Horror movies were booming in the 1980s thanks to the slasher fad. However, finding the genre on TV was a different story. The Twilight Zone came back for a few years in the decade, and if you were a kid of a certain age, CBS’ Beauty and the Beast could be a bit creepy, but if you wanted straight-up horror, one of the only options out there was Werewolf. It debuted on the rather new Fox network in 1987, and although it ended all too soon, after two short seasons, Werewolf left its mark as a scary series ahead of its time.
What Was ‘Werewolf’ About?
The Fox Broadcasting Company was formed in 1986 as the fourth major network behind ABC, CBS, and NBC. It struggled in the beginning, with few successes, like Married… with Children, which meant Fox took more risks. One of those with the series Werewolf. Premiering as a two-hour event in July 1987, Werewolf had an interesting formula, combining the winning television concepts of The Incredible Hulk and The Fugitive into one.
Werewolf focused on a young man named Eric Cord, played by John J. York, best known to horror fans at the time for his small role in Night of the Creeps. He’s our hero, even though Cord is a werewolf. Like The Incredible Hulk‘s Bruce Banner (Bill Bixby), Cord is stuck by a curse he doesn’t want, which transforms him into a terrifying monster. Having been attacked by a werewolf, Cord now becomes one, leading him on a pursuit to find the lead lycanthrope. If he can kill him, Cord will be free. Playing the villainous role of Janos Skorzeny was the star of The Rifleman, Chuck Connors (horror fans will remember his creepy role in Tourist Trap), in one of his last television parts before his death in 1992.
Werewolf tells two all-encompassing stories. It’s not only about Cord trying to find Skorzeny, but it is also about the hero, just like in The Fugitive, being tracked down for a murder he didn’t commit, this time by a bounty hunter played by Lance LeGault named Joe Rogan (yes, that’s his real character’s name). But how can Werewolf create a sympathetic hero if he’s also turning into a monster who kills people? Werewolf found a way around that. Whenever Eric Cord transforms, it’s bad guys who meet their end.
‘Werewolf’ Was Cancelled After Two Seasons
Werewolf had a premise which might have seemed over-the-top in 1987, but it did have something going for it. The series was created by Frank Lupo, the same man who co-created hit 80s shows like The A-Team and Hunter. Werewolf, however, had a major problem right out of the gate. It’s big star, Chuck Connors, barely showed up, only appearing in four of its 29 episodes. Alan Cole, the script editor for the show, wrote about what happened on his blog. A few days after starting working on Werewolf, Lupo showed up in Cole’s office asking him to kill off the Skorzeny character. Cole couldn’t understand why, because “Connors had done a damned good job of portraying an evil, scary, villain with no moral compunctions whatsoever.” As it turned out, though, Connors wanted a new deal before the first episode even aired, angering Lupo.
This led to the TV icon mostly being written out of the series, with someone else made the villain. That could have led to disaster, yet Werewolf remained a fun series. It had a likable, good-looking lead, two compelling stories, and plenty of scary thrills. So, how did the werewolf look? After all, this was TV in the 80s, and you can imagine the monster looking hilariously bad on a struggling new network. No worries there, because the titular monster was created by none other than Rick Baker, the practical effects genius who had already created two famous werewolves for Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” video and An American Werewolf in London, the latter of which resulted in him winning the first ever Academy Award for Best Makeup.
Eric Cord isn’t the only werewolf in the series. There are plenty of bad ones too, who have no qualms about killing the innocent. Baker’s effects brought them to life, with the creatures mostly walking upright like a human. Thanks to Baker, they hold up with the best of werewolf movies, and the attack scenes are easily the best part of the series. This is because, as Cole revealed, there were three werewolf costumes, and cost about $500,000 each.
Werewolf was canceled just 13 months after it debuted without an ending that wrapped things up. Fans never had the resolution of learning if Eric Cord would kill the head lycanthrope and have his curse removed. As disappointing as this was, it also left viewers forever wanting more, making it unforgettable for those who watched it. It was a flawed series, hindered by the actions of an aging TV star, but saved by the passion behind its effects. If you were a kid in the 1980s, there’s a good chance Werewolf was your introduction to horror.
