A Hidden Gem: 1987’s Horror Series “Werewolf” Claws Its Way Out of Obscurity

[TMC]

https://bloody-disgusting.com/editor...way-obscurity/

The path to success was not a smooth one for Fox. In 1987, the Fox Broadcasting Company was still new to the TV market, and most of its original shows didn’t last beyond one season, if even that. Yet among the network’s inaugural weekend programming was a brooding horror series like nothing else on the air. The eighties, a banner decade for all things werewolves, saw a resurgence in these hirsute holdovers from the Universal Classic Monsters era. People’s desire to see these horrific manifestations of the human id didn’t stop at the big screen; “lyco fever” had spread to television, as well.

Frank Lupo’s cult series Werewolf started out as a feature-length pilot before settling into its Saturday-night timeslot along with other Fox obscurities like The New Adventures of Beans Baxter and a TV version of the movie Down and Out in Beverly Hills. Lasting a further twenty-eight half-hour episodes, the show chronicled Eric Cord’s (John J. York) endless search for his ancestral sire after he’s cursed to become a fearsome creature of the night. York, who was cast as the lead only two weeks before the pilot was filmed, was initially hesitant to do a horror series; he later told Fangoria in 1989, “Most of the [horror movies] I’ve seen have scared me to death, but my attitude has changed now that I’ve been on the show awhile.” With Werewolf being a soft anthology with just one central character, it was important to have an actor who could carry the show on his shoulders and keep audiences coming back.

Fox wasn’t shy about using York’s handsome mug for publicity — a vintage network commercial, centered around the ‘87 slogan of “Don’t Let Fox Weekend Pass You By,” has York being comically fondled by a woman proclaiming “I do believe in werewolves, I do, I do!” — but people also tuned in to see his character’s hairy alter-ego in action. Bringing these renowned monsters to life with realism and credibility intact is no easy feat. So, after getting the go-ahead from Fox, Lupo and producer John Ashley secured the talents of effects and make-up artists Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) and Greg Cannom (The Howling). These practical-effects wizards are a large reason why Werewolf became so considerable, not to mention memorable, for viewers back then.

[Fallon97]

This was one of my favorites growing up.