American Gothic (1995 TV series)
| American Gothic | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre |
Horror Supernatural Drama |
| Created by | Shaun Cassidy |
| Starring |
Gary Cole Lucas Black Paige Turco Brenda Bakke Sarah Paulson Jake Weber Nick Searcy |
| Composer(s) | Joseph LoDuca |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 22 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Sam Raimi Robert Tapert |
| Producer(s) |
Shaun Cassidy Steve DeJarnatt David Eick David Kemper Edward Ledding |
| Cinematography | Ernest Holzman (pilot only) Stephen McNutt |
| Editor(s) |
Pietro Scalia (pilot only) Chris Innis Brian L. Chambers Tom Moore Bob Murawski (title sequence & recaps) |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Renaissance Pictures Universal Worldwide Television |
| Distributor | Studios USA Television Universal Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Original release | September 22, 1995 – July 11, 1996 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
American Gothic is an American horror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive producer Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was canceled after a single season on July 11, 1996.
The story takes place in the fictional town of Trinity, South Carolina, and revolves around Caleb Temple (Lucas Black) and the town's corrupt sheriff, Lucas Buck (Gary Cole). Though appearing affable and charismatic, Sheriff Buck is a murderous rapist whose power base is backed by apparent supernatural powers, which he generally uses to manipulate people to "fulfil their potential" and make life-changing choices (usually for evil).
Caleb Temple is a normal child whose paternity masks a horrific secret: Lucas Buck is his biological father, having raped his mother in front of Caleb's older sister Merlyn (Sarah Paulson). The horror of watching her mother being sexually assaulted caused Merlyn to become severely emotionally traumatized and withdrawn from the rest of the world, made even worse when her mother committed suicide after giving birth to Caleb.
During the pilot episode of the series, Sheriff Buck murders Merlyn and manipulates Caleb's "father" (Sonny Shroyer) into committing suicide in order to eliminate Caleb's family and claim his biological son for his own. However, the newly arrived Dr. Crower (Jake Weber) begins to uncover the sheriff's role in the death of Merlyn and Merlyn's father and, with help from Caleb's out-of-town cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), struggles to prevent Lucas from corrupting young Caleb. They are aided in part by Merlyn's ghost, who personally appears before Caleb throughout the series in order to try to keep him from Buck's corrupt grasp.
Note: The character of Dr. Billy Peale (John Mese) was a late addition to the series, intended to be a regular character to replace Dr. Matt Crower as a more formidable adversary to Lucas Buck. He was added to the opening credits in the episode "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday", in which Dr. Crower is written out. Producer Shaun Cassidy stated that Dr. Crower would have returned had the show been renewed for a second season.
...
Wikipedia