The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The series is a superhero drama-comedy. Ralph Hinkley is a schoolteacher for "special students", determined to get through to them. Coming back from a field trip late one night, the school bus breaks down, forcing Ralph to walk back through the desert to get help. He encounters a swerving car driven by FBI Special Agent Bill Maxwell (Culp) that stops just in time to avoiding hitting Hinkley. Maxwell insists that he could not control the car. Then two bright purple lights appear in the sky and they both jump in the car and try to get away, but the car will not start and the doors lock by themselves trapping them inside.

They are surprised to find that the lights come from an alien spacecraft. The alien tells Ralph and Bill (by way of the car radio) that they are to work together to save the world and Ralph will be given the power to change it. They are given a black case. Later Ralph opens it and finds a silly-looking red suit (with cape) which endows him with superhuman abilities. Bill runs off from fear but later contacts Ralph, leading to an awkward partnership as the two try to use the powers of the suit (which Bill calls the "magic jammies") to fight crime.

The novelty of the show is based on Ralph's inability to properly learn to use the suit, and even learn the use of its various capabilities, other than by trial and error, because he lost the instruction manual in the desert. A recurring gag involves Ralph clumsily trying to strip off his outer clothes to activate the suit before the enemies can get away.