Dark Shadows has arrived!

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
Frid is on for the rest of the series during the last few months though he does play another character and some say that's why it got cancelled i don't think it is i think they just ran out of ideas that's all. and the end of the show feels rushed cause i think it was.
 

Daniel Avery

Admin
LV
9
 
Awards
24
The show pushes Frid to the forefront, no doubt. But since I never know if you want to be spoiled or not, I hesitate to explain much further.

You have to keep in mind that the introduction of the Barnabas character (for a six-week arc) was a sort of "Hail Mary Pass" for the show, which was dangerously close to cancellation. Thankfully his story got people talking (and watching), so the show felt kind of obligated to the viewers to give them more of what they obviously wanted. The problem was (and always is) that eventually you over-work and over-expose that one character/actor. Even if they don't mind the exhaustion, they might end up being typecast after the series ends due to the over-identification of the actor with that one role. So being a breakout star is a double-edged sword.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
that's exactly why Frid quit acting was he became typecast he a couple horror films after the show (1974)'s Seizure which i believe was Oliver Stone's 1st Film and it was awful. i forget the other one (1973) but that one i haven't seen yet but he quit acting cause he got type cast in horror so he pretty much spent the rest of his life teaching acting and acting on the stage his 1st love pretty much.
 

tommie

Telly Talk Hero
LV
3
 
Awards
9
Barnabas is definitively at the forefront a lot of the show (at least up until I've watched circa ep 850-ish), but I'd argue that it does switch at times - Victoria will arguably take center stage again at one point, David Selby's character is probably the "main" character at the point I'm watching etc. So it does switch up at times.
 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
9
 
Awards
27
Well, it's still very watchable because there are twists and turns that keeps them from discovering the vampire's true identity i.e. David got missing, Julia's secret shenanigans, Willie got shot - it's all very frustrating in a way a soap should be.
But my Barnabas Endure-O-Meter is steadily approaching the red line. I don't find him scary, he never makes me laugh, I've never really taken to the gothic-romantic eccentricity (which is being hammered home in almost every episode) and then there's sidekick Willie!
You're planning something, aren't you? I know what it is, don't try to deny it. You're going to kill her, aren't you? Don't do it, Barnabas, it's going to make things worse.
On the contrary, Willie, it's going to solve aaall my problems. Tonight, she must DIE!
I've lost count of how many times a conversation like this has taken place. It's also very badly scripted and I don't mean so-bad-it's-laughable.
To add insult to injury it also takes away a lot of screen time from Roger and Carolyn, the characters that got me hooked in the first place.

Slip-ups are not uncommon in DS but usually the just ignore it.
When Roger and Joe enter the Collins mausoleum on Eagle Hill to see if they can find David (who had just fallen asleep in the hidden room!) Roger informs Joe that "several of my ancestors were buried here". But he starts with saying "several of my incestors - and then, as actor to actor, he repeats his mistake before he continues with the correct word.
I think this was the first time a slip-up caused one of the actors to step out of his role.

I also love Dr. Woodard, he's always so intense and so very bad at comforting his patients and their relatives. I wasn't sure if I was going to like Sarah but she's such an adorable child, and in some way she's spookier than Barnabas. It must be that successful combination of horror and sadness.
 

Daniel Avery

Admin
LV
9
 
Awards
24
The soaps produced in New York City in the first few decades of television (up until roughly 1990) relied a lot more on stage actors for casting, which led to the stars of NY soaps looking a lot more like "real people" as opposed to soaps produced in Los Angeles. The LA soaps pulled from a large pool of would-be models and pretty young things who moved to LA to be "discovered" due to how good they looked, at least more so than the average-looking actors who also moved there. LA casting agents wanted to hire beautiful people who could learn to act, rather than unassuming yet solid actors who could deliver great performances.

I agree that it would be hard to "sell" that Gothic romance thing with Barnabas to modern audiences because we've been raised on such romance-novel fodder being enacted by impossibly handsome men and equally gorgeous women. Intellectually we know that average-looking (even the "ugly") people of olden times had plenty of romantic escapades, but we've seen too many Outlanders and too many Fabio romance novels to swallow the idea that some average-looking guy like Barnabas could be the object of desire for female audiences. Witness how, when they rebooted DS in 1991, they hired the handsome Ben Cross to play the role. But back in the 1960s I think audiences were not yet spoiled by having an endless parade of handsome models being hired for their looks rather than their acting skills.

The tendency of NY soaps to have more "average-joe" stage actors might have been a holdover from the days of all the soaps being telecast live--when an actor had to be able to roll with the punches of live performances. Most soaps originating from LA were pre-taped. If an actor screwed up there, they could re-shoot it. By the 1980s, though, all soaps had basically embraced style over substance, where they would prefer to hire that inexperienced but hot guy who could bring in the teen girls rather than that average-looking actor who has an impressive resume and had a better audition.
 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
9
 
Awards
27
I agree that it would be hard to "sell" that Gothic romance thing with Barnabas to modern audiences
Hmm, I think I should have worded it differently because I wasn't literally referring to the "romance" part in gothic-romantic.
It's more like he's always playing a role in a costume party, with the socially-skilled mannerism of that period, and that makes perfect sense because he is a character from that period. Also, I'm not faulting the actor because he does exactly what they want him to do.
I just don't find it very enjoyable. I'm not sure why...maybe it's too on the nose, like (for example) a sitcom about a clown.

But back in the 1960s I think audiences were not yet spoiled by having an endless parade of handsome models being hired for their looks rather than their acting skills.
Handsome models with perfect white teeth was still not the norm in 1970s/1980s European TV dramas, which is not to say that they didn't have any sex-appeal at all.
But it wasn't Hollywood.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
no there were a lot of slip ups by various actors some of them were quite quick you didn't even notice it sometimes i don't always but they are there. Frid used to when he would mess up really bad just swear so they could give him another take i doubt he did that everyday though as he knew how expensive that it was when they had to do a second take it was big in the thousands back than. the only reason Selby ever even came to the show at all was cause of Frid and that was due to the long drawn out speeches that Frid had to always do that he started to at some point i'm guessing this was by (1968) just so he could have someone take the load off him cause his lines were a lot longer than the rest of the cast at that point i think. so Selby was Hired and no doubt helped him a great deal i'm sure.

one thing you also have to know is if you don't see let's say Joan Bennett for example on the show for quite awhile much like when Laura put her in a catatonic State and she's gone for 30 episodes it was cause Bennett was on Vacation apparently, other times it was cause one of them was doing a play that they wanted time off to do so they'd work around the actors or actress's schedule. what's really funny though is that at the time while they all took the work very seriously they never gave the messing the lines us or speaking before the other actor was suppose to as that did happen they never gave it much thought since it was only suppose to be on tv only once.

i'm not entirely sure when they started to air the show after it had ended but it's funny how if you look at any soap i think it's the only one where they have the entire run on dvd. and DS is missing only 1 episode that they had Lara Parker do Narration to near the end of the series Run.
 

Daniel Avery

Admin
LV
9
 
Awards
24
It's more like he's always playing a role in a costume party

Oh, I see what you mean about his always behaving just like someone extracted from 1795 and dropped into 1967. Even after he continued to live into the 1970s and should have become more acclimated, he never dropped the Colonial-era formality (or installed a bathroom at the Old House). So many aspects of his existence changed in the four-ish years we knew him, but he never seemed to evolve into a modern man. This seems even more at odds with how, when we see him in his pre-vampire days, he seemed to be more willing to embrace changing times and attitudes than most anyone in the family.

There is a scene later on where Barnabas and another character are seen in a car (the other character is driving). I recall being shocked that Barnabas would do something as "modern" as ride in an automobile. And yes, he looks supremely out of place in that passenger seat.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
that would be Vicki right before she ran into Jeff if i'm not mistaken and it's the only scene i think that he was ever in a car with anyone at least that was shot and yes he does look out of place. iv'e always had a good laugh whenever they say he comes from England yet Frid is Canadian! i believe i don't remember which part of Canada i would have too look it up but had they just said Canada that would be i think more Believable
 

tommie

Telly Talk Hero
LV
3
 
Awards
9
that would be Vicki right before she ran into Jeff if i'm not mistaken and it's the only scene i think that he was ever in a car with anyone at least that was shot and yes he does look out of place. iv'e always had a good laugh whenever they say he comes from England yet Frid is Canadian! i believe i don't remember which part of Canada i would have too look it up but had they just said Canada that would be i think more Believable
I think @Daniel Avery was being consciously vague to not spoil anything :ms:
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
well i may have said the characters name but not who the actor was playing him and it's at the start of a new arc anyways. and Vic ki is seen in cars driving with different people, she's seen with Burke, Roger, Frank as well and a few others. and if they are anything like me by the time they get there they will prolly forget it i left out the part that did happen around the i think maybe middle of the arc? on Dark Shadows by the time they get to that spot they will by than know that the show goes to the past and are played by the main cast as different characters with really only 3 characters playing the same in the 1795 one on that i'm not saying who. so it literally can be played by anyone so i did keep it vague a little as well
 

Willie Oleson

Telly Talk Schemer
LV
9
 
Awards
27
Needles, bottles, computers!
1647769647035.png
The fabulous Dr. Hoffman is conducting serious scientific business in Collinsport. Well, if you discount secret hypnotism, murder and a romantic twist.
Dr. Woodard has died a principle death, why didn't he just pretend to go along with their plan? It's not as shocking and dramatic as Dr. Guthrie's death but then again, maybe it is. It's a pity that he had to be recast for his last few performances.

I just can't get enough of the eye-popping colours it's almost like Disney animation.
1647771745869.png
FLTR: Prince Charming, Snow White, the Queen.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
i loved Dr. Woodard the 2nd actor is my favorite and he was fired really only cause he refused to cross the this batch of protesters i forget why they were there but he refused to cross it and was fired for it.
 

Daniel Avery

Admin
LV
9
 
Awards
24
Robert Gerringer (the next-to-last Dr. Woodard) played a con man named Del Emerson in the last few years of The Edge of Night, and it was so much fun seeing the actor play someone so "morally compromised". Even better, he wasn't a very good con man, so he was constantly screwing things up and provided a good amount of comic relief.
I just can't get enough of the eye-popping colours it's almost like Disney animation
Ohrbach's had a field day with the bright colors when the show transitioned to color. It felt like they went overboard during the first two or three months after the color transition, and eventually toned down the clothes because so much of the backgrounds/sets/set decorations were still dull browns and grays.
 

darkshadows38

Telly Talk Star
LV
1
 
Awards
7
thank you i forgot his real name, Dana Elca i'm not even sure how to spell his last name? i can't remember off the top of my head my apologies for that.
but he was the best Sheriff i can't remember why he stopped being on the show i don't think he was fired but hey i could be wrong. i know one of the writers maybe 2 were fired i am not sure which one though.
 
Top