Werewolf

I liked WEREWOLF and remember watching the entire season. Cool FX (esp for it's day on TV), solid acting and writing. It did make me think: Incredible Hulk meets The Wolfman. I was disappointed it didn't return for another season. It was one of the shows that got me watching FOX when it premiered as a network. Ah, the 80s. Good times. I keep saying it but TV Land should do a "lost shows weekend" and run all episodes! Or perhaps, Fox should do it themselves during the summer slump... run the old shows that put them on the map... like a retro-tribute... and show WEREWOLF, DUET, TRACEY ULLMAN, etc. In any case, a DVD wouldn't sink the studio, would it?

I remember when I was a little kid back in 1987 I was so fascinated by "Werewolf", a very well made TV series by then newborn FOX network. The premise of the show rang familiar, a lone good guy wanders the country helping people, always on the run from the law. This brings back memories of "The Fugitive". Ofcourse, said lone good guy who was named Eric Cord also uncontrollably transforms into a massively frightening werewolf beast. This harkens back to "The Incredible Hulk" TV series.

Eric Cord is a typical college student who is told by his roommate Ted that he is a werewolf and must be killed. Eric doesn't believe him until he sees Ted actually transform into a werewolf and Eric is forced to kill him with the silver bullet that Ted gave him. Sadly, Eric is bitten, and the curse is passed onto him. Eric must then track down the head werewolf and kill him or her to break the curse. Cord is a wanted fugitive for killing his roommate Ted, and a tough as nails bounty hunter named Alamo Joe Rogan is relentlessly on his trail. Rogan grew up thinking that he could stand up to anything if he could look it in the eye,...if he could look it in the eye that is. So part of Rogan's obsession is confronting Eric's werewolf, and his own fear of the one thing in the world that momentarily scared Rogan sh*tless and made him "blink"---seeing that terrifying werewolf. The special effects by Rick Baker were OUTSTANDING for a TV series made in 1987.

The main difference with Eric Cord and Dr. Banner was that, you knew that the Hulk would never intentionally kill anyone. Even if people attacked the Hulk, he would never kill them. Toss them 20 feet through the air maybey, but "Hulk no kill". A werewolf is a different story. And with Eric Cord's werewolf, there was ALWAYS the lurking menace of his werewolf killing innocents, not just the "bad guys". And in some episodes, Eric's werewolf actually did kill some innocent people. It was clear that towards the end of the 1st season, that Eric was not as in control of his beast as he was in the beginning. (losing control of the werewolf was something his friend Ted warned him about). Unfortunately, the FOX network in all it's grand stupidity decided to cancel "Werewolf" in 1988 after just one measely season and replaced it with that idiot program called "It's the Gary Shandling Show".

The only weak spot about "Werewolf" was that it was only 30 minutes long an episode, when it really should have been a full hour long. This show preceded WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" by 10 years, and FOX will never live down canceling this great series.

When the FOX network started they had a lot of quirky, interesting shows. One of them was Werewolf, which unfortunately, didn't last beyond its first season. The opening credits to this show was great, showing a full moon in the sky before panning down to a werewolf hidden in the bushes. Chuck Connors was great as a malevolent werewolf who gave the impression that he could control when and where he transformed into one, unlike the hero of the show. Connor's character was killed off near the end of the show's run, I believe. However, the main character discovered that there was another werewolf more powerful than Connor's character that had to be dispatched as well before the curse could be broken. That plotline had much potential, but FOX didn't stick with it.

Werewolf. Almost no one remembers this little gem of the 80's! It was a breakthrough in special effects! Especially since it was a television series. It was definitely movie quality at the time and can stand on it's own today. The story was so engrossing that I remember planting myself in front of the television, guarding the dial like a rabid dog, just so no one changed the channel as I waited for the show to come on. I would love to see this on DVD in the near future. That heaven seems to be fading by the day. I;m keeping my fingers crossed! C'Mon Fox or Tristar or whoever has the rights to this show... How about Frank Lupo? Is he still alive? I'd love to spread knowledge about this great series... but I can't even find it on VHS!!! All i ask is for this to be brought back into the spotlight where it belongs.

Back in 1988, kids and adults all over America would sit down on those long weekend nights to watch the latest episode of "Werewolf", the new horror series from the creators of "The A-Team". It tells the story of Eric Cord (John J. York), a college kid whose world is ripped apart when his roommate tells him that he is a murderous werewolf and asks to be shot with a silver bullet. Despite his initial scepticism, Eric witnesses his friend change into the beast and is forced to shoot him -- but not before he gets bitten by the monster.

Now he knows that in order to break the curse he must severe the bloodline by killing the original werewolf, an insane sea captain called Skorzeny (Chuck Connors, replaced by a stand-in for the later episodes), while he is also chased by a relentless part-Indian bounty hunter, Alamo Joe Rogan (Lance LeGault). On his travels, hitchhiking his way from job to job while hunting Skorzeny, he finds that ordinary humans can be even more evil than the beast inside of him, but there are also those who try to help and understand him. He even meets others like himself, although they are almost always insane or evil, or both. Later he discovers that his true nemesis is actually a particularly powerful and ancient werewolf named Nicholas Remy (Brian Thompson).

While for the most part this was a fairly lighthearted thriller series at least partly aimed at children, there is also some truly dark subject matter in some of the episodes, and it becomes genuinely more and more surreal as it goes on. It has a great eighties-style soundtrack, although the constant guitar solo in the background becomes a little intrusive in some episodes ... is this a horror show or a Guns n' Roses music video? The episodes themselves are only thirty minutes long, which often feels too short. Many of the episodes could easily have stood being extended to an hour -- the standard length for most series of this type.

After the feature length pilot episode, there were a total of twenty eight episodes that were produced. It also sparked a six-issue comic book adaptation, although that's difficult to find these days. Fox, still in it's early years, cancelled the show after one season -- regardless of the superb quality of the later episodes (it's slot was taken by "Married with Children"). Since then, the show has been completely neglected. Due to the lack of reruns and the fact that it still hasn't been released on DVD, hardly anyone knows about it except those who loved it during it's initial run. This series remains a forgotten gem.