American Gothic: other options?
American Gothic is, far and away, one of the best shows I have ever had the privilege to watch on television. The show, a horror series created by Shaun Cassidy, and starring Gary Cole as corrupt sheriff Lucas Buck, first aired in 1995, around about the time when shows such as the much-loved X-Files were just starting to come on to the scene.
However, while shows such as the X-Files found tremendous success and endured for many seasons, American Gothic had no such luck. The show was axed in 1996—after only a single season had elapsed. Rightly so, this angered fans, who were forced to see another show end part-way into its promised plot-arcs.
Perhaps it was the darkness of the show’s material that contributed to its early demise. Main character Sheriff Black was, after all, a murderous rapist—despite his uneasy ability to appear charming and likeable. Themes such as sexual assault, trauma, and suicide also feature in the show, perhaps alienating some viewers.
However, there’s no doubt that creator Shaun Cassidy and director Sam Raimi are talented individuals—as are the starring characters of the show, of course—and a quick hunt around online shows that between them they have produced a body of work that fans of American Gothic might be interested in.
Shaun Cassidy is credited as the producer of shows such as The Agency, Cold Case, Invasion, and, according to Wikipedia, the forthcoming Inseparable and Missing You. Sam Raimi, probably needs less of an introduction, having been involved in such classics as The Evil Dead films, Spiderman, the recent Drag Me to Hell, and 90s television series Hercules and Xena. With such a wide-ranging and varied body of work, American Gothic fans can hopefully find something else created, directed, or produced by these two ingenious individuals that is well-matched to their tastes.