OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: SEEING THINGS and SHE-WOLF OF LONDON

One of the brightest television shows I have ever seen was Seeing Things, a Canadian mystery series that aired from 1981 to 1987 for a total of 43 episodes.  It was created by and starred Louis Del Grande, of whom one wag said must have been the role model for George Constanza.  (Sometimes the "Del" was presented as "del".)  Del Grande played Louis Ciccone, a hapless reporter for the Toronto Gazette who happened to be saddled with a type of clairvoyance.  Ciccone could see events from the past, but only those that relate to certain unsolved murders, and he could not get a new vision/clue until he figured out how the last one related to the murder.  Naturally, his visions tended to complicate things.  Seeing Things was a perfect almagram of crime, clairvoyancy, and comedy.  Along for the ride were Martha Gibson, Del Grande's real-life wife, as Ciccone's wife Marge, and Janet-Laine Green as Crown Attorney Heather Redfern.

     Del Grande's role won him the 1983 ACTRA award for best actor in a television drama.  Janet-Laine Green has worked steadily in the industry, acting asell as providing voice-overs for such children's series as Babar, Jacob Two-Two, Franklin, Mythic Warriors:  Guardians of the Legend, The Never-Ending Story, and The Care Bears Family.

     Seeing Things has been shown in the past on American television; I first saw it on PBS many years ago.  To my knowledge, it has not been released on DVD.  (If I'm wrong, please correct me; I'd love to get the full series.)  I was able to dig up the first episode in five parts on Youtube.

Part 1 of  "I May Be Seeing Things, But I'm Not Crazy":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYTED3bm46I&playnext=1&list=PLD5A580AE89AD813B

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5JqAtKq7jI&feature=related

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxSePbmhxzc&feature=related

Part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgdcFxhB00c&feature=related

And Part 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0Ej5FLRMI&feature=related


     Another program that I loved was She-Wolf of London, starring Kate Hodge and Neil Dickson.  She-Wolf ran for only 20 episodes in 1990 and 1991, suffering an ignominious fate over the last six episodes.  Hodge played Randi Wallace, an American grad student in England to study mythology under Dr. Ian Matheson, played by Dickson.  Sparks fly and the two are attracted to each other.  Unfortunately, during a camping trip on the moors, Randi is bitten by a werewolf.  (You have to hate it when that happens.)  For most of the series, the pair are trying to find a cure for werewolf-itis and Ian is charged with protecting Randi during her changes.  Because a full moon happens only thirteen times a year, many of the shows did not focus on Kate changing, but rather on various supernatural creatures.  This was another series that relied a lot on humor and interrelationships.
    
     She-Wolf of London was a British show created by Mick Garris and Tom McLaughlin; Garris had written such movies as Critters 2, Hocus Pocus, and The Fly II, and later worked on Stephen King vehicles Riding the Bullet and Quicksilver Highway.  Regrettably, the European producers pulled the financial plug on the series during its first season.  To cut down on costs, the series and its characters moved to Los Angeles.  Since the she-wolf was no longer in London, the name of series was changed to Love and Curses.  The move to L.A. for the last six episode sucked the life out of the series.  It was explained by Dr. Ian Matheson losing his academic job (his scholarly study was published by a very lurid paperback company -- evidently a no-no in British academia) and becoming a television talk show host specializing in paranormal topics.  A sad, sorry end to one of the brightest shows on television.

     The entire series was later shown on the SF (pre-SciFi) Channel with the Love and Curses episodes retaining the original She-Wolf of London title.  This one is available on DVD.

     Special mention should be made of Diane Youdale, the unsung actress who played the werewolf.  Oh, and Neil Dickon went on to play a recurring villain on the television show Sliders.

Here (again in five parts) is the first show in the series, titled (go figure) "She-Wolf of London".

Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qat3i2jdaCw

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lORbrjJ95eI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbd34QD7UeY&feature=related

Part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy5nWR-K4W8&feature=related

Part 5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAg8KfW76Lc&feature=related


     For more overlooked movies, television, and whatnot, drop by Todd Mason's blog Sweet Freedom today and prepare to be amused and amazed.