The transformation sequences showing Jonathan Chase turning into animals were designed and created by Academy Award-winning special effects artist Stan Winston.

A running visual gag of the show was that Chase's three-piece suit would rip off during his transformation, but once he turned back to human form, his clothing would be perfectly restored on his body, even if he was unconscious.

Manimal was scheduled opposite CBS's hit prime time soap opera Dallas, and after only four regular episodes aired, production was halted and the show was placed on hiatus before being officially canceled in December 1983 due to low ratings, ending after just eight episodes total.

The series has been widely mocked as one of the worst television shows ever made, appearing on John Javna's list of 'Worst Science Fiction Shows of All Time' and ranking number 15 on TV Guide's 2002 list of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.

In 2004, readers of British trade weekly Broadcast voted Manimal the fifth worst television show ever exported from the U.S. to the U.K., ranking behind Baywatch, The Anna Nicole Show, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Wild Palms.

Late Night with David Letterman devoted a nearly nine-minute segment called 'Manimal: Show At The Crossroads' to sarcastically mocking the series on November 8, 1983, after its hiatus was announced, including a psychic predicting the show had no future in any format.

Creator Glen A. Larson briefly revived the Jonathan Chase character for a crossover episode with his 1990s series Night Man, in which the traditional practical-effects transformation was replaced with a CGI sequence.

In September 2012, Sony Pictures Animation was developing a live-action/CGI film based on Manimal, with Glen A. Larson attached as producer alongside Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions, but after Larson's death in 2014 no further news of the project emerged.