"There's nothing worse than a nightmare, except one you can't wake up from ..." Eric Cord seems to have the perfect life. He lives with his best friend Ted, has great prospects and to top it all off he's dating Ted's younger sister. But one night when Ted tries to convince Eric that he is a werewolf responsible for gruesome murders that have occurred in the area, everything changes. Although he doesn't believe his friends story, Eric takes the gun loaded with silver bullets and waits with him until midnight. Shortly after midnight he watches in horror as his friend transforms into a beast and attacks him ... he manages to shoot the werewolf, but not before being bitten.
And now Eric is cursed with lycanthropy and charged with the murder of his friend. He knows that in order to break the curse he must kill the original werewolf, an insane sea captain named Skorzeny. But his nemesis may be stronger than he ever thought possible, and when Eric misses a court date, a fearless bounty hunter is sent after him who soon discovers his secret and vows to hunt down and destroy the beast ...
As well as setting up the story, here we are introduced to the three main recurring characters -- Eric Cord, Alamo Joe Rogan and Janos Skorzeny (who doesn't actually appear in that many episodes). It's sort of strange to have a TV series with only two characters who return on a weekly basis, but I guess it'd been done before in "The Fugitive" and "The Incredible Hulk", and this show is certainly along the same lines. It's really just a classic hunter-fugitive story -- Rogan hunts Eric while Eric hunts Skorzeny, but with a werewolf twist to it.
John J. York gives a good performance in this one, introducing us to the care-free Eric Cord who later becomes everything from a pure-hearted hero to a cold-blooded hunter. Lance LeGault also does a good job as the cool-as-Elvis bounty hunter, although obviously here he lacks the emotional depth that was developed to this character in later episodes. Chuck Connors is memorable also ... he only appears in three more episodes due to the fact that the producers could no longer afford him. A stand-in was used for the later episodes which ultimately resulted in a crippling law suit, but that's another story. The rest of the supporting cast are also very good, and it's a shame that so few of them ever returned for more appearances on the show.
In some ways, this pilot promises things which the actual series doesn't deliver. For example, Skorzeny's final transformation scene is really great, and so much better than anything we see in any of the later episodes. But I guess asking the special effects team to do that on a weekly basis is a bit much. The soundtrack is also much better than in the rest of the series, containing great songs such as "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3 and "Silent Running" by Mike & The Mechanics (which contains the lyrics, "There's a gun and ammunition / Right outside the door / Use it only in emergency" ... appropriate, don't you think?).
This is really a superb pilot episode, and it's no surprise this was picked up for a season. It's just a shame it didn't go on for longer than one year.
And now Eric is cursed with lycanthropy and charged with the murder of his friend. He knows that in order to break the curse he must kill the original werewolf, an insane sea captain named Skorzeny. But his nemesis may be stronger than he ever thought possible, and when Eric misses a court date, a fearless bounty hunter is sent after him who soon discovers his secret and vows to hunt down and destroy the beast ...
As well as setting up the story, here we are introduced to the three main recurring characters -- Eric Cord, Alamo Joe Rogan and Janos Skorzeny (who doesn't actually appear in that many episodes). It's sort of strange to have a TV series with only two characters who return on a weekly basis, but I guess it'd been done before in "The Fugitive" and "The Incredible Hulk", and this show is certainly along the same lines. It's really just a classic hunter-fugitive story -- Rogan hunts Eric while Eric hunts Skorzeny, but with a werewolf twist to it.
John J. York gives a good performance in this one, introducing us to the care-free Eric Cord who later becomes everything from a pure-hearted hero to a cold-blooded hunter. Lance LeGault also does a good job as the cool-as-Elvis bounty hunter, although obviously here he lacks the emotional depth that was developed to this character in later episodes. Chuck Connors is memorable also ... he only appears in three more episodes due to the fact that the producers could no longer afford him. A stand-in was used for the later episodes which ultimately resulted in a crippling law suit, but that's another story. The rest of the supporting cast are also very good, and it's a shame that so few of them ever returned for more appearances on the show.
In some ways, this pilot promises things which the actual series doesn't deliver. For example, Skorzeny's final transformation scene is really great, and so much better than anything we see in any of the later episodes. But I guess asking the special effects team to do that on a weekly basis is a bit much. The soundtrack is also much better than in the rest of the series, containing great songs such as "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" by Timbuk 3 and "Silent Running" by Mike & The Mechanics (which contains the lyrics, "There's a gun and ammunition / Right outside the door / Use it only in emergency" ... appropriate, don't you think?).
This is really a superb pilot episode, and it's no surprise this was picked up for a season. It's just a shame it didn't go on for longer than one year.
