That mean green fightin’ machine, The Incredible Hulk, has developed quite the impressive television resume over the years since he debuted in Marvel Comics in 1962. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the ever-cranky beast first made it to the Saturday morning airwaves in 1966 as part of Marvel Superheroes before landing a respectable live-action primetime gig that lasted from 1978-1982 and starred Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby. He also appeared in the early 80s cartoon Spiderman and his Amazing Friends. But it wasn’t until 1996 that he finally became the star of his very-own Saturday morning cartoon, appropriately titled The Incredible Hulk.

Despite the various incarnations over the years, the bio has changed little. As in previous shows, The Incredible Hulk is the alter ego to Dr. David Banner, a scientist who invented a deadly gamma bomb for the military and became its first unwilling victim, with monstrous results. It all started when a teenager named Rick Jones took his friends up on a bet and decided to drive across a military base. Little did he know that Banner was in the process of testing his weapon. Spotting the teen in dangerously close proximity, Banner valiantly saved Rick from the explosion by coming to his rescue in the nick of time and shoving the teen intruder into the safety of a ditch. As a result, Rick emerged unscathed but Banner, exposed to the bomb’s rays, wasn’t nearly as lucky. He transformed into a cantankerous creature, with massive muscle structure and a sinister green hue. While the effect eventually wore off, it proved to be only temporary. Get the doctor angry, and within moments the hulk would come out of hiding.

As one might imagine, this made relationships particularly difficult, especially considering the fact that David’s girlfriend just so happened to be the daughter of General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and the general didn’t care much for the Hulkster. About the only person the green guy could count on for support was Rick, who stuck around to help the doctor-beast who had saved his life.

In this particular series, the primary focus of the Hulk was to find a cure to these untimely transformations. Everything from mysticism to technology was tried, without success. Often, these attempts made things decidedly worse, such as the time when another hulk, this one gray, emerged. And along the way, Banner and Jones had to contend with a number of villains such The Leader, Abomination, Sasquatch, The Absorbing Man and Wendigo – not to mention General Ross and his sidekick, Major Talbot trying to hamper Banner’s attempts at every turn.

The misunderstood muscled monster managed to last for two seasons in his self-titled Saturday morning show. The animated series would later be shown in repeats as The Incredible Hulk and Friends. And the big guy finally made it to the big screen in CGI form in 2003. Another Incredible Hulk film is scheduled for release in 2008.

Now that’s a resume that would make many a Hollywood actor green with envy.