Leave it to the genius of Donald Bellisario to come up with a concept involving a state of the art helicopter and turn it into a series popular enough to last four seasons. After all, Bellisario had previously written for shows like “Battlestar Galactica” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, and went on to create “Magnum P.I.”, “Quantum Leap”, and the more recent “Jag” and “NCIS.” Surely he knew what he was doing. Or so it was thought. That was the case back in 1984 when he brought “Airwolf” to life. The series revolved around a high tech helicopter that was tricked out with all manner of surveillance equipment and weaponry. It was constructed by a top secret level of the CIA known as ‘The Firm’ and was to be used whenever there were threats of international espionage. Unfortunately, (as we learn in the Pilot) it is stolen by its designer and flown to Libya. Enter reclusive pilot Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) who is brought on board to aid in the retrieval of the helicopter.

Though highly reluctant at first, he hopes that by accepting the mission it might lead him to information regarding his brother who went missing in the Vietnam Conflict.

He is aided by his best friend and mentor Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) in the mission and as you might expect, are successful in bringing back the helicopter, known as “Airwolf.” All of this happens in the first 2-hour episode, and once the series kicked into high gear Hawke and Santini found themselves being called upon by their point of contact in ‘The Firm’, Michael Coldsmith Briggs III (Alex Cord), who goes by the codename Archangel.

“Airwolf”, during its first couple of seasons was a terrific show. While the technology of the time kept the series from making the stock flying sequences look great, they hardly detracted from the show itself. By today’s standards, some newer viewers might not like this issue, but if they are just chalk it up to them being too spoiled. This was another one of the shows I used to watch all the time, because I enjoyed the heck out of it. The episodes were smartly written and the action was exciting.

What eventually hurt the series in later seasons was Bellisario’s decision to walk away and work on other projects. He was constantly harassed by the networks to change the tone of the series, which was fairly dark and he wasn’t happy with the situation. “Airwolf” slogged through a third season, and though it wasn’t too bad you could still feel the quality slipping. The network opted to drop the show altogether, but it was picked up for a fourth season by the USA Network. This was one time I would have rather seen that not happen. The series was taken in a new direction, with a new cast (I won’t mention how the plot dealt with the original cast but suffice to say, fans were not happy) and was run into the ground.

But getting back to the first season of “Airwolf”, the cast really helped to make the show. Jan-Michael Vincent was great as Hawke, and even though he was suffering some personal issues at the time, they hardly showed onscreen. It was also kind of interesting to see an older Vincent, as the first thing I had ever seen him in was Disney’s “World’s Greatest Athlete.” It was really kind if sad that his personal life went so downhill, I thought he was a terrific actor and really enjoyed his work. “White Line Fever” is still a personal guilty pleasure. Then of course, there’s Ernest Borgnine. If I have to tell you who he is, stop reading now. He’s always been great in any role, both humorous and dramatic. And I have to mention that I loved hearing him doing the voice of Mermaidman on a couple episodes of “Spongebob Squarepants” (alongside the great Tim Conway as Barnacleboy).

On the bright side, Universal decided that “Airwolf” was one of the ‘great shows of TV’ and opted to start releasing full season DVD sets out on the market. The first season set includes all of the episodes and the 2-hour movie, but sadly no extra features. I wish I could say the transfer was great, but really all I can say is it is good enough to enjoy watching. The grain really shows up in the stock aerial footage, but this is a minor complaint.

Like their other recent DVD release of “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, just having the show available on DVD is great for fans (like me) of the series. One odd little thing I noticed was that the back of the slipcase that holds the DVD cases has photos with actor Barry Van Dyke. Oddly enough, Van Dyke did not show up in the series until that dreadful fourth season. Kind of curious how that happened…

Episodes:
Shadow of the Hawke, Part 1
Shadow of the Hawke, Part 2
Daddy’s Gone a Hunt’n
Bite of the Jackal
Proof Through the Nigh
One Way Express
Echoes from the Past
Fight Like a Dove
Mad Over Miami
And They Are Us
Mind of the Machine
To Snare a Wolf

Starring: Jan Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 5/24/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating:NR
Website

We'll give Airwolf: Season 1 a B-.