Elisabeth Sladen, RIP

It’s a very very sad day in the Universe as many of those my age see the passing of their first Doctor Who companion.  Not only our first, but one of the best.  Elisabeth Sladen who was Sarah Jane Smith in the Doctor Who series and her own spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures passed away at the age of 63 from cancer.  This loss hit me deeply, so closely on the heels of Nicholas Courtney, The Brigadier, passing. 

But its not the fact that two icons of the series and of sci-fi have passed so closely together.  Sarah was special to me.  She loved the Doctor as many of us did.  She was before Rose, before Martha for those who may not know.  She would have stayed with the Doctor forever if he’d let her.  Even though more often than not he was saving her from some evil foe, Sarah didn’t let the evils of space stop her from sticking by the side of her Time Lord. 

Because of this Elisabeth Sladen created an icon in Sarah.  She was fierce, she was a career woman, she gave as good as she got.  She wanted to learn and she set the example for many who came after her.  She was a role model for young girls and she was doing the same once more for a new generation with The Sarah Jane Adventures.

I know some actresses do not want to be forever attached to a role, but Elisabeth seemed happy to be forever linked with Sarah Jane.  And forever in my heart she will be Sarah.  Because she gave me that gift at so young an age, to see a girl go up against monsters and bad guys.  To search for the truth along side an alien in a long scarf and floppy hat to save the day.  Because she knew how special the Doctor was but she may not have known how special she was to us.  I hope she did though.  I hope she’s up there having tea with Jon and Nic and reading the words pouring out from the fans and smiling. 

Sarah Jane will always have one of the Doctor’s hearts and Elisabeth Sladen the other.

I grew up with television.   My heroes were, during my younger years, mainly from that magic little box.  As I grew older that didn’t change, but the range of understanding about where those heroes came from did.  Someone created those stories that played out in front of my eager little eyes, someone gave life to those characters on a page before an actor took those magic words and gave them a vessel. 

Stephen J. Cannell was one of those magicians who created the words.  The width and breadth of work the man did is nothing short of amazing.  He created some of the most iconic TV shows and characters to grace the screen.  Over the 70s and 80s if you watched TV you were most likely watching a show that Cannell had something to do with .

Like I said, as I grew older my heroes were still from the land of TV.  But there were other heroes too.  My love of writing grew with me, and so I looked up to other writers.  Cannell was without question one of those.   He made characters that were unique and interesting.  Human and just plain fun to see come alive.  You cared about them and they stuck with you.   From the A-Team which everyone who was a kid in the mid 80s remembers to the darker levels of Wiseguy, Cannell could create characters who were memorable.

I decided to look up just to see exactly everything that Stephen J. Cannell had done during his career.  Some things I already knew like The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, The Rockford Files…but then I got reminded of the other series he’d done and my mind was once again blown by just how long he’d been writing and creating and all the things he’d influenced.   Riptide, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Commish, Tenspeed and Brownshoe, Baretta, even Black Sheep Squadron.   There are others that he only wrote episodes for…but these are series he created and that’s not even all of them.  Look at this and realize some of the careers he helped make huge.  Johnny Depp of course and then there is Michael Chiklis. 

Cannell is pretty high in my pantheon of TV Heroes.  I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it here because I think it’s the best gauge I can give in what Cannell gave me growing up.  My childhood; the fantasy was given to me by Jim Henson.  Dan Curtis gave me the horror.  Kenneth Johnson gave me my sci-fi, but when it came to the action and crime, it was all Stephen J. Cannell.   

With the loss of Cannell (far too early I feel) I’ve lost all but one of these TV Heroes.  You’ll be hard pressed to find another who can compete in terms of work. 

Thank you sir for all you gave me.  Trust me and know it was appreciated and helped make me who I am.   

Jessica Dwyer – 10/4/10

I wrote this at the time of Curtis’s death.  I want to note that I begged and pleaded with numerous websites to just post something about the man’s passing.  None of them did.  These are some of the so called “uber geek” sites that should know better. That bothered me and still does.  Only now, four years later, is he getting the respect he deserves.  Too little too late I think. 

Dan Curtis

Born August 12th 1927

Died March 27th 2006

Dan Curtis, in my eyes, was as important to genre television as Rod Serling.  In fact, Curtis brought us some of THE best TV horror ever produced.

Dan Curtis brought us the granddaddy of Buffy, Dark Shadows.  If not for that soap I doubt you would have shows like Buffy, Passions, or some of the activity that went on in General Hospital spin-off Port Charles a few years ago. 

Curtis brought us Barnabas and Josette, Angelique and the rest.  He was the man who helped bring us the first vampire who wanted to be cured, who was cursed and who had a love interest who was reincarnated over the centuries.  Think about that for a moment, and ponder just how many films and series have been inspired by the show Dan Curtis helped make into one of the biggest cult shows of all time.

But Curtis did more than introduce us to the Collins family.  He directed and produced some of the best horror movies to be made for the small screen.  Karen Black and the infamous fetish doll of Trilogy of Terror was one of them, along with Dead of Night and that beyond scary demon boy who was sent back to inflict revenge on a bad mother.  Not to mention The Night Strangler, the follow up to one of the highest rated TV movies of all time, The Night Stalker, starring the late Darren McGavin.   

Curtis also was responsible for many retellings of classic horror literature, such as Jack Palance’s turn as Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde.  He also took on The Turn of the Screw and The Picture of Dorian Gray. 

Add to this the directing of  The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, two amazing mini series starring Robert Mitchum, and you’ve got a man who’s credits show a legend of television. 

Dan Curtis was a pioneer of television horror, plus he did his share of feature film work as well, directing the creep fest Burnt Offerings.  I feel his passing has not been remarked upon as much as it should be.  He deserves more than what he has been giving, especially for what he has given us.   

I want to thank you Dan Curtis, for the many chills that you helped go up my spine.  For the jumps and scares that doll made me have.  For Barnabas and the gang.  For a lifetime of fun and enjoyment.  Thank you from all of us who rooted for the vampire to get the girl because you helped make him the hero for once.  Thank you and we’ll miss you.

Jessica

Written at the time of Darren’s passing:

Darren McGavin

Born May 7^th 1922

Died February 25^th 2006

I feel the need to write this.  I need to write about what Darren McGavin meant to me.  You see, he was the beginning of all of this in a big way. Darren McGavin was my first taste of fandom, of loving the genre of horror and a character in that genre.

McGavin did many, many projects in his career.  He was in numerous films and television shows. Besides playing the hard boiled Mike Hammer, others you may have heard include The X-files, which The Night Stalker helped to inspire.  He was in Millenium as the father of Frank Black, yet another series inspired by The Night Stalker.  Not to mention, The Man from UNCLE, Tales from the Darkside, Monsters, Murphy Brown, and that’s just a few of them.  And everyone knows A Christmas Story.

But to me, as will be the case with quite a few, he’ll always be Carl Kolchak. 

I was 4 years old, believe it or not.  And I still remember staying up way late and watching CBS’s repeats of the Night Stalker, and never missing it.  It just made me happy, and I loved Carl.   He made me laugh, I rooted him on.  Even at that age, I knew this was a special show and it clicked with that love I’ve always had for the dark side and fantasy. 

I would run around my house with a tape recorder, not nearly as neat as Kolchak’s, making up adventures that I would have with Carl, and of course he was my boyfriend.  Even back then I was crazy for the guys.

It was this show, and in particular McGavin’s character that helped to spawn the love of all the things I care about now.  I truly believe knowing that he was a writer/reporter helped to generate my love of writing.  All of this from a canceled TV program and a haggard reporter trying to speak the truth, that there are things out there making those bumps in the night.

I made it a point, two years ago, to send an e-mail via www.darrenmcgavin.net  to him as the webmasters there printed them out and made sure he got them.   I am very glad I did it now.  I hope it brought a smile to his face as he had brought many to mine. 

Thank you Darren, I will miss you.

Jessica