As Ezra Braithwaite was saying just the other day:

"Ah, to be 32-years-old again!"

And, as Charles Delaware Tate often said to Grandma-ma Edith Collins:

"Edith, age is most definitely, a state of mind."

Hey gang,

I happened to be watching the 1795 storyline flashback the other day on the above mentioned dvd, and I noticed during the famous DS scene, in which actress Anita Bolster, as Bathia Mapes, forgets her line of: "Then go to the house of the curse!," that MPI had apparently edited out actress Ms. Bolster's unfortunate faux pas.

On both the numerous, earlier PBS and the SCI-FI Channel broadcasts of "Dark Shadows," you can clearly hear the director (or some other member of the production crew) shouting that line to Ms. Bolster as both Louis Edmonds and Jonathan Frid, almost desperately, wait for her to tell Joshua Collins where to take the poor, cursed Barnabas to.  (Thankfully, Ms. Bolster's blooper has been preserved, no doubt, on thousands of DS videotapes across America and the world for posterity's sake!) 

It's kind of sad that future generations of DS fans (if they only watch the MPI dvds) will never get to hear, or possibly even be aware of, one of the show's classic bloopers on episode 451, which aired on March 18, 1968.  (I personally think that the Bathia Mapes blooper is "Dark Shadows'" greatest blooper, bar none.)

Ironically, during those 1795 episodes, MPI was not able to edit out actor Joel Crothers' two contretemps, when, as the dashing, but dastardly Lt. Nathan Forbes, Mr. Crothers had difficulty in placing his coat and hat on the Collinwood foyer table (without them falling off of the table) and also when he later stormed out of Collinwood in a rage, slamming the door behind him (only to have the door open up behind him, forcing him to turn and close the door extremely slowly!)  

Bob

Quentin I and Samantha Collins - The War of the Roses and Kramer vs. Kramer

Istvan, the mute gypsy - Johnny Belinda, The Spiral Staircase and Children of a Lesser God

Abigail Collins - Night of the Iguana

Jason McGuire and Willie Loomis - The Grifters

In the days before the advent of vcrs and dvd recorders, it was great to see "Dark Shadows" on a twice daily basis.

I understand that some fans actually tape recorded episodes of "Dark Shadows" in order to help maintain a sort of audio diary of the show.  (Some fans even took Polaroid shots of the various DS actors for posterity's sake!).

When ABC aired the final episode of "The Fugitive," back during 1967 (I think?), I had to attend my aunt's wedding reception that night, so I had a friend tape record that final, dramatic episode to see how it all turned out for Dr. Kimble, Inspector Gerard and the notorious "one-armed-man." 

 

Hey, gang,

I think that KLS' recent novel, "Dark Passages," is outstanding.  Ms. Scott deftly combines her own experiences as an actress and Playboy Club bunny in New York City in the book, along with a very compelling supernatural storyline.

It was fun to "contrast" the fictional members of the cast of "Dark Passages" with the members of the cast of "Dark Shadows."   Two "Dark Passages" characters, leading man Steve (Burke Devlin?) and Mr. Harrison (Sam Evans?), were very "outgoing" and even ribald individuals on and off camera! 

Ms. Scott also incorporates the Cuban missile crisis and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy into her novel.  (I remember one of my boyhood friend's fathers, a local policeman, clearing out his family home's basement in order to set up a makeshift bomb shelter in the event that Nikita Kruschev did fire missiles at New York City back then.  I thought this was a bit silly, since we only lived about two miles from Times Square!)   

Ian Fletcher/Sebastian Stanhope (Barnabas Collins?) was another terrific character with a European background in the novel.  Mr. Fletcher and Margie Blatch (KLS' "real" name in the novel) also have a budding romance to go along with the supernatural intrigue.

I hope that Ms. Scott intends to write a sequel to "Dark Passages."  Maybe Johnny Depp will even want to portray Ian Fletcher/Sebastian Stanhope in a screen version of ""Dark Passages" in a couple of years!?!

Bob

Uncle Roger,

You can also see actor/ex-NYC Fireman Bob O'Connell in the cult favorite film, "Joe," with the late Peter Boyle and the late DS actor/limerick expert extraordinaire, Dennis Patrick.

Bob

PS Bob Rooney is my favorite Dark Shadows character, along with the bodacious Bathia Mapes, of course!

How about:

Gerard Stiles (a/k/a "Ivan Miller," a/k/a "Judah Zachery") - I Led Three Lives and The Charmer

David Collins, Amy Jennings and Alexander, the Leviathan child - The Little Rascals

Istvan, the mute gypsy - ESPN's Body-Shaping and The Cosby Show?

Hey gang,

Kathryn Leigh Scott is scheduled to be a guest on the first half of the Friday, May 4, 2012 edition of Coast-to-Coast Am with host George Noory.

Ms. Scott will, of course, be discussing Dark Shadows, her two new DS books, the upcoming Tim Burton Dark Shadows film, and, certainly, the recent and extremely sad death of the great Jonathan Frid.

Coast-to-CoastAM airs from 1:00 AM until 5:00 AM on the east coast.

You can access the show's web page and station listings at www.coasttocoastam.com.

Bob