The Soul Can't Rest
"The Crow - Stairway to Heaven" was a syndicated television series starring Marc Dacascos as Eric Draven. This series made its debut in most venues the week of September 21st 1998, and went on to become one of the highest-rated syndicated shows that season. The show completed its initial run of 22 episodes back in the Summer of 1999, and it was, sadly, not renewed. The reason for this cancellation was basically a business decsion, related to the sale of Polygram Television to Universal Studios.
First off, let me openly admit that I had some initial trepidations concerning this production.I originally though ( and still think ) that an anthology format, with rotating storylines and casts would serve the Crow mythos better. However, this show provided a different look at the Eric Draven of a reality we are unfamiliar with, and a different and hopeful look at his world. Throughout the season, most of the casting was excellent, and the work of the production staff was top-notch.
The show starred world-renowned martial arts expert and actor, Mark Dacascos, as Eric Draven. Mark was cast because he looked the part, and could play the part, particularly in the show's signature fight-scenes, something at which the accomplished Kung Fu and Won Hop Kuen expert truly shines. For more on Mark, you can visit his Wikipedia entry, or his Official Site.
The Details:
FORMAT: One-hour series in national first-run syndication.
PREMIERE: Week of September 21, 1998; check local listings for time and station.
DESCRIPTION: THE CROW: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN will continue on the feature storyline from "The Crow" as Eric Draven, a brilliant young musician, and Shelly, the woman of his dreams, have their lives brutally taken from them. She's his inspiration in the afterworld, but he is on earth -- a lost soul searching for a way to be reunited with Shelly. He seeks redemption by helping others, fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. Through each act of justice, he is taken one step closer to his salvation.
ORIGINATION: Vancouver, B.C., Canada
STARRING:
Mark Dacascos as Eric Draven
Marc Gomes as Detective Daryl Albrecht
CO-STARRING:
Sabine Karsenti as Shelly Webster
Katie Stuart as Sarah Mohr
Lynda Boyd as Darla Mohr
Julie Dreyfus as India Reyes
Jon Cuthbert as Vicennes
John Pyper-Ferguson as Top Dollar
PRODUCED BY: An Alliance Communications presentation of a Crescent Entertainment production
DISTRIBUTED BY: PolyGram Television (U.S.)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Bryce Zabel / Edward R. Pressman
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Brad Markowitz
SUPERVISING PRODUCER: Naomi Janzen
PRODUCER: Gordon Mark
The Cancellation:
Stairway was cancellend in June 1999, after its first season wrapped with the cliffhanger episode, "A Gathering Storm". Despite high ratings and an increasingly positive reaction from Crow fans, the show became a casualty of a business decision. When Universal puchased Polygram, the new owners at the time had decided to get out of the business of producing television shows (A move its completely reveresed in the years since. Battlestar Galactica anyone?), a decision that didn't sit well with the cast and crew. Producer Bryce Zabel was particularly displeased, later saying "Universal basically killed a viable show".
Over the next few months, Pressman films attempted to buy up the rights to the show in the hopes that they could somehow get it back on the air. Jeff Most commented on the situation at the 1999 San Diego Comic-con:
"We were the number three rated new show in syndication. We became a victim of the Polygram/Universal merger. We were a Polygram TV show and Universal decided, since they out of the television business for the most part, that we could have the show back."
Unfortunately, at the time, Most was getting ahead of himself. Pressman films did indeed manage to secure the rights to the show a year later in the summer of 2000 (Announced at Dragon*Con by Jeff Conner), but by that time it was far too late. They made a few token attempts to produce a Stairway TV movie that would have tied up the loose ends and wrapped the story up properly, but the financing simply wasn't there, and almost everyone involved had moved on to other projects. By that point, Stairway to Heaven was officially dead.
DVD Release:
From Wikipedia
In 2005, all 22 episodes were released in a 5-disc DVD boxed set in central Europe through Dutch distributor A-Film, and features the original broadcast trailer, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and interview snippets with cast members Mark Dacascos, Marc Gomes, Sabine Karsenti, Katie Stuart, and John Pyper-Ferguson; fight co-ordinator James Lew; crow handler Dave Sousa, director of photography Attila Szaly, and executive producers Bryce Zabel and Brad Markowitz.
Warner Brothers also released the series to DVD in Australia in the same year. It is unknown if or when the series will see a DVD release in the Unites States.
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