Shark Bytes

this show was great.

To be honest, all that I wanted to add in response to the last comments posted (why would Caleb etc) was that it was surely due to the 'charm of the devil' Lucas Buck could very clearly influence people to his ends (as was portayed in other episodes on numerous occasions perhaps most notably in the episode entitled 'The Beast Within' where Buck in front of witnesses, puts the 'fluence' on Bens' brother), one can never underestimate the power of the 'dark side lol' to tempt.

Also, one has to remember that Caleb was in fact just realising his own 'dark' potential, and in the final episodes was clearly shown to be more 'demonic' than Caleb, so this also has to be taken into consideration. Which was clearly why he turned his back on his murdered sister etc, one has to remember that throughout literary history the power of the dark side to tempt and corrupt has always been highlighted.

For me, in my opinion the show was an absolute 'tour de force' and it remains an absolute tradgedy that it was cancelled after only one season, to my mind quite frankly the people responsible for the decision to end it at that point should still feel shame to this day (especially in light of quite what rubbish they allow to run for ages). The fact that the show is mentioned on this site is a travesty, beacause it was never given the opportunity to 'jump the shark' and perhaps if it had gone to a seond series it might, but I really doubt that, it was intelligently written, and had a sharp sense of humour throughout, was brilliantly cast, and the performances were superb.

In case you hadn't noticed, I really love this show, and if you haven't seen this show yet, and like things with a supernatural theme, then this may definitely be just your cup of tea, 10 out of 10 in my opinion.

When they didn't portray human feelings realisticly. Caleb was actually shown his mother raped by Lucas, and he knows that Lucas broke his sisters neck and killed her. What reason was there for him to ever want to treat Lucas as a father figure. Yet that's exactly where they went with it.

And why would Gail fall for a man that she knew was evil, whether or not he was the one to kill her parents

The show was a good one, but it would have been even better if they had done a good enough job for me to buy these characters falling for Lucas's charms. I found him attractive and charming as a television character, but in real life you would be running from him, not falling into his bed. At least not unless you were warped and kind of evil yourself as Selana was. But Gail's reasons (oh he's really hot and I can't resist him) never made any sense. She had nothing in common with Lucas, and they want to sell this as a romance. Please.

And Caleb would realistically have fought Lucas to the end, and taken the side of his loving and murdered sister over the man that killed her. Instead we actually get scenes with him telling his sister that he doesn't judge people before he knows them, maybe Lucas isn't that bad. Which would make a lot more sense if Caleb hadn't seen with his own eyes what Lucas was capable of doing with Caleb's family

I really don't think it ever got the chance too. It had some flaws of course, but as it only aired for one season I think the quality remained fairly consistent from the Pilot to the finale.

My main comment is that I wasn't such a big fan of Gail to be honest. I was always far more intrigued by Selena's character and her relationship with Lucas, I was disappointed with how her character was ultimately treated.

This show never jumped because it never had a chance -- but it came very close when they kept messing around with Dr. Matt. The writing was kept at a high during the show's brief run but who knows how long that would have been sustained if the show had lived on? The over-arching good/evil storyline could not remain balanced very much longer and the show would have fallen apart.

Luckily, the DVD's have the missing eps that were never aired, but they pretty much only serve to confuse the plotline even more. Anyone looking for a tidy ending to AG won't find it, unfortunately.

"American Gothic" brought a real sense of menace to prime time TV in the character of Lucas Buck, one of the best written and well delineated villains in TV history. The ongoing struggle between good and evil and the interdependence of these two extremes (as well as the murkiness of their definitions) was played out against a very believable Southern backdrop with strong acting and a nice wicked sense of humor. It managed to survive possible shark jumps like Dr. Matt's departure, and the really icky relationship between Lucas and Gail. I don't think even if this show wasn't cancelled it could have sustained its level of excellence for many years, as at some point either Buck would have to have either triumphed or been utterly defeated once and for all. There weren't really enough side stories to sustain the show and dipping into that central plot continuously would have made the creative well dry up fairly quickly. As it was, the ending was fairly disappointing and it left a lot of questions that will never be answered, none of which is the fault of the creators.

loved the show! named my dog after the Caleb kid.

weird and quirky and just damn warped and disturbing.

paige turco could rule my world any day of the week!

While I was not wild about "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift", it was great to see a grown up Lukas Black. Here's a kid who never got mixed up in the child star insanity of drugs and booze that destroys so many of them.

I can understand why CBS canceled it. How do you promote a show that marries a dark and twisted Northern Exposure with Mayberry on Crack?!

In fact, I give the network a ton of credit for having the guts to run the show in the first place. I do think that if the show were new in the last few years, we would be watching summer reruns of season 4 right now.

Ahead of it's time

I agree, one of the best shows ever!!!

The great Gary Cole......."what color is the gun, Ben?"

I just watched all the dvds recently; even better!

BTW, the episode "Potato Boy" DID air on network TV, I remember being really moved by it.

Absolutely great series

THE best tv show ever aired........even if it was cruelly and stupidly cut short. I loved Caleb and his angelic sister Merlin....can't wait for the DVD release ( if that ever comes ).

american gothic can be seen on the chiller tv channel on direct tv. nuff said.

If American Gothic ran today, it would get the recognition it deserved in 1995. The show addressed many questions about life and death, good and evil, that are still relevant today. The quality of each AG episode was outstanding and the cast - Gary Cole, Lucas Black, Paige Turco, Brenda Bakke, Nick Searcy, as well as the supporting and guest cast, brought the characters to life in a manner rarely seen on television. No one could play Lucas Buck as convincingly as Gary Cole did. I was horrified when AG was cancelled and am still disgusted that it was not given a fair chance. We the viewers were robbed of the opportunity to watch a high quality show that entertained us and made us think. Judging by the activity AG generates on the web, there is a substantial number of viewers who would love to see it revived, with the original cast. When will these TV executives wake up to the obvious and bring AG back? Maybe an email campaign to Universal/NBC?

Love it! Thanks Chill for bringing it back. I only hope there was some sort of closure and answers before it was cancelled.

NEVER JUMPED AT ALL!!! Between Twin Peaks and American Gothic, you have 2 great shows that had great potential and riveting stories that were ruined by television executives. Where Twin Peaks jumped under the pressure to reveal Laura's killer, AG never really jumped, but could have...

If there was anything that may have possibly caused a jump to happen down the way, it was the romantic escapades between Gail and Lucas. It all depends on how they would have handled it in future episodes.

Wow, I was in love with this show- like literally, I was either 12 or 13 when it aired and I had to watch it. My family didn't stick with me on it so there I'd be, preteen girl, all alone in the downstairs living room (well, gosh was it Thursday? I guess it was Thursday night) glued to the tv, writhing in anticipation to watch- no, not MTV, no real world, nothing on Nickelodeon- American Gothic.
I was a strange kid, but this was a fabulous show. One of maybe three I've ever been truly excited about and possibly my top pick out of those.
And then it just went away.
Maybe it was for the best, maybe it would have turned horrible? I'll keep telling myself that.

There is a Dvd out now but i want to know if there is much of an ending or will i just be disappointed if i watch the whole series. I need closure.