Swamp Thing is an American superhero television series based on the Vertigo/DC Comics character the Swamp Thing. It debuted on USA Network on July 27, 1990, and lasted three seasons for a total of 72 episodes. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel.
Overview
Developed for television by Joseph Stefano (known for the classic film Psycho and legendary series The Outer Limits), Swamp Thing was filmed in the brand-new Universal Studios Florida facilities and soundstages by Universal's MTE division. This was granted to demonstrate the new studio because the series could be produced cheaply and quickly. For the first 13 episodes, the crew shot second unit footage in actual Florida swamps and returned to the studio for the primary scenes. However, the swamps not only prevented them from creating favorable lighting, but also required much time to transport people and equipment from the swamp to the studio. They finally decided to use swamp areas then existing on the perimeter of the studio and to build a swamp in the studio which, according to Durock, looked "ten times better than a real swamp".
Actor/stuntman Dick Durock, who played Swamp Thing in both films, reprised his role for the more serious-toned TV series (with Lonnie R. Smith Jr. & Patrick Neil Quinn portraying Alec Holland in flashbacks, etc.). He wore a modified version of Carl Fullerton and Neal Martz's latex suit created for The Return of Swamp Thing, and he spoke in an electronically altered basso profundo. Since his profuse sweating caused the lip and eye prosthetics to fall off while shooting the previous films, Durock simply had makeup applied in those areas for his television costume: "In the first feature, it took close to four hours. In the second feature, it took close to two hours. By the time we did the series, which ironically was by far the best makeup and costume, we had it down to about 45 minutes".
Swamp Thing debuted with "The Emerald Heart" on Friday, July 27, 1990, in the 10:30pm EST time slot. The show's introductory narration decrees:
After the pilot episode and first 12 episodes, executive producer Stefano left the series and production was temporarily halted for some retooling by Tom Greene, the new executive producer. By the end of the first season the network and studio sensed that the show could attract even higher ratings and further modifications came when Tom Blomquist was enlisted as a replacement for Greene to revamp the series for two more seasons and a lengthy production order of 50 episodes. Those episodes, which helped make Swamp Thing the highest-rated original series on USA Network, were less dependent on elements from the comic books and instead introduced anthological science fiction stories featuring guest star characters encountering the mysteries of the swamp. Swamp Thing regularly featured guest actors, such as Roscoe Lee Browne as Duchamp, (a Voodoo Houngan/Bokor, who refers to Swamp Thing as "Loa of Green Things; the Spirit of the Swamp"), Tyne Daly as Arcane's rival Carla Jeffries, Wolfman Jack as a carnival owner, Debby Boone as the estranged daughter of a beloved local woman, Philip Michael Thomas as a ghost trapped for eternity with his bickering wife, Andrew Stevens as a politician, One Life to Live stars Robert S. Woods and John Loprieno as escaped convicts, Summer Phoenix as a local friend of Jim's, and Adam Curry as a rock star. Two episodes also guest starred professional wrestlers Terry Funk, Kevin Nash, and Jorge Gonzáles a.k.a. El Gigante. Also, returning from the 1982 film, actor Ray Wise, who portrayed Alec Holland-pre-metamorphosis, appears in the 3rd season episode, "Never Alone" as a man who thinks that he and Swamp Thing are both aliens.
The series also introduced characters like the Kipp family, as well as a completely new incarnation of Anton Arcane played by Mark Lindsay Chapman. A young boy named Jim Kipp, played by Jess Ziegler, was intended to appeal to the young audience. However, after the first 12 episodes, a decision was made to return the series to a darker tone seen in the original Swamp Thing film. Consequently, the story had Jim Kipp abducted by a South American child-stealing ring acting under Arcane's orders, and Jim never appeared again in the series. Durock noted: "The way they wrote him out was kind of a shock to me and everybody else except for, I suppose, the writers... That's a hell of a way to meet your demise!" Indeed, the Swamp Thing evolved as it went along. Regarding these shifts, Durock commented: "I guess we finally got it ironed out with the next 50, we kind of tried to hit a balance".