By Ryan A. Berenz
Follow @ChannelGuideRAB
The 1985 comedy Teen Wolf, made famous by Michael J. Fox (and to a lesser degree, Jason Bateman in the sequel Teen Wolf Too), was the story of a teenage werewolf who went from social dud to uber-popular basketball-star stud thanks to his family’s lupine lineage.
This month, MTV’s new Teen Wolf series resurrects the concept, but its connection to the films is in name only. The series cuts out the camp completely, instead taking a decidedly darker, Twilight-y tone, and develops its own mythology.
Scott (Tyler Posey, Brothers & Sisters) and his buddy Stiles (Dylan O’Brien) are benchwarmers on the lacrosse team and have no luck with the ladies. While out in the woods, Scott is bitten by a wolf. The next morning, Scott discovers that all of his senses are heightened, as is his prowess on the lacrosse field. His sudden athletic skills attract the eye of the new girl in school, Allison (Crystal Reed), and also the ire of the lacrosse team’s former top dog.
While high-school romance is never simple, Scott’s relationship with Allison is complicated by the fact that a racing pulse can trigger his transformation and he wakes up in strange places with no memory of what happened. Oh, and Allison’s father hunts werewolves as something of a hobby.
Teen Wolf makes no qualms about trying to appeal to the hordes of Twilight fans. Posey even gets his Taylor Lautner on, as bare abs abound in the first episode. But with a charming cast and a compelling mythology, genre fans should be howling.
Teen Wolf premieres June 5 at 11pm ET on MTV, with Part 1 immediately following the MTV Movie Awards (9pm ET). Part 2 premieres June 6 at 10pm ET, with the series airing on Mondays at 10pm ET beginning June 13.
Photo: Credit: MTV
