Point Pleasant (TV series)
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| Point Pleasant | |
|---|---|
 Samuel Page, Elisabeth Harnois, Grant Show |
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| Genre | Teen drama Noir Mystery |
| Running time | 60 minutes (approx.) |
| Starring | Elisabeth Harnois Grant Show Samuel Page Aubrey Dollar Dina Meyer Cameron Richardson Brent Weber Susan Walters Richard Burgi Clare Carey |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | January 19, 2005–March 1, 2005 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| IMDb profile | |
Point Pleasant was a television series that first aired on the Fox Network in January 2005. It was cancelled in March 2005 due to poor ratings.
Point Pleasant boasted many of the same crew behind the scenes as Fox's other shortly withdrawn series, Tru Calling. In fact, Point Pleasant got the greenlight just three days after production ceased on Calling. 13 episodes were filmed, but due to poor ratings, Fox only aired the first 8 in the United States. The last 5 episodes are included on the DVD release.
Much of the music featured in the show was replaced for the DVD release due to licensing issues.
The show was executive produced by Marti Noxon, who worked closely with Joss Whedon for several seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. For this reason, Point Pleasant initially drew many in of that show's fans, but Point Pleasant had a distinct "soapy" flavor, more in the vein of shows like Melrose Place or The O.C. than Buffy. The resulting drop in viewership eventually led to the show's cancellation. Advocates of the show, however, point to its gothic tone, its tempered, surprisingly subtle use of special effects, and the potential of the overall plotline as solid reasons the show should have stayed on the air. The plots were surprisingly sophisticated, and emphasized humanity's cruelty to one another, as primal reasons for evil. In fact, many fans of the show have expressed their loyalty through an online petition.
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[edit] Synopsis
A young girl, Christina, washes up on the shore near Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey during a violent storm. After being resuscitated by lifeguard Jesse Parker, the girl is taken in by the family of a local doctor, the Kramers, and quickly befriends their teenage daughter, Judy. The show follows Christina's attempts to discover who she really is, and to learn what happened to her mother, who disappeared shortly after Christina was born.
It soon becomes apparent that Christina's presence has a strange, profound effect on the people around her. Emotions are heightened, repressed feelings and secret desires awakened, and inhibitions weakened, turning what once were friendly competitions into bitter rivalries, romantic rivals into violent enemies, and so on. And if that wasn't enough, freakish 'accidents' have a way of befalling those with whom Christina becomes angry.
Meanwhile, sinister forces have their eye on Christina, believing it is the girl's destiny, as the "child of darkness," to "bring [the world] to its knees." Christina is the child of Satan and a human female. The resulting tension between the good and evil aspects of the girl's nature, with the viewer always left in doubt as to which side she will ultimately choose, provides the basis for much of the show's conflict and suspense.
Christina is plagued by terrifying visions of death and destruction, glimpses of the dark future she seems destined to help bring about. Meanwhile, a handsome, charming stranger named Lucas Boyd arrives in town, determined to help guide Christina toward her destiny, and Jesse Parker, who has become romantically involved with Christina, discovers that he may be the only one who can prevent the girl from ushering in Armageddon. Ironically, as the 13 episodes closed, it was the continual betrayal of people who Christina cared about, and plain human cruelty, that brought out the darkness in her. If Christina "fell" into darkness, she did it not because of the evil influences around her, but the supposedly good ones who betrayed her so bitterly.
[edit] Cast
- Elisabeth Harnois—Christina Nickson
- Grant Show—Lucas Boyd
- Samuel Page—Jesse Parker
- Aubrey Dollar—Judy Kramer
- Dina Meyer—Amber Hargrove
- Cameron Richardson—Paula Hargrove
- Brent Weber—Terry Burke
- Susan Walters—Meg Kramer
- Richard Burgi—Ben Kramer
[edit] Trivia
- Executive Producer and Co-Creator, Marti Noxon, made frequent references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including bringing in Adam Busch to play Wes. The two had previously worked together on Buffy when he played Warren Mears, one of the sixth-season villains.
- The real Point Pleasant, New Jersey is about a mile from the ocean. A separate town which is on the ocean is called Point Pleasant Beach. Also the town depicted in the series, more closely resmbles that of Seaside Heights which is nearly 17 miles south.
- The episode "Unraveling" features a shot of a bus that Christina is on driving past a sign that reads "Now leaving Point Pleasant. Please come again." This is a reference to the final shot of the second season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997), a show on which Marti Noxon was a writer.
- The 9th episode "Walking the Dead" was meant to be the last episode to air on Thursday, March 24, 2005 at 9:00 PM ET. Due to the American Idol "wrong number" incident, American Idol was shown instead. The episode was never shown on FOX, making the 8th episode "Swimming With Boyd" the last episode to air.
[edit] Episodes
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[edit] External links
