Father's Day
Posted: Fri., Oct. 28, 1994
((Sun. (30), 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., KTLA)) Filmed in Toronto by Paragon Entertainment Corp., TriStar TV and TeleMunchen. Exec producers, Jon Slan, James D. Parriott. Supervising producer, Nicholas J. Gray. Producer, Richard Borchiver. Director, Bruce Pittman; writer, Gillian Horvard; creators, Parriott, Barney Cohen.
Cast: Geraint Wyn Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett, Deborah Duchene, Natsuko Ohama, John Kapelos, Peter Boretski, Peter Outerbridge, Maurice Godin, Nicole Oliver, Vito Rezza, Robert Latimer, Tony Craig, Matt Birman, Randy Butcher, Rick Forsayeth, Steve Lucescu.
By TONY SCOTT
This latenight vampire blood-letter offers up a worldwide secret vampire commune, in which Nick Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies) works as a Canadian homicide cop as he tries to make himself mortal. "Forever Knight," a veteran of CBS' abandoned "Crime Time After Prime Time" umbrella of series, makes its syndie debut this season in 161 markets. The producers may snag vulnerable night owls with the concept, but it couldn't bear the glare of primetime.
Knight is trying to make up for his 700 years under the tutelage of the chief vampire, LaCroix (Nigel Bennett), master of the bloodsucking underworld family.
Writer Gillian Horvard brings off a novel idea, aligning LaCroix's subjects with a powerful gangster family headed by dying don Thomas Constantine (Peter Boretski).
In flashback, as a powerful scion of the family, the youthful Constantine had smuggled Knight into Canada; now, as a grown-old don looking to pass on his powers to reluctant great-grandson David (Maurice Godin), he's run into a problem: The heir-to-be doesn't want to play gangster. Knight to the rescue, and LaCroix's solution to the don's dilemma is a hoot.
Davies' Knight is bland, but Bennett's LaCroix is indeed commanding. The police station setup is dully familiar, with Knight and his partner reporting to a no-mercy captain. Outside of Boretski's turn as the don, the guest cast is weak.
Director Bruce Pittman, production designer Jacques Bradette, cameraman Bert Dunk and editor Don Cassidy give the series a semi-comic-book look, with angle shooting, spooky exteriors and deliberately obscure shots of Knight zipping from place to place in an emergency. Interiors are surprisingly plain, ranging from eerie to ludicrous.
Just as with vampires, "Forever Knight," which ran for 22 episodes on CBS, may thrive as long as it sticks to the midnight hour. Let a little daylight in and it's garlic and the stake.
Camera, Bert Dunk; editor, Don Cassidy; production designer, Jacques Bradette; sound, Chaim Gilad; music, Fred Mollin.