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Manimal (1983) : Bite Bigger Than Bark : A Video Essay

TMC — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:20:45 GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvMPdsJbj84

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A show that lasted just 8 episodes in 1983 is still remembered today for its cool and originality.

Before CGI, There Was MANIMAL�The Weirdest Superhero Show NBC Wanted You To Forget!

TMC — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:09:28 GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmGxbs8jl0M

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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.

How one of NBC's most infamous flops became part of the Marvel Universe

TMC — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 05:12:35 GMT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ho...541c3118&ei=46

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Story by Andrew Gladman

NBC's short-lived "Manimal" hasn't exactly made its way into the superhero TV series hall of fame, but a one-episode crossover meant the campy 1980s series technically became a part of the Marvel multiverse. "Manimal," which premiered in September 1983 and ran for just one season, followed shape-shifting crimefighter Dr. Jonathan Chase (Simon MacCorkindale), who possessed the power to transform into any animal. Chase used this ability to protect the innocent and aid the police in solving crimes.

Despite some transformation sequences that were impressive for their day, if a little disturbing, "Manimal" turned out every bit as corny as its premise suggests. Amid low ratings and a poor critical reception, "Manimal" was canceled after just eight episodes. However, MacCorkindale reprised the role of Jonathan Chase years later for a crossover with a long-forgotten corner of the Marvel Universe. While "Manimal" was an original series created by Glen A. Larson and Donald R. Boyle, Larson would later go on to develop "Night Man," a TV adaptation of the comic "The Night Man."

Originally a Malibu Comics property, under their Ultraverse imprint, Night Man joined the Marvel Universe — or, at least, a distant offshoot of it in Marvel's vast multiverse — when Marvel Comics purchased Malibu Comics in 1994. In a 1998 episode of "Night Man," the series' titular superhero crossed paths with Jonathan Chase for a team-up adventure. Chase's transformations were now realized with CGI, rather than "Manimal's" eye-catching practical effects, but the crossover gave "Manimal" one last moment in the spotlight.