Amazon is offering the DS Complete Original Series set (Deluxe Edition, not Limited so no Frid autograph) today only for $279.99.  I thought some of you might be interested as this seems to be a good price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007PZ6SYK/ref=xs_gb_AB8O4FGOWLM1I?pf_rd_p=441937901&pf_rd_s=right-1&pf_rd_t=701&pf_rd_i=20&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0S2HPZH8QV9FTDQFK5J0

Apologies if this has been brought up already, but...

Turner Classic Movies is devoting a full day to Joan Bennett films as part of their "Summer Under the Stars" series.  The date is August 15.    http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=161139

"House of Dark Shadows" will playing in the middle of the night to cap off the films... and remember, TCM treats all their films with the greatest respect, showing them complete and uncut!  (excepting lost scenes, of course!!)

I love TCM and am totally excited about this... yay TiVo!

Wow.  I finally got around to getting the revival series DVDs (a big sale helped me move past my reservations about the fake widescreen), and jeez... how awesome was that?!  Now I'm just sad that it was cancelled prematurely and I'll never know what happened to "those" Collins.  siiiigh....

So, I just wanted to share my impressions of the series, using a "best of" format... feel free to agree, disagree, or add to the list.

And, be forewarned, there are SPOILERS GALORE, so stop reading now if you intend to watch the revival series later...

[spoiler]** Best reinvention of a character:  Maggie Evans.
     Psychic, wild hair, artist, messing around with Roger, not paying the first bit of attention to Joe Haskell.... wow.

**  Worst reinvention of a character:  Angelique.
     The acting was good, but this Ang was just too one-note and lacked the camp/humor/fun.

** Most shocking departure from the original series:  The murder of Joe Haskell.
     Seriously.  I did NOT see that coming.

**  Most frustrating loose end:  Vickie knows Barnabas is a vampire.

**  Best continuity corrective action:  Daniel is a direct part of Joshua's bloodline.  Yay.[/spoiler]

Does anyone else watch Nip/Tuck?  It's an embarrassing show mostly written for shock value... but I'm hooked anyway.  Okay, here's the thing:

N/T reminds me of DS.  DS had at least "one of everything" relating to the occult.  Similarly, N/T has at least "one of everything" relating to sexuality.  Compare these lists and see what you think..

Dark Shadows had:

* vampires
* werewolves
* a phoenix
* witches
* warlocks
* leviathan creatures
* discarnate ghosts
* incarnate ghosts
* a Jekyll/Hyde creature
* fortune telling gypsies
* time travellers
* Frankenstein creatures
... and too much other stuff to remember at the moment.

N/T has had:
* heterosexual men
* heterosexual women
* a bi man
* bi women
* a lesbian
* gay men
* male-to-female pre-op transsexuals
* male-to-female post-op transsexuals
* a man with no genitals
* a necrophiliac
* a sadist
* a masochist
* a sex addict
* men who enjoy sex with life-size dolls
* men who enjoy group sex
* women who enjoy group sex
... and too much other stuff to remember at the moment.

Oh, and both shows have a character named Quentin.

Do you think I'm on to something?  

I was watching The Sopranos Season II on DVD, and during one of the scenes with Tony Soprano visiting his female therapist, it hit me:  wow, this reminds me of Barnabas and Julia... a lot!!!

Would anyone agree with this assessment?  What other relationships on today's tv shows (or older shows, for that matter) would you say closely parallel that of Barn and Julia?

        Joe

Sorry if this has already been asked, but what is up with the black ghost thingy that now appears under some folks' names on their posts?  I just noticed I had one under my name in a post on another topic... it looks like that cut-out ghost from the Leviathan storyline?   Didn't I used to have a star or something under my name?  Hmm....

       Thanks,
              Joe  

Okay, this message has two parts:  first a description of a DS reference on the Season 2 Buffy DVD and then a controversial proposition (on my part) submitted to you for debate.

First things first... I was watching my Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD tonight and was shocked and pleasantly surprised that in the featurette called "Beauty and the Beasts", there is a brief mention (with footage) from Dark Shadows!  The featurette is about the makeup used on BtVS, and lo and behold the show's makeup supervisor was a big DS fan as a kid and drew inspiration from the show.  It shows a brief clip of a vampire bat attacking Barnabas, and then the makeup guy proceeds to make a comment about how similar BtVS is to DS.  My thought was... FINALLY... BtVS is so incredibly derivative of DS that I was glad someone FINALLY officially observed this!  So, I thought that was WAY cool.  :-)

Onto my controversial proposition:  I say to those of you are waiting for a "new DS":  There already IS a new DS.  It is called Buffy.  None of the characters are the same, and the town is on a different coast, but it just doesn't GET more next-generation DS than Buffy!! Let's see,  where to begin with the similarities:  200-year-old vampires, witches, werewolves, body-snatchers, characters bouncing from good to evil to good again at the supernatural drop of a hat, spells, major characters dying (and sometimes being resurrected), and on and on and on.

I think many DS fans might be hesistant to embrace BtVS for two major reasons:  first, the name of the series, and second, the fact that it is perceived as a teeny-bopper show.  Well, it is a teeny show to an extent, but the heart of the show is in much the same place as DS, and the wit and intelligence of the writing move it beyond typical teen fare into actual viewable/enjoyable television.  

So, there it is, my oh-so-inflammatory proposition.    I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.

           Joe

p.s.  If some other new show bearing the DS name actually does come into being, you better believe I'll be catching that too!  (didn't want y'all to think I was disloyal!)

....and I think they did a good job!

The DVDs have very cool menus, and I like the way they show the episode # and original air date of each ep right on the menu.  The package even has an insert with a synopsis of each episode so you can rev up a particular one if you know what part of the story you want to see.

Yay!