Airwolf, the CBS ’80s Helicopter Action Series, Is Now Free to Stream

The 1980s were a golden age for television action heroes and their absurdly cool rides. Michael Knight had a talking Pontiac Trans Am. The A-Team had a customized van. Stringfellow Hawke had a supersonic helicopter armed to the teeth. It could outrun fighter jets and turn almost any enemy aircraft into scrap metal. Add a secret hideaway inside a mountain and one of television’s catchiest theme songs, and Airwolf was hard to resist for anyone who grew up on ’80s TV.

Airwolf premiered on CBS in 1984. Jan-Michael Vincent starred as Hawke, a brooding Vietnam veteran and test pilot who takes possession of a top-secret military helicopter. With his friend and mentor Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine), Hawke flies dangerous missions for a shadowy intelligence organization while searching for his brother, who disappeared during the Vietnam War. The show mixed Cold War espionage with high-tech fantasy, and plenty of things exploded in the sky.

Airwolf now streams for free on The Roku Channel. Unlike Magnum, P.I. or The A-Team, it had a biggest star who wasn’t an actor. The helicopter held that spot, and nearly four decades after the series ended, it remains one of television’s most memorable machines.

The 1980s were obsessed with cool vehicles

The ’80s were a great time to be a kid who dreamed of owning something cooler than the family station wagon. Doc Brown turned a DeLorean into a time machine in Back to the Future. The Ghostbusters drove Ecto-1, a converted Cadillac ambulance. The Duke boys had the General Lee, an orange Dodge Charger that spent almost as much time in the air as on the road.

Airwolf belonged in that company, but it pushed the fantasy further. The aircraft was based on a Bell 222 helicopter. On screen, it became a sleek black-and-white flying weapons platform with retractable machine guns, missiles, and fictional supersonic speed. A helicopter breaking the sound barrier is ridiculous. When Airwolf hit the turbo boost and left enemy aircraft behind, nobody cared.

Much more of Airwolf‘s identity rested on its machine than on its characters. KITT has a personality, but his friendship with Michael Knight is the heart of Knight Rider. Thomas Magnum’s Ferrari, Tigers cap, and Hawaiian shirts were accessories to an already compelling character. Stringfellow Hawke had an intriguing backstory and a cool name, but nobody tuned in to watch him play the cello, even if the opening credits suggested otherwise.

The real helicopter met a less glamorous fate. After the series ended, it was stripped of its modifications and sold to a German company, which used it as an air ambulance until it crashed in 1992. A full-size replica later spent several years at the Tennessee Museum of Aviation before a private collector bought it. According to the museum, as of 2019 the replica sat atop a $250 million mansion in Bel Air, California.

Airwolf had two legitimate movie stars in its cockpit

For a show dominated by a helicopter, Airwolf had serious Hollywood talent. Jan-Michael Vincent was already an established leading man. His credits included The Mechanic opposite Charles Bronson, Buster and Billie, and the surfing classic Big Wednesday. His good looks and brooding intensity suited Hawke, a man who rarely smiled and seemed content to keep the world at arm’s length.

Then there was Ernest Borgnine, who brought an Academy Award to a show about a heavily armed helicopter. He won Best Actor for 1955’s Marty, beating Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Spencer Tracy, and James Cagney. His other credits included From Here to Eternity, The Wild Bunch, The Poseidon Adventure, and the sitcom McHale’s Navy. As Dominic Santini, Borgnine supplied much of the show’s humor and heart. Where Hawke brooded, Santini smiled, joked, and often seemed to be having the time of his life.

Alex Cord rounded out the cast as Archangel, Hawke’s contact with the mysterious intelligence organization known as the Firm. With his all-white wardrobe, eyepatch, and distinctive voice, Archangel looked like he had wandered in from a stylish spy thriller. His uneasy relationship with Hawke gave the first season its tension. They needed each other, but neither fully trusted the other.

Airwolf lost its edge and eventually its entire cast

The first season of Airwolf was surprisingly dark. Hawke essentially held the helicopter hostage and refused to return it until the government helped him find his missing brother, St. John. That standoff gave the series a conflict that ran beyond its weekly missions. Hawke wasn’t simply following orders, and Archangel could never be sure whether he was dealing with an ally or a very well-armed headache.

By season 2, the series had moved toward more conventional, family-friendly adventure. Hawke and Archangel grew friendlier, the missions became more episodic, and some of the original intrigue faded. The action still entertained, but the show settled into a familiar formula. When that formula involved a supersonic helicopter blowing things out of the sky, there were worse ways to spend an hour.

Season 4 replaced nearly everything except the helicopter. CBS canceled the series in 1986, and USA Network revived it in 1987 with an entirely new cast. Vincent, Borgnine, and Cord were gone. Barry Van Dyke, Dick Van Dyke’s son, took over as Hawke’s long-missing brother, St. John. A much smaller budget meant heavy reuse of recycled aerial footage, and the result barely resembled the original series. The revival lasted just one season.

Despite its ups and downs, Airwolf remains an entertaining reminder of an era when television built a whole action series around an outrageous premise and an even more outrageous machine. It didn’t always reach the heights it promised. When it took flight, though, nothing else on television looked quite like it.

Airwolf is free to watch on Roku.

Source: Polygon