GARGOYLES Creator Blames Show’s Demise on…OJ Simpson?
Mike Sprague
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In an interesting turn of events, Gargoyles creator Greg Weisman blames none other than OJ Simpson for the show’s demise and the story behind it is wild.
Weisman told Polygon: “The main problem we had was, they wanted 52 episodes in the fall of 1995. We managed to do 31, so from my point of view, I was a hero. But from their point of view — they had forgotten that I told them it was impossible, and they were mad. Then we had a couple of other problems. The OJ Simpson trial meant we were constantly being preempted for trial coverage, because we were on syndicated stations, and syndicated stations still primarily lived off local news in the 1990s. Every day it ran, we were being preempted, and in any given city, people were missing episodes of Gargoyles, and falling out of the habit of watching it.”
RELATED: GARGOYLES Star Ready for Revival
Weisman also mentioned that the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers had a lot to do with the demise of his show as well. Which makes more sense.
He says: “The second big problem was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers coming to the United States. That show was a blockbuster. So in season 1, we were the number 1 show in our afternoon slot, and in season 2, we were consistently number 2. We weren’t a failure, but we’d gone from being a home run to being a double. Power Rangers was the big news and the home run. Our toys fell off. So there wasn’t much thought of doing a season 3. The viewership was fractured. It sounds bizarre that OJ Simpson helped destroy Gargoyles, but it’s true.”
RELATED: Gargoyles Receives Semi-Live Action Fan Film
Do you think OJ Simpson – wait for it – killed Gargoyles? Make sure to let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
Gargoyles originally aired from October 1994 to February 1997. The series features a species of nocturnal creatures known as gargoyles that turn to stone during the day. After spending a thousand years in an enchanted petrified state, the gargoyles (who have been transported from medieval Scotland) are reawakened in modern-day New York City, and take on roles as the city’s secret night-time protectors.
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