Movie Type: Supernatural Thriller, Prime-Time Drama
Themes: Small-Town Life, Fathers and Sons
Main Cast: Gary Cole, Paige Turco, Jake Weber, Brenda Bakke, Sarah Paulson, Lucas Black, Nick Searcy
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
One of the earliest forays into TV production by former teen idol Shaun Cassidy, the weekly, hour-long supernatural drama series American Gothic debuted September 22, 1995 on CBS. Things weren't quite right in the outwardly peaceful and respectable town of Trinity in Fulton County, South Carolina. Credit (or blame) for the ominous strangeness permeating the area could be laid at the feet of malevolent sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole), who subtly held the populace in thrall, using his demonic powers for coercion, intimidation and murder. Even so, everyone considered Sheriff Buck one of nicest guys in town. . .at least, everyone who voiced no objections to dancing to the crack of his whip. Buck's deputy Ben Healy (Nick Searcy) was the only person aware of the full depth and breadth of Lucas' evil, but he was powerless to stop it. As for Buck's girlfriend, sexy schoolteacher Selena Coombs (Brenda Bakke), she somehow managed to avoid his terrible wrath despite shacking up with practically every other adult male in town--including Dr. Billy Peele (John Mese), who joined the cast mid-season to battle an epidemic in Trinity. Having disposed of teenager Merlyn Ann Temple (Sarah Paulson), Lucas Buck attempted to gain custody of the girl's younger brother Caleb (Lucas Black), whose long-suppressed family ties to Lucas would not be revealed until mid-season. But Caleb's older cousin Gail Emory (Paige Turco), a crusading journalist, fought Lucas tooth and nail, and found a strong ally in the form of a stranger in town, Dr. Matt Crower (Jake Weber), who agreed to take care of Caleb himself. Incredibly, even Merlyn Ann, who'd been bumped off by Lucas early in the series, made surprise appearences to offer advice and comfort to her brother, and to steer him clear of Lucas' sinister influence. Too weird and inscrutable for the tastes of most viewers, American Gothic was put on hiatus after only seven episodes on November 3, 1995. The series was brought back on January 3, 1996, but yanked off the network again a scant five weeks later. Six of the remaining ten episodes were run off between July 3 and July 11, 1996, some of them shown out of sequence and thus confusing those viewers trying to make sense of its kinky continuity. The four untelecast episodes of American Gothic would not be generally seen until the series was released to DVD nearly a decade later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
American Gothic is an Americanhorror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive produced by Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled 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 Lucas Buck is a murderous rapist whose powerbase is backed by apparent supernatural powers, which he generally uses to manipulate people to "fulfill 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 in cold blood 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), struggle 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.
The zip code of the fictional Trinity, in Fulton County, is 29916, placing it in real-life Early Branch, SC in Hampton County.
Caleb is an orphan and is often tempted by Lucas to join the evil side but with help from the ghost of his sister, Merlyn, he usually does the right thing.
A reporter from the city who lived in Trinity as a child. Her parents died in a mysterious fire in the Trinity news paper editing room. Came to Trinity to take care of her cousin Caleb and to uncover the truth about her parents.
All episodes, except "Potato Boy", "Resurrector" and "Inhumanitas"
The local school teacher who likes to sleep around. She occasionally dates Lucas. She usually helps Lucas in his plans to gain custody of Caleb and to keep the town under control.
All episodes, except "Strong Arm of the Law", "The Beast Within", and "Strangler"
Caleb's sister, she is killed by the Sheriff, but occasionally appears to Caleb in the form of a ghost to guide him in the right direction and away from Lucas Buck.
All episodes, except "Strong Arm of the Law", "The Beast Within", "Ring of Fire" and "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday"
Doctor at the hospital. Matt has a slightly shady past and came to Trinity to start a new life, but can not escape his past. He takes Caleb in after the death of Caleb's father.
All episodes, except "Inhumanitas", "Learning to Crawl", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye", "Strangler", "Triangle", "The Buck Stops Here" and "Requiem"
He is Lucas' deputy. He lives in fear of Buck, so much so that he covers up the murder of Merlyn Temple.
All episodes, except "Damned If You Don't", "Meet the Beetles", "To Hell and Back" and "Rebirth"
Recurring guest cast
Actor/Actress
Character
Episodes
Chris Fennell
Boone Mackenzie
"Eye of the Beholder", "Dead to the World", "Damned If You Don't", "Potato Boy", "Meet the Beetles", "Strong Arm of the Law", "To Hell and Back", "Resurrector", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye"
John Mese
Dr. Billy Peale
"The Plague Sower", "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday", "Learning to Crawl", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye", "Triangle", "The Buck Stops Here" and "Requiem"
Alex Van
Deputy Floyd
"Dead to the World", "Meet the Beetles", "Learning to Crawl", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye", "Strangler", "The Buck Stops Here" and "Requiem"
Lynda Clark
Rita Barber
"Pilot", "The Beast Within", "Resurrector", "The Buck Stops Here" and "Requiem"
Tina Lifford
Loris Holt
"Eye of the Beholder", "Potato Boy", "Resurrector" and "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday"
Michael Burgess
Dr. Daniel Truelane
"Pilot", "A Tree Grows in Trinity", "Eye of the Beholder" and "To Hell and Back"
Robin Mullins
Nurse Stacie Erichfreund
"The Plague Sower", "Echo of Your Last Goodbye" and "Triangle"
Amy Dawn Anderson
Nurse
"The Plague Sower", "Learning to Crawl" and "Triangle"
Sarah Lynn Moore
Mrs. Carol Russell
"Potato Boy", "Strong Arm of the Law" and "Rebirth"
Troy Simmons
Josh Davenport
"Pilot", "Damned If You Don't" and "Dead to the World"
"Eye of the Beholder", "Potato Boy" and "To Hell and Back"
DVD Release
Universal Studios released the complete series of American Gothic on DVD as a Region 1NTSC double-sided 3-disc set in the United States (October 25, 2005) and as a Region 2PAL single-sided 6-disc set in Europe (released March 20, 2006).
The Region 1 and Region 2 Discs have the episodes in the same order (by air date as opposed to producer's intended order). The only exception is the German boxset (to be released October 5, 2007 by "Koch Media Home Entertainment"), which features all episodes in the intended order on 7 DVDs. The order is as follows:
