Characters who tempt you to fast-forward

[Bob_the_Bartender]

As God as my witness this is true; at the 1988 Dark Shadows Festival, during the "Q-and-A" session with actress Lara Parker, some very nice lady in the audience, asked her (and, remember, now, this was 18 years ago): "How did you like, working with a 'pretty-boy' like that Sky Rumson character?"  (She may have even mentioned that tall, dark and handsome actor's real name!) 

Anyway, Ms. Parker, just raised her eyebrows, as the audience (including yours truly and my then-girlfriend) just about fell out of our chairs in paroxysms of laughter!!!

Hopefully, there are several other cousins out there, who were, indeed, at the 1988 Festival in the World Trade Center to verify that I am NOT going completely senile in my dotage.  Oy vey, that lady, must have had a "few" at McSorley's Pub, just off of lower Broadway before "sauntering-over" to the Fest!

I recall a similar incident.  It might have been all the way back at one of the Newark Fests.  LP was asked about Geoffrey Scott and she replied that he was very good-looking but a terrible actor.

My vote for most fast-forwardable character?  The Eagle Hill Cemetery caretaker.  In general, I loathe the "young actor acting old" routine, and all of his scenes felt like filler, as if the episode came up short so the writers decided to have the caretaker ramble and moan to add the necessary 1 minute and 15 seconds to the running time.  Even though I've seen these episodes many times, I still hope that Barnabas will kill the old geezer.

ClaudeNorth,

I was never at any of those Dark Shadows Festivals, in "beautiful" downtown Newark (as Rowan & Martin used to say).  However, I have seen videotapes of the Collinsport Players (?) from that Fest.   

One young woman was absolutely terrific as Angelique a la "Ms. Peggy Lee," singing "Fever."  (I think that she appears at many of the festivals.)  Yet, the funniest performer, had to be this guy in drag, wearing a red wig, full makeup, and a doctor's white uniform.  I recall that he "recreated" an obviously angst-ridden Dr. Hoffman, pursed-lips and arms flailing about, as he/she cried out for her beloved Barnabas, during Angelique's "Dream Curse"!  Let me tell you, the tears of laughter were flowing freely after THAT memorable performance!   (I don't think that I'll ever be able to keep a straight face, when the late, great Ms. Grayson Hall, begins to wail on videotape/dvd: "Oh, Barnabas, help me!  Where are you, Barnabas?"

As to the venerable (not to mention, "eccentric"?), "Eagle Hill Cemetery Caretaker," I have to take polite and respectful disagreement with you.  Oh, what utter joy, to hear that white-haired gentleman, with his hair parted in the middle (just like Clem Cadidelhofer sp?), and with that depressing undertaker's (?) suit on, say to Roger, Vicky or whomever was present (or wasn't present with him there in the cemetery): "You must go!  This IS a frightening, evil place!"   

Oh, just think, how great it would gave been to have seen that enigmatic caretaker, sitting in the back of the Collinsport Inn Coffee Shop, sipping his fifth cup of coffee (he probably only had to pay about a quarter for one cup of "joe," back then) as we watch the winsome and burgeoning (yet, ill-fated) romance  of the lovely Maggie Evans and her hunky boyfriend, good guy/young-man-of-the-sea, "Gentleman" Joe Haskell?     (No doubt, the caretaker, would sit there quietly, just wistfully remembering his own short-lived, bittersweet romance with "Miss Rockport of 1905"!)     

Of course, I would have also liked to have seen the caretaker (perhaps, better known to the longtime residents of Collinsport, as "Mr. Electricity"!), sitting in the great Bob Rooney's convivial gin mill, "The Blue Whale," and nursing a gin and tonic as Mr. Frank Sinatra intones "It Was A Very Good Year" on the jukebox.  Quick, I need a Xanax, at the very thought of that lonely and prince-of-a-man, sitting there all alone and reliving his own youth as "Frankie-boy'" waxes oh-so-nostalgically about all the girls/women he had known over the years!

I could go on, but you see, I think that in the case of that solitary cemetery caretaker, there was a veritable font of moving and heartrending stories.  Excuse me, while I turn on Regis Philbin, and listen to "Reege" interpret an especially sad "saloon song" as only "Old Blue Eyes and, possibly,  "Drunky" Dean Martin could have done, before Regis discovered his Jerry Vale-like talent, so late in the autumn of his own oh-so-busy life...

Sadly (if not, lugubriously) yours,

Bob the Bartender   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

G. Scott *was* pretty bad on DS, but by the time he was on Dynasty he was much better.

Something tells me that any illusions he might have created to make it seem as if his acting had improved on Dynasty were quickly dispelled after he returned to daytime on Guiding Light in the '90s and was fired because his acting was so bad and the daytime press almost universally cheered his firing. 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

G. Scott *was* pretty bad on DS, but by the time he was on Dynasty he was much better.

Something tells me that any illusions he might have created to make it seem as if his acting had improved on Dynasty were quickly dispelled after he returned to daytime on Guiding Light in the '90s and was fired because his acting was so bad and the daytime press almost universally cheered his firing. 

Gee, I thought that he was pretty good as that "stiff," lying there with his red (?) silk underwear on, and a big kitchen knife, sticking out of his chest, as a very blond and very hungover Jane Fonda, begins to finally wakeup, next to "Sky" in the sack in some flick, whose name I can't quite remember!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hmmm. Portraying dead bodies probably could be Scott's forte. He should be out there auditioning for the dead bodies on all the procedural shows around now. 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Hmmm. Portraying dead bodies probably could be Scott's forte. He should be out there auditioning for the dead bodies on all the procedural shows around now. 

Sort of a "taciturn" Jonathan Brewster, I take it?

[Midnite]

Gee, I thought that he was pretty good as that "stiff," lying there with his red (?) silk underwear on, and a big kitchen knife, sticking out of his chest, as a very blond and very hungover Jane Fonda, begins to finally wakeup, next to "Sky" in the sack in some flick, whose name I can't quite remember!

LOL, it's "The Morning After."  His character was a soft-porn movie maker and the search for his murderer was, appropriately, the dullest part of the movie.

[MsCriseyde]

Prepare yourselves for a shock.  I am about to say something favorable about GS. 

I recently saw some of his interview footage from the DS DVDs, and I have to say that my hat is off to the man for his honest appraisal of his work on the show. He acknowledges that he was far more obsessed with learning the lines correctly than with how he delivered them, which explains the horror that is Sky.

I found his candor somewhat refreshing.  Note, however, that I'm not saying I have a newfound appreciation for his acting.

[Charles_Ellis]

Yes, she's still Mrs. Hawkins- are you sure he's an actor?  If so, it's news to me.......

[BuzzH]

Is Lara still married to Jim Hawkins?

I hope so, I always enjoy seeing his gorgeous mug at the Fests, LOL!

[BuzzH]

I was never at any of those Dark Shadows Festivals, in "beautiful" downtown Newark (as Rowan & Martin used to say).  However, I have seen videotapes of the Collinsport Players (?) from that Fest.   

One young woman was absolutely terrific as Angelique a la "Ms. Peggy Lee," singing "Fever."  (I think that she appears at many of the festivals.)  Yet, the funniest performer, had to be this guy in drag, wearing a red wig, full makeup, and a doctor's white uniform.  I recall that he "recreated" an obviously angst-ridden Dr. Hoffman, pursed-lips and arms flailing about, as he/she cried out for her beloved Barnabas, during Angelique's "Dream Curse"!  Let me tell you, the tears of laughter were flowing freely after THAT memorable performance!   (I don't think that I'll ever be able to keep a straight face, when the late, great Ms. Grayson Hall, begins to wail on videotape/dvd: "Oh, Barnabas, help me!  Where are you, Barnabas?"

I wish they'd go back to the Newark Gateway, it's a NICE looking hotel, from the outside anyway, and right there at Newark Penn (train) Station so ppl could very easily get to and from NYC.  I never attended any Fests there however, my first was at the World Trade Center Vista Hotel in 1990.

Re: Julia impersonators-the BEST impersonator of the Grand One, IMHO, is Darryl Schaefer.  Second would be a guy named Michael Fritch who appeared as Julia in the 1991 LA Fest Costume Gala.  He/she handed out sedatives (M&M'S) to the crowd afterwards!  The third would be former Collinsport Player Harriet Stitch. 

Hmmm. Portraying dead bodies probably could be Scott's forte. He should be out there auditioning for the dead bodies on all the procedural shows around now. 

Hey, I think Law & Order is hiring!   

[michael c]

i'm never tempted to fast-forward during a first viewing of any episode no matter how much a particular character might annoy me(although adam/harry johnson/jeff-ned-whoever did try my patience).i just want to see what happens.
during future viewings i might grab the remote if a particular character or scene i dislike comes up.

one actress i adore who sometimes surprised me with inconsistent performances was joan bennett.when she's spot-on she's dynamite.i absoltuely love all of her characters.liz/naomi/judith all class up an episode with an appearance.

but sometimes she's off her game and it shows.i just finished 1970p.t. and not only did she seem unsure of herself here but on occasion she was physically clumsy.i recall one scene when liz and sabrina walk down the stairs into the lab and joan trips.another she bumps into the couch.she was just strange during this time.

i guess being such a seasoned performer i always expect the best from her but we all have our days.

[Barnabas'sBride]

one actress i adore who sometimes surprised me with inconsistent performances was joan bennett.when she's spot-on she's dynamite.i absoltuely love all of her characters.liz/naomi/judith all class up an episode with an appearance.

ITA. I love watching her when she's playing front burner or is heavily involved in the storyline. Elizabeth is my favorite (and one of the reasons I can't wait to get my hands on the pre-Barnabas episodes), but I love Judith and Naomi, too. When she's given the material (like with the Jason McGuire storyline), I love her work. I always like her a lot. Sometimes she seems to be "going through the motions" when she isn't in a storyline that gives her a heavier role, but that's usually when there isn't any material for her to work with.

I didn't mention them in my first post, but PT Quentin, PT Angelique, and PT Maggie all tempt me to fast forward.....but that sums up 1970PT on the whole for me with only a couple exceptions.

[jennifer]

amanda and hallie are my two that make me run from the room
i'll  take sky any day over those two {he wasn't any better on Dynasty}

jennifer

[Pansity]

Put me down for Dirk in 1897 and Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey in any time period.  On the first, RD overacted bigtime (yeah, who's surprised?  )  As to Amanda, one dimentional, no plot justification for her actions.  If she were a character in fanfiction everyone would be screaming MARY SUE when Quentin fell in love with her at first sight.

Oh, and Tom Jennings as a vampire.  That tongue thing was just TOO MUCH.

[Barnabas'sBride]

If she were a character in fanfiction everyone would be screaming MARY SUE when Quentin fell in love with her at first sight.

So, so true.