Limited series · ABC
Blue Thunder
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
James Farentino
Frank Chaney
11 eps
Dana Carvey
Clinton Wonderlove
11 eps
Sandy McPeak
Captain Braddock
11 eps
Dick Butkus
Richard Butowski
11 eps
Bubba Smith
Lyman Kelsey
11 eps
Troy Evans
1 eps
Joseph Whipp
Gil Franzen
1 eps
Darleen Carr
Aggie Mills
1 eps
Kurtwood Smith
Bill Spradley
1 eps
Elizabeth Hoffman
Mrs. Moynihan
1 eps
Tracy Scoggins
Gretchen Terrell
1 eps
Scott Hylands
Peter Anson
1 eps
Kelly Preston
Amy Braddock
1 eps
John Hancock
Jake Cusak
1 eps
Robert DoQui
Morris Priest
1 eps
Richard Lynch
1 eps
Michael Alldredge
Hal Winters
1 eps
Robert Donner
Neil Gerrard
1 eps
Ralph Manza
Willie
1 eps
John Fox
Bishop Sullivan
1 eps
George Gaynes
Dr. Willi Von Hartig
1 eps
Paul Koslo
Johnny Irons
1 eps
Carolyn Seymour
Helen
1 eps
Geoffrey Lewis
Sheriff Kyle C. Tenney
1 eps
Matthew Faison
Ralph Gately
1 eps
Leigh Lombardi
Asst. Dist. Atty. Minelli
1 eps
Ray Wise
J.D. Kraft
1 eps
Gregory Sierra
Luis Creighton Acuna
1 eps
Thalmus Rasulala
Marley Winston
1 eps
Gracie Harrison
Sarah O'Connell
1 eps
Belinda Montgomery
Dr. Nell Lindsay
1 eps
Liz Torres
Rosie
1 eps
Jay Scorpio
Soldier
1 eps
Ann Cooper
J.J. Douglas
9 eps
David J. Bowman
Dignitary
1 eps
Fred Scheiwiller
Bartender
1 eps
Ted Hamilton
Harold Longstreet
1 eps
Edward Grover
Ken Rawls
1 eps
Sam Anderson
Benjamin Kelty
1 eps
Tom Nibley
Bill Bollinger
1 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Blue Thunder actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Blue Thunder reads strongest on Serialized, Spectacle and Bingeability.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
Blue Thunder is a 1984 ABC television series based on the movie of the same title featuring the Blue Thunder helicopter.
The series uses the converted Aérospatiale Gazelle helicopter and large portions of stock footage from the 1983 film. A ground unit named "Rolling Thunder" backed up the helicopter in the television series. This was a large support van with a desert camouflage off-road vehicle stored inside.
The television series cast includes James Farentino, Dana Carvey, and former professional American football players Bubba Smith and Dick Butkus. The series was canceled by ABC after they felt the similar Airwolf on CBS would win the ratings battle. Also, the series aired at the same time as the CBS soap opera Dallas on Friday nights, and lost.
Eleven episodes were made before the series was cancelled.
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
S01E10
Godchild
- Directed by Guy Magar
- Written by Peter Collins, Richard Danus
S01E09
The Long Flight
- Directed by Phil Bondelli
- Written by Fred McKnight
S01E08
Payload
- Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski
- Written by Daniel Freudenberger
S01E07
Clipped Wings
- Directed by Bernard McEveety
- Written by Allison Hock
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
- Photo unavailable
Guy Magar
Showrunner
- Photo unavailable
Roy Huggins
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
David Moessinger
Executive producer
- Photo unavailable
Brian Alan Lane
Writer
Don Jakoby
Writer
Dan O'Bannon
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Daniel Freudenberger
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Peter Collins
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Kenneth Peters
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Fred McKnight
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Rick Kelbaugh
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Jeri Taylor
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Allison Hock
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Richard Danus
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Donald A. BaerProducer
- Roy HugginsExecutive Producer
- David MoessingerExecutive Producer
- Jeri TaylorProducer
Writing
- Brian Alan LaneWriter
- Don JakobyWriter
- David MoessingerWriter
- Dan O'BannonWriter
- Daniel FreudenbergerWriter
- Peter CollinsWriter
Direction
- Earl BellamyDirector
- Gilbert M. ShiltonDirector
- Phil BondelliDirector
- Bernard L. KowalskiDirector
- Guy MagarDirector
- Charlie PicerniDirector
Cinematography
- Andrew JacksonDirector of Photography
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- Fandango At HomeBuy
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