It's funny how the ABC series about the 1960s airline stewardesses is doing okay, but that the Playboy Bunny show set also in the 1960s quickly went the way of "My Mother, The Car" and "After M*A*S*H"?

In a recent  article in the Star-Ledger of New Jersey, KLS mentioned that the plots of that Playboy Bunny show were just "slightly" implausible.  Evidently, Ms. Scott was very prescient in her observation.  

but you can never leave (or so it seems).

Did you ever get the feeling that the Collinsport Inn was not the most "salubrious" of quaint New England inns to stay at?  It always seemed to me that the various guests at the inn over the show's run, did not have happy visits to Collinsport.

The very first guest we got to see at the Collinsport Inn was Burke Devlin, who seemed to take up permanent residence in the top floor room (or rooms) of the inn right up until the time his plane, tragically, went down in flames, somewhere over the vast Amazon jungle.

The next guest, albeit extremely briefly, was Roger Collins' "better" half, Laura Collins.  (Okay, to be accurate, Laura checked into the inn, but immediately moved out when Mrs. Stoddard agreed to let her stay at Matthew Morgan's old cottage in order to be closer to young David.)   "Sadly," Laura eventually went up in flames in that fishing shack on the Collinwood estate.

Of course, who can forget the beautiful actress Oliva Corey (a/k/a Amanda Harris), who after failing to restore Quentin Collins' ( a/k/a Grant Douglas') 1897 memory of her as Amanda, left the Collinsport Inn for limbo (?) after the mysterious Mr. Best called for her at the inn?   (While Olivia/Amanda ultimately did not make it back from Never/Never Land, thankfully Grant/Quentin did.)

And, Paul Stoddard hardly had a "fun" time, while he was a guest at the Collinsport Inn.  Do you remember all those creepy phone calls he kept receiving in his room, ostensibly from Mr. Strak (even with the receiver off of the hook)?  Mr. Strak must have also snuck into the room and circled that fateful date on the wall calendar in Paul Stoddard's room.

Heck, the Collinsport Inn maid must have been really ticked-off when she found all of those those candles and that arcane pentagram symbol, etched onto the floor of the room, don't you think?  It's just as well that the maid did not run into Mr. Stoddard and that sailor after that stunt!  You knew that it would not turn out well for Mr. Stoddard after he eventually ended up in the basement of the Todds' antique shop, only to be "slimed" by Jeb Hawkes' "higher" form.

And, what of the good people, who worked at the Collinsport Inn?  We all recall that it was while Maggie Evans was working at the inn's coffee shop, that Maggie first made the acquaintance of Mr. Barnabas Collins.  (Things quickly took a turn for the extreme worse after that encounter for Ms. Evans.)

Finally, poor Mr. Wells, the Collinsport Inn desk clerk, who should have listened to Chris Jennings' request that he (Mr. Wells) ignore any strange noises coming out of Chris' room at the inn.  Remember that Chris told Mr. Wells that he sometimes "acted out" his ideas for his book?   (By the way, I wonder where "Chris" disposed of Mr. Wells body after their bloody and tragic encounter in that room?)  

Can you imagine if Burke Devlin had still been a guest at Collinsport Inn when Chris "acted out" some of those ideas in that tiny room of his?  Heck, Burke would have probably stormed down to Chris' room, pounded on the door and shouted, "Hey, buddy, why don't you cut out that 'expletive-deleted' racket, for Christ's sake!?!"  

At least, Susie, the so-called silent waitress at the Collinsport Inn, did not also "share" in Maggie and Mr. Well's bad luck while working at the inn (as far as we know?).  

Somehow, I don't think that either Arthur Frommer or the late, lamented Eugene Fodor would have given a four-star recommendation for the Collinsport Inn as a charming and relaxing destination while vacationing in Collinsport.  Better to try your luck at the local Days Inn, if only to insure your peace of mind and survival.

My biggest regret is that Bathia Mapes never had the opportunity to be one of Hef's bunnies back during the swinging sixties!

Ms. Mapes would have been absolutely bodacious as "Bunny Bathia," imho!!! 

Cousin Barnabas,

In addition to the above-cited, original  Dark Shadows actors in the upcoming film, it's too bad that such other distinguished Dark Shadows alumni as John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, David Henesy and Alexandra Moltke will not be making cameo appearances in the much-anticipated film as well.

Bob

Maybe that statue of that solitary shoveler was the Collins family's way of paying "tribute" to all of those gravediggers, who, for over the centuries, had toiled anonymously, digging SO many graves for the Collinses (either overtly or, more likely, secretly)?    

Hey, MB,

Who had worse taste in men, Vicky Winters (with Burke and Jeff) or Carolyn Stoddard (with Burke, Buzz, Chris, and Jeb, and certainly not including, good guy Joe Haskell)?

Bob

PS I think that Vicky and Carolyn had about as much "luck" with men as Zsa Zsa Gabor and Kim Kardashian have!

Hey gang,

I just wanted to bid farewell to New Jersey Network, the Garden State's own public network television station, which is going off the air after nearly forty years of broadcasting.  Sadly, due to budget difficulties, NJN will cease broadcasting after tomorrow night.

Of course, I believe that NJN was one of the first PBS stations in the US to broadcast Dark Shadows, starting way back in 1983.  NJN began its airing of Dark Shadows with the classic episode featuring Mrs. Johnson answering the front door at Collinwood and meeting Barnabas Collins, that very-much unexpected "cousin from England."

NJN continued to air Dark Shadows for the next several years, right up to Parallel Time episode number 1006, in which actor John Harkins (as chemist Horace Gladstone) declared dramatically to actor Christopher Pennock (as Dr. Cyrus Longworth): "Cyrus Longworth is John Yeager, and John Yeager is Cyrus Longworth!"   Regrettably, all of the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania DS fans (including yours truly), who used to tune into NJN every night to catch the latest goings-on with Barnabas, Julia, Willie, etc., had to wait for far too many years to finally see what happened during the remaining 239 episodes of the program over on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Still, it was great to see Dark Shadows aired again in 1983, after not having seen the much-beloved show since its cancellation in April of 1971. 

Au revoir, New Jersey Network.  Thanks for the great memories of Dark Shadows on New Jersey's PBS station.     

Gerard,

The very thought of Mrs. Johnson supplying all of the "delicious" food for Matthew's repast is terrific!  Wasn't Jason McGuire a "big fan" of Mrs. Johnson's trademark Maine "haute cuisine?"

And, that would have been something to see all of the husky men of Collinsport, sauntering over to the caretaker's cottage to try on some of the late Matthew Morgan's "nifty" threads!  Let's see: Sheriff Patterson, Adam, and, possibly Sandor and Istvan, (if they had discovered Quentin I's Stairway-Through-Time back in 1897), might have formed a line to check-out all of Matthew's snazzy flannel shirts and "slightly-used" long johns.

Lydia,

Yes, I was inspired to post a thread on ol' Matthew's funeral service after recently watching the "beloved" Livia Soprano's funeral service as it was portrayed on "The Sopranos."  (I loved the part when after Tony's meddlesome, younger sister, Janice, suggested that they all sit around the table and exchange loving, heartfelt  stores about Livia, her big, strictly-no-nonsense, New Jersey brother Tony replied, "Just cut out all of that California 'bovine excrement,' will you?")  

Patti,

I'm glad you enjoyed it; as both former VP Richard Cheney and former CNN "Crossfire" host Bill Press are wont to say:

"Laughter is the best medicine."  

Bob