Teen Wolf (2011 TV series)

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Teen Wolf
Intertitle card of Teen Wolf
Season 1 intertitle
Genre
Developed byJeff Davis
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes24 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerMonica Macer
Production locationsAtlanta, GA
Running time41 minutes (excluding commercials)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkMTV
ReleaseJune 5, 2011 (2011-06-05) –
present
Related

Teen Wolf is an American television series that currently airs on MTV. It is based on the 1985 film of the same name. The series premiered on June 5, 2011, following the 2011 MTV Movie Awards.[1] The series follows Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), a high school student and social outcast who is bitten by a werewolf while looking for a dead girl in the woods. Scott attempts to maintain a normal life, keeping the fact of his being a werewolf secret from everyone, with the exception of his best friend "Stiles" Stilinski (Dylan O'Brien), who helps him through the changes in his life and body, and another mysterious werewolf, Derek Hale (Tyler Hoechlin). The second season premiered on June 3, 2012 after 2012 MTV Movie Awards. On July 12th, 2012, Teen Wolf was renewed for a 3rd season which will include 24 episodes.[2]

The series received a generally positive response from critics, earning a score of 61 out of 100 on review site Metacritic.[3] The show's premiere drew in a total of 2.18 million viewers.[4]. In the UK and Ireland, it airs on Sky Living (one of the few series produced for MTV not to be shown on MTV UK), in Australia on Fox8, in Asia on BeTV, in India and Pakistan on Animax and in Canada on MuchMusic.[citation needed]

Plot

Main article: List of Teen Wolf episodes

The series revolves around social outcast Scott McCall, a young lacrosse-playing student at Beacon Hills High. His life drastically changes when he is bitten by a werewolf one night, making him a werewolf as well. With the help of his best friend, Stiles, his girlfriend, Allison, the daughter of the group of werewolf hunters; and the mysterious werewolf, Derek, he is forced to learn to balance his new-found identity among the many dangers that it presents with his teenage life. He must keep his loved ones safe and balance the relationships and secrets he shares with each person around him. The theme of "finding your place" is a prevalent undertone that is mirrored by the pack mentality of werewolves.

Cast

Main article: List of Teen Wolf characters
  • Tyler Posey as Scott McCall, the show's protagonist, a werewolf.
  • Crystal Reed as Allison Argent, a werewolf hunter, Scott's ex-girlfriend.
  • Dylan O'Brien as "Stiles" Stilinski, Scott's best friend, a human.
  • Tyler Hoechlin as Derek Hale, a werewolf, Scott's (former) mentor.
  • Holland Roden as Lydia Martin, Allison's troubled friend dealing with supernatural problems of her own.
  • Colton Haynes as Jackson Whittemore, the school's lacrosse team co-captain, previous kanima now werewolf.
  • Daniel Sharman as Isaac Lahey, another teen werewolf, first member of Derek's pack. Recurring in season two.

Development and production

In June 2009, MTV announced that they would be adapting Teen Wolf into a new television series "with a greater emphasis on romance, horror and werewolf mythology".[5] This is the second television adaptation of the film. An animated version aired on CBS from 1986–87. Australian director Russell Mulcahy directed the pilot presentation and serves as executive producer and in-house director.[6] MTV's Teen Wolf became a re-imagining of the Michael J. Fox film from 1985 with the creator and executive producer, Jeff Davis developing a darker, sexier and edgier version than the original. Davis' desire was to make a thriller with comedic overtones with a tone more similar to that of the The Lost Boys. Once the show was a go, Davis lined up Mulcahy, who added the horror to the project.[7] According to Davis, it all started with an idea to do a homage to Stand by Me, in the beginning, where the kids go out and search for a body in the woods and it's not quite what they expect. On the werewolf look they went for something a little more Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro's creatures were an inspiration, describing them as beautiful, elegant and scary, at the same time.[7]

Casting announcements were all announced in December 2010, with the main cast being, Tyler Posey, Crystal Reed, Tyler Hoechlin, Dylan O'Brien, Holland Roden, and Colton Haynes. Posey was cast as the lead Scott McCall, a dorky high-school student who after being bitten by a werewolf, starts to notice changes in himself, Reed playing Allison Argent, a sweet new girl at school who is immediately attracted to Scott, Hoechlin playing Derek Hale, a handsome local boy who in fact is a vicious and predatory werewolf, O'Brien playing Stiles, Scott's best friend, and the show's comic relief, Roden playing Lydia Martin, Jackson Whittemore's popular and controlling girlfriend, and Haynes playing Jackson Whittemore, Scott's lacrosse teammate and rival.[8]

Production on twelve episodes began in October 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.[9] MTV released a sneak peek of the first eight minutes of the pilot on their website, on May 31, 2011. Teen Wolf episodes are composed by music composer Dino Meneghin. [10] In June 2012, the series received conditional approval for a California film and TV tax credit.[11] At Comic-Con 2012, the cast confirmed that the show had been renewed for a longer third season, comprising twenty-four episodes.

Differences and similarities from films

The original film is about a typical awkward team sports playing teenager named Scott dealing with high school and life as a werewolf. In both versions, Scott reaps the benefits of werewolf stardom, achieving confidence and acceptance from his peers with his newly discovered powers and has a close friend named Stiles.[12] Also what the series takes from the movie that spawned it, is people know the basic idea of what Hollywood considers to be a werewolf.[13]

There are significant differences between the film and TV series. MTV's version is a drama/comedy with a darker tone while the 1985 film was a comedy. The humor in the new series is a darker humor but pays tribute to the original feel of the movie.[citation needed] In promos before airing, the producers said they were influenced by Joss Whedon's high school drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whedon's central premise was: "High school as a horror movie. And so the metaphor became the central concept behind Buffy, and that's how I sold it." The writers have confirmed they have no intention to include vampires but other creatures may be considered.[14] There is also a surprising amount of violence and horrific images in the new series, this includes a dead body that has been torn in half, scenes of people being burned alive, as well as multiple fight scenes that result in deaths or grievous wounds and hallucinations of torture.

In this series, Scott plays lacrosse instead of basketball. In the original, Scott inherits the werewolf trait from his father, who hid his lycanthropy from his son in the hopes that it would skip a generation, while the Scott on MTV's show gets bitten by a werewolf in the woods. In the series Scott's parents are divorced and his mother has custody of Scott. The new Stiles wears T-shirts featuring the Beatles and the Royal Air Force roundel symbol, while the original Stiles favored shirts that included highly-offensive phrases.[12] Another difference is that in the original everyone knew Scott was a wolf; in the new one it's a secret.

Reception

Critical

The series has generated a generally positive response from professional critics, with some praising it as better quality when compared to other shows by MTV. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the show holds an average score of 61 out of 100, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews", based on fourteen reviews.[3] Metacritic also lists the show as the second-highest rated MTV series by professional critics behind Awkward.[15] Linda Stasi, a writer from the New York Post, awarded the series' premiere a perfect score, stating, "Not only is it really well thought out, but the good-looking kids in the show can actually act."[16] Verne Gay from Newsday also reserved high praise for the show, calling it a "winner and best of all, fun."[17] David Hinckley of New York Daily News commented favorably on the series, ending his review with "Werewolves, pretty girls, dumb bullies and lacrosse. What more, really, could you ask of high school?"[18]

Some critics had a less positive reaction toward the first episode. Troy Patterson from Slate gave it a mixed review, referring to it as "light and passably witty supernatural drama."[19] James Poniewozik from Time magazine also had mixed feelings towards the show, saying, "The pilot isn't bad, exactly—it's well-paced if a little dour in spots and there's some decent CW-esque banter—but it's pretty much entirely what I would have expected from any supernatural teen drama".[20]

Following the first season finale in August 2011, Ian Grey of indieWire gave the series a positive review[21] and Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity named it the third best new show of the summer.[22] BuddyTV ranked Teen Wolf #4 on its list of 2011's best new TV shows.[23]

Ratings

The series' premiere attracted a total of 2.17 million viewers.[24] After airing its third episode, Teen Wolf was reported to be heading into its fourth week with tremendous momentum following a 23% increase among persons 12–34, with a 1.6 in the demo. With double digit percentage gains among total viewers and key demos, Teen Wolf was the #1 show in its timeslot with women 12–34.[25] The first season finale attained a series high in persons 12–34 (1.9) and 2.1 million viewers overall, as well as being first in its timeslot among teens and females 12–34.[26]

Season Originally aired
Timeslot Season premiere Season finale Episodes TV season Viewers
(in millions)
1 Monday 10/9c June 5, 2011 (2011-06-05) August 15, 2011 (2011-08-15) 12 2011 1.73
2 Monday 10/9c June 3, 2012 (2012-06-03) August 13, 2012 (2012-08-13) 12 2012 TBD
3 Monday 10/9c 2013 (2013)  () 24 2013 TBD

Comic

A comic themed upon the show was released in September 2011 by Image Comics.[27]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2011 Teen Choice Award Choice TV Fantasy/Sci-Fi Nominated
Choice Summer TV Show Nominated
Breakout Star Tyler Posey Nominated
Choice Summer TV Star – Male Nominated
Choice Summer TV Star – Female Crystal Reed Nominated
2012 Saturn Award Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television Won
Teen Choice Award Choice Summer TV Show Won
Choice Summer TV Star – Male Tyler Posey Won
Choice Summer TV Star – Female Crystal Reed Nominated

References

  1. ^ Bricker, Tierney (February 2, 2011). "'Teen Wolf': MTV announces premiere date". Zap2it. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  2. ^ "'Teen Wolf' Renewed". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 25 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Teen Wolf: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 7, 2011). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'MTV Movie Awards' Leads Night, 'Game of Thrones' Series High, 'Real Housewives,' 'ABDC' & Lots More". Zap2it. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  5. ^ Jon Weisman (2009-06-23). "MTV greenlights eight projects". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  6. ^ "Russell Mulcahy Piloting MTV's Teen Wolf to Twilight Glory". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Radish (10 June 2011). "Exclusive: Producer Jeff Davis and Director Russell Mulcahy Talk TEEN WOLF". Collider. Retrieved 14 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Text "Christina" ignored (help)
  8. ^ "Breaking News -Development Update: Monday, December 14". The Futon Critic. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  9. ^ "MTV Builds Slate of Scripted Programming with 2011 Premieres of Original Series "Teen Wolf" and "Skins"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  10. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1567432/fullcredits#cast
  11. ^ Verrier, Richard (June 4, 2012). "MTV show 'Teen Wolf' takes a bite out of state film tax credits". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  12. ^ a b McLaughlin, Katie (9 June 2011). "The Throwback: Did 'Teen Wolf' need a reboot?". CNN. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  13. ^ Barr (11 June 2011). "Channel Guide: 'Teen Wolf' Barks, But Doesn't Bite Yet". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 11 Jun 2011. {{cite web}}: Text "Merrill" ignored (help)
  14. ^ Casablanca, Ted; Boone, John (July 26, 2011). "Will Teen Wolf Be Venturing Into Vampire Territory?". E!. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  15. ^ "MTV: MTV's Scores". Metacritic. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  16. ^ Stasi, Linda (May 23, 2011). "Fangs-giving Day: 'Teen Wolf' lives up to the expectations". New York Post. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  17. ^ Gay, Verne (June 1, 2011). "'Teen Wolf': Boys will be werewolves". Newsday. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  18. ^ Hinckley, David (June 3, 2011). "Room for one more: 'Teen Wolf' will have 'em howling for another wistfully romantic fantasy". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  19. ^ Patterson, Troy (June 3, 2011). "Teen Wolf: MTV updates the classic teen movie with more scares, more sex, and lacrosse". Slate. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  20. ^ Poniewozik, James (June 3, 2011). "TV Weekend: Teen Wolf". Time. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  21. ^ Grey, Ian (August 21, 2011). "GREY MATTERS: With ALPHAS, TEEN WOLF and FALLING SKIES, genre TV mourns the loss of family". indieWire. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
  22. ^ Cohn, Angel (August 26, 2011). "TWoP 10: Best New Scripted Shows of This Summer". Television Without Pity. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  23. ^ "The 11 Best New TV Shows of 2011". BuddyTV. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  24. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 7, 2011). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'MTV Movie Awards' Leads Night, 'Game of Thrones' Series High, 'Real Housewives,' 'ABDC' & Lots More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  25. ^ Gorman, Bill (14 June 2011). "'Teen Wolf' Roars In Its Third Outing, With Double Digit Gains Among Total Viewers And Key Demos". tv by numbers. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  26. ^ Ng, Philiana (August 16, 2011). "'Teen Wolf' Closes Out Season on High Ratings Note". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  27. ^ "MTV.com - Comic - Teen Wolf #1, pt. 1". MTV Comics. 2011-06-06. Retrieved 29 July 2012.

External links

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