Gideon Oliver

...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.

From the first episode to the last I was glued to the TV during the entire series. I had taped the series on VHS but in the process of moving the tapes are now lost I only wish they had it out on DVD. Being an avid Crime Movie and Mystery Series fan this series was one of the best and Mr. Gossett was at his best in this role. Just when you thought you had it figured out they threw a curve at you and the endings were always a surprise. I only wish he made more episodes of this. The books written of this are equally as good as the series .If you missed it you missed something spectacular. Lets get this series out on DVD I need my Gideon fix :)

Somehow I seemed to have missed this TV Series starring Louis Gossett,Jr. In this particular TV Series, Louis Gossett(Gideon Oliver),"Deceived",'02, is called to a small town by an old time Kennonite friend who needs his help in solving a murder. The Kennonite family lives like the AMISH or Mennonite people and are not into violence and are being accused of murdering a nearby neighbor. Gideon has to fight the local town people and the sheriff who is controlled by the powerful local politicians. The story gets quite involved with a Kennonite young lady who managed to go to college and learned computers and is struggling with her life in the Kennonite CLAN! If you are a big fan of Louis Gossett, Jr., this is a great TV Series to enjoy viewing.

I remember the series exists all these years later, which says something, but I can't say much more. I do remember there was an episode that was clearly "inspired" by The Godfather, swapping Italian-Americans for Chinese-Americans. Gideon was essentially in the Kay position as the outsider dealing with someone he cares about being drawn into organized crime. In this case, it was his start student in the Michael Corleone role.

I do remember being surprised that the ending didn't give the typical TV episode resolution.

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.