15 Shows Canceled Before Their Time....

Gone But Not Forgotten: 

15 Television Shows 

That Were Canceled To Early

While having a talk recently with a friend about tv programs that were ended far to early, I got the idea that I should get off my ass and do a list of shows that I feel were ended far to early, mostly because, well, I like to do lists and I needed something to blog about cuz its been abit of time sense I been able to sit down and write out a post, and i figured this would be a good way of shaking off the rust so to speak. Anyway, here we go, here is my list of 15 tv shows that i feel were canceled far before their time, and not truly given a fair chance to grow and become what they could be, feel free to add your own in the comments if you wish... but for now, here we go....

15.  Wolverine And The X-Men

Now, alot of people might chuckle and scoff at the idea of this being a show that was canceled to soon, but you need to understand, its hard enough to please everyone when it comes to a comic book related tv show, be it animated or live action, its almost impossible to make every fan happy, but amazingly, Wolverine And The X-Men was able to actually please everyone, with its slick art style, with its adult friendly themes, the fact they drew characters like Emma Frost and Domino to their proper, curvacious womanly shapes, unlike most cases where they were deemed "to hot" for a cartoon and would be altered. The show also wasn't ashamed to go full on comic book nerd with its stories, even if the idea of Charles Xavior in a coma and talking to Wolverine through the power of his mind when he wakes up 20 years in the future, and the two of them guiding two teams of X-Men to fix the past and prevent Charles' future from happening, is a tad on the high end comic book side. The series was brilliant at times, utterly dark and terrifying at others, and always being as faithful as they can be to the comic books from which they all were spawned, make no mistake this wasn't that horrible 1990s Fox Kids X-Men series that made no sense at all and just randomly crammed characters into stories they didn't belong in or grouped with characters they'd have no business with, this was a show that wasn't afraid to show how dark Magneto could get if he chose to be, the truest sign of this was the unresolved cliffhanger that turned out to be the series final episode, where they'd changed the future, only to appear in what looked to be a properly animated and written version of the Age of Apocalypse, one of the most beloved X-Men stories of all time. Its a shame we never got to see it animated, all because Marvel's new owners Disney felt they wanted to go in a different direction with the X-Men on tv. Shame.

14. The Middleman

Before i explain the awesome that is The Middleman, let me have a second to digress about the network that aired it ABC Family. I could write an entire book on the immense volume of high quality programing that has been made by the American cable network currently known as ABC Family, a network that started out as a christian ministry channel and eventually evolved through afew sales into its currant incarnation, ABC Family, a sort of redheaded stepchild to in the Disney/ABC television juggernaut, now with it being said redheaded step sibling, it allows ABC Family to experiment with its original programing, and this is where I can write the book, they've over the years tried many series that wouldn't really "fit" what each of its parent channels would find fitting toward their style of broadcast, and though you can truly get behind such things, sadly, they're known for canceling programing they take risks on, infact four shows i feel were some of the best infact made this countdown, the first of which is Middleman. The Middleman is based on an obscure independent comic book of the same name, and was about a superhero or sorts called The Middleman, who was meant to be a sort of last resort problem solver who works for unknown mysterious people whom he's never met and never actually questioned, he just calls them "O2STK" (Organization to secret to know), he was recruited as The Middleman right after his time as a green beret, and does the job on his own with the help of his robotic secretary Ida, until he meets a girl named Wendy Watson, whom he decides to take on a sidekick, or "middle associate" as he calls her, What makes The Middleman stand out, isn't the goofball nature of the characters, its strength lies with in the stories themselves, because each episode, no matter how goofy it is, each episode is crammed to the bursting seems with references to every geek related thing you can think of to do with the plot of that episode, like for instance in the episode to do with time travel they met a man named Brigga Deer Leftbridge-Stewart, a reference to an iconic character from Dr. Who, and in an alternate universe story, everyone had goatees, like in the star trek episode Mirror Mirror, and in the ghost episode the haunting was at 1984 Ray Parker Jr. Avenue, ect. It was truly the ultimate geeklove show, it was smart and funny and well written and researched and each thing was crammed in for a reason, it was awesome, and truly deserved more than the 12 episodes it got.

13.Demons

Demons was a short lived series that explored the little used sci fi genre of demon hunting, part currently airing tv series Grimm and Lost Girl and part League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, this show follows one of the last of the Van Helsing bloodline, Luke Rutherford as he is trained in the family business of killing demons by Rupert Gavin, a long time friend of Luke's dead father, as well as the blind Mina Harker, a blind woman that can see the life of an object just by touching it, you later find out that Mina Harker is infact Wilimina Harkness, from Bram Stroker's Dracula, who uses modern dialysis to keep from needing to feed, though it leaves her blind when she's not drank blood, they eventually get joined by Luke's sort of girlfriend Ruby as well, even though Ruby and Mina bitch at each other constantly, though one is left to wonder if they bitch at each other out of jealousy or sexual attraction to each other, sadly though we never find out. Demons was great in the fact it served to fill a void in the sci fi on television universe, the hunting of monsters and demons and such, sure most shows have maybe one or two that show up and torment the main characters now and then, but until recently with the arrival of shows like Grimm and Lost Girl, that are only now starting to reach a wider audience, did you ever see such things, Demons was truly ahead of its time by many years, which i think is what hurt it in the end, and why it only lasted one series of 6 episodes, which is a shame really, because it ended with a cliffhanger that was a great spot to pick up and run, it also is sadly the second series canceled that year for the lovely Zoe Tapper, who really needs to get on television more.

12. SLiDE

I did a review of SLiDE not to long ago, atleast before I discovered it wasn't going to return at any time in the near future, and what i said then is still true, its very rare that you find me enjoying a show thats a high end drama aimed at teenagers, most of them are just inane drivel full of angst and more angst and abit more angst crammed in to give it that angsty feel that one needs for a teenage aimed drama, you know, cuz teenagers are full of angst. And though there is a good amount of that in SLiDE, they balance it out with enough of the other things a teenager goes through that you truly feel something for these kids, they're young, they're stupid, they do things to hurt each other with our realizing it and don't really know why, and they also spend all their time together, and form a sort of family, which is truly what any group of teenagers really do, even if one doesn't wanna admit it. SLiDE doesn't fall into the pitfalls of most shows like this, where you don't get over stressing of the stuff writers believe teenagers are dealing with, its almost like they have actual teenagers as consultants on staff or something to keep them true to the real world they are trying to build on the cast. Its hard to go into the dynamics of the show with out spoilering it for you in any way, specially given how little episodes there are of it, but trust me if you have a look at the show, and give it a good honest fair look, you'll discover its well worth being seen on the same pedestal as shows like Skins and Secret Life Of An American Teenager and other shows that are seen as its contemporaries.

11. Over There

Over There was one of those shows that on paper looks like a network's wet dream, its dramatic, its hard hitting, its created by and creatively supervised by former black ops military operatives from each branch of the US Military, all of which when the show was greenlit hadn't been back from Iraq, where the show was set, no longer then 18 months, and with the creative consultants all being officially released from the military, they could give a realistic look at what was really going on over there in iraq, thus giving us a very eye opening and very true to life account of what your average unit would go through on a daily basis, critics and fans raved about how true to life this show was, and how it wasn't afraid to show that its not all "yay go america thank you all for saving us!" and such, this was so true grit it needed a one eyed drunk bastard named Rooster Cogburn for the full effect. The only problem was, given that this show was so realistic, and so true to what really happens in war, and what was really happening in Iraq at the time, the network caved in to the US Military who disliked the honesty of the program, and wished it would be taken off the air so as not to ruin their "yay everyone loves the military" smokescreen that seems to always be tossed onto any program or movie dealing with the military here in America. Its a shame though, the very thing that made it a stand out series is what in turn killed it after only 13 episodes. If you can find this rare series, you should give it a look, it will open your eyes to alot of things.

10. 10 Things I Hate About You: The Series

Remember earlier when I said ABC Family was sort of the king of canceling things to early? Well this is another of the fine examples of it doing that. See, back when word got out that they were creating a tv version of the cult classic film 10 Things I Hate About You, the fans roared up in anger and dislike, but then, something strange happened, the pilot was quietly aired, and once it started getting around the internet and into the hands of the fans, the response wasn't what we were all expecting, the response was infact very good, much to the shock of many. Oh sure there were changes made, but none of them were changes that really took away from the characters, they if anything made them more interesting and flushed out, because as great as the movie was, alot of its characters were pretty single sided. This series kept the characters with all of their personality quirks and oddities, as well as keeping the format very light and funny, but still allowing them to grow with out it seeming forced. Its a pretty fun little show that eventually does follow down the same lines as the movie did, but it doesn't force itself there, it just happens naturally, and was setting up for the third season to allow for it to go off on its own while keeping old fans and new happy at the same time. Its seriously worth having a look if you haven't seen it, i just wish it went more then 20 episodes.

9.Jack Of All Trades

Now before I go any farther I tell ya, like most, I am a massive fan of Bruce Campbell, or as some call him, the king of the B-Actors, from the original Evil Dead onward there has been nothing Bruce has been in that hasn't become a cult classic to some degree or another, the problem with cult classics are, sometimes it takes a long time for a something to gain a following, and in the case of Jack Of All Trades, that happens to be the case, where its only recently being regarded for its brilliance that was years ahead of its time. Its not that hard to believe though, given its timing in history, Bruce was just finishing his run as Autolycus the King Of Thieves in both Hercules The Legendary Journeys as well as Xena Warrior Princess as both of those tv series winded down production and ended their runs, and it would be many years before Bruce graced the tv screen as Sam Axe on the brilliant series Burn Notice, so Bruce took this time to help create a sort of hybrid of his first tv series, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. with the mostly overlooked but brilliant series The Wild Wild West, which most deem as the very first Steampunk television series, this means that the show was both a historical farce, where in many noted characters through out history would appear in one or more episodes, and thanks to the steampunk element of the series, they would be able to use technology far beyond what they really had at the time the show took place. The plot was pretty lighthearted and fun as well, which is to be expected by Bruce's work, Bruce played Jack Stiles, the greatest american spy there has ever been, who in 1801 is sent on a special mission by President Thomas Jefferson to help a british scientist/spy undermine Napoleon in the East Indies, setting up shop on the fictional island of Pulau-Pulau, where Jack and his partner, the brilliant in incredibly beautiful Emilia Rothschild, to whom he was the assistant/bodyguard for to the general public. Jack would also, when the need arose to be more upfront and direct with their work, would take on the guise of a local zorro like legend known as The Daring Dragoon, a masked swordsman who fought for the people against the reigning government. Oh sure it sounds abit goofball fun with very little grounded in reality, but thats what made it so fun! Plus, the theme song almost an emmy for best television theme song in 2000. Oh and ofcourse Angela Dotchin, who has no retired from acting and is working in the fashion industry in London these days, is illegally hot. I mean seriously, look at her, and her accent, she's so hot, I'm told, she'll make a straight girl switch hit atleast once.

8. No Heroics

Every now and then, you have a cool little show like this that slips under most people's radar, maybe it just didn't have the right promotional backing, maybe it didn't have the right time slot, maybe they weren't sure where to go after the first series was done, any number of things could have caused a lovely offbeat show like this to fall to the wayside, even though, it really shouldn't have, specially with the superhero movie boom and the soon to be superheroes on tv boom that will be happening in the next few years once Marvel TV gets its first few shows out and ready for air, had this show waited out time, it could be a massive hit, but sadly, it was just afew years to early. Ofcourse to the dedicated comic book reader out there, this series will seem to be based, or atleast losely based on the comic book "Astro City" where in there is an almost entire city of super beings, and where in, is a social status class order, as well as every superpowered battle is reviewed like a movie or a play, in a sense keeping the status qua, and just enough cult film Mystery Men to keep the not really superhero types watching. The main location for the series is one of the show's best in-jokes actually, it all centers around a bar for superheros only called "The Fortress" a play on The Fortress Of Solitude/Batcave concept of a hero needing a place to hide their gear and stuff, but also, its a play on Marvel's The Bar With No Name, a secret bar for super villains. The bar even has brands and drink names that are jokes on super beings its actually really a secret nerdfest if there ever was one, most episodes take place in the bar, focusing on a group of secondary and lesser heroes, though you see the higher ranked ones appear and be utter douchebags to them along the way, it was a great idea for a comedy and it sadly was afew years ahead of its time. Shame really.

7. The 4400

I have often championed this series, claiming it was just enough of the forgotten classic film "Cocoon" and just enough X-Men comic books to be interesting, It was a great little series that tried to answer a question that many of us who study such things have often wondered, at the time the script was written, there were 4400 missing people officially listed as "abducted by aliens" through out the world, there are afew more now, but thats not important, but is important to the story is though, that the writers tried to answer the question we all were wondering, "where did all of those people go?". In their world, that question is answered one summer evening as a giant ball of light comes crashing through the atmosphere and lands at a lake outside of Seattle Washington, and much to the shock of those sent out to investigate the ball of light, they discover that it wasn't an object, but infact people, 4400 people who look exactly as they did the day they disappeared, they have no idea where they were, or how they got to where they are, or that any time has passed sense they were taken. Its tasked to government agency NTAC to sort out, handle and deal with all things related to these new arrivals, dubbed "The 4400" by the media and government. As time goes on, and the 4400 start to make it out of quarantine and are released into the world, be it to their families, whatever may be left of it, or helped into a brand new life if they are all alone, they start to show signs that they've returned different, altered, and each has some form of unique power, which most of them discover accidentally. NTAC ofcourse tries to keep a lid on this, even using a medication to dampen the powers in those who had et to surface anything, until rebel billionaire returned with the 4400 Jordon Collier announces to the world that the government was holding down the abilities of the 4400 and that there is nothing to fear from them, even claiming he was sent back with the knowledge they were taken from, altered in, and returned from a far distant future, and that they were all given powers for a reason, and that in time, everyone could have a chance to be like the 4400, causing a media firestorm over what he could mean. With out going to much into the story for those that have never seen it, over the short 4 years the series was on the air, the show takes many twists and turns and ends on what is one of the best cliffhangers I've ever witnessed, and to this way would love a tie up miniseries, or even a two hour movie, either would do, for the way it ended, it needs a true ending, I won't spoil it for you if you've never seen it, but you really should give this one a go and you'll see exactly what i mean, and why this needs more episodes.

6. Huge

Once again we return to the network that takes risks only to kill off what doesn't fit the mold that every other show out there fits into, this time its for a show they had called "Huge" which in all honesty, more then any other show on this list, truly should be put back into production, simply because of its message, "Its ok that you're overweight, as long as you believe in, and love who you are.". Set on the grounds of a fitness summer camp called Camp Victory, or "fat camp" as they're also known, Huge follows the cast of overweight teenagers as they go through their daily lives, as well as trying to lose weight, however the weight loss is the least mentioned thing on the entire series, it is there, and they remind us its there, but the show does something that no series before it ever really did, it dared to show that overweight teenagers, are infact, regular teenagers, who deal with regular teenage problems and life choices, and feelings and everything that all the "pretty people" that you see most tv shows aimed at teenagers filled with, Huge makes no attempt to really be different then any other show aimed at teenagers and young adults, thus living up to its statement that as long as you love yourself and are happy with yourself, who cares what size you are, you are who you are, and you should embrace it, be you skinny or fat or somewhere in the middle. The show also has going for it, the fact its got some of the best written teenage characters, or teenage related characters in recent years, the show's focus Willamina Rader, the overweight daughter of two parents who really don't care about her, as much as they care about the fitness centers they own, its implied that Will, as her friends call her, over eats as a means of attempting to get attention from her distant parents and to rebel against their overly healthy ways, you find yourself in a way rooting for Will in her battle to not really change who she is for anyone, and how she slowly discovers that she doesn't have to be brash and abrasive to everyone around her, and that she seriously loves basketball for some reason, through her you get to know all the others who are at the camp with her, the brother and sister who won't admit they're related cuz the brother is possibly gay, and his sister is ashamed of him, and Ian the sort of token Seth Rogan goofy and friendly chubby fellow, even Amber, the "thinnest girl at fat camp". Amber is actually one of the stand outs of the lovely cast of young actors, played, amazingly, by Hayley Hasselhoff, the daughter of a certain 1980s TV Icon turned joke by the name of David Hasselhoff, seriously, you've no idea how good of a talent Hayley is, i'm kind of surprised she's not in anything new by now. Sadly though, even with its brave and unique take on teenager drama, and the belief that as long as you love yourself, you don't have to be ashamed of what you look like or how big you are, this show, as many before it that didn't fit the generic mold, fell to the wayside, though it, and its poss, and its positive message, deserve to be brought back to television, cuz i'm stick of skinny folk all the time. Plus, they have this hilarious spoof of Twilight in one episode that'll have you rolling on the floor laughing.

5.  Reaper

No one that knows me will be surprised to see this on the list anywhere near the number one spot, its one of the many shows that truly wasn't a bad series, so much as a victom of  non-logical placement and just not really fitting into the network's demographic of viewers they try to aim at. See, Reaper aired on a network here called The CW, which was a unification of two smaller networks The WB and UPN, for some reason they felt when merging into this new form, they would try and corner the market on the younger demographics; teenagers, 20somethings, ect, and though they were, and still are, mostly successful with that aiming, in doing so, they actually purged their entire comedy line up from the network, Reaper being the last one standing, mostly people assuming because of its connection to nerd-god Kevin Smith, who was one of the show's producers. For those not aware of the show or its premise, its simple, its the story of Sam Oliver, his girlfriend Andi, and his life long friends Ben and Sock, and how on Sam's 21st birthday, he discovers that he is, infact, the son of the devil, who is played brilliantly by the great Ray Wise, Sam also discovers that though he is the son of the devil, he has a very special job to do, he is to become a Reaper, which means he is to capture souls that escape out of hell, a job he enlists his friends, and eventually his girlfriend, to help him with. As the series goes on, they all become more and more entangled in a deeper darker world of angels, demons, reapers and souls of all sorts, they befriend demons, get involved in a plot to take over Hell, and discover that The Devil hates Halloween, simply because its the one day he's not feared by mankind. The series ends on a cliffhanger, that was a clear set up for a third season, and though there were hints of what was to come, and word they were going to continue to continue the series as a comic book that never really panned out, the series deserves atleast one more year to atleast give a final ending to the series, and if for nothing else then to see Ray Wise play The Devil, a role he was born to play once again.

4. Suburban ShootOut

I first mentioned this quirky little show about a year ago when I was finally able to track down and view the entire series, and boy was I glad i had finally taken the time to do so, I love an offbeat british dark comedy as much as the next man, but this series took the concept to a whole new level, something that I just loved beyond what words can express, it was totally fresh and totally out of its mind, and it was just utterly brilliant for that.Suburban Shootout is the story of Joyce Hazeldeen, who just wanted to move to the country with her cop husband, and enjoy starting life after her son had left for college, but it doesn't seem to end up that way, she happens to get sucked into what is best described as a territory war between two rival gangs made up of the housewives and middle aged women of the small town of Little Stempinton, The series tells the tale of Joyce not only being forced into the middle of all of this, but her attempt after attempt after attempt to free herself from all of this with out letting her husband know, for fear of what he might say if he discovers that she's been unwillingly involved in all sorts of organized crime. The show at times borders between completely hilarious and absurd to out of its damn mind, something that is great in a surrealest comedy played off as a mock drama, something that we don't really do here in america for some reason, we werelly should try a mock drama, we might actually like it. Still, the series ends on a stinger that could honestly keep the show going longer, with out giving away to much of it, Joyce could easily spend a whole season fighting in her mind about what he wants vs. what she's doing, and it would still make for awesome dark comedy. And if you haven't seen this show, well, go give it a watch, if you need more endorsement, Oprah was a huge fan of this series as well, and if she can get 2 million housewives and spinsters to read War and Peace, anything is possible I think.

3. The Boys From The Black Stuff

Alot of times I argue that a television show couldn't have been made at any other time in history, then when it was made, for whatever reason the world and entertainment tastes would merge in a perfect storm of the perfect television program for the world at that given time. I always use All In The Family for an example of this, but for the British, a better reference point would be this short lived cult classic The Boys From The Black Stuff, a social and political commentary on life in the early 1980s in England, under the reign of Margot Thatcher, who we were in america were lead to believe was a great leader, but only after she was out of power we were able to discover the monster she truly was, The Boys From the Black Stuff defines that time period as best as anyone ever could with out making it a documentary, the series, first seeing air as a television movie called "The Black Stuff" and expanded into a series after popular demand, the series continues where the television movie left off, its five main characters are still an out of work street tarring crew, now all off to look for their own forms of work, only to find corruption and trickery everywhere, it truly is a commentary on life in the united kingdom at that time. I've often wondered if a simular idea would work here at the current time in the US, but then I realize it'd be lazy reality and dismiss it. The thing with this series was, it was sort of perfect, it was true to the world it was living in, it didn't try and make the world a better place or downplay anything, if bad things happened in the world, they happened there as well, it makes it feel like you're watching something that could be happening to a group of guys that go to the same pub as you, or something like that, and also, the show, though very open with its distrust and dislike for the highest tip of the upper high class, it didn't give you it heavy handed, like many shows at the time would have gone just for effect. The Boys From The Black Stuff never did say it was sorry for what it was, and you would be amazed at just how great this show is if you haven't seen it, but check it out, it will open your eyes to a period in history that needs to be remembered, specially because it was ended because of political pressure.

2. The Yard

At first look The Yard looks kind of like a show about how children are always in a constant struggle over who it is that runs the playground come lunch time or after school, and though on the surface they could be considered right, the show really goes more then that, it takes the concept of grade schoolers and their playground life and uses it for an allegory for all that happens in adulthood, in a way of showing that no matter how old you grow, life is pretty much the same as it always has been, just the playground we all fight over controlling changes. They even go one step farther by sort of also making it a cop show or sorts, with clearly defined good guys and bad guys and in between characters, this element is what lead most reviews of the show to lovingly and jokingly call it such things as "The Wire Babies" and "The Soprano Kids", the show even tosses in a homage to the cult classic Trailer Park Boys by having the series filmed as a documentary, even though unlike TPB there is a voice over narrator. I know that some people out there might not really get this one, or wonder why it needs to be brought back, and thats fine, see, its the originality of it, its the fact there really is no show like it, before for after, and is basically a completely blank slate that could, if you are clever enough, use to sound off on any number of things in the world, just through the eyes of a child who sees it as just another day doing what they do in the schoolyard.

1. Fallen

Now we come to the show I feel is most deserving, the final show on this list canceled by ABC Family after they got too scared to lose their core middle america religious fanatic viewers, I am talking ofcourse of the short lived, and always buzzed about when they do air the 6 parts of it, normally as some sort of marathon on the weekends when they aren't airing Harry Potter movies back to back back. Fallen was original created as a series of books aimed at teenagers, much like such juggernauts as Twilight, The Hunger Games and even from this very list, Huge, it was originally believed that the 4 books in the series would be crafted into six episodes to form as the first season, a mini-series that would be used as either a launching pad or a stand alone if the series didn't do well ratings wise. Now, sadly, the series did amazingly well, but, the only problem is, the network caved in to pressure and complaints from religious groups who found the show's concept blasphemous, thats a thing one should learn about American TV actually, alot of things get canceled because of pressure from one group or another, all you need to do is say "boycott" and unless you're nerds, the networks shit their pants to solve your problem. The plot they find so offensive? Well thats simple, Fallen is the story of a boy, Aaron Corbett who is infact a Nephilim, a human-angel hybrid, it is said that from the Nephilim, there would be born a child who could send the fallen angels of earth back to heaven against the will of god. Aaron learns of this when he turns of age and starts to discover he has special powers, and he is attacked by a group of angels called "The Powers", a violent group of hunters who hunt the young nephilim and kill them, Aaron eventually meets others of his kind and some fallen angels, and together they all go about helping Aaron send the fallen to heaven where they feel they belong, as well as fighting off the powers. Its seriously a great show, with some very high brow concepts and some very dark but very good storylines and scenes, the scene where on of the powers loses his wings for not killing Aaron is shockingly dark for a teenage aimed tv series, but thats one of the things that make it great, that they aren't scared to go where they had to go to get things as true to the story as possible. Sadly, I doubt this show and its controversial concept will ever see more episodes, but, a guy can dream right?

Honorable Mentions:  

The Alice: An aussie series about people all drawn to Alice Springs for a mystical event

This Is Not My Life: New Zealand super spy series about a man who wakes up with another man's life

   Durham County: Canadian murder/mystery series about a serial killer in a small town outside Toronto

Pan Am: American period drama set in the 1960s covering early days of Pam Am Airlines

Rabbit Falls: Canadian series set in rural western canada, and is basically canadian twin peaks

Death Valley: American dark comedy about police officers in a town over run with zombies 

So thats my list of 15 programs that I felt should have been given longer time to shine then they were, be they ended because of low ratings to do time slot or lack of promotion, or being unable to fine a core audience, or just being ahead of its time, or whatever the case may be, either way, I feel i've given some of these redemption or sorts.



------

BC

The Amazing Spiderman

The Amazing Spiderman:

Finally 100% Toby McGuire Free

But Still All That Angst....

About 12 years ago, the film industry went through what we like to call the first comic book movie boom, where in, as you can guess, almost every movie was based on a comic book; The Fantastic Four, Hellboy, From Hell, The Punisher, X-Men, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, you get the idea, all came out around the same time, and though Superman Returns is generally assumed to be the worst of the entire batch, many could argue that among the other worst was Sam Rami's Spiderman trilogy, a sort of half reinvention of Spiderman and half "eh, lets a wacky wallwalker at a wall and see what happens?" film adaption of Marvel Comic's beloved Spiderman, and though some people might not have an issue with such things as the very weak villain presence in those films, there are twice as many who just need to say "organic webshooters" to spark a nerd fight so epicly large, the younger nerds shall someday LARP it. The trilogy got progressively worse, much like with the X-Men films of the same era, and eventually their third and final one was a dud so painful its best forgotten it was even made, the fans were pissed off, and marvel was pissed off they allowed something of theirs to be treated worse then a non-Batman DC Comics character. This lead to two things; the announcement that Marvel Comics was founding Marvel Studios, to produce their own movies and allow their charactes to go in the film directions they wanted them to go, and eventually, after proving that a reboot can solve most of your issues with a film franchise, as proven with X-Men: First Class, it all lead to this, The Amazing Spiderman.

The Amazing Spiderman, once again tells us the story of young Peter Parker who was bitten by a radioactive spider and thats bite gave him the powers of a spider, instead of, you know, cancer. This time around though they don't just explain it as a field trip to a science museum to see how an atom smasher works, they imply that Peter's parents, who really, unless you ignore the horrible clone saga that was the 1990s Spiderman comic books, they never really explained much of, just that they were dead and they were brilliant scientists, and they also change afew other key elements, how his Uncle Ben dies, and how he goes about creating the Spiderman persona in general, I must admit though, I like being able to have Ben Parker around for abit longer, much like how in Captain America: The First Avenger we had Bucky Barnes around for half the film instead of Bucky being "Captain America's sidekick who died", Ben Parker was always just "Spiderman's uncle who died because he refused to do the right thing and help someone that was mean to him" and really just lived on in the belief Spiderman lived by "With great power comes great responsibility", and though each hero does need characters like this to instil their place as a hero, over the years they tend to become hollow and plastic, allowing Ben to be in almost half of the film makes him someone we all feel for even though we know how he will end up, it was a great move, also casting Martin Sheen as Ben Parker and Sally Field as May Parker was a brilliant idea. The movie also changes up the origin, stating that Peter's parents worked with Dr. Curt Conners, long time Spiderman supporting cast member and sometimes villain known as The Lizard, and that they were all working on a way to make the human body able to heal terminal illnesses internally and grow back lost limbs, much like Conners himself, who is missing half an arm, claiming that the spider who bit Peter was mutated through radioactivity through Conners research and study he did with Peter's parents, and it simply got loose when Peter accidentally opened a container the spider was in, thus kind of in a round about way implying that Peter's parents indirectly created him. The film also uses this to sort of "dark mirror" the process by having Peter, using an algorithm that he discovered in his father's research papers, inadvertently create The Lizard, even though it was Conners, who while trying to prove he deserved to keep his job, injected himself with the serum they'd created before testing it on lab animals properly, and in true Spiderman sense, Peter blames himself, even though he doesn't realize that Conners sped things up with out him, after all, it wouldn't be Spiderman with out the angst buried just under the jovial and comedic surface.

The Amazing Spiderman also does a good job with modernizing but keeping the core of the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, another key character in Spiderman's mythos. Much like with Ben Parker being "Spiderman's dead uncle" to most, Gwen Stacy is simply "Spiderman's dead girlfriend" and most really only know of her as that, only those who have read the early issues of the comic truly knew of her and her tragic end as a pawn used by Norman Osborne; The Green Goblin to distract Spiderman so he could get away, and though we weren't given Gwen's death in this film thankfully, we instead get to know Gwen, who is played amazingly well by the beautiful Emma Stone, who truly looks like Gwen in the flesh, the hair, the whole miniskirt and knee-socks/knee-boots thing Gwen is known for, the only thing they really changed was her attitude, generally Gwen is written to be this magical wonderfully happy young girl who sees the wonder and beauty and magic in everything, infact in one story she even was seen to be dancing in the mist and rainbows caused by an invasion from Atlantis, but I digress, even with the small change in personality Gwen and Peter's relationship was as spot on as one could hope, even though oddly, he told her his secret identity, in the comics that never actually happened, though her father, a police captain who at first saw Spiderman as a menace, knew who Peter was, and after the two had a talk about why he does what he does, Cap. Stacy became a valuable ally.

So as for the film itself, its plot is pretty basic superhero 101, we meet our hero, we meet those in his life, we see what causes him to become a hero in the first place, he accidentally has a hand in creating a villain and solidifies himself as a hero because he feels he needs to stop said baddie, and along the way he has defining moments of bravery that show he's truly a hero, instead of a drunken asshat like Iron Man. Its not a flashy complicated story, or an amazingly sweeping grand tale of any sort, its your basic punch and kick and let down your girlfriend superheroics that we've all come to know from Spiderman, that doesn't make it a bad thing, but it might be a let down for newcomers to the character and his world, though long time fans will be happy that the movie folds out like a comic book story, they'll also delight in the hilarious cameo by Stan Lee, while regular movie goers will be puzzled by the strange cameo of Chris Rock who last time I know was still famous enough to not have to cameo in a movie to get money, but then again, well, Madagascar 3... so.. yeah, there is that. Comic book fans will also love the length the film makers went to as to include as many iconic spiderman images as possible, including an if you blink you'll miss it actual posing of 1991's Spiderman #1 cover, an image they consider so iconic it was the cover to Spiderman #1 and recolored into the cover to Spiderman #13 as well, a pose i truly didn't see coming till the last second, at which point i squee'd with delight at it, there are many others too, mostly the webswinging poses, but hey, those are the money shots to Spiderman, so don't playahate.

So, the big question, is The Amazing Spiderman worth seeing? Honestly? Why the hell are you still here reading this? Get your ass to a theater, and watch this movie! Sure its got its flaws like any other comic book movie, but thats never gonna change it, thats never gonna make it not worth watching, its just such a great film, seriously you need to get up on this and as soon as you can. Sure some will say its more Peter Parker centric and it needs more Spiderman and his crimefighting banter, but there will be time for that as the series goes on, this was ment to show you how it all came to be, not just another day in the life of. So seriously, go see this as soon as you can, you won't regret it.

But if you aren't 100% convinced yet, here is the trailer to make you love it....




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BC

The Almighty Johnsons

The Almighty Johnsons:

The Story Of Norse Gods

Friggin About In New Zealand

These days, everyone in television is trying to do some form of sci fi, oh sure most do the whole vampire/werewolf/zombie route thats so fashionable right now, but every now and then, every now and then a completely new and different idea comes around that shines like an idea so brilliant it just has to work, and more so it just has to work out so well you kind of envy the bastard who actually created it. One of such ideas is the new zealand television series The Almighty Johnsons, the story of norse gods reborn on earth and living among us regular human beings, living among us being reborn over and over in the body of those with the blood of a god with in them, until a prophecy that they all believe in, shall come to pass. 

The Almighty Johnsons tells the story of the Johnson family; Mike, Ty, Anders, Axl, four brothers who live in New Zealand where they, like many other families, keep a secret that is revealed to each of them as they turn 21 years of age, that secret is, they're all reborn norse gods. The story starts on the night before the 21st birthday of the youngest boy Axl, who is completely unaware of his family secret when we start, all he knows is, his brothers and his cousin Olaf are taking him into the woods on his 21st birthday to do some sort of "family tradition", though no one tells him what it is. After bringing him to the deepest part of the local woods, and standing inside a circle made of special stones, Axl is told to hold an old sword above his head and wait for what happens. After afew minutes a powerful lightening strike hits Axl, knocking him flat on his back, as well as knocking his cousin Olaf far away from the circle, Axl has no idea whats just happened to him and as his brothers look for whats happen to Olaf, they decide to tell him the family secret, that they are all the reborn forms of various norse gods, as they look for Olaf they each explain who they are and what their powers they can use are; Mike is the reborn form of Ullr, the god of games and the hunt, Mike can track anyone or anything as long as he can get its scent, and he can never lose a game where is in direct competition with a person or machine. Anders is Bragi; the god of poetry, who can use his words to get anyone to do anything that he wishes, no matter if they don't want to or not. Ty is Höðr; the god of all things cold and dark, his touch can freeze you he can also change the temperature, as well as freeze things. When Axl asks what god he is, and what he can do, they tell him they need to ask Olaf, because he is the family oracle, and is also their grandfather not their cousin, when asked how that is possible, they explain Olaf is Baldr, the god of rebirth and age, and that his power is he doesn't age. The boys find Olaf who is literally smoking in a hole in the ground from being tossed outside the circle, they ask him who Axl is, he simply looks at him and says "Odin" and then passes out. The boys freaking out at this, carry Olaf back to their cars and they all head back to Mike's house, to figure out what this means.

While at Mike's house, as they try and wake Olaf up, they explain more of what they are to Axl; that hundreds of years ago, the norse gods grew tired of the constant demands of humans asking of them and doing things in their name, and that they built a ship and sailed as far away from Asgard and the Norselands as possible, where they could be free to live and be happy, that place ended up being New Zealand, and though they didn't know why, they knew buy Olaf's reaction that Axl is very important, not only to them, but to the rest of their kind as well. Axl ofcourse is confused and doesn't believe any of this, and insists his brothers are messing with him and that its all a trick, even them using their powers were somehow a big trick they're playing on him for his 21st birthday. Later that evening during Axl's birthday party Olaf wakes up and they explain to him what he said, he then tells them of the prophecy surrounding whenever Odin is reborn on earth; he explains that its a rarity and that whenever he is, there is a chance for all of the gods to regain their powers and return to Asgard properly. That all the gods and goddesses that are connected to each other are drawn to each other, and will live out their destinies together, in Odin's case, once he finds his wife, the goddess Frigg, they will break the cycle and return the gods to their rightful place with their full powers and proper rights that go with them, but he also explained that the last time Odin was on earth, he was killed before he could find Frigg, and when he died, not only was his entire family wiped out, but thousands of people along with him, in an earthquake that was listed as New Zealand's worst ever. From this point, they decide, they have no real choice, they have to find Frigg and finish the prophecy.

The series from here follows them as they go about their "Frigg Hunt" as they call it, along the way they encounter hardships and trials and setbacks and false positives, they also encounter other gods and goddesses, who each have their own agendas and wants, some wishing to help in their search and some out to make sure it never happens for their own selfish wants. The series is two seasons in now, and with out going to far into detail (outside of the pilot which I've given the the plot too), it gets more complicated and interesting as it goes, the gods and goddesses become more and more entangled in each others lives and sides become blurred and you never really know who's on who's side, which makes it so much more interesting. What truly stands out though is that the gods and goddesses, they make sense in the real world, like it would make sense that Loki would be a high priced lawyer, or that Thor would be a bat shit crazy goat farmer who hates the life he is living on earth, knowing what he has waiting for him in Asgard, and that the sex related goddesses would be rather slutty, and the god of cold and darkness would work on refrigerator, and that the god of poetry could use his silver tongue to get any woman that he wants, it all makes perfect sense with out having to bend the concept of a real world vs. a sci fi world, and i think thats what gives it its edge, the whole sci fi but you don't know it kind of thing, as well as the fact the hunt for Frigg isn't the only focus, yes its always there and each episode involves it, but you aren't beaten over the head with it like you are with most shows about a quest of some kind, its always drilled into you by each character atleast 3 times an episode, but not here, its there, and you know its there, and it gets mentioned, but its not forced down your throat, which is really the best way to be i think.

So if you wanna try a show thats completely out of the ordinary, and gives you a great new look into the realm of sci fi, or if you're just a fan of mythology and would love to see it played out in a totally new and unique way, give The Almighty Johnson's a try, its really rather good.

here is the season one trailer....




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BC

Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows:

...Remember That Trainwreck At The Start Of Super 8?

Yeah, Its Like That.. Kinda... A Trainwreck I Mean

I know alot of people are out there curiously waiting for my review of this film, its arguably the third most questions I get in my emails after questions about The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rising, this one just slightly edges ahead of questions about The Amazing Spiderman. And I guess that is rightly so given the screen name I have chosen to avail myself of in this vast wasteland we call the internet. Many a day have I had to answer the normal dregs "Do you think it will be great?", "Are you looking forward to it?", "do you like John Depp in the main role?", ect..  all these repeating questions, and now I can finally answer them, though I doubt if what I have to say will make alot of you out there happy. Because honestly, this film, as great as it could have been, is flawed, and I don't mean one little scratch under a caster that doesn't ruin the value, I'm talking it needs a full on repair job to fix the giant crack in it. Now I know afew of you out there will believe I am writing this in a negative light simply because I have been on record as disliking the way they've made Johnny Depp look as a vampire, and though I admit, that slightly bothered me, it was the smallest of the cracks in this rose colored stain glass window, and I am not exaggerating at all when I say that. Not one bit, though in all honesty, I wish I was, I wish I could just cover my ears and my eyes and imagine what I saw on the screen really wasn't what was given to life long fans of the first ever sci fi soap opera in hopes the cameo by the four surviving cast members of the original show (now three after John Frid died recently after making the group cameo), and not care about the rest, but the problem with that is, the rest is, well, at some points pretty bad, but at other moments pretty good, and yes before you feel the need to try and damn me for "not getting the humor" yes I am aware this is a spoof using the darkest of humor, and though many of the highlights are taken from it being in that vain, it still has so much more that it has to live up too, and so much more that it failed to do so on.

See the problem with this film isn't really the film's fault, its well shot and well acted, the real problem, as often is in cases of this nature, with in the script. See, they try to cram as much Dark Shadows related references and jokes about the goofy nature of what was once seen as high end sci fi into what should have been a better well thought out and well written plot, instead of what seemed like a half assed idea that was tossed together by people that had only seen maybe 10 minutes of the 1991 reboot of the series, and didn't bother research the rest. Its actually almost insulting how little of a story this film really tells, and how flimsy the little bit we do have is. The actual plot, if you could call it that is not only a story of how Barnabas Collins was cursed to be a vampire by the witch Angelique, who then had him locked in a box and buried, or a story of how by 1972 the Collins family had pretty much become all but died out, and barely able to afford to keep Collinwood and their family business, the Collinsport Fish Cannery open for business, thanks to rival company Angel Bay, which just happens to be across the warf from them, and how it all somehow ends up in a third act thats all fire and supernatural powers a go-go till the very end. Infact it doesn't even actually give you the implications that anyone besides Barnabas and Angelique has any kind of super natural powers until the third act, and even then they seem tacked on in a sort of "meh we've fucked it up this far along, we might as well fuck it up some more and go for broke.." like manner. Its seriously confusing and comes off really insulting to the viewer, almost as if there was ment to be alot more in the film but it ended up on an editing room floor, or atleast you hope there was such an incident of that happening, otherwise you're gonna get really pissed off really fast, like, really fast.

Now don't get me wrong, there is alot lacking here, but, its a case of whats wrong is very wrong, but whats right is very right, like I found myself laughing outloud at all of the times they make fun of common tropes in every vampire movie and television show sense Dark Shadows, I even laughed outloud at the conversation that was lifted directly from Twilight of all films, infact alot of the humor in the film is what actually kept me from taking a nap through the second half of the film, well that and how well the cast tries to make it work with how little they have in respect to actual story or plot, because they do infact really give it their all, and can at times be rather entertaining in their own ways, its both comical and kind of painful at times to watch them try and do their best, even if in all fairness, 90% of the film is just Barnabas and Angelique yelling insults and flirts at each other in what basically comes down to a supernaturally enhanced episode of Moonlighting, and yes if you don't get that reference, I am inside crying for your very soul.

I guess my major issue with the film is just how little was done with such a rich history and a plethora of characters, infact half of the characters that made up the bulk of the cast at any given time were missing. By my count, of all the characters they had to pluck from, they only literally used a handful. Its almost as if Depp or whoever was incharge of final agreement on the script had no clue who half of the cast was! Seriously, its like they didn't even bother to wikipedia up a character manifest or something, they just randomly tossed together 4 Collins family members to be family to Barnabas and could give a damn about the rest of the cast. Where was Reverend Trask? You have a film where the loosely tossed together plot is basically a 200+ year lover's spat between a vampire and a witch, who spend 90% of the film just tossing insults at each other, as they basically destroy half of a small town in Maine, and you miss the opportunity to have a bat shit crazy hellfire and brimestone preacher like Trask somewhere in the mix? Seriously? A vampire starts ripping its way through random people in town and it doesn't get the attention of local occult studies and history teacher and town historian T. Elliot Stokes? Really? Also to the point of Stokes, how doesn't he notice that EVERY woman in Angelique's family looks exactly alike, nor does he question how in the 1700s a woman could start and own a business? Nor does the film really even touch on the history of the Collins family, they just imply there are dark things in the family and its past, only really mention Barnabas as past ones, but never really going into any detail, nor do they really explain the whole set up to the third act other then the constant bitching between Barnabas and Angelique, I don't mean to lightly spoil here, but if you go and watch the film, keep this in mind, at the start of the final act of the film, when you find out an interesting reveal about Victoria Winters, followed by Angelique dropping what might be the coolest sounding fire spell ever written, and the Collins Cannery is set ablaze, NOTHING makes any sense. None of the characters that display powers at this point are even hinted at in the rest of the film to have any kind of powers, after all, why would they have such a hard time believing that Barnabas is a vampire if they all have these abilities of their own? It seriously doesn't make any sense at all, the actual end of the film doesn't fully make sense either, I honestly feel it was just slapped together lazily.

So the big question, should you go and see this film, honestly, I'm not truly sure. Part of me says go and see it, you'll get a good laugh out of the insults volleyed about between the two main roles, and the great Jackie Earl Haley does a pretty fun job as Barnabas' earstwhile henchman Willie Loomas, and there are a great deal of laugh outloud moments, Barnabas reciting Steve Miller's "The Joker" while staring into a lava lamp, and the scene where he murders a group of hippies that most have seen in the previews are both pretty funny to, as is his confusion of the not time period correct McDonald's sign and the car when he first comes out of the coffin in 1972. But the other part of me is saying to run like the wind, as far as you can from it, for unless you've no idea of the history of the show or the characters there in, you'll be most upset and most annoyed by what exactly was done to this by a "life long fan" like Johnny Depp claims he is, though how a "life long fan" could let this happen I've no idea. So I guess the final real choice on the matter is, to make your own choice, maybe wait until it hits netflix or Red Box or one of the movie channels before bothering with it, so you don't have to worry about putting out any money for this movie that tries so hard to be so much more then it truly is, but in the end, and regretfully, fails horrible at its mission.

Well, if you haven't seen it yet, or are still interested, here is the trailer....



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BC

The Avengers

The Avengers:

... A Bunch Of SuperHeroes Sitting Around Eating

Shwarma Together...

When Marvel Studios stated years ago, they would be making an Avengers film, the world looked on in awe, they wondered could it be possible, could they honestly be able to jam that many big name heroes into one film with enough screen time to properly give each one's fanbase love? Would they have a villain worthy of them as a whole, instead of one bad ass bad guy who fights only one of them normally? So many questions, so many moments of wondering, so many exclamation points put into online speculation statements. Marvel was smart about this, telling us it was on the horizon, and that all their films between then and now, would all be leading up to this common goal, normally with afew carefully placed small scenes with in each film itself, and a stinger scene at the end of each film's credits that connects it to the film to the one that shall be next in line, thus bridging them all together, like an epilogue scene between storylines and such, its really pretty brilliant when you think about it, and stands as one of the many reasons I'm glad Marvel Studios took over as much of its film properties as they have... now they just need Spiderman, The X-Men and the Fantastic Four back to make it fully what it can be, anyway, I degress, lets get into why we're all here shall we? You know it, you love it, hardcore comic book nerdporn...

The film starts pretty much where Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger left off, with Nick Fury arriving at a top secret SHIELD research facility where they are studying the small cube like relic that we last saw in the hands of The Red Skull before losing it to the ocean in Captain America, they call it "The Tesseract" but to us comic book people, it is ofcourse, The Cosmic Cube, the source of all knowledge and power in the universe, i guess they called it The Tesseract because "The Cosmic Cube" sounds kind of silly to non-long time comic book readers. Somehow, with their tinkering, SHIELD opens up a portal through space, and out steps exiled Norse God Loki, as if he was controlling those who were working on the project to bring it right to him. He walks through, he takes the cube, and walks off, using his super mad jedi mind control skills on several members of SHIELD along the way, including Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, for those of you who don't know who Hawkeye is, he was the bow and arrow carrying SHIELD agent in Thor, and if you haven't seen Thor, then seriously what are you doing watching this film to begin with? This attack prompts Fury to inact The Avengers Initiative, the plan he's been popping up talking to various characters about in the movies leading to this one. 

Next we see the team coming together, being brought in from all over the world, and eventually they're joined by Thor, who's come to collect Loki, and after the obligatory fight scenes and sarcastic shit talking that comes along with films of this nature and their format, they all come together against their common enemy, Loki and his army of aliens known as The Chitauri, with whom its revealed he traded the cosmic cube to a being known as The Other for. The Chitauri are infact the "ultimates" version of marvel mainstay villains The Skrulls, they're shapechanging green beings who, well, shapechange, they're pretty formidable and are seen as some of the most powerful warriors in the universe, the climatic battle between The Avengers and the invading hordes is probably the best fight scene in the last 10 years as far as I'm concerned, and possibly the greatest superhero movie scene ever filmed in general with out a doubt. Oh sure, most of this film is basically fightporn, but no one really cares, its just pure out and out special effects awesome, and really thats all you're here for, you aren't expecting anything thats going to sweep awards season were you? Its a basic origin story of a team of superheroes, oh sure it might seem kind of plotless to some, but its a movie based on one of the greatest comic books ever, thats all that matters, well that and that they won't drop the ball like DC will do with the Justice League movie, well and all their non-batman movies, but again, i digress off point.

What my major point of astonishment about this film is, and this is a purely a writing mechanic's thing, the fact that with such a big cast, and really, make no mistake they crammed alot more characters into this film then you think, and with a cast this large, you have to give each character abit of spotlight, simply because, well, every character, even down to the supporting characters, have fans who wanna see them have a moment, sure its silly, but thats just how it works, and amazingly, The Avengers give every single one of them their moment to shine, even secondaries like SHIELD's Marissa Hill and Phil Coulson, even The Other, who is an original character created for this film, gets his moment to shine, its incredible really, specially when you have such big hitters as this film does, you gotta pander alittle to each character's fans; Thor has to swing his mighty hammer, Captain America has to swing his mighty shield so that all who appose the shield must yield, Iron Man must douchebag about, The Hulk needs to smash, Hawkeye must prove using antiquated weapons is still kind of cool, Black Widow has to be insanely hot, Nick Fury has to want these motherfucking chitauri off his motherfucking helicarrier, ect.. Anyway my point is its amazing they could work it all in, because logically, it would have ended up as horrible as the fight scenes in the pre-First Class X-Men movies, which if you remember, were just an awful awful mess.. I commend them for this, it is so very hard to do.

So the big question, is The Avengers worth seeing? Honestly? With out a shadow of a doubt, there is no question in my mind that the only answer is HELL YES. This movie is everything you want in a comic book movie, as well as everything you want in a summer blockbuster, its big, its over the top, its loud, its explosions and dudes in spandex fighting and Scarlett Johanson-y, and the best part is, it isn't gonna say its sorry for it! Its just laid out flat like that, this is a film about a team of superpowered beings, beating the hell out of a trickster god and his army of shapechanging aliens who in the regular continuity are ballchinians, its just so simple of a story, and so amazingly good even though it shouldn't be by all logical accounts. But thats the biggest joy with comic book movies, you have a good guy, sometimes with powers, sometimes with tech, you see their story begin, and then its basically alot of punching and fighting and catchphrase saying, and we don't care, because they're so awesome in their simplicity and grandeur at the same time. Its truly why I love these types of film so much. 

Plus, I love that the next set of marvel movies will focus on the Infinity Gauntlet, one of the greatest things in all of marvel history... Bring on round two!!!!... and ofcourse, how can you go wrong when your trailers before the movie are for The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman? Seriously, epic from previews to the very end.

But if you aren't sold yet, here is the trailer.....

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BC

Saying Good Bye To A True Legend: Jonathan Frid

Saying Good Bye To A True Legend:

Jonathan Frid of Dark Shadows

On April 13th, 2012, a Friday the thirteenth for those wondering, the world quietly lost one of its truly great actors, and one of its truly great people, for you see this was the day the great Jonathan Frid, star of stage and screen, passed away of natural causes in a hospital room in Hamilton Ontario Canada, his hometown, only afew months after filming his last role, a cameo in the soon to be released Dark Shadows, a film ment to be a darkly comedic but still horrific take on the television series in which Frid first came to fame playing the role of vampire, and saver of the series from cancellation, Barnabas Collins, a vampire who was freed from his crypt by a grave robber looking to loot his tomb, this would be the third and final time Frid would do such a cameo as a nod to the original series, Frid appeared in the 1991 Dark Shadows revival series, as well as the failed 2004 pilot for a relaunch series as-well, in all three cases he appears as an old man who converses with one of the key members of the new cast for only afew brief moments. But i'll get more into Dark Shadows and the mark it and Frid left in abit, but first i'd like to give you a short history of the man himself.

 

Jon grew up in Hamilton Ontario Canada, were he lived until he went to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War 2, after which he returned home to Hamilton and went to university, until he was accepted to the royal academy of dramatic arts in London, England. From there Jon moved to London to study and work, and after graduating from there, he would move to New Haven Conn. where he would continue to learn and study, and eventually get a degree in directing from the Yale School of Drama, it was on his work there, that he started to use the stage name Jonathan Frid instead of his real name John H. Frid. During this time Jon also spent alot of time helping to start the Williamstown Theater in Williamstown Massachusetts, he would stay in the until 1962, when he would move to new york and continue his stage work, in 1966 while doing this, he would get a call, while preparing to move to the west coast to teach acting that Jon would get a call that changed his life, figuring it would be a short gig that would give him the extra money he needed to move and have abit saved up, he was informed he had been picked to play a enigmatic character named Barnabas Collins on a new to the air and struggling day time soap opera called Dark Shadows. This would be the call that changed Jon's life forever. Jon was amazed at how his arrival on the series not only saved it from cancellation but made him a household name almost overnight, Jon scrapped his plans to teach acting and stayed in new york through out the run of Dark Shadows, where he would take stage acting work when he wasn't filming for the series, sometimes juggling both stage and television work if the stage work was good enough.

After his time in the spotlight was over, Jon would travel mostly between both coasts and Hamilton Ontario, doing stage work and one man plays, until he officially retiring in 1994, returning back home to Hamilton for good, where he would entrench himself in the theater scene and produce, direct, and sometimes if he felt the need to do so, star in many a local production or self written one man plays. This is where Jon would spend the rest of his days until his health was to bad for him to continue to preform, though he delighted in being recognized for either his short career in the limelight, or for his acting around Hamilton. He, unlike many "classically trained actors" who took rolls on television, Jon never turned his back on his most noted role, he often would say some of the best time of his life was playing the vampire who defined television vampires until Buffy would redux the archetype in the late 1990s, he never missed the yearly Dark Shadows Festival in his last few years alive, and between 2008 to 2010 he would return to the character of Barnabas Collins in a series of Dark Shadows audio books, which reunited most of the still living original cast, and would keep the living members of the old show's cast closer knit then they were before their return to working together, and they would stay this way even in Frid's death. Frid died of natural causes in a Hamilton hospital on April 14th, 2012, he was surrounded by family and loved ones when he died, he was 87.

Now, this is is sad on its own, when a true legend and a humble man dies, but Jon's passing, much like Jim Henson's or Maila Nurmi's, hits a note with me, you see, among my prized belongings were two letters written by hand from Jon Frid to me personally, along with afew signed bits of memorabilia, all signed to me from Jon himself. Jon was asked to write and sign those things for me by cast member Laura Parker, whom I had the honor of meeting and interviewing about her offshoot of the Dark Shadows books called "The Salem Branch" which starred her iconic character, the beautiful witch Angelique. She and I had become friendly and after hearing my Dark Shadows related stories, and connection to the show, and how I got the nickname of Barnabus Collins, she mentioned she was going to see the soon to be final one man stage show and offered to not only get afew things signed for me from the surviving cast, but also afew things by Frid himself, I was elated beyond words, and afew weeks later, when a package arrived from Hamilton Ontario I was awe stuck to find signed pictures, a script from the show, and of his one man play, and a letter written to me, by Jon himself stating his thanks for being such a devoted fan, and being raised a fan. I wrote him back thanking him for what he had sent and his kind words, and he again wrote me back thanking me once more for being such a lovely and devoted fan, it was a highlight of my life for sure.

I never got to know Jon outside of the two letters he wrote me and the stories told to me by Laura Parker, and by his work I've seen on television, but with him and his ironic role playing a big part in my life, i will miss him, so good bye Jon, may you rest in peace, or rest for another 200 years in your coffin, like we all know you're really doing....

and just for the love of things... the introduction of Barnabas Collins from "Enter The Vampire"

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BC