Manimal

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Manimal
Genre Action/Adventure Sci-fi Crime
Created by Glen A. Larson
Donald R. Boyle
Starring See Cast below
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of episodes 8
Production
Producer(s) Glen A. Larson, 20th Century Fox Television
Running time 90 minutes (pilot)
60 minutes (other episodes)
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Original run September 30 – December 17, 1983
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Manimal was a television series that ran from September 30, 1983 to December 17, 1983 on NBC. It is about a shape-shifting man who can turn himself into any animal, and uses this ability to fight crime. It starred the British actor Simon MacCorkindale.

Contents

[edit] Opening narration

For every episode except for the pilot, actor William Conrad recites the opening narration that tells of Chase's wealthy present life and his early days in Africa with his missionary father.

“ Dr. Jonathan Chase... wealthy, young, handsome. A man with the brightest of futures. A man with the darkest of pasts. From Africa's deepest recesses, to the rarified peaks of Tibet, heir to his father's legacy and the world's darkest mysteries. Jonathan Chase, master of the secrets that divide man from animal, animal from man... Manimal! ”

[edit] Overview

By modern standards its special effects, though plentiful, are relatively low-quality, not surprising given the time period and other constraints. While Dr. Chase was meant to have the ability to change himself into any animal, in practice his onscreen transformations were almost always into a hawk or black panther, with the exact same backdrops each time, presumably to save on the budget, though on one occasion he was seen becoming a snake. In the episodes when Dr. Chase turns into a bull, dolphin and horse, the actual transformations occur off-screen.

The show was cancelled after only eight episodes. Glen Larson, the creator, resurrects Chase briefly for a crossover with his 1990s underground classic Nightman.

However, Manimal did receive success in its television run in South Asia. A similar success was achieved in Peru through a local television network Frecuencia Latina.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Episode list

Episode # Title Original Airdate
1 Manimal (pilot) September 30, 1983
2 Illusion October 14, 1983
3 Night of the Scorpion October 21, 1983
4 Female of the Species October 28, 1983
5 High Stakes November 4, 1983
6 Scrimshaw December 3, 1983
7 Breath of the Dragon December 10, 1983
8 Night of the Beast December 17, 1983

[edit] International broadcasters

[edit] Other points of interest

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)
  • The often derided transformation sequences were designed and created by Academy Award-winning SFX artist Stan Winston.
  • In the episode "Breath of the Dragon," Walter Nebicher from Automan can be seen walking outside the Chinese restaurant. Both Manimal and Automan were filmed back to back with the same scene, at a different angle, appearing in the episode of Automan.
  • In the episode "High Stakes," Dr. Chase alludes to the episode title at least three times. At the bar he says both, "The stakes seem high," and "These are some high stakes... almost too high." Later that night in the restaurant he remarks, from off camera, "How about those stakes back there? Pretty high, huh?"
  • In the pilot episode, Chase's sidekick Tyrone "Ty" C. Earl was played not by Michael D. Roberts, but by Glynn Turman.
  • The show is referenced in the song "Wind Up" by Foo Fighters on their 1997 album The Colour and the Shape.
  • In the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, John C. Reilly's character Cal Naughton, Jr. makes a brief reference to Manimal.
  • In the first commercial promotion of Manimal, a great white shark's dorsal fin, Manimal, attacks J. R. Ewing; the show premiered opposite Dallas. Previously, McCorkindale starred in Jaws 3-D and his character was killed by the shark.
  • Online comedy show The Bill Binkley Show! references the series in their short, The Hunt for Billy Dee. Binkley's sidekick Ed believes Billy Dee Williams has become a Manimal in order to elude and ambush the duo.
  • Psych, a detective show on the USA Network, references the show in the episode "Meat is Murder, But Murder is Also Murder".
  • In his televised round the world motorcycle journey Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor receives a mosquito bite in Kazakhstan which causes his brow to swell alarmingly. As he inspects his swollen face in the mirror, he jokingly comments to his companions that he looks like Manimal.
  • On a 1983 episode of Saturday Night Live, host Brandon Tartikoff, then President of NBC, introduced musical guest John Cougar Mellencamp and said, "with a name like that you might like a show called 'Manimal.'"

[edit] External links