DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '06 II => Topic started by: IluvBarnabas on November 13, 2006, 05:24:58 AM
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I am curious, which change of actors did you have the hardest time getting adjusted to?
Personally all three came as a shock to me but for me it had to be the change from Roger Gerringer to Peter Turgeon as Dave Woodard.
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How about Diana Walker as Carolyn?
David N
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Didn't like the other two recasts listed either, or when they recast the Old Caretaker either, from Daniel Keyes to Peter Murphy(?) was it?
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I only recently became aware that VW was recast. That seems insane. Woodard was surreal though, especially if you know what's going to happen to him. And the actor looked completely different. Imagine a relative in the hospital, then you go in one day and she'd been recast. Someone else was in bed with tubes and everything, thanking you for coming to visit. You know? You want to care but can't help but be disoriented or mad, or something.
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I personally felt the Woodard recast did the most damage because Peter Turgeon, no doubt through no fault of his own, just did not capture the audience's sympathy in the way Robert Gerringer did in that role. Gerringer was perfect as the family MD (those of you who are over 45 may recall that now mythical being of once-upon-a-time) way out of his depth determined to find out the truth. Turgeon came across more as a schoolteacher or adjunct professor.
If Gerringer had been able to play out the ending of the Woodard story, I think this would have been recalled as the most shocking moment in DS history. It would have been on a par with[spoiler]Barnabas attacking Carolyn in the throes of his accelerated aging, which as it stands must be the most horrifying scene in the show's history.[/spoiler]
G.
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Turgeon came across more as a schoolteacher or adjunct professor.
OMG! Yes!! That's EXACTLY how he seemed! Spot on G! ;D
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Turgeon came across more as a schoolteacher or adjunct professor.
I hope to hell I'm not that big of a dork.
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Turgeon came across more as a schoolteacher or adjunct professor.
I hope to hell I'm not that big of a dork.
Well...now that you mention it....<psych! just kidding!> Hell, we're ALL dorks! We watch DS, LOL! >:D
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I voted for the Gerringer/Turgeon recast mainly because that is the one I am most familiar with. I have seen very little of the first Burke and haven't seen Betsy at all yet.
Mainly, though, I loved Woodard and it jars so much to suddenly have this person I didn't know suddenly in the role, especially at the end of the character's arc.
[spoiler]It really greatly lessened the impact of his murder. There was just something in my head that could not reconcile the Woodard that Barn forced Julia to murder and the Woodard chatting with his old friend in the study at Collinwood, saying he knew why she was lingering there (because of her feelings for Barnabas).[/spoiler]
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I would have to agree with the one episode (or however many it is) recast of Carolyn. Don't know what that stand-in for Nancy's name was, but GOD she was awful! Nancy is Carolyn, Carolyn is Nancy. That would be like getting Farrah Fawcett or some absurdity to stand in for Lara Parker as Angelique for one episode. Sorry, you may as well just cut her parts from the script...
You know, now that I think about it, that's not a bad idea. Wouldn't it have been uproarously funny if Roger Davis had've played both Carolyn AND Jeff (isn't that who was in the scene with her during that ep? maybe it was Tony Peterson) whoever it was, it still would've been funny.
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[spoiler]There was just something in my head that could not reconcile the Woodard that Barn forced Julia to murder[/spoiler]
Actually, it was [spoiler]Barnabas who *actually* stuck the needle in Woodard. Julia, in the end, couldn't do it. And when he did it he gave one of the best lines ever. Woodard had thrown Sarah in his face and when he sticks the needle in him, after Woodard says he'd rather die than become something loathsome & evil like Barnabas, Barnabas retorts, "Loathsome I am, and evil! But leave my pain alone![/spoiler]
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That is a good line.
First time he ever materialized onscreen, wasn't it?
That Carolyn thing sounds too bizarre to believe, almost. What did NB have to do that day? Someone must have asked over the years.
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What did NB have to do that day? Someone must have asked over the years.
Think she'd had an accident or something, when she returned her arm was in a sling, wasn't it? Been a while since I viewed those eps, but I think that's what it was.
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Think she'd had an accident or something, when she returned her arm was in a sling, wasn't it? Been a while since I viewed those eps, but I think that's what it was.
Diana Walker appeared in #578, which taped 8/30/68, so over a year had passed since we saw Nancy in the sling. Fans have speculated that the replacement was due to an illness, which would have given NB a few days to recover before her next appearance. And actually, since several eps were filmed out of sequence around then, NB didn't participate in any taping between 7/26 and 9/3, so any type of personal leave was possible.
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Think she'd had an accident or something, when she returned her arm was in a sling, wasn't it? Been a while since I viewed those eps, but I think that's what it was.
Diana Walker appeared in #578, which taped 8/30/68, so over a year had passed since we saw Nancy in the sling.
Ah, you're right, now I remember. It was around the time she [spoiler]was carousing around town w/my Buzz! They said Carolyn had been in an accident and then Liz had to go to the jail to get her, that being her 2nd time of the estate in 18 years (the first being when she was briefly hospitalized pre-Barnabas.[/spoiler] ;)
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Turgeon came across more as a schoolteacher or adjunct professor.
I hope to hell I'm not that big of a dork.
Ha! Me either! (heading towards the mirror to look for any resemblance to Turgeon).
Nancy
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DS isn't the only show to recast a character so soon before hie is killed off.
I remember in 1989, Geoffrey Scott played the role of David McAllistar on General Hospital for several months. About two weeks before the character is murdered, Patrick Strong takes over the role.
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Geoffrey Scott played the role of David McAllistar on General Hospital for several months. About two weeks before the character is murdered, Patrick Strong takes over the role.
And why do I suspect that GH fans probably would have preferred seeing Scott get killed off? ;D
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The reason I didn't put Diana Walker as one of the choices was she was a one-shot deal. She was on the show for just one episode, a couple of episodes later we had the Carolyn we knew and loved right back with us. Not so with the characters of Burke, Vicki and Dr. Woodard.
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I wish they'd replaced Carolyn with, I don't know, a sumo wrestler or something, just for one episode. And when they replaced Woodard it should have been during the death scene, just as he was sitting down to the table. We'd certainly be talking about that one 40 years later!
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I wish they'd replaced Carolyn with, I don't know, a sumo wrestler or something, just for one episode. And when they replaced Woodard it should have been during the death scene, just as he was sitting down to the table. We'd certainly be talking about that one 40 years later!
Woodard was recast because Robert Gerringer was fired when he refused to cross the picket line during a strike. Same goes for Peter Turgein. So them recasting during the death scene wasn't really an issue. ;)
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I wish they'd replaced Carolyn with, I don't know, a sumo wrestler or something, just for one episode. And when they replaced Woodard it should have been during the death scene, just as he was sitting down to the table. We'd certainly be talking about that one 40 years later!
Woodard was recast because Robert Gerringer was fired when he refused to cross the picket line during a strike. Same goes for Peter Turgein. So them recasting during the death scene wasn't really an issue. ;)
Just kidding! Good going Gerringer though!
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perhaps the diana walker recast for carolyn was unavoidable.
the scripts had been written and the episode might have even gotten to the rehearsal stage before nancy barrett became temporarily unavailable.
but the recast was nonetheless odd.she was obviously wearing a wig and one of those hard plastic headbands which was something carolyn never wore.
i've speculated before that perhaps ms.walker understudied for all of the "ingenue" characters(with a black wig for vicki,red for maggie,and blond for carolyn).
alas this was her only chance to get onscreen(the main cast missed performances with remarkable infrequency).
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i'm shocked that the colleen kelly to carol crist recast for collinsport inn waitress "susie" wasn't included.
both actresses brought such remarkable subtlty and distinction to the role.
after this recast the show was never really the same for me. :P
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[laughing4] You are too much, mscbryk! [b003]
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I wonder if viewers at the time thought Diana Walker would be a permanent replacement as Carolyn Stoddard.
This substitution was similar to Vince O'Brien playing Sheriff Patterson for an episode and Dana Elcar re-appearing the next day. Though O'Brien filmed that episode after Dana Elcar filmed the next one. Too bad Elcar didn't stay, he was the best sheriff. Though post 1795, the character hardly ever appeared.
I did like the second Harry Johnson better then the first. I couldn't take Craig Slocum's acting, it was terrible.
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This substitution was similar to Vince O'Brien playing Sheriff Patterson for an episode and Dana Elcar re-appearing the next day. Though O'Brien filmed that episode after Dana Elcar filmed the next one. Too bad Elcar didn't stay, he was the best sheriff. Though post 1795, the character hardly ever appeared.
I did like the second Harry Johnson better then the first. I couldn't take Craig Slocum's acting, it was terrible.
I too think Dana Elcar was the best out of all the Sheriff Pattersons, though I did get used to O'Brien in the role. Maybe it was just as well that Elcar left because as you say Patterson's appearances after 1795 were few and far between. The last we see of the character was during the werewolf storyline after [spoiler]Barnabas gives Chris an alibi after Donna's murder at the hands of the werewolf.[/spoiler] After that, we never hear even hear about Patterson (at least to my recollection) ever again.
As for Craig Slocum, I actually liked him in the 1795 storyline as Nathan's partner-in-crime Noah Gifford. But I always thought the character of Harry was just a waste of time. IMO he didn't really enhance any of the plots (except maybe the Adam story and even there he was very little used). I think the writers are more to blame for Harry's uselessness than Craig since they didn't seem to know what to do with him once they introduced him.
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I don't remember any other Harry! He wasn't in it that much as it was - any more details about what was happening in the episode? Was it just one appearance?
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It was the episode when Harry was helping Mrs. Johnson clean the cottage so that Chris Jennings could move into it. Mrs. Johnson was frightened by Quentin's ghost. The actor who played Harry was also Ezra Braithwaite in 1897, also one episode. I thought he was cute. But then again, anyone would be after the first one. And, he seemed a little bit more like the type of son who had Mrs. Johnson for a mother, a sort of mom-and-gay son love-hate relationship. The first one was terrible.
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I don't know. I kind of liked Craig Slocum in the role of Harry J. He was supposed to be a bad boy type who gets into trouble a lot, and Craig definitely played him with that edge and the smart-alick remarks a brewin'. I don't really see what the problem is with him. Is his acting that bad? Maybe I'm just not as good of a judge. If it's not as bad as Roger Davis was in most scenes, then I'd give them extra points.
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Thank you, Para L. Time - I remember the situation, but don't recall the different actor at all!! :)
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i heard someplace(i think on the cd version of "my dark shadows memories")that the actor who replaced craig slocum as harry johnson was kathryn leigh scott's neighbor who filled in at the last moment.
although it's probably not what the writers intended(indeed such things weren't discussed in those days)i agree that harry and mrs.johnson had what could be perceived as the classic "gay-son-mom" relationship.something about it read that way to me.the sort of stereotypical product of the absent/dead father and the domineering mother(and mrs.j. could be overbearing to say the least).
it's a cliche' but that's how it read to me.
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Craig Slocome(sp) is far worse than Roger Davis. I actually like Roger Davis and think he was perfect for the "more is more" atmosphere of the show at the time he was on. I'm partial to the Ken-doll looks, the blonde hair and blue eyes, anyways. But, Noah Gifford was a terrible character and Harry Johnson 1 was worse. He acted like an uncomfortable student in drama class in High School. Unless he was actually directed to act as if all life had been drained from his body, and that he had only gone to prison for being caught at the truck stop one too many times while addicted to sedatives. No offense to the actor, of course, whom I am sure was a lovely person who was nice to animals.
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Maybe I just didn't notice how bad he was, if he indeed was that horrible, because I tend to overlook such things. Unless they are outrageously bad in their over-the-top acting or whatever, I tend not to notice a bad actor on DS. Not to mention that I didn't really care for HJ as a character, so I didn't really pay much attention during the scenes he was in. But of what I did see of CS as HJ, I thought he was fine. Maybe it was it two good scenes. lol
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In KLS Memories Book, she states the second actor (don't remember his name) to play HJ was on DS for "quite some time". He only appeared in one episode.
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Ah, the ravages of DSFMS. A mind is a terrible thing to lose.
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I thought he was cute. But then again, anyone would be after the first one.
You're not alone PLT, I thought he was cute too. ;)
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The Gerringer/Turgeon switch was the most dramatic and disappointing hands down! I loved Gerringer's Dr. Woodard, I could see him being a doctor if he hadn't been an actor. He had that kindly manner that doctors need to work with their patients. Kind, caring, helpful, Gerringer played Woodard's role with perfection. Not that I'm saying Turgeon wasn't a good actor, he was, but portraying a character that had already been established by someone else couldn't have been easy. I was definitely sad to see Gerringer not playing Dr. Woodard at the last. Having said all that, Dr. Woodard's death still effected me deeply, and all I have to do is imagine Gerringer playing those last scenes and it makes me flinch just thinking of his death! [santa_sad]
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He had that kindly manner that doctors need to work with their patients.
In my 26 years of trying to find medical help, I haven't encountered that once.
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In my 26 years of trying to find medical help, I haven't encountered that once.
How sad for you. All my doctors KICK ASS, but then, I demand that in my docs and keep looking until I find it. I've been lucky. But my favorites are my eye doctor (who's been my doc since grade school and who put me in my first pair of glasses) and my regular GP are my faves! ;)