I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Gideon Oliver, as far as I am aware, was never broadcast in the United Kingdom. However I did manage to see the pilot, "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver" on VHS at the time. This is surely one of those "too good for TV" series that was unfairly overlooked and cast into obscurity. A rather cerebral hero, Gideon Oliver was Louis Gossett Jr. at the peak of his powers. The pilot episode saw the crusading scholar take on a cult of Satanists, including Near Dark's Jenny Wright (another reason to search out this neglected gem). A sophisticated storyline, fine character acting and a palpable sense of menace made this a great TV movie in its own right. A shame it never became a cult of its own, unlike many other less-deserving titles. See it if you can!

From the first episode to the last I was glued to the TV during the entire series. I had taped the series on VHS but in the process of moving the tapes are now lost I only wish they had it out on DVD. Being an avid Crime Movie and Mystery Series fan this series was one of the best and Mr. Gossett was at his best in this role. Just when you thought you had it figured out they threw a curve at you and the endings were always a surprise. I only wish he made more episodes of this. The books written of this are equally as good as the series .If you missed it you missed something spectacular. Lets get this series out on DVD I need my Gideon fix :)

Somehow I seemed to have missed this TV Series starring Louis Gossett,Jr. In this particular TV Series, Louis Gossett(Gideon Oliver),"Deceived",'02, is called to a small town by an old time Kennonite friend who needs his help in solving a murder. The Kennonite family lives like the AMISH or Mennonite people and are not into violence and are being accused of murdering a nearby neighbor. Gideon has to fight the local town people and the sheriff who is controlled by the powerful local politicians. The story gets quite involved with a Kennonite young lady who managed to go to college and learned computers and is struggling with her life in the Kennonite CLAN! If you are a big fan of Louis Gossett, Jr., this is a great TV Series to enjoy viewing.

...and what they want is the same thing this country's politicians want - people who aren't interested in the world around them and will just accept what's shoved at them. Gideon Oliver was not just smart, it was intelligent. I'd been somewhat familiar with Aaron Elkins' work when this series debuted, and the biggest surprise I had was seeing Professor Oliver played by Louis Gossett, Jr. It's not that this was a problem, it's just that his ethnic background had never been a part of the books (at least the couple I had read), so I had never thought of picturing him as Black. Mr. Gossett played his part admirably and with flair, but the best part of this series was the fact that it engaged the viewer intellectually, not just as a piece of mindless entertainment. That's why it failed: it encouraged viewers to think and there was even the shocking possibility that something interesting and worthwhile could actually be learned from it - Egad, what a horrifying notion! Fortunately, at least one episode, the two-part "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver", shows up on cable as a movie from time to time.