Howling About "Airwolf!"

Don't fret, my children. I'm not about to go into some dissertation on the merits of the series Airwolf, which ran from 1984-1986 (with a retooled Canadian rendition appearing in 1987.) I never once watched the hardware-heavy action series in its initial run and really am not tremendously interested in it now apart from seeing the occasional name guest star (Diane McBain, John Ericson and Leann Hunley, to name a few.)

This post will focus squarely on one aspect of the show which some of you may find compelling. In the last (nearly) 13 years of this blog, I've received e-mails from various readers on a wide berth of topics. But the one that stands out, so to speak, from the rest in terms of frequency is the physicality of one Jan-Michael Vincent in Airwolf. The actor, having played youthful leads on TV and in quite a few movies, was now forty and apparently had decided to ditch anything so annoying as underwear for the filming of the show! This being the 1980s, the pinnacle of tight jeans and clingy pants, he kept the airbrushers busy when it came to publicity photos like this one!

However, in un-retouched shots like the one at left, every little curvature and tumescence could be detected. And, this being the days prior to digital manipulation on screen, whatever was captured by the television cameras was what then hit the airwaves, unless the series' editors could somehow snip certain moments out and still have a cohesive flow to the story lines. (As you'll see, though they did make some obvious cutaways here and there, mostly they proceeded to let it all hang out... literally!)

Vincent had costarred in movies like The Undefeated (1969), with John Wayne, and The Mechanic (1972), with Charles Bronson. He'd also shown off a wiry, tight physique in many projects from The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) and the surfing flick Big Wednesday (1978.) In 1974's Buster and Billie, he gave his fans a start when he appeared frontally nude. It's quite a natural, frolicsome moment, but strangely enough we'd see even more, in a way, on Airwolf! Stay tuned...

Vincent had starred in Damnation Alley (1977) and costarred with Burt Reynolds in Hooper (1978), but a dependence on alcohol and cocaine (and beyond) had begun to cause issues for him by the early-1980s. He had a featured role in the gargantuan miniseries The Winds of War, but his performance opposite a truly dreadful Ali MacGraw was difficult to salvage in the editing room thanks to substance abuse. Nevertheless, he soon found himself starring in the grueling weekly series Airwolf!

Even this simple moment of him arising, putting on a sweater and coming downstairs to greet costar Ernest Borgnine, gives an indic(k)ation that this was not going to be your everyday presentation of an actor on TV. (As we go along, don't forget to click to engorge enlarge.)

There was no way to properly capture this fleeting moment of Vincent in his flight suit, almost posing for the camera with a "semi." But never fear. There's more to come. I will be attempting to work my way "up" from the less "pressing" examples to the most eye-popping of all...

Throughout the series' run, he's religiously "dressed right."

He's on display whether in loose pants...

...snug ones...

...or white ones.

Stiff, brand-new jeans might obscure some of the specifics, but were unable to stop the bulge.

Long walks towards the camera seemed to be a hallmark of the show's direction and often offered some incredible sights.

The plot lines of the show often seemed to be pretty stimulating to its leading man.

In this episode Vincent was showing in some loose cargo pants...

...But later turned up half-drowned in some wet jeans.

This led to a scene of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, though I hesitate to wonder whether he had alcohol on his breath that day?

Occasionally there would be a close-up.

And sometimes, as in this case with Christopher Stone, a guest star would make his own contribution to the cause...!

Generally, though, the special effects were left to Vincent to provide. Are you skeptical? Think I've already made too much of this? Keep hangin' in before you decide.

I've touched on (heh heh) the new, constricting blue jeans. What about a pair that's been distressed (probably deliberately)?

I'm gonna give my vote to the "Soft 'n Fade' style, myself!

There's also "the cowboy way." Now this angle isn't all that bronco-busting...

...but how 'bout this?!

This scene is probably THE most talked about one of all. I bet that no viewer on the night that this aired even noticed that a female was also in the sequence! LOL

"Impressive...!" In more than one way.

You know what, though? As eye-popping as this incident was, I swear I think I found one even more amazing....! Are we supposed to believe that no one on set took notice of this stuff, er junk, er....

He casually meanders through this scene with an obvious BONER. Did the ratings go up that night?!

He keeps coming towards the camera and it's just plain unbelievable. I have spent all of my adult life avoiding drugs, so I can't claim to be in the know. However... The one time I inadvertently found myself with someone on coke, he could not achieve an erection. And I've never known excessive alcohol to help on that score either. So I don't know what was happening here.

I almost didn't do this post because, on some level, Mr. Vincent was not exactly firing on all cylinders and I didn't want to exploit that. But he was still a working actor and actually continued to be until 2002 when his string of issues and accidents finally led to permanent retirement. It's very sad since at the time Airwolf was put together, he was the highest-paid actor on television (at $200,000/episode) and could have had it all. Such a job is taxing on a person who's at the top of his game. I can't imagine what it was like with the added strain of addiction. Mr. Vincent passed away of cardiac arrest in 2019 at age 74. By that time he'd endured quite a bit of personal deterioration and legal squalor (as well as an amputation, due to infection.) So while we do salute his contribution to bulge-watching, we can't help but feel pangs of sadness for him and whatever it was that led him to such excesses.

The (Front) End!