I remember seeing a TV movie back in 1989 called “Nick Knight.” It caught my interest, mostly due to the premise. It revolved around a homicide detective who worked the night shift… and also happens to be a vampire. These were the days before “Angel”, and that being the case, it was still pretty original. The movie, which starred Rick Springfield as the toothy character, was moderately entertaining and the thought that it might become a series was intriguing. The series was not forthcoming, or so it seemed at first. It wasn’t until three years later in 1992 that a series was born called “Forever Knight.” Starting its first season on CBS, it had a second season in syndication, and then survived for a third season on the USA Network, finally ending in 1996. I never saw the show when it originally aired, and when I first heard the title, admittedly didn’t make any kind of connection.

It wasn’t until the early part of 2003, after catching an episode on the Sci Fi channel, that I recognized the character’s names and realized that the show was indeed based on the TV movie.

Though I had originally only seen a few episodes of the series, which starred Geraint Wyn Davies in the role of Nick, I would be willing to admit to being a bit of a fan. It was kind of campy, but still rather fun. Since that time I have met a few other fans of the show, and generally our conversations would turn to the original pilot movie, and how few of them have seen it. I would tell them what I remembered, and generally we would sit and hope it might eventually come to home video. It finally did, and of course as memory often works this way, I forgot how borderline cheesy it was. But what watching it did do was whet my appetite for the release of the series itself.

As luck would have it, just a few months after my discovery I heard the news that Sony/Columbia Tristar was going to be releasing the 1st season (which was released in October 0f 2003) and I simply couldn’t wait to actually have the opportunity to see the series from the beginning and in the intended order. I was not disappointed.

The first two-part episode re-introduced us to the character of Nick Knight and gave us a look at his origin. He was kind of a precursor to “Angel” in that he was a vampire who wanted to redeem himself of his sins and go that one step further to being human. There was also a similarity to the series “Highlander” in that, as an immortal, the opportunity for flashbacks to earlier times presented themselves often.

Watching that 1st season, I found it to be an exceptionally good series in spite of its tendency to be a bit melodramatic (and the unfortunate decision to occasionally show Nick flying). The main characters were all likable, and there was just enough humor to keep the episodes from becoming too morose. And as the series came out in 1992, there was the opportunity to ‘star’ watch for the occasional actor or actress making appearances back when they were still unknown. Amongst those I caught in the 1st season were Nicole DeBoer and Carrie Anne Moss.

Once I got through that 1st season set, my appetite was certainly whetted for the release of the subsequent seasons. I had hoped that they would be right around the corner. Unfortunately it ended up taking over a year, with the 2nd season DVD not seeing the light of day until January of 2005, unlike Nick, who never gets to see the light of day… (insert groan here). At least I hadn’t lost interest during the long wait and I sat down to voraciously attack Season 2.

While still a tad on the cheesy side, the 2nd season didn’t disappoint me in the slightest. There were a bunch of great episodes, one of which even of which pitted the Dark Knight (insert groan #2) against the infamous Jack the Ripper. Through the course of this season, Nick would find himself the victim of brainwashing by a cult, allows himself to be the subject of a ‘near-death’ experience, and faces a psychopath who is burning people alive. He also meets and shares a romance with an author of vampire novels (no doubt based on Anne Rice). Probably the most creative episode was “A More Permanent Hell”, which showed the effect that news of a meteor headed towards Earth would have. That idea itself is not so new, but the episode’s payoff is a doozy.

When the 1st season was released, I remember being a little disappointed by the lack of extra features. There were no interviews or anything. However, Sony / Columbia Tristar made up for their past transgressions by making sure that the fans got what they wanted on the DVD release of the 2nd season. There were four commentaries, two of them being on the episodes “Killer Instinct” and “Blood Money”. These two were done by the creator of the series, James D. Parriott and Geraint Wyn Davies. They were lively commentaries and it was obvious that the two get along well and had fond memories of the series. The additional commentaries were done by Nigel Bennett (LaCroix) on the episodes “Curiouser & Curiouser” and “a More Permanent Hell.” His commentaries were also quite enlightening, but it would have been better, I think, to have had them all together. The only minor complaint was that there was no listing anywhere of which episodes had commentaries and by whom. You had to pop in the discs to find them.

Them to make a good thing even better, there was a 20 minute featurette on the series created specifically for this DVD release, which includes parts of a paired up interview with Parriott and Davies. This was followed by a series of ‘fan’ questions, which were also answered by Parriott and Davies. The footage looked as though it was all done at the same time, with the two sitting on a couch and ready to talk about the series.

Finally, it is October of 2006, almost two years later….. and "Forever Knight: Season 3" is hitting store shelves. With the speed that some studios, including Sony / Columbia Tristar are able to release shows, I can’t imagine what the holdup has been for this one. It's hard to complain too much, because at least the final season is available for fans, but still. Along with the surprise that the 3rd season was actually released was that the studio backslid on their special features. Once again, we are back to no special features at all. With this being the last season, I fully expected some mind of additional commentary, but no luck.

The timing and the lack of features are really my only complaints, however. The 3rd season included a few missteps in terms of some of the episodes, and there is a huge plot twist at the beginning of the season that I understand most fans hated… but such is the way of some TV shows. I still feel as though this was one of the strongest of the seasons, and the series finale is as it should be… gut-wrenching.

With the exception of the lack of special features I'm mostly pleased with the 3rd season DVD set for “Forever Knight” and have to say it was almost worth the long wait.

Episodes:
Black Buddha, Part 1
Black Buddha, Part 2
Outside the Lines
Blackwing
Blind Faith
My Boyfriend is a Vampire
Hearts of Darkness
Trophy Girl
Let No Man Tear Asunder
Night in Question
Sons of Belial
Strings Fever
Dead of Night
The Games Vampires Play
The Human Factor
Avenging Angel
Fallen Idol
Jane Doe
Francesca
Ashes to Ashes
Last Knight

Starring: Geraint Wyn Davies, Catherine Disher, Nigel Bennett
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, English Stereo
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 10/3/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Forever Knight: Season 3 a B-.