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Airwolf
Title card from original run.
Format	Action / Espionage
Created by	Donald P. Bellisario
Starring	Jan-Michael Vincent Ernest Borgnine Alex Cord
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	79 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	45 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS, USA
Original run	January 22, 1984 – August 7, 1987
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 through 1987. The program concerned a supersonic military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme.

The show was devised by Donald Bellisario, who had also created Magnum, P.I., and would go on to produce Quantum Leap, JAG, and NCIS. The first three seasons starred Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord, and Jean Bruce Scott. The final season, for the USA Network, was recast.

The show had a musical score (orchestral based in the first and early second season episodes; synthesizer-based thereafter) penned and performed by Sylvester Levay.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 The Firm 2 Production history 2.1 Magnum P.I. connection 2.2 Seasons 2 and 3 2.3 Season 4 2.4 Syndication 3 The Airwolf helicopter 4 Regular cast 5 Merchandise 5.1 Video games 5.2 Models 6 DVD releases 7 References 8 See also 9 External links

The series's protagonist is Stringfellow Hawke (played by Jan-Michael Vincent), a loner who lives in a cabin in the mountains, only accompanied by his Bluetick Coonhound, "Tet", and the surrounding wildlife. Hawke is a recluse, spending most of his time alone with his priceless collection of paintings, and serenading eagles with his equally priceless Stradivarius cello. His only real friend and mentor is the older, eternally cheerful Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine).

Earlier, Hawke was a testpilot for Airwolf, an advanced supersonic helicopter with stealth capabilities and a formidable arsenal. Hawke is called upon by a man code named Archangel – the leader of “the Firm” that built Airwolf – to steal Airwolf back from her twisted creator, Dr. Charles Henry Moffet, who had taken her to Libya.

Hawke, with Santini, finds the aircraft, but does not return it. Instead, they hide it in an extinct volcano (the Lair) in Monument Valley and occasionally fly it to carry out undercover missions for Uncle Sam, in exchange for assistance from the Firm in locating Hawke’s lost brother, St. John Hawke (Sin Jin), missing in action since the Vietnam War.

The series also stars Jean Bruce Scott as Caitlin O'Shannessy, who is introduced in the second season, a feisty Texas Highway Patrol helicopter pilot who joins Santini Air, and eventually comes to serve as a backup pilot for Airwolf.

The mysterious organization known as “the Firm” (the “F.I.R.M.” in season three), is a covert branch of the Central Intelligence Agency, led by Michael Coldsmith Briggs III (Deputy Director of The Firm; code-name: Archangel).

In the first two seasons, Archangel is often assisted by Marella (Deborah Pratt). She had doctorates in Aeronautical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Psychology, Microbiology, and French Literature. She was one year away from completing her Medical Doctorate as of the episode “Fallen Angel”.

The series was dark, arc-driven, and quite reflective of the contemporary Cold War, with the Firm personnel distinctly dressed in white and boasting that “wearing white hats” distinguished them as good instead of evil to the unconvinced Hawke and Santini. Early episodes detail the efforts of United States government to secure Airwolf from Hawke.

The Firm, during the first and second seasons, served as both ally and enemy for Hawke and Santini; when an opportunity to seize Airwolf presented itself, Firm operatives often took it.

The series ran for 55 episodes on CBS in the United States in 1984 through 1986, and an additional 24 episodes, with a new cast and production company, aired on the USA Network in 1987, for a total of 79 episodes. An enhanced version of the first episode was also released as a motion picture in several countries as well as on home video. The show was broadcast in several international markets.

Creator Donald P. Bellisario first toyed with the idea of the adventures of an ace combat pilot in a third season episode of Magnum P.I. entitled "Two Birds of a Feather" (1983), starring William Lucking, which itself was inspired^{[citation needed]} by several episodes of Bellisario's Tales of the Gold Monkey – "Legends Are Forever" and "Honor Thy Brother" (1982) – in which Lucking had played a similar character. The Magnum episode acted as the pilot for the would-be series, but the series wasn't commissioned. Bellisario heavily reworked the idea, and the final result was Airwolf.

To increase ratings the studio wanted to add a female character – which happened at the start of the second season in the form of feisty Caitlin O'Shannessy (Jean Bruce Scott) – and for the series to move away from its quite dark and moody tales of international espionage into a more straight action-oriented, and more "family friendly" affair. Airwolf became more streamlined, domestic and self-contained. The moves by CBS ultimately proved unsuccessful, however, and while production cost over-runs remained high, creator Bellisario left both the studio and the series after Season 2. Bernard Kowalski stepped in as executive producer for a third season, but after ratings remained low, the series was canceled by CBS. The USA cable network, however, funded a new, fourth season of episodes, produced via fledgling Canadian production company Atlantis and The Arthur Company owned by Arthur L. Annecharico, allowing the show to have enough episodes for syndication runs.

The original cast was completely written out of the fourth season (1987); only Jan-Michael Vincent appears briefly in the first, transitional episode. A double of Dominic, seen only from the back, was killed off in an explosion; Archangel was said to have suddenly been assigned overseas; and no mention was made of Caitlin. Saint John Hawke, now played by Barry Van Dyke, was suddenly revealed to be alive and well (there were already contradicting facts about his fate in the original three seasons, and this new version confused things even more). St. John was rescued and subsequently replaced Stringfellow Hawke as the central character. Production moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a smaller budget of $300,000 an episode, less than one-third of the original CBS budget. The production crew no longer had access to the original Airwolf helicopter, and all in-flight shots were recycled from earlier seasons; the original full-size studio mockup was re-dressed and used for all interior shots. This new "Canadian" version of the series is generally held in very low opinion by many fans.^{[citation needed]}

Airwolf is rarely shown on TV channels today, although a syndication package does exist and occasionally appears as re-runs. In December 2006 and May 2007, the series was given "marathons" on the Sci Fi Channel, to promote the DVD releases of Seasons 2 and 3, respectively.

Main article: Airwolf (helicopter)

The flying Airwolf helicopter was actually a Bell 222 (sometimes unofficially called a Bell 222A, serial number 47085^[1]). The helicopter was eventually sold after the show ended and became an ambulance helicopter in Germany.

The concept behind Airwolf was a supersonic and armed helicopter that could blend in by appearing to be civilian and non-military in origin – "a wolf in sheep's clothing". Airwolf's insignia patch (also designed by Probert) as worn by the flight-crew was a snarling wolf's head with gossamer wings that appears to be wearing a sheepskin complete with the head of lamb over the wolf's forehead; a direct play on "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

Season 1 (CBS, Spring 1984) — two-hour pilot and ten additional episodes.

• Jan-Michael Vincent — Stringfellow Hawke (Captain, U.S Army) (noted as 34 years of age in the 5th episode)
• Ernest Borgnine — Dominic Santini (sole proprietor of Santini Air)
• Alex Cord — Michael Coldsmith Briggs III (Deputy Director of CIA division nick-named "The Firm"; code-name: Archangel)

Seasons 2–3 (CBS, 1984–1986) — two seasons of 22 episodes each.

• Vincent, Borgnine, Cord, and
• Jean Bruce Scott — Caitlin O’Shannessy (former Deputy Sheriff & helicopter pilot of the Texas Highway Patrol)

Season 4 (USA Network, Spring–Summer 1987) — 24 episodes, bringing the total hours to 80.

• Barry Van Dyke — Saint John Hawke (reserve Major, U.S Army)
• Michele Scarabelli — Jo Santini (inherited Santini Air from her uncle Dominic Santini after his death)
• Geraint Wyn Davies — Mike Rivers (Major, U.S Air Force)
• Anthony Sherwood — Jason Locke (a core agent in the government agency called "The Company")
• William B. Davis - Newman (Locke's supervisor in the Company; Newman was initially played by Ernie Prentice just in the pilot episode "Blackjack")

• Airwolf Themes: 2CD Special Limited Edition (Official CD soundtrack)
• Airwolf: The Wonderweapon (German CD soundtrack)
• Airwolf Collector's Edition (VHS)
• Airwolf Replica Helmet (fully-functioning) Video of Helmet working

• Airwolf (Commodore 64), written and designed by Neil A. Bate and Chris Harvey, with graphics by Chris Harvey and Rory Green, and music by Mark Cooksey.[1] There were unrealized plans to rename the European-produced Airwolf C64 game as Fort Apocalypse 2.
• Airwolf (Amstrad CPC), popular in Europe.[2]
• Airwolf (ZX Spectrum), popular in Europe.[3] Followed up with Airwolf II[4]

• Airwolf (BBC Micro and Atari 8-bit family^[2]) by Elite, adapted from an unreleased game called Blue Thunder! by Richard Wilcox Software. The helicopter is blue in the game. Seemingly, the only thing changed from the unreleased version was the title. (Note: another BBC game, Superior Software's 'Codename: Droid', used Airwolf's rotor-like base-line on its opening screen. Whether royalties were paid is unknown. This is the only Airwolf connection with the game.)
• Airwolf (Arcade), by Kyugo Boueki.
• Airwolf (Nintendo Famicom), by Kyugo Boueki, released in Japan only.
• Airwolf (Nintendo Entertainment System), by Acclaim.
• Super Airwolf (Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis), by Kyugo Boueki, released in the U.S. as CrossFire.
• Operation Flash Point also has an Airwolf addon.
• YS Flight Simulation System 2000 has an Airwolf Addon
• GTA has an Airwolf addon
• Battlefield 1942 has DC Final based Airwolf mini-modification.

• ERTL 5" (~1:100 scale) die-cast toy model (1984) — available carded (alone) and boxed (with a Santini Air helicopter and jeep)
• ERTL 14" (~1:36 scale) die-cast toy model (1984) — available boxed
• amt/ERTL 1:48 scale plastic model kit (1984) — many Asian knock-offs are also available
• Airwolf 1:19 scale Fuselage kit (unknown) — designed to fit the T-Rex RC helicopter
• Charawheels 1:120 scale die-cast toy model (2004) — Charawheels is "Hot Wheels" in Japan
• Aoshima 1:48 scale die-cast collector’s model (2005, 2006) — available in cobalt blue ("normal"), black ("Limited"), weathered (2006), and matte black (2007)
• Cox gas-engined Airwolf (1988). Non-RC. Engine powered a small rotor which lifted the model up; a larger free-wheeling rotor auto-rotated the model down when the fuel ran out. Location of touchdown at the mercy of prevailing winds.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal-Playback outside the USA have released Airwolf Season Box Sets onto DVD for the very first time. So far only the three CBS seasons have been released.

DVD Title	Number	Region 1	Region 2
Season One	11 episodes	May 24, 2005	April 3, 2006
Season Two	22 episodes	December 26, 2006	March 12, 2007
Season Three	22 episodes	May 22, 2007	August 13, 2007
Season Four	24 episodes	TBA	TBA
Seasons 1-3	55 episodes	N/A	October 22, 2007

• List of Airwolf episodes
• Blue Thunder

• Airwolf.org at TV-Series.com – Many articles about the show, online since 1994.
• Airwolf: The Website — Homepage of The Wolf's Lair magazine, and online articles about the show.
• Airwolf Themes — Homepage of the full-size Airwolf replica's builder. Also details fully-functional replica helmets.
• Airwolf at the Internet Movie Database — television movie pilot (1984)
  • “Airwolf” at the Internet Movie Database — seasons 1–3 (1984–86)
  • “Airwolf” at the Internet Movie Database — seasons 4 (1987)
• Airwolf at TV.com
• Airwolf computer game information at MobyGames