View Full Version : The Failure of Manimal (1983): A Bizarre Show That Lasted 8 Episodes Too Many.


TMC
03-28-2025, 02:49 AM
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In 1983, NBC launched Manimal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SDyQ7OaHQY), one of the most bizarre and ambitious TV shows of the 1980s. Created by Glen A. Larson — the mind behind Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica, and The Fall Guy — Manimal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ftoseSLxUo) followed Dr. Jonathan Chase, a man with the ability to transform into any animal to fight crime.

With special effects by Stan Winston (The Terminator, Aliens), a prime-time NBC time slot, and a cast led by Simon MacCorkindale and Melody Anderson, Manimal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trze_WGSjZo) was set up to be a hit. But instead, it became one of the biggest TV flops of the decade.

So what went wrong?

The full story of Manimal (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125239/http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/manimal.htm) is stranger than you think.