Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010015
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH HARRIS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
It wasn't until he picked up a pen to scribble more than his autograph that he began altering the public's perception of him as just another cute singer-actor.
His self-imposed exile resulted in a writing career that led to the debut this fall of ``American Gothic'' on CBS (airing at 10 p.m. Fridays on WDBJ-Channel 7).
Fans are screaming again. But this time, it's in reaction to the horror and suspense series and not raging hormones.
Cassidy created the show's off-kilter characters and serves as supervising producer and scriptwriter from his small office on the Universal lot. The show is filmed in Wilmington, N.C.
Gary Cole stars as Sheriff Lucas Buck, the creepy enforcer in fictional Trinity, S.C. Buck controls nearly everyone and everything in the small town, even going so far as to kill a girl in the first episode.
Obviously, evil lurks in the heart of the still boyish-looking Cassidy.
``I don't think you have to experience everything firsthand to understand human relationships or to invent a dramatic situation,'' he said.
About Buck's lack of conscience, he says, ``I've known that behavior in my life. There wasn't a singular role model for him. Charming, manipulative, sociopathic people are everywhere.''
Cassidy, 36, ran into many of them during his tenure as America's musical heartthrob in the late 1970s.
He captured the fancy of screaming prepubescent girls as Joe Hardy on ``The Hardy Boys Mysteries.'' In real life, his remake of ``Da Doo Ron Ron'' sold millions and he took up the teen idol mantle from his half-brother David, who starred on ``The Partridge Family.''
After ``Hardy Boys'' and another series, ``Breaking Away,'' faded, Cassidy stayed home during most of the 1980s to raise his daughter, now 13, and son, now 10, while the insanity subsided.
``There were people who said go away, disappear for a while. You've had too much,'' he said, ``and I was like, `Great.' It worked into what I wanted anyway.''
In between child-rearing, Cassidy wrote short stories and one-act plays. He calls the process ``a hard, hard job of just forcing yourself, locking yourself in the room and getting your work done.''
He didn't receive much encouragement. His managers couldn't see trading an established acting career for the chance to pound out scripts.
``Everyone told me how difficult it would be and I didn't believe them,'' he said. ``The surprise is that you get anything done of any quality because there's so many obstacles. Nothing is pushing you forward. Everything is pushing you back.''
CBS approached Cassidy about writing a show with supernatural touches to help revive ratings at the third-place network. Helping him is horror film director Sam Raimi (``The Evil Dead'').
The network hoped that fans of Fox's ``The X-Files,'' which airs at 9 p.m., would switch over to ``American Gothic'' for more thrills.
The CBS series received critical praise and viewers are tuning in, although the show has slipped from its debut high rating of 9.5 - representing about 9 million TV households.
The competition, which includes ABC's popular news magazine ``20-20,'' just got tougher: NBC's acclaimed ``Homicide: Life on the Street'' made its season debut last Friday.
Cassidy defends his show against suggestions it is violent. He points out that the murder in the pilot wasn't depicted on camera.
``Much of our show isn't about what you're seeing visually. It's about a lot of manipulation that Lucas is doing with people and the stratagems he's playing,'' he said.
``As people see upcoming episodes, I don't think they'll view it as violent. I hope they view it as unsettling. I hope it makes them think about things - but blood and gore, we're not.''
Those who preach anti-violence often consider only the subject matter and ignore the context in which violence is portrayed, Cassidy believes. His own children watch ``American Gothic,'' although he doesn't recommend it for young viewers.
``It's context that everybody should be looking at here and it's parental responsibility. There's a lot of good stuff out there that has a lot of violence in it,'' he said.
``Violence shouldn't be the only reason kids don't see things and neither should sex. It should be content. If our show had no violence and no sex in it, I still don't think our show is a kids' show because it's dealing with adult themes.''
by CNB