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Airwolf! A high-tech military helicopter! Blowing things up! Espionage and war manoeuvres.... Classic Boys with Toys TV.
Saturdays, in the mid 80's, late afternoon, was the boy sci-fi slot! It started with Knight Rider - which was the trend setter - and soon other technologically advanced modes of transport had their own series.
There was Street Hawk - A police officer and former amateur dirt-bike racer named Jesse Mach who secretly tests a top-secret motorbike - who then seeks out crime, fighting for the under dog.
And then there was The Airwolf! Airwolf had something up on both Knight Rider and Street Hawk in that it had a real life helicopter! Blowing things up! Kitt only had David Hasslehoff's blow dry, it couldn't blow things up! (see what I did there)
Airwolf was the name of the amazing helicopter and the TV series had Saturday afternoons by the scruff of the neck from 1984 to 1987. It was simple but devastatingly effective boy TV: Technology mixed with the A-team. Guns, futuristic machinery and pyrotechnics.
The show was created by Donald Bellisario (the Man Behind Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap). The first three seasons starred Jan-Michael Vincent as "Stringfellow Hawke". I know, Stringfellow. And he played the cello.
The series also had the legend Ernest Borgnine - yes, the man from Little house on the Prairie and The Dirty Dozen! It also had a musical score that was a kind of fantastical synthesizer-based theme which made everything sound very futuristic (it was the 1980's remember!)
Like all good 1980's series, it spawned a movie, and that movie has just been released! So you're in for a treat. Obviously, the movie is also in the canon of shockingly great hair cuts and cheesy lines, but if you're a fan of nostalgia and the kick of watching things being blown up by helicopters (is there a man/boy who isn't?), I think you're in for a treat. For more info have a look here. Its available from February the 17th 2011!
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