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Calendar Events / Announcements '03 II / Re:Screw Sci-Fi---Let's Get DS On Soapnet
« on: October 16, 2003, 03:05:48 PM »I have heard that supposedly there is someone at the Sci Fi network who doesn't like Dark Shadows much.
That's certainly a possibly. But I'll say this: the present management at Sci-Fi is much friendlier to DS than the past one was. The previous management's attitude toward DS and its fans ranged from condescending to outright insulting (I'll never forget that when one fan wrote to politely point out that they'd run Leviathans episodes #961-#964 out of sequence, he was basically told that he had hallucinated and that there was no way Sci-Fi had done such a thing!) And back in '97 after DS had ended its second run, when asked if DS would ever return to Sci-Fi's schedule, the "Creature From The Programming Department" (who held weekly chats with viewers) said (and I quote) "Not as long as I'm here!" and that DS is "awful" and was "an embarrassment." Well, management changed hands in '98 - and very soon afterward we learned that DS would return to the schedule in January '99.
Say what you will about how DS has been treated by Sci-Fi since January '99, but (pre-emptions aside - and DS isn't the only show that Sci-Fi has pre-empted for extended periods) Sci-Fi hasn't been derogatory of DS or openly hostile to its fans.
That having been said, though, it might be nice to see DS on a cable outlet like SoapNet that might support it to a much greater degree than Sci-Fi does.
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Also, look at the documentary they produced (Sci fi) about the show. It was so bad, Dan Curtis Prods., or someone, threatened to sue, if it was marketed.
Well, as someone who unwittingly participated in that documentary, it was my understanding that the outfit who produced it wasn't actually affiliated with Sci-Fi. They were producing a pilot for a series they were hoping to sell to Sci-Fi. However, when Sci-Fi saw how the end product had turned out, they decided not to run the show. If not for Jim Pierson having shown it at the 2002 Fest banquet, it may never have seen the light of day.
(Incidentally, a similar documentary that was produced by the same company and which focused on Battlestar Gallactica (or was it Babylon Five? - I forget already) and its fans was also shelved once Sci-Fi got a look at it.)