Hayden Panettiere has broken her silence after her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel, called her “entitled” ahead of the release of her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning.

“It was so false,” Panettiere, 36, told Entertainment Tonight of her mom’s statement in an interview published on Monday, May 18. “When people ask me about the relationship, if there’s any hope for the future, I always say I leave that door cracked open in case.”

The Heroes alum continued, “Because who doesn’t want a relationship with their mother? You pray for it and hope it eventually comes. But she slammed that door pretty hard in my face. She has very clearly prioritized herself, which I should not be shocked by.”

Us has reached out to Vogel’s team for comment.

Last week, Vogel released a statement slamming Panettiere’s upcoming book, saying that the allegations that their relationship is rocky were put out to “sell books.”

“There is a personality ‘style’ which manifests as a need for control, entitlement and a lack of empathy,” Vogel told Page Six on Thursday, May 14. “The major fear is that someone will see through the mask they present to the world and discover who they truthfully are.”

Vogel, who previously managed Panettiere’s career, claimed that “this condition cannot be ‘fixed’” regardless of “continual efforts to support” or “comfort,” alleging that there was “20 years of trauma” between them.

Vogel’s remarks came nearly a week after Panettiere exclusively shared in her Us Weekly cover story that she is estranged from her mother.

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“Unfortunately, we don’t have a relationship right now,” she explained. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day. It’s hard for me to say, but I’ve chosen to be brutally honest.”

In her memoir, which drops on Tuesday, May 19, Panettiere opens up about her struggles in Hollywood. The Nashville alum shared that she felt pushed by her mom during the early days of her career.

“It’s so ingrained in me to be a people pleaser. I went on set, and it was all about being professional, nailing it and always hitting my mark. I had to be perfect. It was nice to hear positive feedback from people like the directors or producers, but without [my mom’s], nothing else mattered,” she claimed to Us ahead of the book’s release. “I felt like I had an identity crisis at 12 years old. I didn’t know who I was.”

“One Tree Hill” alum James Lafferty has expressed his desire to compete in the upcoming Season 35 of “Dancing with the Stars.” However, it hinges on one condition, and he asked his fans to help him fulfill the goal.

Lafferty starred on the teen drama series “One Tree Hill” for nine seasons, after which the actor focused on directing, writing, and producing. The two seasons of his crowdfunded TV show, “Everyone Is Doing Great,” were recently licensed by Netflix, and the actor is hopeful for a third season.

Shannon Elizabeth is still learning the online content ropes after launching her OnlyFans career last month — and her account is evolving alongside her.

“It did very well in the first nine days,” Elizabeth, 52, explained on the Monday, May 18, episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast, commenting on reports that she earned nearly $1 million during the first week her account was live.

When it comes to what fans can expect from her page, the American Pie actress confessed it’s still very fluid.

“Everybody asks, ‘Well, what are the boundaries?’ I’m still exploring that myself. I don’t know,” Elizabeth revealed. “I’ve only been doing this [for] less than a month. I’m constantly doing content. The more I do the content the more comfortable I get with myself and chatting with the fans.”

The Love Actually actress noted that she “didn’t expect the kind of response that we’ve gotten at all,” adding that she was just “hoping someone would show up.”

Now that fans have subscribed to Elizabeth’s OnlyFans page, she has been tinkering with what type of videos and photos to post. (OnlyFans is traditionally known for its adult-only content.)

“I’ve done everything from putting on a facemask and going to bed and getting up in the morning. Just content of my life,” Elizabeth explained.

She said that some of her videos have included “behind the scenes” snippets of her life, like, “Hanging out by myself and just thoughts in my head.”

“I’m doing everything I can to just share my day to day life so that fans feel like they’re there with me and they’re a part of it. And they get that inside scoop of what it’s like,” Elizabeth shared. “I even did a video of my actual workout with my trainer. This is what I’m doing. This is my life. So I’m doing a little of everything.”

News broke in April that Elizabeth, who currently resides in South Africa, was launching an OnlyFans account. That same month, reports surfaced that Elizabeth and husband Simon Borchert had filed for divorce.

Us Weekly confirmed in early April that Elizabeth and Borchert had quietly separated in fall 2025 after getting married in 2021. They finalized their divorce earlier this month.

“Today isn’t about the end of a marriage. There are moments in life when you realize that letting go can be exhilarating — that closing one chapter creates space for an entirely new one, and stepping into that feels incredibly liberating, Elizabeth told Us in a statement on May 11. “I’m embracing what comes next with a full heart and a renewed sense of purpose. I’ve never felt more inspired, more creative, or more connected to who I truly am.”

That same month, Elizabeth exclusively told Us that she envisions being “very busy” now that she is single.

“I envision this being, like, one of my best chapters,” she shared. “I want to be busy with projects. I want to be busy with my charity. I want everything to just grow and be successful.”

One of the businesses Elizabeth is working on at this time is her Shannon Elizabeth Foundation, which Borchert has helped her grow over the past few years and focuses on wildlife conservation.

“When I started my charity in the U.S., it was called Animal Avengers. It was a dog and cat rescue that I founded in 2001. And this charity is just the next evolution of that,” she told Us. “It’s the same nonprofit number. We just changed our mission.”

Elizabeth’s OnlyFans account is also on the top of her priority list — and a collab with Love Actually costar Denise Richards could be in the works.

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Related: Inside ‘American Pie‘ Star Shannon Elizabeth‘s Life Out of the Spotlight

Shannon Elizabeth is rewriting the script on her own terms and away from the Hollywood soundstage. The American Pie star is settling into what she calls one of her “best chapters,” splitting her time between her wildlife conservation work in South Africa, a fast-growing charity and a buzz-worthy new OnlyFans venture that has already shattered […]

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“I reached out to Denise, actually,” Elizabeth told Us in May, noting that Richards, 55, has had her own account since 2022. “Denise has been really helpful. She’s talked me through the whole thing, and she recommended people that she worked with who helped to teach her. I’m sure sometime in the future, maybe we’ll do a collaboration together.”

Elizabeth added that while fans can subscribe to her account for free, if they pay the additional fees, they will get more access to her life.

“It’s a way to connect with the fans, which I absolutely love,” she continued. “Now I can actually share even more of what I’m doing out in the field, more of what I’m doing with my charity, more behind the scenes on set when I’m working. Anything that I’m doing now, I can share with them in a much more meaningful way.”

A miniseries is the perfect structure for a psychological thriller, because it tells a twisty story over the course of a handful of episodes, culminating in a shocking and unforgettable ending. Some of the best psychological thriller shows have been miniseries, from Sharp Objects to The Undoing to Behind Her Eyes. These shows slowly unravel major mysteries and introduce new ones at the same time, condensing it all into a single season.

Psychological thriller miniseries are rightfully a popular subgenre of television, but there are several phenomenal ones that never gained the attention that they deserved. One of the most binge-worthy psychological thriller series of recent years is Netflix’s severely underrated Echoes. The intense thriller series is seven episodes long, and it is a true nailbiter from start to finish.

What Is Netflix’s ‘Echoes’ About?

Echoes follows two adult twins, Leni and Gina McCleary (both played by Michelle Monaghan), who have always been extremely close. They keep a shared journal, will do anything to protect each other, and are closer to one another than even their husbands. Every year, on Leni and Gina’s birthday, they switch places and live the other’s life for the next year. At the start of the series, Leni is living as Gina, a wealthy writer in Los Angeles who is married to a therapist named Charlie (Daniel Sunjata). Gina, meanwhile, is living as Leni, on the family farm back in their hometown of Mount Echo, Virginia, with Leni’s husband, Jack (Matt Bomer), and her daughter, Mattie (Gable Swanlund). The past year has seemingly gone as smoothly as ever, and their next birthday is approaching, which will be when they have to switch back. Suddenly, though, Gina — whom everyone else believes is Leni — goes missing.

Leni then drops everything to go back to her hometown for the first time in a year, where her husband and daughter still believe that she is missing. In disguise as Gina, Leni investigates Gina’s disappearance to try to figure out whether she ran away or was taken. Through looking into Gina’s death, Leni has to face some complicated wounds from the past. This includes difficult memories of the twins’ mother’s death, an incident that paralyzed their other sister, Claudia (Ali Stroker), from the waist down, and a church fire that they both witnessed as teenagers, in which a man was killed. Echoes jumps through time over the course of its seven episodes, slowly revealing bits and pieces from Leni and Gina’s lives, while also untangling the messy web that the twins’ lies and swapping got them both into, leading up to Gina’s disappearance. It all builds up to an explosive conclusion that bridges the main narrative with flashbacks from the past, tying everything together in an excellent moment of payoff.

‘Echoes’ Is the Perfect Series To Binge-Watch in One Night

Echoes is a mind-bending and clever series that starts with the simple premise of a woman going missing and her twin sister desperately looking for her. At the core of Echoes, though, is the disturbingly close and codependent bond of Leni and Gina. The two of them share everything and always have, from their jobs to their spouses, to Mattie. Nobody else knows about their annual switching, so the two of them have learned to perfect the art of disappearing into one another and leaving their former selves behind. Where Leni ends, and Gina begins, is a blur, and Echoes is structured in a way that, a lot of the time, even viewers cannot tell which twin is really which.

There are a number of complex mysteries at play that could all have to do with Gina’s disappearance, like Jack and Leni’s money troubles, Gina’s mysterious new job, and the deeply rich and painful past of the McCleary family. Most of all, though, it’s clear that there is a darker undercurrent to Leni and Gina’s shared lives and regular switching. No longer is their plan able to go off without any problems, and as their perfectly-crafted joint lives start to fracture, major twists are revealed along the way. Echoes is the perfect binge-watch because it will keep viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end with its constant twists and turns. The whole series can be viewed in under seven hours, and it’s an excellent choice for those who love a messy and unsettling mystery.

Echoes is available to stream on Netflix.

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Echoes

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Release Date

2022 – 2022-00-00

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Netflix

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FBI season 8 ended with a massive cliffhanger — and a big change for one special agent. So, what’s next for OA and the team?

Warning: Spoilers below from season 8, episode 22, of FBI.

“Whether the wrongdoer is inside the FBI or outside, we will always find a way to do what is right. It’s kinda his whole thing,” Zeeko Zaki, who plays Omar Adom “OA” Zidan, exclusively told Us Weekly of the explosive Monday, May 18, season 8 finale.

Zaki, 36, also teased that based on his character’s surprising conclusion, season 9 of FBI could pose a threat to OA’s constant push to do good.

“I’m sure some lines will be crossed,” he teased to Us of what’s to come.

During Monday’s episode, the FBI team was forced to work with old foe Anna Vorpe’s team (Claire Coffee), who follows her own rules, while trying to get back a stolen bioweapon and prevent an outbreak in New York City.

After the team failed to secure the lethal pathogen before a bus full of civilians were infected, they had to pivot and try and find the antigen that had also been stolen. As soon as OA and his partner, Special Agent Maggie Bell (Missy Peregrym), got hold of the case, Anna’s team turned on them, beating both OA and Maggie to a pulp. Anna’s team claimed they had their own “orders” and rushed off with the pathogen to give it to their boss.

Once back at headquarters, the entire FBI team was told that “today never happened” and to never speak of the incident again.

OA and Maggie were visibly upset by the idea that the infected civilians were now collateral damage, especially after their new director cryptically informed the team that the bus was “moved” to allegedly “treat” them.

OA didn’t accept the director’s explanation, calling him a “disgrace” to the bureau, which led him to be fired on the spot.

“We all have our limits, and so does OA,” Zaki exclusively told Us of the pivotal scene. “It’s fun to watch him hit that wall. And I can’t wait to see where I go from here.”

OA doesn’t fight back, though — instead he goes into the bullpen to say goodbye to ASAC Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto), who is in complete shock over the decision.

While OA’s direct boss, SAC Isobel Castille (Alana De La Garza), remained silent during the dramatic moment, Special Agent Stuart Scola (John Boyd) started to tear up over the idea of OA leaving.

Maggie stopped OA before he left the building, saying, “I cannot lose you too,” referring to the death of her sister earlier this season.

OA responded, “You’re never going to lose me, Mags,” before seeing himself out.

To add insult to injury, OA was approached later that night at a bar by Anna. She told him a sob story about why her team needed the antidote more than the civilians that were exposed to the city, claiming their deaths would be “for the greater good.”

In a surprising twist, Anna then offered OA a spot on her taskforce, who she said works “off the books” for the Department of Defense.

At the end of the episode, OA made a call while staring at Anna’s business card, hinting that he might be considering the position — even though the villainous Anna was partly to blame for his firing.

“I’m in,” OA said when Maggie and Isobel pick up the phone on the other end, revealing that OA will be joining Anna’s strike team and seemingly helping the FBI take her down once and for all.

“I like to think that was always the plan,” Zaki told Us of the plot twist to have OA get axed but have both Maggie and Isobel know it was going to happen. “Step one was to get fired, and step two … let’s say we’re lucky it worked out.”

Zaki noted that although fans can breathe a little easier knowing that OA’s partner Maggie and his boss, Isobel, know he’s going undercover with Anna’s team, the rest of his pals have no clue what’s going on.

“We are trying to protect everyone as much as we can and their jobs. So what they know won’t hurt them,” Zaki explained. “But I can’t wait to see how they react when they find out.”

When it comes to what OA will be like as a member of Anna’s off-the-books team, Zaki said his moral compass will be tested. The actor, however, noted he hopes for “some bloody revenge” on strike team member Devon, who was responsible for beating OA up during the finale.

“At the end of the day he will always choose his righteous path … fingers crossed,” Zaki said of OA, who is open to running the FBI one day — assuming he gets out of this twisted position alive next season.

Zaki, who has been on the series since the premiere in 2018, told Us that season 9 will be a challenge for everyone, confirming that he doesn’t know who Maggie will be partnered with while OA is absent.

His goal, however, is “always deepening Maggie and OA’s relationship.”

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Zaki also pointed out that fans might see more of possible love interest Special Agent Zara Ushruf (Pardis Saremi), who took the heat for OA earlier this season when he went a little rogue.

“I’m excited to see where Zara goes. She is so fun to work with,” he teased. “And I hope, in the first episode, at least we get to see OA on the other side for a little while.”

FBI returns for season 9 on CBS fall 2026.

John Travolta turned heads during his appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, with online users reacting to his striking look and noticeable style transformation. Photos and videos from the event went viral across social media, prompting widespread discussion.

Travolta, who premiered his directorial debut at the prestigious event, has addressed his artsy style, revealing his reasons for embracing the bold look.

Veteran actor John Travolta attended the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, sporting a new look with a neatly-groomed jet-black beard. On the first day of the event, he donned a cream-colored French beret paired with a tailored suit and gold-rimmed eyeglasses. The day after, he wore an all-black ensemble, including a beret and black-framed eyewear.

Travolta’s style made rounds on social media, and in an interview with CNN, the actor explained his fashion choices. After decades of working in the entertainment industry, the 72-year-old said that looking back, he couldn’t pinpoint when his photos were taken or at which events.

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However, he wanted to make his directorial debut an unforgettable event, which became the inspiration for his look. “I said, ‘I’m a director this time. You’re an actor, play the part of a director, look like an old-school director,” Travolta said, explaining his thought process.

He then searched for photos of “old-school directors” and found a common theme: berets and glasses.

The Actor’s Look Garnered Mixed Reactions

Travolta’s photos and videos at Cannes made the rounds on social media, with thousands of online users reacting to his transformation. Some questioned the bold choice, while others commended his good genes.

Many commented that Travolta’s beard looked fake, with one writing, “I have more time believing that beret naturally grew from his head than that fake a-s beard.” Another added that he looked like a “French mime on a bender.” The comparisons kept coming, and one user wrote that Travolta resembled a “retired art-house villain from a European crime film.”

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Despite many harsh criticisms, the actor still impressed others. Many couldn’t believe he was 72-years-old and said he looked “amazing,” with one commenting that he looked “better than he has in decades.” “72 and still got more aura than half of Hollywood,” another said. “Truth: he looks good. I know, the hat and all, but you gotta admit, Travolta looks impressive for his age,” read one comment.

John Travolta Explains Why He Turned To Directing

Travolta has worked in the entertainment industry for more than five decades, and it’s the first time he decided to sit in the director’s chair. His movie, “Propeller One-Way Night Coach,” is an adaptation of the semi-autobiographical book he wrote in 1997.

In an interview with El País, Travolta said it took him decades to direct his own film, as he wasn’t ready decades ago. Furthermore, a producer advised him that when the time comes, he should do the film himself to prevent others, such as studios and executives, from muddying his vision. “That’s why it’s taken me longer, and I’m writing, directing, producing, narrating, and acting in the end,” Travolta said, adding that his movie was created with his “own personality.”

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“Propeller One-Way Night Coach” premiered at Cannes and will be released on Apple TV on May 29.

The Actor Received An Honorary Palme d’Or

Cannes was a big event for Travolta. Aside from debuting his movie, he was also presented with an Honorary Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s lifetime achievement award. The award is presented to industry figures who have made extraordinary contributions to cinema.

Travolta’s award was a surprise, and he became emotional as Cannes’ head, Thierry Frémaux, presented the golden palm leaf. “I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected… You said this would be a special night, but I didn’t think you meant this. This is a humbling moment. This is beyond the Oscar,” he said.

Later, the actor told El País that he was “deeply moved and surprised” by the honor, describing the moment as “perfect.”

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John Travolta’s Five-Decade Career

Travolta has built a long and successful career in Hollywood, acting in a variety of genres throughout the years. He first rose to fame in the ’70s with the films “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” for which he was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars.

After a career resurgence in the ’90s, he starred in a series of hit movies, including “Pulp Fiction,” “Get Shorty,” and “Face/Off.” In the years that followed, Travolta continued working steadily in film, taking on a mix of action, drama, and comedy projects while maintaining his status as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable stars.

Travolta will appear in the romantic comedy musical “That’s Amore!” which has recently wrapped filming.

Carson Daly has one request for his children when they start dating.

“The only reservation I would have for my kids would be, like, [dating] a vegan or something like that maybe,” Daly, 52, said during the Monday, May 19, episode of Today With Jenna and Sheinelle.

Following Daly’s confession, the behind-the-scenes crew burst into laughter.

“Is that bad to say? Am I gonna get canceled for that?” Daly asked.

Related: Carson Daly’s Family Guide: Meet His Wife and 4 Kids

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Carson Daly has had a busy career, but still manages to make time for his family life with his wife, Siri Pinter, and their four kids. Pinter and Daly met on the set of Last Call with Carson Daly in 2005 where Pinter worked as a writer’s assistant. The couple quickly hit […]

Cohost Jenna Bush Hager had some questions for Daly and asked if he just wanted his children’s future partners to be able to eat meat. (Daly shares four children: Jackson, 17, Etta, 13, London, 11, and Goldie, 6, with wife Siri Pinter.)

“Yeah, I mean, look at me!” Daly responded before elaborating on his mindset about people with dietary preferences. “Food is, like, a really important part of, like, the fabric of our family.”

He continued, “If we didn’t have food, I wouldn’t talk to my wife about anything. It holds us together. So if one of them brought home a date who was super picky. Like, ‘I don’t eat anything — fish from the sea, cows that go moo.’ Like, I’ve got a Traeger [smoker], bro.”

Daly also clarified he didn’t include people with food allergies in his disdain for picky eaters.

“I’m not the devil! I don’t wish illness on boyfriends!” he quipped.

Daly explained that his worries stem from imagining one of his kids bringing over a partner who i s unable to eat anything they prepared during a family meal.

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Related: Carson Daly and His Wife ‘Secretly Love’ Sleeping in Separate Rooms

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Carson Daly and his wife, Siri Pinter, “secretly love” sleeping in different rooms several times a week. “The object is to stay together,” Daly, 50, told People at the Today show’s solar eclipse watch event at The American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Monday, April 8. “That’s what […]

“I’m just saying it would suck if they came into the house on a Sunday, and we were going to do, like, a big Daly feast, we make pizzas, and they were like, ‘I can’t eat anything.’ I would just be like, ‘He’s a loser. Dump him,’” he said.

While Daly is safe from his children dating a vegan for the time being, the morning show host is nearing a big milestone with son Jackson, who is gearing up to go to college next year. Daly has joked he wants to get a place near the school.

“I’m looking for real estate around the university,” Daly quipped on Monday. “Every time we drive by LIU Post out on Long Island, I’m like ‘Buddy, we’re gonna get a sick apartment here. I’m going to hang out. It’s gonna be great.’ In my mind, I’m going with him to college. The reality hasn’t hit yet.”

By Joshua Tyler and Jonathan Klotz | Updated 33 seconds ago

Ask someone to name the most popular action shows of the 80s, and chances are you’ll hear Miami Vice, A-Team, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., and maybe even The Fall Guy before they remember one of the most popular shows of the decade: Airwolf. Even if you’ve never seen a single episode of the helicopter action series, you know exactly what it’s all about.

For a season or two, Airwolf seemed like it was on the verge of being the coolest television show of all time. Until it fell out of the sky in a flaming ball of fire. Destroyed by drug addicted stars, ill-advised character deaths, and a budget crunch that left the show flying around the equivalent of Hot Wheels helicopters on screen instead of actually shooting flying sequences.

This is why Airwolf failed.

Airwolf Began As A Magnum P.I. Spinoff

The concept for Airwolf actually began as a Magnum P.I. spinoff. Helicopter stunts were already a major part of Magnum, and series creator Donald P. Bellisario had an idea to take it further.

So, in season 3 of Magnum P.I., he did an episode called “Two Birds of a Feather,” intending to turn its events into a spinoff show. It involves an ace pilot and treasure hunter named Sam Houston Hunter, whom Magnum knows from his Vietnam days. 

Sam was played by William Lucking; the idea was to make a spinoff show starring the Sam character. Bellesario had already worked with Lucking on projects like In Search Of The Gold Monkey, another good candidate for a Why It Failed someday.  The concept didn’t quite work out, but it was eventually retooled into Airwolf, a far more unique take on the idea of a tortured ace pilot than the one on display in Bellisario’s Magnum PI episode.

The Best Main Character Name In Fiction

Airwolf stars Jan-Michael Vincent as a character with the most amazing name in the entire history of fiction. He’s military test pilot Stringfellow Hawke. His chief character trait is that he likes to hang out in the wilderness, brooding while he plays the cello. Stringfellow Hawke. Get it? 

His friends call him String for short. Maybe I should say friend. Because String is the most introverted action hero of all time, and he doesn’t do a lot of hanging out. 

Through a series of double-crosses, Stringfellow finds himself in possession of the ultimate experimental stealth helicopter, a high-tech sci-fi machine capable of traveling at super speeds and defeating everything else in the air. Refusing to give the chopper back, String ends up with every government and shadowy organization in the world out for his head. 

He hides the helicopter, named Airwolf, in the coolest desert lair imaginable and uses it for his own purposes. Those purposes often involve String rescuing hot belly dancers from the desert or blowing up bad-guy terrorists in inferior flying machines.

The exterior shots of the lair, which are often revisited in the show, are from Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border. The interior shots, with the helicopter taking off, are studio-built, with the show combining practical location footage with effects and sets for the helicopter cave hangar feel.

Season 1 features Hawke working for and against The Firm, an obviously evil organization that happens to be the lesser of many evils, in a series of missions that happen to reflect the real-world flashpoints of the Cold War. 

It’s dark, it’s atmospheric, and String is forced to make decisions with no good answer. The episodes’ focus on geopolitical drama gives it greater stakes than you’d ever expect from a show about a super helicopter. 

Made With A Rented Helicopter And Some Fiberglass

If Airwolf were filmed today, the super helicopter would probably be some sort of boring CGI construct, but for Airwolf, especially in season one, they had a real chopper that they went out and filmed doing amazingly cool stuff.

Surprisingly, the studio didn’t own the actual helicopter they filmed. Instead, they leased a Bell 222 from JetCopters Inc. in Van Nuys, California, and then dressed it up with fiberglass to make it look awesome. Those cosmetic additions are reported to have significantly improved the helicopter’s handling; the pilots loved them, and they enabled them to do all kinds of stunts they might not have pulled off as well without them. 

A Great First Season Followed By Disaster

Season 1 was, in retrospect, the high point of Airwolf, with the following two seasons devolving into hokey action more in line with Knight Rider than a Tom Clancy novel. After season one, the amazing aerial dogfights that made the show were noticeably getting shorter and less cinematic. 

Yet in the show’s defense, when that theme song kicks in, and Hawke lands the fatal missile, it’s still as awesome the 20th time as it is the first time. 

Later, Ernest Borgnine, who played Hawke’s only real friend and backer, Dominic Santini, was written off the show in one of the most dramatic ways possible during season 4. They wrote off his character to the point where there was no doubt he wasn’t coming back. 

Success Destroys Jan-Michael Vincent And Airwolf

At first, the show was a huge, huge hit. The two-hour pilot, “Shadow of the Hawke” debuted after the Super Bowl in 1984 and was watched by a whopping 77 million viewers.

As the series exploded in popularity, Jan-Michael Vincent, who was already a multiple-time Golden Globe winner, found himself, almost overnight, the highest-paid star on television. CBS knew that without him, there was no show. His epic performance was the key to everything Airwolf did, and it set the dark and brooding tone for the entire show.

Unfortunately, the real world outside the show destroyed Jan-Michael Vincent. Haunted by personal demons encouraged by the sudden windfall, Vincent’s extreme alcoholism made him impossible to work with. 

In a rare move, CBS canceled the entire show after season 3. The ratings were sagging, the budget was cut, and Vincent’s behavior made CBS want out. 

Airwolf Season 4 Isn’t The Same Show

After season 3, Airwolf was sold off to the basic cable network USA for a complete, top-to-bottom retooling with an all-new cast. USA didn’t get the real helicopter in the sale, forcing the last round of episodes to rely on old footage, or, in some hilarious cases, the toy replica filling in. 

Jan-Michael Vincent, once one of Hollywood’s most promising and talented actors, was now out of work and would never recover, and his entire life devolved into a mess of addiction and misery after the show ended. That’s why most Airwolf fans pretend the series ended when Jan-Michael Vincent left. 

Peak 1980s TV

Though the show fell apart behind the scenes, there’s no greater example of peak 1980s TV action. Airwolf combined Cold War paranoia, hokey action, a bombastic synth score, and a charismatic leading man into the perfect 80s package that could never be replicated. 

Other shows tried, including Street Hawk, which is basically just Airwolf with a motorcycle, but they all crashed and burned. Miami Vice and The A-Team were remade for the big screen. We even somehow got a Dukes of Hazzard movie. But no one has dared bring back Stringfellow Hawke and his cello. The world’s still not ready for Airwolf.

Luckily, the original show is available on free streaming, and it’s still worth a watch. Just make sure to eject before the start of season 4.