Lady Hampshire!  She's not only my favourite KLS character, but one of my favourites in the entire series.  It's such a pity that she [spoiler]gets sucked into that painting to 1795/1797/whatever only to commit suicide as Josette.[/spoiler]  Even though she had some...hrm...supernatural problems, she was a fairly realistic character.

I think Maggie became more conspicuous as the show progressed.  Case in point:  she lived at Collinwood.  That alone enabled her to be on the show more often than she had been.  She was in many if not most of the "Game" episodes involving David and Amy pre-1897, and during that time, I think she showed strength and determination in the face of a great evil.  Also, in the Leviathan plot, she was pretty crafty when she [spoiler]fooled Jeb into thinking she was one of them.[/spoiler] True, she wasn't much of a presence in the Summer of 1970, but really...no one else was, either, except maybe Julia and the Ghosts, of course.

Who do you think would have made Vicki the happiest out of her prospective boyfriends?  I'm going with Burke Devlin for this one.  I've been watching the summer of 1967, and they're just so great together.  I get all tingly when the "Missy" music plays and they're out on the terrace.  So romantic.

I like PT better.  Both have good elements, but PT is far more enticing and cohesive.  Leviathans falls apart near the end (even though it's got some terrific scenes i.e. Angelique and Nicholas' reunion; Carolyn screaming at Julia that she doesn't want a sedative; Roger's "cheap, insufferable pig" remark; etc.), but it's also less visually appealing than PT:  while Leviathans has grimy, dark sets with unattractive costumes (Bruno's hideous fur coat, Angie's tacky hausfrau gowns) and even uglier characters (Sabrina...ugh), PT has bright and airy sets with pretty furniture and flowers which set the mood instantly.  Everything's so gauzy and rich and becoming...and superficial.  PT feels more like a Gothic soap opera than Leviathans, IMO.  And the Rebecca stuff?  Personally, after reading the novel, I don't think it's a direct rip off at all.  [spoiler]Angie comes back in PT; Rebecca stays dead in Rebecca.[/spoiler]That alone makes a world of difference.

I've been watching the PT storyline when Lisa Richard's/Sabrina's wooden, awful acting inspired the idea for this thread.  Yes, Sabrina, either in RT or PT, has caused me to fast-forward through many scenes.  It's almost unbearable to watch her together with Don Briscoe/Chris, especially towards the end of the Leviathans when they're [spoiler]locked in Bruno's house/apartment thing.[/spoiler]Jeff Clark and Amanda Harris tie in second place behind Sabrina, for while Sabrina's the epitome of boredom, they're both highly obnoxious.

I have the 30th Anniversary CD (perhaps I should have made that clearer, but I'd forgotten its official title), which has, like you said, MB, the orchestral version.  It's not bad, but I'd really like to hear the piano-only version that's heard on PT so much.

I've looked on Amazon for the MPI Dark Shadows CDs, but they must be extremely rare:  only volumes three and four show up on the American site (volume two is on Amazon.co.uk), but four is currently unavailable and three is rather expensive (over $20, I believe, which is more than I'd like to spend).  I've added four to my wishlist, and I hope a copy pops up soon.

Oh, and the music on DS really does make the show:  every time I see Liz walk in a room, for example, my mind immediately starts humming the "Joan Bennett theme."

What exactly is Elizabeth's relationship with Quentin in PT?  I'm watching the seance episode early on in the storyline, and he calls her "my sister."  Strange.

Oh, and is there a pure piano recording of the "Ode to Angelique" without the cheesy '60ish sound effects?  I have the version on the soundtrack CD, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it.

I usually like the female characters better than the male characters, too, ESPECIALLY Angelique.  Whenever she's on, I'm never bored, since she's always so entertaining (and beautiful).  The same can be said of Dr. Hoffman.  Even if the story's crappy, it's fun to watch Julia smoke, administer sedatives, sniff, cough, fiddle with her gloves, gasp, forget her lines, say "Barnabas!" way too much, say "I don't know!  I only know..." in response to virtually every question, etc.  I agree that 1897 had a bit of a lull when the prime members of the female cast left, but they came back with a bang, I must say.