So yesterday, I illustrated a repeated motif in the television series Airwolf, that the climactic air battles were always a bit touch-and-go, dramatically, until the Airwolf pilots did the loop. You see, Airwolf had jets and could actually do a loop unlike, you know, real helicopters. And at the end of the climactic air battles at the end of the show, Airwolf always won by doing the loop. So I did an extended rant about how they should maybe do the loop immediately and win decisively in the first minute of battle. But that would make for bad television. And perhaps it stressed the airframe and they tried to avoid it if possible.
So then I got to thinking about helicopters in television shows, and then maybe a quiz wherein you try to name the television program from the name of the helicopter in it.
You know, like Blue Thunder, which was spun off from the movie of the same name (and featured Dana Carvey in a dramatic role). Airwolf essentially ripped off the super copter schtick, but did it more successfully than the Blue Thunder television series did.
But the thoughts of a quiz evaporated quickly when I realized that the helicopters were the star of the shows, so the shows were named after the helicopters. What show was the helicopter “Airwolf” on? Not much of a quiz after all.
The only one I could think of off the top of my head was the Screaming Mimi, which was not the title of the show on which it appeared.
Do you happen to know the show I’m talking about?
You know, between all these helicopter television shows, it’s no wonder that I spent much of 1987 playing Microprose’s Gunship on my Commodore 128 and dreamed of being a military helicopter pilot. Which I never could have been given my vision. But, still.
Can you think of any other named helicopters from television series?
I recall the series a little — am I misremembering that they didn’t use the helicopter all that often?
You know, probably not. But more than the Boz’s robot appeared, and both are over-represented in the intro.