TMC
06-28-2026, 05:09 AM
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In 1983, NBC took one of the wildest swings in television history with Manimal—a primetime adventure series about Dr. Jonathan Chase, a man who could transform into any animal… and somehow solve crimes doing it.
Armed with ambitious practical effects, a pulp-fiction premise, and transformation sequences that seemed to last longer than the plots themselves, Manimal burned bright… and disappeared almost overnight.
So, what went wrong? Why did this bizarre high-concept series fail after only eight episodes? And how did Jonathan Chase somehow reappear years later in an unforgettable crossover with another Superhero?
In this Pulp Vision retrospective, we dive into the rise, fall, cult legacy, and gloriously awkward afterlife of one of television’s strangest experiments.
If you love forgotten TV, cult classics, and ambitious disasters from the golden age of genre television—welcome home.
In 1983, NBC took one of the wildest swings in television history with Manimal—a primetime adventure series about Dr. Jonathan Chase, a man who could transform into any animal… and somehow solve crimes doing it.
Armed with ambitious practical effects, a pulp-fiction premise, and transformation sequences that seemed to last longer than the plots themselves, Manimal burned bright… and disappeared almost overnight.
So, what went wrong? Why did this bizarre high-concept series fail after only eight episodes? And how did Jonathan Chase somehow reappear years later in an unforgettable crossover with another Superhero?
In this Pulp Vision retrospective, we dive into the rise, fall, cult legacy, and gloriously awkward afterlife of one of television’s strangest experiments.
If you love forgotten TV, cult classics, and ambitious disasters from the golden age of genre television—welcome home.