katholiday
Freshman
Kat Holiday lives a modest life on her Northern Colorado ranch with her Husband of 27 years.
@katholiday
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Post by katholiday on Feb 24, 2017 18:59:21 GMT
I've seen every episode & was even a fan when it first aired! Man, that show was so funny! All the slip-ups & mistakes! -I can even remember hearing understudies shout lines to the the hapless actors from off stage! TOO MUCH! How many times died grounds-keeper Willie have to go back to Barnabas' tomb?! LOL!
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 25, 2017 16:40:16 GMT
I didn't think Dark Shadows was funny, at all...though I did laugh at the mistakes. The stories, however, were deadly serious, and I liked that. The events leading up to their 1795 flashback featured some of the best writing on television, daytime or primetime. And the acting! Frid was magnificent, but I also think young ingenue, Kathryn Leigh Scott, showed her acting chops. She's still acting today, by the way.
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katholiday
Freshman
Kat Holiday lives a modest life on her Northern Colorado ranch with her Husband of 27 years.
@katholiday
Posts: 92
Likes: 7
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Post by katholiday on Feb 26, 2017 0:05:26 GMT
When I saw it as a kid, I found it very intriguing. But when I got older and started working in film, I began to see the flaws more... I even bought the whole series from Dan Curtis before he croaked. BIG BUCKS! But it was worth it! It still ranks IMHO as actually the very best vampire series ever made... "True Blood" took a lot of cues form "Dark Shadows" ...and I rank that as the second best vampire show...
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Post by jervistetch on Feb 26, 2017 4:01:03 GMT
50 years later I DO remember the walls of Collinswood being rather wobbly at times. Looking back now I imagine ABC's allotted budget was probably $100 per episode. I think it was the same for all of the Soaps back then. My Mom used to watch one called The Secret Storm and it always seemed like the sets were on the verge of collapsing.
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katholiday
Freshman
Kat Holiday lives a modest life on her Northern Colorado ranch with her Husband of 27 years.
@katholiday
Posts: 92
Likes: 7
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Post by katholiday on Feb 26, 2017 5:13:43 GMT
If you look at, "The Dark Shadows Bloopers video", you'll see things just like that! Walls actually did fall down on occasion!-I once saw a microphone boom come crashing down, and the scene was supposed to be outside... It's like a microphone just fell right outta' the sky! -And when they couldn't remember their lines, things could get really scary! -Like stage-hands shouting off camera and the other actors trying to help the forgetful person get on with it, with lines like, "Are you SURE that's why you came out to the old cemetery?" "Were you looking for me all along?" "Admit it!" "-YOU WERE LOOKING FOR ME ALL ALONG!" "SAY IT! -YOU WERE LOOKING FOR ME ALL ALONG!" HA!
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 26, 2017 14:51:04 GMT
Sorry, but your memory is faulty on the microphone boom "crashing down." Microphones regularly were seen, and so were cameras, but nothing "crashed." I have that Bloopers DVD, and nothing like that is on there.
And no walls ever collapsed. They shook, yes, but nothing collapsed. You're exaggerating!
The only time a stage hand (actually, the director) whispered lines off-screen was when an elderly actress was having trouble with her script. It was a blooper, yes, and a hilarious one.
There were lots of mistakes here and there, but that's part of the charm of Dark Shadows. I doubt $100 was the budget, that's amazingly low, even by 1960s standards.
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katholiday
Freshman
Kat Holiday lives a modest life on her Northern Colorado ranch with her Husband of 27 years.
@katholiday
Posts: 92
Likes: 7
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Post by katholiday on Feb 26, 2017 23:37:52 GMT
I don't know about that... Have you seen the whole series from beginning to end several times? I saw some pretty bad production values... I think you're wrong on a few counts there yourself my new found friend! -Here's a quote... "With a roughly $70,000 budget to shoot its five weekly episodes, Dark Shadows had to approach its special effects conservatively. Camera operator Stuart Goodman found that covering his lens with plastic wrap and then dabbing Vaseline at the edges to create a hazy, dreamlike visual was surprisingly effective. To emulate actors being trapped in a blaze, Goodman would simply put a bucket in front of himself and light it on fire." -THERE WAS NO TIME TO GO BACK AND FIX MISTAKES. "Despite its lofty ambitions, sprawling stories and camera tricks, Dark Shadows had to maintain a standard soap schedule that allowed episodes to air daily. Because of the compressed production, actor flubs, focus mistakes, and other gaffes that would normally be re-shot had to remain in the show. Viewers would occasionally see performers read the wrong lines or see a crew member wander into shots. Actress Kate Jackson was wearing a dress that caught fire by accident: She finished her scene before being put out. Most notably, Frid was caught picking his nose when he thought he was off-camera." -And here's the link: mentalfloss.com/article/69738/14-dark-shadows-facts-bite...that's all she wrote!
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Post by naterdawg on Feb 27, 2017 1:55:28 GMT
I don't know about that... Have you seen the whole series from beginning to end several times? I saw some pretty bad production values... I think you're wrong on a few counts there yourself my new found friend! -Here's a quote... "With a roughly $70,000 budget to shoot its five weekly episodes, Dark Shadows had to approach its special effects conservatively. Camera operator Stuart Goodman found that covering his lens with plastic wrap and then dabbing Vaseline at the edges to create a hazy, dreamlike visual was surprisingly effective. To emulate actors being trapped in a blaze, Goodman would simply put a bucket in front of himself and light it on fire." -THERE WAS NO TIME TO GO BACK AND FIX MISTAKES. "Despite its lofty ambitions, sprawling stories and camera tricks, Dark Shadows had to maintain a standard soap schedule that allowed episodes to air daily. Because of the compressed production, actor flubs, focus mistakes, and other gaffes that would normally be re-shot had to remain in the show. Viewers would occasionally see performers read the wrong lines or see a crew member wander into shots. Actress Kate Jackson was wearing a dress that caught fire by accident: She finished her scene before being put out. Most notably, Frid was caught picking his nose when he thought he was off-camera." -And here's the link: mentalfloss.com/article/69738/14-dark-shadows-facts-bite...that's all she wrote! Yes, I've seen it several times from beginning to end...and I was an original viewer in 1967, when I was in the 8th grade. There were mistakes, I'll grant you that, but nothing on the scale of what you describe. No boom mike ever "fell," and no wall ever collapsed. The walls would shake when people tried to open doors sometimes, and we did see the microphone and the camera every now and again. I remember when my sister and I were watching, and Barnabas came out during the closing credits, carrying his shoes and clothes. We laughed about that, but it certainly didn't detract from our enjoyment of the show. As for the nose-picking incident, we saw that when it first aired and laughed like banshees.
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siamhie
Freshman
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Post by siamhie on Feb 27, 2017 6:16:59 GMT
I just stumbled upon this show recently and love it. Roku private channel XTV has the first 1200 episodes, so somewhere down the line I will have to track down the last 45 episodes.
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katholiday
Freshman
Kat Holiday lives a modest life on her Northern Colorado ranch with her Husband of 27 years.
@katholiday
Posts: 92
Likes: 7
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Post by katholiday on Feb 28, 2017 10:37:11 GMT
Dan Curtis is dead but you can now get all episodes on DVD-Bluray Directly from the source or Amazon.
As I've said. Despite the flaws, it's still the #1 Vampire show.
It's slow... But in today's insane world, watching, "Dark Shadows" can actually act as a calming influence!
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siamhie
Freshman
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Post by siamhie on Mar 1, 2017 2:51:37 GMT
Dan Curtis is dead but you can now get all episodes on DVD-Bluray Directly from the source or Amazon. As I've said. Despite the flaws, it's still the #1 Vampire show. It's slow... But in today's insane world, watching, "Dark Shadows" can actually act as a calming influence! Wow I didn't expect it to be so spendy. Amazon has it for $440, Best Buy has it for $500 and mpihomevideo has it for $400. All in DVD format
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Flynn
Sophomore
@flynn
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Post by Flynn on Mar 1, 2017 3:05:37 GMT
Just to shake things up a little, I thought I'd start a thread on Dark Shadows. For the uninitiated, Dark Shadows ran every weekday on ABC TV, first at 3:30 EST and then at 4:00 (to accommodate the new soap, One Life to Live). It told of the Collins family living in Collinsport, located on the wind-swept cliffs of eastern Maine. Not only does the Collins clan own most of Collinsport, their ancestral mansion--Collinwood--sits atop a majestic hill. The family manse is ruled over by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (movie great, Joan Bennett), and through its doors walk many a supernatural creature. The most famous, of course, was vampire Barnabas Collins, played by an inspired Jonathan Frid. Who here watched the soap? And are you still a fan today? I didn't see it in its first run, but I did catch a few episodes when it ran in sindication a few years later. A few years ago, Netflix had a bunch of the episodes (it may still; I don't know). I caught all those episodes, which started with Barnabas coming on the show. After I ran out of the Netflix episodes, I started getting the DVD box sets from my local library. I eventually stopped watching it sometime after they went back into the past and just stayed there. I hated Angelique. Also, the storylines slowed down. One of the things I loved about Dark Shadows is that it ran through plots pretty quickly. It didn't drag them out for months like many soap operas did, but that changed later on. I'd still watch it to the end if Neflix were to put the entire set of episodes up on streaming, but without ease of availability, I'm afraid that I'm not interested enough in the remaining series to make more of an effort to see them.
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Post by naterdawg on Mar 1, 2017 4:13:32 GMT
DS went into the past many times. Did you see how Barnabas became a vampire?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 2, 2017 18:12:46 GMT
Just to shake things up a little, I thought I'd start a thread on Dark Shadows. For the uninitiated, Dark Shadows ran every weekday on ABC TV, first at 3:30 EST and then at 4:00 (to accommodate the new soap, One Life to Live). It told of the Collins family living in Collinsport, located on the wind-swept cliffs of eastern Maine. Not only does the Collins clan own most of Collinsport, their ancestral mansion--Collinwood--sits atop a majestic hill. The family manse is ruled over by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (movie great, Joan Bennett), and through its doors walk many a supernatural creature. The most famous, of course, was vampire Barnabas Collins, played by an inspired Jonathan Frid. Who here watched the soap? And are you still a fan today? Love the show! Still also a fan! I have a ton of episodes on dvd and my HD
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2017 20:07:49 GMT
I caught this when it originally aired. I would walk home from (grade) school and watch it after school. Plunked down in front of the TV with a bowl of Campbell's soup and Saltine crackers. By myself. (Back when this was considered acceptable behaviour).
This started my love of vampires and all things Gothic. Totally crushed out on Angelique big time. I mean, God, those cheek bones!? Unearthly beauty, she.
And Barnabas of course.
Some scenes that stick out, fragmented, are one where Angelique is luring Barnabas up on the cliff, wearing a white gown and veil, and she lifts the veil to reveal and corpse-like, muddy, decrepit face beneath... I'll never forget the image/s of when the coffin would squeak open and Barnabas' hand would slither through, with that black ring of his... Quentin and his Victrola...
Yeah it was campy, yeah the actors flubbed up. Something that stands out to me is once they began shooting in colour, those sky blue candles that were really white candles that were just dipped in sky blue wax (vs. truly coloured candles where the interior matches the exterior). The way the flame got photographed, distorting the view and causing halos.
The Blue Whale.
Oooohh, how I adore Dark Shadows! The original Gothic Soap Opera! Those opening credits were so pretty, the waves crashing on the rocks and that score.
I quite like it, including all its quirks and mistakes.
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Post by geode on Feb 5, 2019 10:39:05 GMT
Loved that show!! And imagine: Joan Bennett and Grayson Hall, two highly respected actresses from NYC? Working locally in the neighborhood! What a hoot! I watched a little of it back in the day just because Joan Bennett was in it.
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Post by kleinreturns on Jul 7, 2019 5:15:30 GMT
Don't hate me but i like all of the storylines including the Adam and Eve one.
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Post by amyghost on Jul 9, 2019 13:06:31 GMT
Nostalgia flash-- I remember racing home after school weekdays to get my Barnabas Collins fix. Looking back, Frid maybe wouldn't have been the first choice for any teen girl's sex symbol, but I guess that's why they call it 'acting', lol.
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Post by SuperDevilDoctor on Jul 9, 2019 13:29:26 GMT
I did the "race home from the bus stop after school" thing to watch the show when I was a wee tyke back in 1969-70.
50 years later, I've just finished watching the entire run of the original soap on Amazon Instant Video (free streaming for Prime members). Took a year to do. Fun stuff! And I must admit developing a crush on lovely Kathryn Leigh Scott... Adorable as Maggie Evans -- the nicest person in Collinsport -- and so heartbreakingly tragic as the ill-fated Josette.
Amazon recently began offering the early 1990s "revival" version of Dark Shadows free to Prime members as well... It's better than I expected!
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Post by SuperDevilDoctor on Jul 9, 2019 13:43:49 GMT
Fun DS "tribute" video... FYI: The song lyrics can be rather salty!
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