Gideon Oliver

Louis Gossett Jr., who plays Gideon Oliver, is as charming and wonderful an actor as I would have hoped. However, as a fan of the Gideon Oliver books by Aaron Elkins, I was disappointed that the TV character was almost nothing like the character in the book.

I know that, in translating a character from one medium to another, some changes are inevitably made. However, I still expect some level of similarity aside from the name. In the books, Dr. Oliver is a physical anthropologist and "Skeleton Detective", who can look at a set of bones and tell, for example, that body came from someone who played a woodwind instrument. In these stories, he is a cultural anthropologist who knows about cultural differences. His wife, Julie, from the books is nowhere to be seen but he was a daughter in the TV series that was not in the book.

None of the recurring characters in the book appear in the series. In short, it is a Gideon Oliver series that is missing everything about Gideon Oliver. If you're a Louis Gossett Jr. Fan (and you certainly should be), he is a strong reason to watch the program. If you are a Gideon Oliver book fan, you will be disappointed.

"Gideon Oliver" was part of a rotating group of series on ABC's Monday Mystery Movie, along with a "Columbo" revival and Burt Reynolds' star vehicle "B.L. Stryker" (and perhaps another show that I don't recall). The Monday Mystery Movie was based on the NBC Mystery Movie format from the '70s. Alas, "Gideon" was the shortest-lived of the three series, lasting only five episodes. "Stryker" coasted on Reynolds' wisecracks, attitude and fisticuffs, but it couldn't last more than twelve episodes, either. Only longtime stalwart "Columbo" survived longer, outlasting the Monday Mystery Movie franchise, although it was no longer as fresh and original as it was during its NBC Sunday Mystery Movie era.

Gideon Oliver, as portrayed by Louis Gossett, Jr., was an excellent role model for African- Americans. Inquisitive, intelligent, caring, committed to justice. Able to hold his own in a fight, but preferring to outwit his opponents. It was one of Gossett's best characters. It was also much better than a later try at a brilliant black crime-solver, 1995's "Cosby Mysteries."

Whole episodes were often filmed in NYC with exterior location shots because Professor Oliver taught at Columbia University. This made it better in that respect than "McCloud," which, while set in NYC, relied on an obviously fake, backlot New York street for many of its shots.

While I'm not African-American, I was taken by this series. After not seeing it since the 1989 network run, I suggested it to the only cable channel I thought might be interested in picking it up, Superstation WGN. After all, they often filled prime time with their own Mystery Movie weeks, showing "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife" episodes. And the five-episode size of this series would make it easier to buy the rights and fit into their schedule. Luckily, they seemed to take my suggestion, although they may have been doing it or planning it all along. In the past three years, WGN has run a Mystery Movie week featuring "Gideon Oliver" at least once a year. It's worth catching if you haven't seen it before.

I remember some good things about it, but also some bad, and part of it had come from author Aaron Elkins' disowning of the show.

He didn't have a problem with Oliver being made black (Elkins had never specified Oliver's ethnicity in the books), but two things Elkins always refused to include in his books were Satanism and violence against children.

And the premiere episode was about a Satanic cult sacrificing children.

Elkins and his fans were horrified. And personally, I had no problem with Gossett, and thought he did a good job, but after reading some of the books, I found the series a turnoff. They had the smartness but none of the wry humor and light touches. I gave up on it after two shows; may have been unfair of me, but I found the show's dismissal of the author's work to be too much of a turnoff.

...and what they want is the same thing this country's politicians want - people who aren't interested in the world around them and will just accept what's shoved at them. Gideon Oliver was not just smart, it was intelligent. I'd been somewhat familiar with Aaron Elkins' work when this series debuted, and the biggest surprise I had was seeing Professor Oliver played by Louis Gossett, Jr. It's not that this was a problem, it's just that his ethnic background had never been a part of the books (at least the couple I had read), so I had never thought of picturing him as Black. Mr. Gossett played his part admirably and with flair, but the best part of this series was the fact that it engaged the viewer intellectually, not just as a piece of mindless entertainment. That's why it failed: it encouraged viewers to think and there was even the shocking possibility that something interesting and worthwhile could actually be learned from it - Egad, what a horrifying notion! Fortunately, at least one episode, the two-part "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver", shows up on cable as a movie from time to time.

Gideon Oliver, as far as I am aware, was never broadcast in the United Kingdom. However I did manage to see the pilot, "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver" on VHS at the time. This is surely one of those "too good for TV" series that was unfairly overlooked and cast into obscurity. A rather cerebral hero, Gideon Oliver was Louis Gossett Jr. at the peak of his powers. The pilot episode saw the crusading scholar take on a cult of Satanists, including Near Dark's Jenny Wright (another reason to search out this neglected gem). A sophisticated storyline, fine character acting and a palpable sense of menace made this a great TV movie in its own right. A shame it never became a cult of its own, unlike many other less-deserving titles. See it if you can!