something sam said

[michael c]

i was watching dvd collection three and they had an interview with writer sam hall.

he said a few things about the show that i disagreed with.

one,he refered to the show during the time before barnabas and his tenure as writer as being an "aimless gothic".i thought the show was off to an interesting start.different than what it became but not without merits.

also he stated that before he came on that joan bennett's elizabeth had been an "ill-defined" character.that i disagree with more.if anything joan"s first year on the series was her best and liz got her best material and later on became more more poorly defined when she became something of a backdrop for all of the supernatural characters.

[Julianka7]

I agree mscbryk. Sounds like an ego trip on Sam Hall's part.
I think the early episodes were much more an ensemble.
And much the better for it.

[bluefielder]

"Aimless gothic?"  I think not. 

[Miss_Winthrop]

  I apologize for quoting on my prior post.

As far as early DS before Barnabas was an aimless 'gothic', this is totally wrong IMO.  I absolutely loved the 'Laura the Phoenix Storyline' and thought some of the best writing occured during that part.  I thought that the 'Victoria' kidnapping went on a little too long and despite that, I also liked the Bill Malloy storyline very much.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I apologize for quoting on my prior post.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with quoting - especially when it's done judiciously. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. 

Our only concern is excessive quoting (which your post was not an example of) - meaning quoting an entire post when one is only replying to one part of it - or worse still, including nested quotes from a post (meaning quotes within quotes) in a reply when they have nothing to do with what one's reply is about or when simply including a passage from the latest post will get the same point across..

Everyone should certainly continue to use the quoting feature - all that we ask is that the parts of posts that have little to no bearing on a reply be edited out. 

[alwaysdavid]

Considering that  Sam Hall recycled several of the storylines into later years  using  the same and different actors, he shouldn't talk much. Is that the same interview where he says that he had to make sure that he never ended a scene with the last shot on his wife due to her overacting. I found that rather odd.

[Joeytrom]

I have read other interviews where he complains about Malcolm Mamorstein.  He states he couldn't cue Grayson on MM's scripts and that he thought it was terrible to have Barnabas attacking cows.

[Gothick]

Just chiming in here to say that I was also surprised (to put it mildly) by Sam's claim that he and Gordon Russell somehow "gave Joan Bennett more to do" as Liz.  I think what he meant was that they created a brilliant storyline for Bennett as Judith (although Naomi is a favorite character of mine, she really wasn't given all that much to do--do note, however, that Naomi's speech about the death of Sarah has to rank as one of the most poignant, quietly heartbreaking moments in the entire series).  After the Jason Maguire storyline, Liz just was never written with the kind of spunk, fire, and stern New England backbone the character had shown during the first year of the series.

I also disagree with Sam about Malcolm Marmorstein.  I imagine that Sam was so dumbfounded by the notion of a vampire feeding off a cow that he couldn't get beyond the plot to see the great quality of Marmorstein's scripts.  To be honest, it's been a really long time since I watched Marmorstein's shows from the summer of '67 when Grayson was being introduced.  I do know that Marmorstein's 1966 scripts are some of the best episodes of the series (in my not-so-humble opinion).

And for the record, Grayson *was* able to tone it down and be on camera for the end of a scene without looking like "1967's answer to Mary Pickford" or however Sam described it...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Naomi's speech about the death of Sarah has to rank as one of the most poignant, quietly heartbreaking moments in the entire series

Indeed. I would go so far as to say that the whole scene is one of the best in the entire series. 

[GooberCollins]

Yes. Post-Barnabas, all Elizabeth did was fall in and out of comas (repeatedly) while Julia pronounced her dead (repeatedly). Naomi and Judith had a fair bit to do, but were still more of supporting characters. Flora was a lot of fun, but again, more of a background character. And if anything, at least in my humble opinion, DS started out as a great, focused gothic series that turned into an "aimless time travel show" after 1895, though it did still have its moments.

[IluvBarnabas]

Awhile ago, I might have agreed with Sam, at least about the show being aimless gothic. But now, I see the first year in a whole new light. It gave all the characters plenty of screen time and lots to do, they were all used to great advantage, and there was a different dynamic than later on. The stories, especially with Laura, are really quite fascinating to watch.

And I agree with you all that Sam and Gordon really did not give Joan Bennett the kind of material she deserved, at least as far as Elizabeth went. They didn't "save" the character, if anything they weakened her down.

[JS]

What a great thread subject. This fits in just fine to where I am now watching the Beginning Collection. I suppose that I am just biased do to my great love for Dark Shadows but I'm loving every minute of it. I suppose it may be different from my point of view because I know where we are going eventually. I am still trying to figure out Burke Devlin, what was his real motive in all that he did? I too totally disagree with the Sam Hall quote. There was nothing aimless about Dark Shadows. I'm falling in love with all the characters all over again and when I'm finished I might just start all over again, aimlessly!

P.S. Don't worry about me abusing the quote feature, I'm still trying to figure out how to use it, So I just cut and paste and use quotation marks.

[Taeylor Collins]

I don't know what Sam was talking about.  I strongly disagree.  JB/Liz is amazing in these early eps (which I am currently watching) and it saddens me to see her reduced to background scenery later on. 

Example: It annoys me to no end that GENERAL HOSPITAL tends to forget their veteran actors.  They show up for funerals and weddings and that is about it! *EYE ROLL* The stories on soaps are so much better with the veterans peppered throughout the show.  Their simple presence in a scene, brings a touch of history that makes said scene ten times better.  I have to give a SHOUT OUT to GENIE FRANCIS/ LAURA SPENCER.  Honey I CANNOT wait to see you tomorrow. YAY!

[GooberCollins]

I recall reading an interview with Louis Edmonds who said that that was what it was like in his later episodes of All My Children; he said that they would roll him and the other "old folks" out for special occasions. He called them the "Come along, Langley" episodes.

[Taeylor Collins]

I too read that interview as it was included in Big Lou.