There's a big difference between the Hulk in the Marvel movies and the one from the classic TV show The Incredible Hulk, and that difference is Lou Ferrigno- the mighty man who portrayed Bruce's angry green alter ego.
Lou Ferrigno really brought the Hulk's rage to life, and he made the scenes where Bruce Banner Hulks out exciting to watch, as viewers sat wondering what he was going to smash next.
But before Bruce could turn into the Hulk he had to be provoked into having a full-blown Hulk Attack, and the reasons Bruce Hulked out were often pretty ridiculous:
- Receiving a lethal injection, and then having the person say, “Oh. I just gave you a lethal injection. Sorry, David.”
- Wandering around in the service ducts of a hotel (predating Bruce Willis) only to accidentally yank several of the pipes loose and get a full blast of hot steam
- Being tied up and fed soup by an elderly Japanese woman who doesn’t
understand words like “You’ve GOT to cut me loose!”- Being thrown under a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade float by a mean guy in a gorilla suit who gives David a few kicks for good measure
- Receiving a speeding ticket
- Wandering around inside a carnival funhouse, only to have someone turn on the machinery so that David is somehow caught in a rolling tumbler and flipped over a few times and then thrown down a convenient slide
Producer and creator of The Incredible Hulk, Kenneth Johnson, compiled a list of all 131 reasons Banner Hulks out in the series and posted it to his blog under the title Incredible HULK Provocations or "Ways To Make Dr. David Banner Angry". Here are a few more that made me laugh:
107. Tied up by the Japanese mob in San Francisco and thrown in his bathtub with the shower blasting scalding hot water on him (why he doesn't simply get out of the tub is a mystery)
92. Being trapped in the middle of a forest fire so that burning branches keep falling on him and setting him on fire, and a giant, burning tree falls directly on him as the last straw (Different from last forest fire predicament)
56. Somehow getting himself into a bellfry and then realizing that a bell is there, just as it strikes the hour
47. Being stuck in a cab in New York rush hour traffic - "You don't understand, I have to be there by 4:00!" - "Hey, mac, it's rush hour, we ain't gettin' there til five, so relax." - "BUT I HAVE TO BE THERE BY FOUR!!!"
52. Locked in a drunk tank with a crazy person who insists he is Ernest Hemingway and then beats the stuffing out of David
-Via io9