Werewolf (TV series)

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Werewolf (disambiguation).

Werewolf

Genre Horror

Thriller

Created by Frank Lupo

Frank Lupo

Directed by James Darren

Starring John J. York

Lance LeGault

Chuck Connors

Composer Sylvester Levay

Country of origin United States

Original language English

No. of seasons 1

No. of episodes 29

Production

Executive producers John Ashley

Frank Lupo

Producer Bernadette Joyce

Editor Howard Deane

Running time 24 min

TriStar Television (1987–1988)

Original release

Network Fox

Release July 11, 1987 –

Werewolf is an American horror series, and one of the original shows in the Fox
network's broadcast line-up during its inaugural season of 1987–1988.
The show follows the adventures of Eric Cord (John J. York), a college student
transformed into a werewolf who undergoes a quest to rid himself of his curse by killing
the apparent originator of his "bloodline," a drifter named Janos Skorzeny (the
character's name is a reference to the name of the vampire in the classic TV film The
Night Stalker) played by Chuck Connors (in his last television role). While pursuing
Skorzeny, Cord himself is pursued by the persistent bounty hunter "Alamo" Joe Rogan
(Lance LeGault). Later, Cord hunts Nicholas Remy (Brian Thompson), the real
originator of the bloodline.
The show aired a two-hour pilot and 28 half-hour episodes before being canceled in
1988. In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Sky One from 1989 to 1990.
Synopsis[edit]
Eric Cord is a college student whose average life comes to an end on the night that his
roommate, Ted, hands him a gun loaded with silver bullets. Ted is a werewolf who has
been killing people and tells Eric to kill him, seeing this as his only way out. A red
pentagram on Ted's right palm is the sign that the metamorphosis is coming.
Confronted with Eric's disbelief, Ted decides to prove his situation and asks Eric to tie
him up in a chair and wait until midnight, at which time he'd either see for himself or call
in professional help. When midnight comes, Ted transforms into a werewolf, forcing his
friend to shoot and kill him — but not before he manages to bite Eric. Before long, Eric
discovers a pentagram on his own palm and, soon after, undergoes his own
transformation into a seven-foot-tall werewolf. Now on the run for his friend's murder,
Eric spends the remainder of the series on a quest to find and kill the originator of his
bloodline, the mysterious Janos Skorzeny, which will break the curse.
The series was similar in tone and formula to shows like The Fugitive and The
Incredible Hulk but achieved a contemporary feel by mixing a decidedly rock soundtrack
with suspense-themed music. Eric wandered from place to place, hitchhiking, taking
odd jobs and befriending various characters whose paths he crossed along the way,
before invariably being transformed by his werewolf curse just in time to save his new
friends from the clutches of some evildoer. Though Eric appeared to have no control
over his actions while in werewolf form and typically retained no memory of them
afterward, he seemed to prey almost exclusively on villainous characters, never
attacking or killing an innocent person. There were hints as the series progressed,
however, that this self-control was slowly eroding, as indeed Ted had warned him it
would, threatening to destroy Eric's conscience/will if he could not end the curse soon.
Near the end of the series' run, it was revealed that the originator of Eric's bloodline was
not, in fact, the evil Janos Skorzeny but rather an even more powerful and malevolent
werewolf named Nicholas Remy (played by Brian Thompson). The series ended before
Eric could be rid of his curse.
The special effects techniques used in production were considered first-rate and
impressive for the time, specifically the transformation sequences, in which, for
example, the pentagram-shaped scar on Eric's right hand would rise, thicken and grow
three-dimensionally, and begin to bleed.
Replacement of Skorzeny[edit]
According to script editor Allan Cole, after the series had started production, Chuck
Connors wanted to renegotiate his contract for more money.[1] Various episodes written
to feature Skorzeny were shot without Connors — using only scenes with Skorzeny in
his werewolf form plus a human body double with no dialogue. Series creator Frank
Lupo asked Cole and Chris Bunch to kill off Skorzeny in "To Dream of Wolves."
Connors agreed to return for his finale, according to Cole. The script was originally
written as a three-parter with Connors in the first two parts, but two days before
shooting, Cole and Bunch were informed that Connors would not take part. The first two
episodes were collapsed into one, all of Skorzeny's new dialogue was cut (aside from
flashback scenes of young Skorzeny played by a different actor) and Skorzeny's part
was rewritten to show him cravenly (and silently) kneeling before Remy. In the final fight
between Eric and Skorzeny, Eric scarred his foe with acid and then electrocuted him —
allowing Connors' human-form body double to play the death scene in disfiguring
makeup.[2]
Production[edit]
Parts of the series were shot in Salt Lake City, Utah.[3]
It was co-produced by John Ashley.[4]
Characteristics[edit]
Traits[edit]
The werewolves in the show were immune to the effects of aging or disease, with the
exception of Skorzeny himself. Although Skorzeny was apparently a young man, as
shown in a flashback scene when he was bitten by Nicolas Remy in the 19th century,
he appeared to be in his mid-sixties in 1987. Nicolas Remy explained to Eric that
Skorzeny was slowly dying from a "sickness brought about by his own evil," that was
decaying him from within. Nicolas Remy himself was over two thousand years old; yet,
he appeared to be a man in his late thirties with the exception of a streak of gray hair
near his right temple.
The werewolves in the series were apparently vulnerable to harm in their human forms
from ordinary weapons but with no permanent effects. In an episode titled "A World of
Difference", Eric is shot dead in human form (he was just beginning to undergo the
metamorphosis), only to resurrect in the morgue by transforming into his werewolf form
at sunset. In another episode titled "Nightmare at the Braine Hotel", Eric meets a
werewolf named Servan, who tells him a story in which he had been executed by
hanging in his human form. He seemed greatly amused by the memory of the looks on
his executioners' faces as he leapt off the undertaker's table when he transformed at
sunset and rose from death. Another werewolf character, a hobo named Hank who was
featured in the episode "King of the Road", dies in his human form from having his
throat cut, only to resurrect in his werewolf form as soon as night falls. This ability is
reminiscent of the "Eddie Quist" character in The Howling, who is shot dead by police
during the beginning of his transformation at the adult movie theater, only to come to life
later by transforming in the morgue.
The werewolves themselves transformed into large, almost bearlike bipedal wolves with
long simian arms that allowed them to run on all fours, as well as two. All the
werewolves transformed by sprouting fangs, claws and fur, except for Skorzeny, who
peeled back the skin of his face to reveal the werewolf form within. In their human
forms, they had no traditionally distinguishing marks, such as eyebrows meeting over
the bridge of their nose or hair on the palms of their hands. It was also never explored
as to whether or not werewolves could reproduce sexually in their human bodies.
Although the werewolves did completely recover from wounds made by non-silver
weapons, the series never explored whether or not werewolves could regenerate
missing limbs. Skorzeny, who wore an eye patch over his left eye, did seem to
regenerate his missing eye when he transformed into his werewolf form. But when he
returned to his human form, he once again wore the eye patch. It was explained that
Remy is the one who cut out his eye in the episode "To Dream of Wolves."
Werewolves in this series did not transform during the full moon; the pentagram on their
palm was the only signal that the metamorphosis was approaching. In the pilot, Eric's
roommate, Ted, stated that its appearance was very random, and that he had not
discerned any pattern to when or how often the metamorphosis would occur. Older
werewolves like Skorzeny and Remy had the ability to induce the metamorphosis
without the appearance of the pentagram, unlike Eric, who seemed to be at the mercy
of the curse's cycle. In the episode "To Dream of Wolves", Remy also showed an ability
to shapeshift single body parts at will, as shown when he shapeshifted his right arm into
its werewolf shape to kill Dianne for disobeying his order to kill Eric. Remy also seemed
to have a form of psychic control over those of his bloodline: In "To Dream of Wolves",
he toys with Eric by telepathically forcing him to press a silver dagger to his own throat,
drawing blood.
Shapeshifting into a werewolf[edit]
While the bite of a werewolf was the standard way to pass the curse to another person,
blood transfusion appeared to be effective in the episode titled "Big Daddy." No mystical
talismans, salves or hexes seemed to have any place in the series. It was also never
suggested that the curse was hereditary.
Vulnerabilities[edit]
The werewolves had only three known weaknesses mentioned in the series: any
weapon made from silver, being killed by another werewolf or suicide.
Bloodlines[edit]
Eric is told of other bloodlines by Gray Wolf in the episode of the same name. It is
unknown if it is a complete list or just the bloodlines that he knew of.

 Nicholas Remy
 o Janos Skorzeny
 Ted Nichols
 Eric Cord
 Yuzora
o Gray Wolf
 Blackfoot
 Blackwolf
 Mather
 Pilatzi
 Mendez
 Kadar
 Howard