Rating: - "That's Buck with a B"
Every single genre fan knows what it is like to suffer that terrible sense of loss you can only undergo when one of your favorite television series has been cancelled, because it happens to us all the time! Its infinitely worse than a death in the family because shows of this calibre are a rarity and relatives are a dime a dozen--mine are at any rate. I'll bet that every one of you could sit down right now (well, you're probably sitting already, so scratch that) and make a list of ten shows that you loved with all your heart that never made it out of their first season. Am I right? Sure I am. My own list would include some real obscure shows like QUARK (about intergalactic garbage collectors), WIZARDS AND WARRIORS (it lasted 8 whole episodes!), STRANGE DAYS, EERIE INDIANA, WONDERFALLS, THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR., which is the only one that comes close to qualifying as a big success story on my list, and last but not least AMERICAN GOTHIC. Now THERE was a real winner!

AMERICAN GOTHIC which aired in 1995 was the brain-child of Shaun Cassidy,(yes, that Shaun Cassidy) and was produced by Sam Raimi's Renaissance Pictures company. It was set in the fictional town of Trinity, South Carolina, and for 22 episodes it exposed the unsuspecting American public to more evil and nasty goings on than they had any right to hope for. The town was aptly named for no matter what smaller stories seemed to be going on from week to week, there was always a greater story being played out in Trinity: Stories that involved Sheriff Lucas Buck played by Gary Cole with just the right amount of restrained leer and sneer. It was the Sheriff was at the heart of everything the happened in Trinity. Did he just have the devil in him, or was he really The Devil? And where you found the Sheriff most often was hanging around young Caleb Temple (Lucas Black, from SLING BLADE), because it turned out that the Sheriff might actually be the orphaned boy's real father--and Buck just wanted to bring the boy into the family business. And where Caleb went you frequently found his sister Merlyn--even though she was murdered in the series' first episode, she was an angelic presence who still liked to hang around and try and guide Caleb down the right path. So Trinity literally has its very own version of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. Only in this case they were usually at each other's throats--in a genteel satanic kind of way. But make no mistake about it, if you have an appetite for the weird, the eerie, or a more plausible version of TWIN PEAKS, then this is the show for you.

From the beginning AMERICAN GOTHIC was plagued by problems and found itself the center of controversy. In the first episode for instance Merlyn's murder was deemed too graphic and a long battle with network censor's ended in having the SOUND of her neck being broken removed from the soundtrack. Censors are strange animals, aren't they? You can see it, but you can't hear it. When they weren't battling the censor's they were having problems with scheduling, the series was constantly being bumped for this reason or that--furthermore episodes were being shown out of order. It was a mess. Four episodes were never shown at all. The fact that the series managed to build up any fan base at all is nothing short of miraculous. But miracles do happen, and nearly everyone who watched this series became hooked on it and lived for the day when the dvds would be released and they could finally see it the way it should be seen--in order and in its entirity!

Of course, nothing is perfect. THE EPISODES ON THE DVD ARE NOT PRESENTED IN THE PROPER ORDER! They should be viewed as follows: 1.PILOT 2.A TREE GROWS IN TRINITY 3.EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 4.DAMNED IF YOU DO 5.POTATO BOY
6.DEAD TO THE WORLD 7.MEET THE BEETLES 8.STRONG ARM OF THE LAW 9.TO HELL AND BACK 10.THE BEAST WITHIN 11.REBIRTH 12.RING OF FIRE 13.RESURRECTION
14.INHUMANITAS 15.THE PLAGUE SOWER 16.DOCTOR DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY 17.LEARNING TO CRAWL 18.ECHO OF YOUR LAST GOODBYE 19.STRANGLER 20.TRIANGLE 21.THE BUCK STOPS HERE 22.REQUIEM

Episodes of interest from a fannish perspective are #2 "A Tree Grows in Trinity" which features Arnold Vosloo who starred in Raimi's direct to video DARKMAN 2&3, as well as in HARD TARGET which Raimi produced for John Woo as his first American flick. #7 "Meet the Beetles" which stars Bruce Campbell as a cop who could never get to come back for a sequel. And #19 "Learning to Crawl" in which Sam's brother Ted Raimi has a rather large part as a semi-vicious criminal who serves as an object lesson for young Caleb.

AMERICAN GOTHIC'S current dvd release has discs with episodes on both sides. There is precious little in the was of special features--a few deleted scenes and some commentary from Cassidy on the pilot episode. Nonetheless its worth having because for the first time all 22 episodes are here, commercial free just waiting for you to discover them. Perhaps they are a bit heavy handed in some places, perhaps they are hindered by the limitations of tv special effects in the mid '90s, but none of that changes the fact that this series was an earth shaker was a sly, wicked sense of humor. Perfect for Halloween.

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