Manimal (The 80's TV Series)
Today at work while joking about something, the idea of morphing images came up (ok we're geeks!), and somewhere in the back of my head a little thread was launched down memory lane, reminding me of this short-lived TV series called "Manimal", that I used to watch in my childhood.
The series was about a certain Dr. Jonathan Chase, a shape-shifting man who could turn himself into any animal to fight crime. The role of Jonathan Chase was played by actor Simon McCorkindale.
Only 8 episodes were made of this series before it was axed due to poor ratings, which I thought was a shame.
Of course, those days being the 80's and it being a TV production, the special effects used were less than spectacular, but still as a child I really enjoyed it and loved the idea of a man who could tranform himself into any animal.
In reality his onscreen transformations were almost always into a black panther or hawk, using the exact same backdrops each time, in order to save on the budget by using the same footage. I remember he also became a snake once, which was a bit weird and left me a bit confused for some reason. In other episodes he also turned into a bull and horse, but the transformations occurred off-screen.
Anyway, it was a nice series, that I was allowed to stay up to watch, and I really enjoyed every episode of it. I think that if given a second chance with today's technologies, it could work out better and maybe become a hit.
Until that happens, it'll just have to live on as another little piece of my childhood memories, and the memories of others who watched it.
Traveler - Season One (ABC TV Series) Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Heroes Nominated For Emmy Awards Heroes - Season One New Iraqi Government Taking ShapeYes! I remember that show, i used to like it alot too, one of my other favourites was another show where a bunch who fought crime, each one of them had speicial abilities, like the black guy who could shrink himself, and the one who charged himself with electricity, i can't remember what was it called, do you remember it?
Posted by: bakkouz at October 20, 2006 05:44 PMHi,
I remember Manimal, it was a great show, it brings ack quite a few memories. However good news, if you go to www.youtube.com and type in Manimal, you can see the introduction to the show, and all the rest of the 1980's TV shows...it's great!!! Check it out.
Posted by: Munir at October 23, 2006 06:51 PM