This was another show I was very eager to see, once I heard about it. I'd enjoyed Sam Raimi's movies, and was curious to see what he could do with a scary TV series. He was able to do quite a lot, as it turned out.
Another interesting thing that came out in the pre-series publicity was that Shaun Cassidy had created the series. Really? Joe Hardy? (That's Joe Hardy from The Hardy Boys, not Joe Hardy from Damn Yankees.)
Shaun Cassidy has launched a number of good TV series since American Gothic, but at the time, his creativity was a revelation.

The show was about a sinister Southern sheriff with supernatural powers, who may or may not be some kind of demon. The sheriff, named Lucas Buck, was played by Gary Cole, another big plus for the series. I'd first seen Gary Cole in an episode of the '80s Twilight Zone called "Her Pilgrim Soul", one of the best episodes of that series. When American Gothic premiered, he had just finished up Midnight Caller not long before, so his reputation was very good.
American Gothic was described as "The Andy Griffith Show, if Stephen King had written it". This was pretty accurate, except that it was better written than most of Stephen King's works. Through most of the series, Lucas Buck is pitted against most of the other characters in a battle for influence over the soul of a young boy, Caleb, played by Lucas Black. Black was very good, as were all the actors. Caleb's sister, Merlyn, played by the excellent Sarah Paulson, is killed in the first episode, and returns thereafter in a ghostly manner to guide Caleb. There are some exquisitely creepy scenes in that pilot episode; I think it's the best hour of television I've ever seen.

Some of the other characters are Paige Turco as Gale Emory, Caleb's cousin, who has her own personal mystery to solve; Jake Weber as Dr. Matt Crower, who works to keep Caleb on the side of good; Brenda Bakke as Selena Coombs, the sultry schoolteacher and Lucas' girlfriend, who usually helps him in his manipulations; and Nick Searcy as Ben, Lucas' deputy, who isn't comfortable with some of the things he sees Lucas do.
All of these actors give extremely impressive performances; I think they're one of the best casts ever in a TV series. Their characters are also well-developed, and more multi-faceted than you will typically see in a series.

There are several episodes that don't feature the "control-of-Caleb's-soul" storyline very much, and give the series an anthology-like feel in some cases. My favorite of these is "Damned if You Don't", a little morality play about the negative consequences of accepting any favors from Sheriff Buck, with a wonderful O. Henry/Twilight Zone type ending. It also has one of the most sexually suggestive scenes ever on network TV.

This was a very adult series, and that was the cause of some of its problems on the CBS schedule. There were five episodes (out of 22) that the network refused to show at all, and the episodes they did show were out of order, and were very frequently pre-empted.
This was typical behavior for CBS, especially with the few series I liked. The show's serial storyline took real determination to follow, which I was willing to give, since I liked it so much, but I can see why it was hard for the show to find an audience.

American Gothic was a real gem that's well worth seeking out on DVD today. If you haven't seen it before, you're in for a real treat.