but I have a memory of Seinfeld saying that a comedian cursing is cheating, it is like a baseball player corking his bat. Aside from the bad comedy, another thing I thought was annoying in the podcast is when they got political and said that the tariffs must have worked because if they didn't people would be talking about it but it is never brought up. This comment is dumb because he assumes that because he hasn't heard something means nobody is talking about it. If he would go to google.com he would be able to get out of his bubble and see the negative effects of tariffs. I worry that ignorant listeners of this podcast who get limited news are influenced by small comments like this. I give this podcast 0/5 for unfunny comedy and uninformed political commentary.

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Huberman Lab Review

My ninth podcast is Huberman Lab. It was number nine when I listened to it and it is now 18th as I write this post. Huberman Lab is hosted by Andrew Huberman who is a professor at Stanford University. He interviewed Wendy Suzuki who is a professor at New York University. The title of this episode is "Essentials: Tools to Boost Attention and Memory." She talked a lot about how exercise improves your brain. She says it helps you grow a fluffy hippocampus. The more you exercise, the more it will help your brain. Exercising throughout your life will help delay the affects of dementia as you get older. She did a study and found low fit individuals who exercised two to three times a week that this improved their brain. She was mostly focused on exercise throughout the episode but she mentioned three things that helped brain health: exercise, meditation, and sleep. I do exercise regularly, I feel pretty good about that. I think I get enough sleep because I have a sleep plan that even when I work in the night I make up my sleep during the day. She mentioned meditation as well. I think I can work on this. I am sure this is not what she means but for me how I want to improve meditation is to engage with God in prayer. I think currently my prayers are too one sided. I have been better at praying at different times of my life but now I have been doing the talking and not enough listening. Kind of crazy to tell God what I think but don't listen to what he says. My new goal is to pray morning and night and to take at least five minutes for each of these prayers to listen. What God says to me is more important than what I say to him. Not sure if Suzuki would agree but I think the inner reflection involved in listening to God is a form of meditation that would help my brain health. But more importantly, I believe listening to God will help my spiritual health. I thought this podcast was interesting. It is nice to hear a conversation between two educated and informed people to help to learn about a topic. I give it 5/5 for being educational and interesting.

Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

My eighth podcast is Good Hang with Amy Poehler. It has moved to number two since I listened to it. She interviewed Ryan Coogler. They taled of his background and different things he has worked on, but what I found most interesting was when he talked of directing Black Panther and and Chadwick Boseman. I am a big Marvel fan and am trying to watch all Marvel movies and shows. I saw Black Panther before I really got into Marvel because I was watching mobies in IMDB's top 250 and I thought Black Panther was in there at the time, but I just checked and can find no evidence it was ever in there. Black Panther is 7.3 and the lowest in the 250 is 8.6. Coogler talked about how he felt like he had imposter syndrome and was worried he would get fired. Boseman told him to never say that, and that Boseman would never let them fire Coogler. Poehler asked Coogler if there was going to be another Black Panther movie and he said yes. She was asking him what musical instrument he thought of with three different movies he made. In the other movies it was a guitar, but in Black Panther it was a talking drum that was used for communication forever ago. They went and found drummers in Africa to perform. Pretty cool I say: Coogler also mentioned randomly that he likes the Jake from State Farm SNL skit. I looked it up and thought it was pretty funny: I thought Amy Poehler was a good interviewer. She put Coogler at ease and got him to feel comfortable and share freely. The podcast was interesting. 5/5.

Monday, January 19, 2026

Up First from NPR Review

My seventh podcast is Up First from NPR. It is currently in the eighth spot. The title of the episode I listened to was "FBI Search Journalist's Home, U.S. Greenland Talks, Mental Health Funding." They started off talking about the FBI searching a Washington Post journalist's home as part of a leak investigation. They talked about the threat this poses to journalism. The Trump administration says it is about investigating a leak but it in reality Team Trump care nothing about such things as Trump was busted hiding a bunch of classified documents in his bathroom when he was not president and was not authorized to have the documents. Next they talked about how the U.S. talks about Greenland haven't yielded any results. It's just embarrassing that we are in a place where the U.S. is making everyone waste their time talking about how the U.S. can't just steal Greenland. The they talked about some mental health funding that had been cut off had been restored after a news story about it. I liked this podcast, it was brief information about important stories. I hadn't heard the FBI searching the journalist's home when I listened to this so it was informative. The Greenland issue, I had obviously heard of but it was an important story to hear about and a story that just shows the immorality and danger of the Trump administration. The health funding just showed more chaotic government where nothing is thought through. I give this podcast 5/5 for being an informative listen. It's just insane that we have a president right now who is threatening to take over Greenland and it doesn't make people change their mind about supporting him. The problem with our country isn't that we have Donald Trump. Having plenty of villains of course will be happening with a country this size. The problem is the people who support Donald Trump, who don't care about how awful he is, and will never condemn him. Insane that him trying to steal Greenland doesn't cause any Republicans to think he is unfit for office.

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Ice Skating in Idaho Falls

One cool thing that Santa gives us every year is the Getout Pass. The kids love it and so do we because we get to keep doing so many fun activities. Ours expires later this month and the new one will start up. The Getout Pass gives us admission to all sorts of different types of things. The Idaho Falls ice skating rink is on the Getout Pass for once a year. We went ice skating at the beginning of our first Getout Pass in January 2024. Last year, we attempted to go in January, but the day we wanted to go was the first day of our GetOut Pass and it was impossible to tell what time it started. That's when we learned that there is one day a year that we should not use this because nobody can know what time it starts at. So on Friday we used our ice skating GetOut Pass a week before it expired. Our kids all loved ice skating this time. Here are some pictures and videos: