Gargoyles was Disney's attempt at a "toon noir" adventure series as part of the Disney Afternoon programming block when it first launched in 1994. Two years later, after Disney had acquired ABC, the latter network picked up the series' 3rd season, and added the subtitle, The Goliath Chronicles, in reference to the show's lead protagonist.
However, series co-creator Greg Weisman wasn't too thrilled with the corporate meddling that ultimately doomed the show, resulting in Goliath Chronicles being cancelled after its only ABC season. Reruns of the entire Gargoyles series currently air overnights on DisneyXD, but at this time of year, the series deserves a more pristine airtime.
Gargoyles' cast was loaded with star power, especially from the Star Trek franchise. Next Generation regulars Jonathan Frakes & Marina Sirtis were in the cast of Gargoyles virtually from the start, with Frakes cast as villainous businessman David Xanatos, who was meant to be to the Gargoyles what Lex Luthor was to Superman, an arch-foe that was hard to take down because of his carefully created public persona as a philanthropist.
Here's the open to the Goliath Chronicles, uploaded by ChopstickSH to YouTube:
While I followed the weekday series with some regularity, I didn't watch the Saturday series, so I can't give it a fair rating.
2 comments:
The third season was a mess!
This was mostly due to the sudden inexplicable changes in character, especially Xanatos becoming a good guy!
It also got a bit more preachy (I recall one ep in which an Amish boy comes to meet up with Bronx and both fend off a couple of mooks who harass his family and ending with some tolerence message) and much of the charm that was part of the earlier shows was all but gone.
I blame the suits entirely!
I guess it's a case of reaping what you sow.
With the series going to ABC, they had to water it down for the SatAM audience, and removed what made it so popular in the first place.
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