Blue Thunder (1984)

Action · Crime · Drama

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.

IMDb rating: 6.1 (2,334 votes)
Episode average: 6.5 ↑ +0.4 vs IMDb
Seasons: 1
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 1 season indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1984)

6.45 avg 11 episodes 6.5 → 6.4 48 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Second Thunder	6.5	67
2	A Clear and Present Danger	6.3	53
3	Arms Race	6.4	52
4	Revenge in the Sky	6.4	50
5	Trojan Horse	6.1	48
6	Skydiver	6.7	47
7	Clipped Wings	6.4	43
8	Payload	6.4	40
9	The Long Flight	6.7	49
10	The Godchild	6.7	42
11	The Island	6.4	44