Airwolf
Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1
TV Flash files “Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1” as a desk essential hour — Airwolf (1984–1987) on CBS/USA, season 1, episode 1, aired 1984-01-22, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 80 in the Airwolf guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1984-01-22 (60 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “Shadow of the Hawke: Part 2” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1”. Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1 unboxes the black machine: Vincent's loner, Borgnine as hangar dad, Archangel's white suit, hardware as co-star.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
While demonstrating the capabilities of the new prototype supercopter codenamed 'Airwolf', Dr. Charles Moffet goes rogue, steals the chopper and kills almost all of the observers. At least one man -- Michael Coldsmith Briggs III survives. Briggs, codenamed 'Archangel' is the head of a covert organization called 'The Firm' and Archangel calls upon the one man in the world he knows that can retrieve the copter. The problem is Stringfellow Hawke is not only a loner, but a recluse as well. The amount of money the Firm is willing to pay for Airwolf's recovery is irrelevant. Hawke wants just one thing - the safe return of his brother, Saint John, who was captured during the Vietnam war and is evidently a POW.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1 sit in the Airwolf guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 80 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did Airwolf S01E01 air?
Shadow of the Hawke: Part 1 aired 1984-01-22 and is listed at 60 minutes.
CBS Airwolf or the later USA seasons?
CBS looks expensive; later USA seasons cheapen fast. If you want Bellisario's flying Knight Rider, start with the network hours and the supercopter as co-star.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Bellisario's flying Knight Rider: a reclusive cello-playing loner, Ernest Borgnine as hangar dad, and a black supercopter that is the actual co-star. Come for Cold War hardware spectacle — rotor wash, missile racks, Archangel's white suit — and stay for the melancholy leaking around Jan-Michael Vincent. CBS hours look expensive; later USA seasons cheapen fast.
The machine is the actual co-star, and the night dressed it in black. CBS then USA's *Airwolf* (1984–1987) is Donald P. Bellisario's flying Knight Rider: Jan-Michael Vincent's Stringfellow Hawke as cello-playing loner, Ernest Borgnine as hangar dad Dominic Santini, Alex Cord's Archangel in the white suit. Rotor wash, missile racks, Cold War hardware spectacle. Part of the 1980s high-tech vehicle-hero trend, merch-ready chopper included. **CBS hours look expensive; later USA seasons cheapen fast.** Max's vending…
Filed against
- Jan-Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke
Jan-Michael Vincent’s Stringfellow Hawke flew Airwolf like a cello with missiles — Bellisario’s flying Knight Rider, Ernest Borgnine as hangar dad, a black supercopter as the actual co-star. 1980s Cold War hardware with melancholy in the…
- Ernest Borgnine as Dominic Santini
Ernest Borgnine’s Lt. Cmdr. Quinton McHale made McHale’s Navy a PT-boat farce with a movie star’s grin — 1960s catalog WWII as sitcom, then Airwolf stretching the hangar-dad warmth around a black supercopter. TV Flash files him as the…
- Alex Cord as Michael Coldsmith Briggs III
Alex Cord’s Michael Coldsmith Briggs III — Archangel in a white suit — handled Airwolf as Bellisario’s flying Knight Rider: a reclusive cello-playing loner, Ernest Borgnine as hangar dad, a black supercopter as the actual co-star. Cold…