Does It Hold Up: Big Wolf on Campus
I imagine that for the vast majority of you reading this, that title looks like a mishmash of various unrelated words. For a few, however, the words Big Wolf on Campus harken back to a time decades past, an era of simple, cheap Buffy-knock-offs crowding the airwaves. Big Wolf on Campus was one such effort, and with three seasons under it’s belt, arguably at least a semi-successful version.
The show follows protagonist Tommy Dawkins, high school senior and star quarterback, who is turned into a werewolf during the prologue of the pilot. He’s joined by his friend/sidekick/comic relief Murton Dingle, a supernatural obsessed nerd who figures out his werewolf secret, along with various side-characters and a shifting love interest. In this version, werewolf powers are still forcibly triggered by a full moon, however they can also be activated by extreme emotion, pain, and things of the like. Tommy uses his newfound powers to battle the supernatural evil plaguing his town, while also trying to hold onto some semblance of a normal life.
This was a program in semi-frequent rotation during my childhood, but I hadn’t seen much discussion of it through the years, and it’s never popped up on TV again. When I discovered a retro-Youtube channel that apparently picked up the rights, I had to dive in and see just how well this wolf had aged.
In an odd way, the show’s low production budget sort of helps it not feel overly dated. I mean, it does, don’t get me wrong. But Big Wolf on Campus came out of the gate feeling dated, with the discount effects and extremely re-used sets, then slowly figured out how to do the best it could with what it had. Tommy’s wolf makeup, for example, starts out pretty horrendous, then over time develops into something that’s still far from fancy, yet has a sort of style that adds its own touch. They weren’t betting big on looks or effects that were popular at the time, possibly since that stuff cost a ton of money. It worked out though, because a lot of those effects haven’t aged well at all. Think about the early 90s CGI you’ve seen, and suddenly a low-cost wolf costume isn’t so bad in comparison.
Outside of the look as a whole, the first thing that struck me was that god damn Danny Smith (the actor who played Murton Dingle) earned his fucking paycheck. As a kid, I remembered liking Murton despite him often being the butt of the jokes, such as a nerd in the 90s was doomed to be. Not something I thought about much at the time, but looking at the show with fresh perspective, it is incredible how much weight that guy was pulling. Murton is the comic relief, the exposition machine, and the able side-kick all rolled into one. Especially when contrasted to Brandon Quinn’s character of Tommy Dawkins, who can come off a bit wooden in the early seasons, Danny is bringing almost all the energy onto screen. Also, his room is bonkers, whoever was set-dressing it threw an entire Halloween store on those walls. Anyway, how essential is Murton to the show? During research for this, I discovered that Danny Smith appeared in 64 episodes of Big Wolf on Campus. Brandon Quinn, who played the main character, was in 63.
Past our main duo, who do have a nice odd couple dynamic out of the gate, there’s the setting as a whole. Pleasantville is a generic peaceful show town with evil magic popping out all over, most of us have seen this before. One thing that does strike me is how the hell this place didn’t burn down without a werewolf guardian given the number of threats they face, but you sort of have to give that a pass in these settings. The town itself is more a collection of sets that are doing their best, whereas the cast that fills it out is surprisingly talented. I did not remember Big Wolf having nearly so many side-characters. Tommy’s reporter mother and mayor dad made for a funny dynamic, and his slacker brother was a nice chance for someone else to haul the comedy weight on occasion. Mixing in the oddballs like Hugo the security guard and T’n’T’ gives more people for the main duo to bounce off of, as well as some lesser running antagonists.
Our last major component to examine is a bit complicated, as the character/role/actress changes between seasons 1 and 2. Tommy’s original love interest is Stacey, long-time crush who has clear feelings for him as well, except the werewolf stuff keep screwing everything up. Standard Clark Kent courting Lois dilemmas. In season 2, Stacey has gone off to college, never to be heard from again, and we quickly meet Lori, an investigator of the supernatural who is fast-intrigued by the mystery of the wolf. She soon learns it’s Tommy, and is from then on part of the hi-jinks.
Much as this is a support role, changing the character substantially shifts the dynamic of the show. Stacey is, as you might expect in a show from this period, a perennial damsel. She exists to be kidnapped, fought over, motivate Tommy into kicking the villain of the week’s ass. That means the season 1 stories are often bound to their format: villain arrives causing trouble, they inevitably target Stacey and catch some furry hands for their trouble. While Lori does sometimes take the same role on, her awareness of Tommy’s condition and status as an outsider entirely changes things up. It turns the duo into a true trio, as all characters are working on the same information and aiding one another. While this does get messy at times with attempts at a love triangle, on the whole it adds a new layer to the adventures.
The core question of this blog series is Does It Hold Up and in the case of Big Wolf on Campus, to my own surprise, the answer is largely a yes. Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll like the show, or there aren’t some aspects that have aged poorly, only that this program still delivers roughly the same viewing experience now as it did when it first aired. If you remembered enjoying Big Wolf on Campus, then there’s a strong chance you’ll dig checking it out once more. If it wasn’t your cup of tea to start, time has not changed the flavor, probably one you’ll want to miss. But if you want a show to fill the hours of this spooky season, there are certainly worse options.
Who knows? You might just have a howling good time.