In Defense of Roger Davis -

[Nancy]

It gives me the Willies.

 

[michael c]

i can only speak for myself but i've never found that d.s. fans' primary focus was the "bloopers" or other supposed "camp" values the show possesses.

this is a 1200+ episode series.i can't imagine anyone sitting through this volume of material to catch the occasional flub.my experience with it and from what i read here is that most fans are genuinely involved in the story and form emotional attatchments to the characters.we might get the occasional chuckle out of a wayward stagehand or missed cue but i doubt most viewers spend what amounts to hundreds of hours of thier lives for this purpose.

mpi has chosen to market "bloopers" videos because it's another way to make money off the show the same way they market "scariest moments"(which totally aren't).

[Miranda]

You know, there is actually a girl on the boards who is a real big fan of Craig Slocum, so guess there are tastes for everyone.  I thought a "panel" of Roger's at a fests where he was trying to get the fans to suggest tshirt colors was very tedious, yet I have heard others over the years who thought the bit was very funny...hmmm...

[Miranda]

It's weird but I've found that reading all this stuff over the last few years has colored my perception and enjoyment of the show.  I never really paid much attention to Roger Davis one way or the other.  He seemed like an okay actor - certainly not incompetent or anything.  Then when I started reading all the bashing I wondered what it was about -- it seems like such a popular and accepted topic.  After reading a lot of comments about his behavior at Fests, negative experiences of fans, and even things said about him by actresses on the show, I started to notice him annoying me in certain scenes.  Then here and there he started grossing me out a bit.  LOL   
I've come to the conclusion that I don't really want to know much about the actors in some ways - particularly if it's negative info coming from a fellow actor.  It ruins the mystique and fantasy of DS for me.  Has anyone else noticed this happening to them? 

I also realized the Fests have detracted from the show in a sense.  There's a person who's characters never bothered me in the least.  But now, having watched this person at Fests - on stage and off, seen personal appearances on TV, etc., I've developed a dislike - strong enough that if I'm not in a good mood, I can't stand watching them on the show.  It's almost like nails on a chalkboard!  I hate that this has happened.  I try not to allow it to seep in and hope that in time I can get rid of the negative reaction.  I hate anything ruining DS for me - it's depressing.

I really am sorry about this, Connie, but I can see how it can happen....I always think that Jonathan and Lara got along great both off and onscreen, which I think is really true, but then I witnessed him say he might not have read her first book as it was not his usual stuff, but then I think, since she sent him a personal copy, and he has always been very complimentarly of his costars, that he probably at least gave it a look and maybe told her good job if her had her phone number , etc, which he might have...

[Nancy]

I don't honestly think it's what the majority of DS fans are into - but there are definitely people who make the bloopers their main focus. I've followed several different DS online boards and I've subscribed to a few different fanzines and it's been impossible not to notice that there are certain people who only post/write in whenever a blooper comes up. In fact, they seem to find bloopers that I swear the majority of us would barely take notice of - and that would certainly seem to be because they spend little to none of their DS viewing time paying attention to the storylines or the actors' performances and instead focus almost entirely if not exclusively on everything that's going on in the background and in the periphery of scenes.    Personally, I've never understood the utter fascination the bloopers hold for some people, particularly when it's seemingly to the exclusion of any other aspects of DS - but I suppose it takes all kinds...

I like to laugh at bloopers too but not to the exclusion of everything else and it would not ever be a mission of mine to find one if it were not obvious.   I enjoy watching stuff that is terrible at times too my favorite being Reptilicus.  It's even out on DVD now! About once a year or so I pop that baby in.

All that being said, though, I place at least part of the blame for the fascination with bloopers squarely on the media because all too often they've played up the bloopers and the supposed "camp" nature of DS.

Excellent point, MB.  You are indeed the grand high exalted mysterious benefactor with good reason.

Just as someone mentioned that some of the things they have seen at the fests color their perceptions about the show and maybe even some of the actors, it stands to reason that if some of the performers read this board (and I know some who do) might have their perceptions colored a bit as well.   Good rule of the internet is to not ever write about anyone without assuming that person will read it.

Interesting too is the common perception that relationships of the actors on screen reflect their off-screen affections as well.   It has been remarked upon on many occasions at Fests that the DS cast got along very well.  That doesn't necessarily mean anything more than the fact they were professional people.  We all have to go to work with people we like less than we like others and we make it work because that's where we are spending most of our day.  Who wants to go to work in an openly hostile environment?   For those fans who really need to think certain actors are really off screen friends as well, it is best to not delve too deeply and risk finding out that's not necessarily true.   DS is entertainment afterall and that's why everyone started watching it to start with (I know, I'm just so smart that I was able to figure that out ).


Nancy

[jennifer]

Roger on the show was very good looking  but some of his roles he played
annoying people   i do love him as dirk the vampire he really is very funny
i haven't been to a fest so i don't know what RD is like but have to add if he
was a friend of Donnie's can't be all bad but to those of us that watched him overact
a tad and pull at his hair srcreaming his lines forgive us our sometime negative reviews

jennifer

[arashi]

Just to throw in my own 2 cents, and that's what forums are for...

Despite some questionable run-ins with the man at Fests in the past, I absolutely adore Roger Davis, in a way I can't quite describe. He comes on screen and I'm hit with an "Oh, Jeez!" reaction, but with a smile on my face. He's just so over-the-top that I can't help but be exasperated by his acting, but loving every minute of it.

I actually have a picture of him haning on my wall, a polaroid of himself decked out in Tate's black suit and wearing a fedora, hanging outside the studio doors.

[BuzzH]

The fan mags were not above making up interviews with his family such as the two page spread about the supposed interview with Mrs. Frid (JF's mother) that never happened.  He talked about that in 1986 at the Dallas Festival Q&A. His mother was sitting in the beauty parlor getting her hair done and someone plopped into her lap this magazine article featuring her called "MY Son the vampire."  Frid said she was pretty horrified especially as she never even gave the interview.

I *knew* that article was BS!  I think the thing that was most obvious about it being bogus was when the "interviewer" asked Jonathan, "Hey, Jon, can I call your mom?" and he *supposedly* said, "Oh sure!"  Puh...leeze........LOL!  Like he'd ever say they could bother her w/that nonsense!  And then GIVE them her number!  Add to that the fact that his mom was not at all shocked to receive this supposed call.  The teen rags were, and stll are, just that--RAGS! 

[BuzzH]

It helps to remember too in understanding the Fridster that this is a man who, if he were a father, would not allow his kids to watch TV.  He thinks people spend way too much watching it and not pursuing other things.

I have to agree w/this.  He would comment in quite a few interviews, both print and television/radio, both at the time of DS and later, that "America's kids got their exercise by running home to watch Dark Shadows" and in a joking way as if to suggest that he thought kids should be out playing sports instead of parked in front of the tube on a warm sunny day.

[BuzzH]

mpi has chosen to market "bloopers" videos because it's another way to make money off the show the same way they market "scariest moments"(which totally aren't).

The only *scary* thing about "Scariest Moments" is the fact that they are not!  LOL!  Totally agree w/you there.

[BuzzH]

You know, there is actually a girl on the boards who is a real big fan of Craig Slocum, so guess there are tastes for everyone.

OMG!  That was *brutal*!  LOLLOL!  

[Nancy]

I *knew* that article was BS!  I think the thing that was most obvious about it being bogus was when the "interviewer" asked Jonathan, "Hey, Jon, can I call your mom?" and he *supposedly* said, "Oh sure!"  Puh...leeze........LOL!  Like he'd ever say they could bother her w/that nonsense!  And then GIVE them her number!  Add to that the fact that his mom was not at all shocked to receive this supposed call.  The teen rags were, and stll are, just that--RAGS!

   LOL, like the Frids just loved having people call the construction company and Mrs. Frid for "insider" information and whether or not JF's crib was really a coffin.

Nancy

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The teen rags were, and stll are, just that--RAGS!

Some of the teen magazines were (and probably still are  ) guilty of making up stories, but the article with Frid's mom was published in one of the "adult" magazine (something like TV Radio Mirror). And truthfully, some of those were a hell of a lot worse about making up stories - they were basically the tabloids of their day. (Whenever I go through my DS collection, it's absolutely hysterical to see some of the titles of the articles on the backs of some DS articles. Titles like Cher Warns Barbra Streisand - Stay Away From My Man! Like Streisand would have had any interest whatsoever in Sonny Bono?  ) For the most part, though, it was pretty easy to figure out which magazines were making up articles, as opposed to the ones that were truthful, because not only were most of their titles outrageous, but the articles themselves were totally out there. But I always bought them anyway - especially if they contained pictures that I didn't already have. 

And speaking of pictures, a funny anecdote about "My Son The Vampire" is that when one of my aunts saw the pictures of a bare chested Frid reading in bed and in the (gasp!) shower, in utter astonishment she showed them to my mom and marvelled that Frid would have allowed himself to be photographed "that way" and that children were allowed to see "such things."      If she were still alive today, I can't even begin to imagine what my aunt would think about the things that today's kids are routinely exposed to...

[Nancy]

And speaking of pictures, a funny anecdote about "My Son The Vampire" is that when one of my aunts saw the pictures of a bare chested Frid reading in bed and in the (gasp!) shower, in utter astonishment she showed them to my mom and marvelled that Frid would have allowed himself to be photographed "that way" and that children were allowed to see "such things."      If she were still alive today, I can't even begin to imagine what my aunt would think about the things that today's kids are routinely exposed to...

MB, I guess your aunt wouldn't approve of this photo either.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Actually, that one would have probably been fine with my aunt because it appears to be Frid just out in his yard. He's not in bed (which apparently to my aunt's mind was instantly synonymous with some sort of sexual implication - even though he was obviously only reading) and he's not in a shower (apparently implying that he's (gasp!) completely naked  ).