Dark Shadows Discussion Thread

[J. Keith H.]

And the fact that the people in 1995 still dressed the same as they did in 1970? I did love how they "destroyed" the sets to make it look like the house was falling down.

[Aaron]

A good way to watch the show without going broke is to rent the DVDs through Netflix.

[Scotty]

Haha....so true. Maybe they thought their clothing would be back in style by then.

[TheDSA]

I actually thought it wasn't too bad. I remember the guy that Julia & Barnabas saw in the records office was wearing a Regis tie.

[quartermainefan]

I love Dark Shadows. The 1990 (1991?) series is complete and streamed on either Hulu or Fancast.com. The 1960s original can be viewed on youtube in 10 minute truncated mini-sodes. One thing I give the show credit for is the mood. Btw the big house with Mrs Stoddard hiding away for 20 years to the local pub where you might find people in sweaters drinking a pint, the show was very consistent in establishing a sense of place. These days no soaps go that extra mile. Pine Valley is now South Beach.

It's a shame the two films were so lame, but I have high hopes that the rumored big budget movie gets made. DS is the soap that never dies and it is a shame soapnet doesn't pick it up.

[Chris B]

Okay I watched the entire Werewolf/Quentin's Ghost story and it was my favorite so far. MUCH stronger and more concentrated than the Adam/Eve story which drove me nuts. 1795 was a close favorite, but it was boggled down by too much Angelique who IMO outlived her welcome. You can tell they had a clear idea from beginning to end and stuck with it. The characters they choose to showcase were consistent and made sense. I liked seeing the kids take centerstage with major characters like Barnabas and Julia playing supporting roles. David has always been a favorite of mine and he sealed it with this story. That young actor has developed into something very good. I can't imagine a soap (even on like DS) centered a story around such young kids and it being as interesting. The actress who played Amy was very good as well and made a great scene partner. Still, I do wonder how these two kids handled such a frontburner story.

Now it's going into the 1897 story and I don't know how that'll go, but it's starting off well. I like that it seems so different from 1795 and they seem to be trying to set the two times apart. The only thing I don't like is Barnabas as an evil vampire after so long of him redeeming himself and being good. I know he's only using it to help David, but I'm over seeing him as a bloody vampire. He redeemed himself with the 1795 explanation IMO.

One thing I didn't like about the Ghost/Werewolf story is how it ended. They left so many mini cliffhangers and I just don't know if they'll revisit them all when they come back. What will happen with Sabrina and her revelation that Chris is a werewolf? What will happen to Chris? Will he stick around long term? I certainly hope so! Chris and Amy have been good additions to the show. I'd rather him than that awful Jeff Clark/Peter Bradford who keeps popping up.

[DRW50]

I also wasn't a fan of 1795, although that wasn't because of Angelique, more because I just didn't find most of the characters captivating, and the whole thing was very depressing. I also get tired of Barnabas angst.

1897 has ups and downs, because they stretched the story out several more months than they originally planned for, but it has some great bits.

The werewolf/Quentin haunting story has some brilliant showpieces. My favorite is when they hire the woman to deal with the ghosts of Collinwood, and Quentin locks her in a room and slowly drives her to madness and death. Then she appears at the top of the stairs, already dead, and tumbles down. Chilling, and I still can't believe they got with that. This story is also a very strong period for Maggie. They made Maggie much more smart than she's given credit for. I just wish that yummy Joe had had a better exit. Joel Crothers deserved better. The show wasted him.

My favorite of the time travel periods was 1840, at least the first half, before Daphne and Quentin took center stage.

[Chris B]

This 1897 story was great for a long time, but they're clearly stretching it beyond believability. I no longer care and just want it to end! It seems to just go on and on and everyone is dying and I just can't figure out why we're still here and haven't moved on yet. I can't wait to see how they tie it up and if it is worth the wait.

[DRW50]

They extended 1897 because the story got such a positive fan response. I had mixed feelings about some of the story. I didn't like the writing for Angelique, but I enjoyed Laura's return, and Kitty Soames (have you gotten to her yet), and the wonderful Pansy Faye/Charity Trask.

[TheDSA]

I have some old DS videos i did way back in high school that yall can check out on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/Bootychow

[Chris B]

1840 was just brilliant and a nice way to end the series. I didn't like that Leticia was such a copycat of Pansy. What was their relation btw? Overall I enjoyed it although the parallel time story dragged on. I'm glad the final storylines were good, but it made me sad that we didn't get to see Barnabas, Julia and co one last time. The costumes in this era were also fantastic.

Right now I began watching the 91 series. So far I've seen the pilot and was kinda disappointed. The early 90s were very scaled back from the over the top glamour of the 80s. It seemed to be important that everything be real and gritty. I don't think that worked for Dark Shadows. The actual mansions don't work for me. They seem more like something out of a horror film rather than something that generations of families would want to love in. There is no gothic/romantic element, it just feels condemned. Then Barnabas is so dark that I'm not sure why you would root for him at all. I don't know if he tries to kill David like in the original, but I can't see this Barnabas pulling something off like that. He's already so dark that seeing him threaten a child might be too much. Willie Loomis looks a mess, but I actually enjoyed him a bit. I like Carolyn and Victoria seems dull but she'll do. The actress playing Maggie is great and I actually found Rebecca Staab the most appealing actress which shocked me. Also love Joseph Gordon Levitt as David.

I'm looking forward to seeing them go into the past. I hope the bad 90s trends don't follow them there.

[DRW50]

They never said what the relation was between Pansy and Leticia. It's funny though because the real Pansy Faye was Kay Frye, not Nancy Barrett, so that means Pansy had an aunt or grandmother or whatever who looked just like Charity Trask. I guess it truly was fate that 57 years later, Pansy was killed and took over Charity's body! I loved that we never did see what happened to Pansy/Charity. They didn't even bother to give a line about how now that her work was done, Pansy left, or whatever. I like to imagine Charity as an old woman, running around Collinwood annoying the piss out of people telling them, "I'm gonna dance for you..."

I didn't see Pansy and Leticia as being that much alike. Pansy seemed more fervent and crazy, whereas Leticia was more restrained, more of a con artist.

1840 also had the continuity bloopers of Edith Collins being killed, even though she existed in 1897, and Barnabas going into a trance in 1970 so he could take over his 1840 body, yet, when he went back to the present, he was still in his 1840 body, which would mean he never went back to the coffin and never would have been freed by Willie Loomis. I would have loved if they had gone back to a completely bizarre, unbalanced timeline with some sort of crazy people running Collinwood, people they don't know, and who are barely even Collinses, and then Julia and Barnabas and Stokes just go, "Oops."

Seriously though, I know you can't take this stuff so seriously. The continuity gaffes just make me love DS even more!

The costumes were great at this time. They brought in a costume designer to create new stuff for 1841PT so those are even more gorgeous and unique.

I liked Joanna Going as Victoria, although I agree Rebecca Stabb was the most appealing. She also worked best with Joe. The later stuff with Joe does not work for me, and is very rushed and poorly written towards the end.

Edited November 30, 2009 by CarlD2

[Chris B]

Edith Collins was my only disappointment from 1840. I was looking forward to seeing the actress return as a familiar character I enjoyed, but it was a nightmare. I didn't believe she was truly Edith Collins and the writing was terrible for her. I do wish with these time jumps that they used more of the original characters in bigger parts.

Right now I'm on my third episode of the 1991 series and I'm enjoying it now. My only problem are the nighttime scenes. Julia did an experiment with Barnabas' blood in the daylight. The vile of blood exploded. The next scene saw Barnabas and Victoria, at night, walking in the woods. Had they not made such a big deal about Barnabas not being in the sunlight I would've never known it was night. The night scenes are brighter than the daylight scenes! Is this really a primetime series? I'm not sure what happened because I've never seen something like this. Oddly enough, the original wins when it comes to set design and overall production values. Just to think of how successful they were with so little money amazes me.

I hope that at some point the brilliant Jean Simmons is allowed to act. Barbara Steele works as Julia for me because she's strange just like Grayson Hall. And Barbara Blackburn continues to impress. I do wish she joined Ryan's Hope a little sooner because I hear she was great as Siobhan and I believe it.

[DRW50]

The nighttime series did look like night in the original primetime airings. For some reason the process has never looked right on VHS or DVD.

[EricMontreal22]

I recently started watching the "The Beginning" pre Barnabas episodes on DVD--and I have to say I love them, despite the reputation that they were boring and meandering. (I admit though I love all that Bronte Gothic romance stuff).

One quick question--Carolyn basically proclaims how much she'd love to marry Roger in an early speech. Isn't Roger her uncle? Is he not her uncle by blood (maybe I'll find this out later)--or am I just reading too much into her speech and she just meant a man like her uncle? LOL