I am currently watching two different periods of Dark Shadows.  On the DVD's I'm at set 13 disc 3 but I haven't yet finished the videos I taped last year on Sci-fi.  I just finished watching the episode where Desmond is arrested for witchcraft.  I did see the show all the way through the last time it aired on Sci-fi about 3 1/2 years ago.

I got to thinking about the character of Samantha Collins.  I know that the part was originally written with KLS in mind but that was not meant to be when she left the series just before the 1840 time period began. 

Samantha is a very complicated character with a lot more depth IMO than any of the characters KLS portrayed.  Virginia Vestoff did a great job portraying her.  I wonder if the character would have been as complex if KLS had portrayed her.  IMO the writer's always dumbed down KLS' characters and they rarely showed any depth at all.  In the beginning of the series Maggie Evans had spunk but starting with Barnabas kidnapping her I don't believe the character ever recovered from being the eternal victim and clueless SYT. 

IMO the writers seemed to not have the confidence in KLS to carryoff a complex character so they didn't write one for her.  I don't really know if KLS had the acting ability to carry it off because I never saw her in anything else besides Dark Shadows.  I think when the writers realized the acting chops of Virginia Vestoff they created a very complex character for her.  Maybe she would have been just as complex a character with KLS portraying her but I tend to believe they would have dumbed her down.  Alas, we'll never know.

What do you think?

Murph

Hello everyone,

If this post isn't allowed I'm sure MB will delete it.  (Although I believe this is less off topic than some that are allowed to stay.)

I donated blood today and I feel great!!!  I contacted the local United Blood Services about a month ago and set up for them to come to my work where about 20 of my co-workers and I donated our blood.

I posted this because I believe in the case of the terrible tragedy in Spain a lot of us feel helpless like what can we do to help.  Few of us, if any, are going to make a huge difference in this world but if we can better the environment that we find ourselves in every day, like our work, home, church or the city we live in then we've done something positive.  Donating blood does this for me.  I like to donate about every eight weeks and have done so for the last 13 years.  I'm  not making a huge difference but I am doing something positive for the community I live in.  Believe me, no one hates needles more than I do but it's really not all that bad.  A slight discomfort for a few minutes is a small price to pay if it helps someone in need.  Who knows, someone I love or even myself might be in need someday and I'll be glad that a stranger to me took the time and donated their blood.  I realize not everyone can donate for various reasons but if you can I would encourage you to do so.

Murph

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone on this forum was able to attend one or both of Jonathan's shows this past week.

I was planning to attend but there was no way I could take anytime off work and with the distance between Phoenix and Toronto I would have had to miss at least one or two days. For the cost of the flight I would have wanted to see some of the sights and not just fly in and out.

I've never had the opportunity to attend any of Mr. Frid's shows and I feel bad that I'll likely never get the chance.  He will be 79 in a month so he has certainly earned the right to retire.

If anyone went I'd be interested on what you thought.

Thanks,

Murph

I was looking at my 2003 DS Calander this morning and what it says for October 27 is "Barnabas, who was a young man in 1795, says he was just a boy during the witchcraft trials in 1692!!" (1970)  By the way the above episode happens to be the very next one shown next week on October 20.

My question is this.  Obviously the reason Jonathan Frid stated the above was because that is what the script called for.  But by October 1970, he had played Barnabas for 3 1/2 years and certainly knew his character couldn't possibly have been alive in 1692.  Did he not have the freedom as an actor to advise whoever wrote the script that there was no way Barnabas could have been alive in 1692 and that the script should be changed because of this.

As I pointed out in another post there is no way Barnabas could have made Roxanne a vampire in 1840 because he was chained in his coffin then.  I would think Mr. Frid should have had the freedom to point this out to the writers so they could adjust the storyline.  I remember another gaffe by the writers when Jerry Lacy first joined the cast as Tony Peterson.  The first time he talks with Carolyn he tells her he had seen her many times at the Country Club where he worked while she was growing up.  In the very next episode he tells her he had never seen her before they met at her house just the day before.  I can understand that maybe Mr. Lacy would be hesitant to point out this gaffe since it was only his second or third day on the show but certainly Ms Barrett (Carolyn) should have been able to point this out to the writers since this was such an obvious goof.

This makes me wonder how the actors were treated on the set.  I've heard that many times Management considers the actors as nothing more than cattle and I wonder if this was the case on this show since the actors say lines they have to know are not consistant with the character they are portraying.

Please know I am not faulting any of the actors at all because only they know the circumstances and how free they felt with making suggestions.  I say this because I've seen some interviews with Jonathan Frid and he seemed somewhat exasperated with the inconsistencies of his character.

I hope the actors were not treated badly on the set.  I know some of them have stated how much they enjoyed working there.  I know KLS has said there was never a day when she didn't want to go into work.

If everyone liked working there it would seem that there would have been more input from the actors as far as the script is concerned.

Murph

I LOVE Dark Shadows but todays episode is exactly why I have to forget about making sense out of the plot holes and just enjoy the show for what it is.  To me it's a show that takes me back to a time of innocence.  It's my piece of nostalgia and I love it because of that but sometime it drives me nuts..............

I saw the end of the second episode today.  Time travelling Barnabas bit Roxanne in 1840 which is why in 1970 she is a vampire.  The only problem with this is that in 1840 Barnabas was still chained in his coffin.  He could not have bitten her so why is she a vampire in 1970?  I do think it's sloppy writing and I wish Dan Curtis would have invested in someone to keep the plotlines consistant but he didn't and I love the show for all that it means to me.

Murph
   

MB,

Maybe I'm just tired.  I guess I misread your explanation because I thought I would have access to the Karma and I still do not.

Because of my post total I have never had access to them before but upon reading your explanation of the new switch I thought that I now would.

If I'm not going to have access to Karma that's ok I just thought that I would.  I may now have access to it and don't realize it since I've never had it before.  If so where is it located?

Thanks for your help and for all you do.

Murph

I began to watch this show I believe around the age of nine, I'm not entirely sure.  The show went off the air when I was eleven.

I discovered the show again about two and a half years ago when I broke down and started receiving Direct TV.  Sci-Fi was airing the 1970PT episodes then.

I found then as I have with the current episodes that I remember bits and pieces of the show and most of the Primary cast but I do not remember the Plotlines at all.

For instance,  I remember being terrified as a child about being buried alive and realized why when I began watching the episodes that featured Elizabeth and her fear of the same.  I did not remember anything else about that plotline but that I did remember.  That was the first time anything seemed familiar so I believe I began watching the show around November, 1968 when these episodes first aired.  I also remember being intrigued with the Queen of Spades as a child and realized why when I watched the episodes from the 1897 timeline that featured Mrs. Trask and Tim Shaw.  I did remember the Parallel time episodes, again not the plotlines but the intrigue of the room and the same actors portraying different but usually similar characters.  In the 1841 PT episodes the only thing I remembered was the "lottery" but none of the plot.  In that time period I was surprised that I didn't remember that Jonathan Frid did not portray Barnabas but another character named Bramwell.

I'm wondering......... the first time you saw these episodes
as an adult, did you remember the Plotlines or just bits and pieces like myself.

Thanks,

Murph