Teen Wolf revolves around Scott McCall, a high school student living in the fictional California town of Beacon Hills.

The bite forces him to balance his new identity with day-to-day teenage life and eventually help protect his hometown, which he learns is a beacon for supernatural activity.

Scott begins the series as a relatively unpopular and unathletic student who lives with his divorced mother Melissa, a nurse at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

As a werewolf, he develops heightened physical abilities and senses well beyond those of an ordinary human, but he also must control animalistic instincts that are amplified by feelings of aggression and full moons.

The supernatural events surrounding Beacon Hills also end up affecting Lydia Martin, a popular and intelligent student who discovers that she is a banshee, and Jackson Whittemore, the captain of the school's lacrosse team who resents Scott's newfound attention.

[10] In June 2009, MTV announced that they would be adapting the 1985 film Teen Wolf into a new television series "with a greater emphasis on romance, horror and werewolf mythology".

For the MTV series, creator and executive producer, Jeff Davis, aimed to develop a darker, sexier and edgier version than the 1985 film.

[17] The look of the show was inspired in part by Guillermo del Toro's creatures in Pan's Labyrinth; the producers described the werewolves as beautiful, elegant and scary, at the same time.

[25] On September 24, 2021, Paramount+ ordered a reunion film for the series, entitled Teen Wolf: The Movie, with most of the cast expected to return,[26] with the exception of Dylan O'Brien, Arden Cho and Cody Christian.

[30][31] In both the film and show, 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.

The site's consensus is: "Thanks to a charismatic lead in Tyler Posey and some dark, biting humor, Teen Wolf is a pleasant summer surprise, even if it does tread familiar ground.

"[42] 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.

[44] David Hinckley of New York Daily News commented favorably on the series, ending his review with "Werewolves, pretty girls, dumb bullies and lacrosse.

[46] 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".

[47] Following the first-season finale in August 2011, Ian Grey of IndieWire gave the series a positive review[48] and Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity named it the third best new show of the summer.

[55] After airing its third episode, Teen Wolf was reported to be heading into its fourth week with tremendous momentum following a 23 percent increase among persons 12–34, with a 1.6 in the demo.