THE TERRIFYINGLY TRUE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AMERICAN GOTHIC & ME

You are such a drama-queen. -- Lucas Buck


American Gothic is a spooky show about a small southern town ruled by a sheriff with supernatural powers, obsessed with and currently trying to adopt a boy of questionable parentage. It is currently in re-runs on the Sci-Fi Channel. Filmed in my hometown, Wilmington, NC, a small southern town whose former chief of police, DARYL Bruestle (pronounced bristle, as in bristly hair), used to attend my parents' church, Winter Park Presbyterian Church. DARYL Van Horne was the bristly-bearded devil (played by Jack Nicholson, who has been in Wilmington to film at least one movie) with a big scene in a church in "The Witches of Eastwick". My friend Tim, who used to draw strips about characters with supernatural powers, recognized his parents' PRESBYTERIAN church in the premiere of AG. I've sung in duets at both churches. Presbyterians ostensibly believe in predestination; the ghost in AG talks about destiny & fate.

AG also stands for Andy Griffith, who portrayed the sheriff of a small southern town (Mayberry) in NC with a boy of questionable heritage (think about it). Both sheriffs date the boy's teacher. Andy Griffith now stars in Mattlock, which has had a number of scenes filmed in Wilmington, including scenes of my parents' church choir, in which I used to sing.

AG has already been compared to Twin Peaks (set in a small northwestern town; I've driven by the Great Northern hotel site), produced by David Lynch, who also produced Blue Velvet, filmed (with much protest by the locals once they knew the subject matter) in the small southern town of Lumberton, NC (I helped buy a TV there for my grandmother, whose farm was about 20 minutes away) and starring Kyle MacLachlan as Agent Cooper. KM portrayed young Paul Atreides, of unusual powers and unusual destiny, in DUNE, directed by David Lynch and produced by Dino de Laurentis, who owned a big film studio (as well as a beach house) in Wilmington, which my father and my sister Susan invested in (in a small way) and toured before it went belly-up (though it's still used for partial film production; one of my brother's best friends from college (St. Andrews PRESBYTERIAN College, in Laurinburg, NC, a small southern town where I spent six weeks of my life) works there). I've strolled by the sand DUNEs in front of that beach house and visited the beach house of my father's best friend, whose nickname is DB (NOT the former police chief, above).

Also starring in Twin Peaks were Madchen Amick, briefly of CPW (aka Central Park West), where my sister Susan used to live, and Ross Tamblyn, whose daughter Amber Tamblyn acts in General Hospital, filmed in part in Rochester, NY (where I used to live). One of the guest stars of Twin Peaks, David Duchovny, now acts in the X-Files, which had a crossover episode about Mutant Cows (the name of one of my favorite Dr. Demento songs) between in Picket Fences. Don Cheadle, who played the DA in Picket Fences, also played "Mouse" in Devil In a Blue Dress, whose main character was named Easy, my father's nickname. Although The X-Files is actually filmed in Vancouver, its main characters supposedly work out of the DC area ... where I live now.

The Ballad of Doctor Matt can catch you up on some of the show, but there are spoilers.
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