Forgotten Television: Forever Knight

Toronto police detective Nick Knight (Geraint Wyn Davies) works the graveyard shift with his boss believing that he is allergic to sunlight, but in reality, Nick is Nicholas an actual medieval knight who was turned into a vampire by Lucien LaCroix (Nigel Bennett) and Janette DuCharme (Deborah Duchene) who were his companions for years.  Nick left their company to find redemption and try to regain his humanity.  He became a detective to redeem himself for centuries of vampiric cold-hearted killing.  With super strength, the ability to fly and enhanced senses, Nick uses his powers to help society.  Janette, now a nightclub owner, does not agree with Nick’s new path, she accepts it, LaCroix, a late night talk radio host, actively attempts to bring Nick back over to his vampire lifestyle.  Nick is helped in his quest to regain his humanity by the cities coroner Natalie Lambert (Catherine Disher) who is the only human that knows what he is.  As the series begins, Nick is forced to work with a partner, Detective Donald Schanke (John Kapelos), although the pair dislike each other to begin with, they do build a friendly relationship.

Forever Knight is a Canadian television series created by Barney Cohen and James D. Parriott.  The show ran for three seasons beginning on May 5, 1992 and ending on May 17, 1996 playing on CBS for the first season as part of their Crimetime After Primetime lineup which included Sweating Bullets, Urban Angel, The Exile, Scene of the Crime, Dangerous Curves, Fly by Night, Silk Stalkings, Dark Justice, and Wiseguy. Forever Knight was originally a 1989 CBS American television movie called Nick Knight and starred Rick Springfield as the title character. The movie was intended to be a pilot for a series, but CBS initially did not pick it up. The series pilot reworked the movie script following the same plot but with the updated cast. The series was nominated for 13 Gemini Awards (Canadian Emmy Awards) and won once in 1996 with Nigel Bennett winning for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series.  It was also nominated for a Golden Reel Award in 1992 and was ranked 23 on TV Guide’s Top Cult Shows Ever in 2004, but dropped off the list in 2007, giving it the honor of being considered “Forgotten Television”.

Having watched a bit of the original television movie and then immediately watching the first episode of the series, I was struck by just how much better the series was compared to the movie.  The film had a lightness to it with a lot of pop songs being used instead of originally composed music with the settings and the lighting being bright and the lead was missing the tortured darkness tempered with humanity and goodness.  The overall effect was a product that was trying too hard to “be cool” instead of just being cool. The series had a sense of richness and gravitas and added a complexity and deepness to the characters.  At it’s heart the show is a crime drama procedural, but its soul is that of supernatural drama.  The real interest comes in the love-hate interactions between Nick and LaCroix both expertly played by the actors.  Nick is not the first sympathetic vampire detective but the series helped popularize the concept and ushered in a more modern take paving the road for characters like in shows like Angel and Blood Ties. I, unfortunately, did not have a chance to watch the series in its first run, serving in the military during the majority of its airing, but did see many of the episodes in later syndication and very much enjoyed the series.  Overall, this was an incredibly well-done show that had humor and drama and, unlike many cancelled series, actually gave the series an end.  Although the ultimate fate of Nick is left up to the audience’s imagination there is a definite end to the show.