Posted on 01/10/2005 4:49:13 PM PST by Coleus
POINT PLEASANT, N.J. -- The streets are tree-lined, and mostly quiet.
The breezes that blow in off the Atlantic Ocean? Heavenly.
Even the teenagers are nice, says Eric Hansch, who sees more than his share of them in his Atomic CDs record store when school lets out. "They're the politest kids you'll ever meet," he said.
Point Pleasant, indeed.
The question around here these days: What the devil was FOX thinking, bringing Satan's offspring ashore in such an idyllic place? Sure, the network's new series "Point Pleasant" is just fiction. But still.
"It's evil," said Barbara Stancel, 60, a lifelong resident. "I'm not happy about it. Point Pleasant's known as a family town, and this won't do anything for Point Pleasant."
The one-hour drama centers on pretty blonde Christina Nickson, who turns up on the beach in Point Pleasant, N.J., one day and soon begins raising hell _ wherever she goes, storm clouds gather, candles blow out, cars explode in flames.
The reason soon becomes clear: She's the Devil's daughter.
"Point Pleasant," which is set here but is being filmed in southern California, premieres Jan. 19.
Why here?
Why not Hell, Mich.? Or maybe Devils Slide, Utah?
Better yet: Satan's Kingdom, Vt.
They're real places, too.
"It's such an evocative name for a spooky show," said Marti Noxon, executive producer. "It wasn't just the name of the town. It was the fact that it was this beautiful coastal place that people come for fun, to show that really bad things can happen in sunny places."
Point Pleasant, the place, wasn't sunny enough, though.
The show's producers couldn't trust New Jersey's fickle weather climate to provide the sunshine and blue skies necessary for a show with lots of bikini-clad young women and buff lifeguards.
(Excerpt) Read more at nynewsday.com ...
The Jersey Devil (Fact or Fiction) NJ Devil Weird NJ - the jersey devil
Frank's Riptide on the boardwalk.
Both my grandparents lived on Azalea Ave.
Still have some cousins living in the Point.
True fact: bvw was born in Point Pleasant.
Don't you miss the shore?
Always made it a "Point" to drive past Point Plesant, to at least as far down as Belmar / Spring Lake, from North Jey-sey. MIght have been the right call.
One night I saw both Tiny Tim and the Bayonne Bleeder at a club in the Point. Typical weird night then.
Yeah. The tourism boom will be the wrong market though.
Point Pleasant is where families go. The crowd this would draw would be the market for Seaside Heights.
It is an odd unspoken understanding.
Teens and older -> Seaside
Families with young children -> Point Pleasant.
Extremely Wealthy old people -> Mantoloking.
Gamblers -- Atlantic City
I hate to admit it, but curiosity got me to tune in and I hung with it for about 45 minutes and finally had to turn my head (and the channel). God, that show was awful. The basic theme is so far fetched it hurt my head to watch.
The only reason I did tune in was because I happen to live in said town. I did get a kick out of the "Point Pleasant New Jersey State Beach" sign and the giant ferris wheel. The kids driving their 4x4's on the beach for the bonfire was good for a hoot too. Another oddity for me was that my daughter just happens to live in Ocean Grove, the town where Satan's daughter thinks her mom may be living at.
One thing I've caught myself doing since watching, is looking deeply into the eyes of anyone I meet and checking out their iris' very carefully.
I have no idea if the show will survive, but it will have to do so without me watching.
But if one wanted a gothic backdrop for tales of the devil ...
Well, Ocean Grove would be that place. Still have hotels that look like a day from the 1860's there. Only started allowing cars in on Sundays twenty years ago. I remember they still had the rows and rows of summer house tents then too. Before that -- you could not even park your car in the street or in any public view even in a driveway on Sunday.
I also rememebr a cold winter of ice and fire there in Ocean Grove and directly neighboring Asbury Park -- a number of ancient huge ornate Victorian ginger bread-style houses went up in flames in the coldest days of a cold winter -- the fire-fighter's water sprays created intricate icicle palaces for a few weeks.
Raw fleeting moments of grand intricate beauty.
I do remember when at midnight every Saturday the large chain was rigged across the entrance to Ocean Grove and would remain there until midnight Sunday. There was no mowing with a power mower on Sundays either and a few persistent stories about ambulances not being allowed in the Grove on Sundays. Quite an interesting town.
I remember seeing many photos of some of those famous seaside hotel fires and you're right, they were spectacular, especially the ones on very cold winter days.
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