DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '02 II => Topic started by: Dr. Eric Lang on September 12, 2002, 10:09:15 PM
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What are some of your biggest Pet Peeves concerning Dark Shadows? I'm not talking about broader areas like weak writing, bad acting or crummy story lines, but the little things that really gnaw at you.
For me it's when they keep changing the 1795 dates. Vicki goes to 1795, lives thru the beginning of 1796, yet dates of deaths and other incidents we saw happen in 1796 are referred to as happening in 1795, and then later, in 1797!
The other thing that drives me nuts is when people in Collinwood hear a car pull up to the front of the house, and they look out the back window (in the drawing room) to see who it is. Hello! How can they see the front of the house by looking out the back of the house? GRRRR!!!!!
What little things like that drive you nuts?
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The clock in the foyer, when it chimes a number of times. We had a chime clock in our house when I was growing up, it chimed every 15 minutes, and to this day, I hate chiming clocks, would never have one!
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It's not really a peeve, I actually love it whenever the women are shown in bed at 3 a.m. wearing full street makeup PLUS high heels! I remember one bedtime episode in 1967 when Liz and Carolyn between them seemed to have lacquered their respective dos solid with hairspray before retiring. I imagine Liz sitting up in bed, spritzing away, in a huge and growing cloud like the fumes of joss sticks around a Chinese Buddha.
Yes, I know I have a vivid imagination. My Mom has been complaining about it ever since I was a wee one.
Gothick
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I don't really hate this...but...like today. The clock showed that it was 4:00 a.m. There was Roger and Carolyn sitting up talking. Then Roger says "..Well, it's getting late". Hello! It's 4:00 in the morning. You haven't even got your p.j.'s on yet.
Ah Ha, Carolyn did have on the lime green skirt and sweater though. She's such a clothes wearer.
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One thing that bugs me sometimes, is when they show the Estate and it's day time, but when they show someone outside it's night, or at least it looks like it.
Another thing that bugs me, is how there are no people in the town. When they go To the antique shop or somewhere downtown, there are no people around, that is one empty town!
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Crowing roosters on an estate that most likely does not keep fowl.
Women who go out strolling through the forest in the small hours of the AM and come back immaculately clean.
A certain afghan.
:)
Luciaphil
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Crowing roosters on an estate that most likely does not keep fowl.
YES. This very thing was mentioned not 2 nights ago when we were watching the tape for the day.
I've never seen any signs of farm animals at Collinwood. (Also can't recall Mrs. Johnson ever walking in with a basket of eggs).
This is probably really dumb, but ya know what bugs the HELL out of me? That wabbling bannister at the Old House. You barely touch it, and it moves. It happens in every time period. You'd think someone could have nailed it down a little better or something.
-CLC
Never one to complain
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Blue candles in 1795. I don't think they bothered with dyeing them then. Lit candles in a deserted room.
I too love the women in full makeup anytime, day or night! Another one I love is entire wings of Collinwood suddenly appearing. David mentioned the other day that ONE wing, the west wing, was even shut off. Then out of the blue there comes the EAST wing when the west wing had been done to death.
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The candles get me too.. in deserted rooms.. in basements where no one had been...in mausoleums...everywhere!
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How everyone manages to survive on such little sleep and still look good is beyond me.
The other night when Vicky & Jeff decided to get married at 3AM and went and got Liz to be their witness! And God only knows how they managed to get the local Jusitce of the Peace to get up out of bed at that hour to marry them! [hdscrt]
In 1795 when we see Josette sleeping in bed with her hair all done up so nicely with curls & ringlets. Now to get a hairdo to look like that in the morning one would have to put alot of work into the night before, such as setting it with curlers or whatever they used back then to get the effect.
The only woman we've ever seen who actually looked as if she just crawled out of bed was Mrs.Johnson when she answered the door one night and her hair was all hanging down loose & long.
Another thing that gets me is all the dogs howling at night when a vampire is near. Are there that many loose dogs roaming around Collinwood?
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David was bugging the crap outta me as he lectured Amy on ghosts. "Ghosts only come out at night," he tells her. So has he already forgotten about Sarah?!
[huhb]
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I don't think the ghosts at Collinwood care whether it's day or night. A haunting they will go.
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The subject of Windcliff's distance from Collinsport came up on another List and I realized that is really my biggest pet peeve. Where is that place anyway [hdscrt]
It is supposed 100 miles away, yet everyone who goes there and later "escapes" makes it back to Collinwood with no problem and with every hair in place--Maggie, Liz, Amy, David, Hallie. Are these people all seasoned hitchhikers or what?
Bette
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This all reminds me of my dear departed father, annoying the crap out of my sainted mother by sitting beside her and disparaging the goings-on on "As The World Turns".
She would fix him with a withering stare and tell him "William, you just DON'T know HOW to watch a Soap Opera!!"
Raineypark, who would like to use that Telephone to the Great Beyond right now!
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yes, windcliffe supposedly being "about 100 miles" away, and whenever someone escapes, they are there in what seems like minutes, and they are always found "in the woods just outside collinwood"...and another one, more funny than annoying, is whenever an old door, or gate, is being opened, its the same darn sound effect as when they open a coffin, and half the time, its not coordinated, as they have stopped the opening, the sounds just keep on coming.
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But, OF COURSE, Wyndcliff was far enough away that Barney could be safe from Angie there. In spite of the fact that she was in the habit of materializing wherever he was. ::)
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But, OF COURSE, Wyndcliff was far enough away that Barney could be safe from Angie there. In spite of the fact that she was in the habit of materializing wherever he was. ::)
And she also had the mirror to guide her in the right direction...Guess it needed new batteries...::)
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Ah, so everyone does have pet peeves!! Love it!
Craig Slocum - We had a chiming grandfather clock when I was growing up too. I used to sneak down at night and turn the chimes off.
Gothick - If you use enough Aqua Net hairspray, you can have perfect hair all week long, morning, noon and night.
Terry306 - The Collins family has always kept odd hours. 4:00 am IS quite late for them; 3:00 am is their normal bedtime.
jthomas_123 - There are no customers in the Collinsport shops because they have all been eaten by the werewolf. They stay in business thru a grant from Diabolos providing they raise his satanic children.
Luciaphil - Perhaps there is a novelty alarm clock somewhere in the house that crows like a rooster. Kind of like those cat clocks with the eyes that go back and forth.
Connie - Willie's not the best with his hands and wasn't able to fix the wobbly bannister. I don't know who built the Old House but Barnabas' claim that it was built to "last" certainly doesn't extend to the bannister.
kuanyin - I noticed David's remark about the "one" wing closed off too. Wasnt it the EAST wing in which he locked up Victoria Winters in the early episodes? And I know it was the EAST wing that Elizabeth offered to open up for Vicki and Burke to live in.
Candlelighter - the candles are quite easy to explain. The various ghosts cannot see too well in the dark, so they go around lighting candles in closed off wings, mausoleum rooms, basements, etc. It's actually very convenient for the living and they don't mind.
Cassandra - I have often remarked that the town of Collinsport is in dire need of Animal Control. Sad to think of all those homeless doggies. But I wonder why nobody thinks of them after all the "mysterious" attacks that leave people with "animal-like" wounds on their necks. It's all the wild dogs, dummies!
scout75 - I think Julia's been at it with that medallion again, using it on David. Not only has he forgotten about Sarah, but he told Amy that living at Collinwood was just like "living at any other house." He's got to be kidding?
Bette - I was waiting for someone to mention that Wyndcliff thing. Apparently Maggie and little Amy were able to walk a hundred miles back to Collinsport. And how about the discrepency in distance between Collinwood and Eagle Hill cemetary? Sometimes people have to drive there, and sometimes it seems like it's about 20 feet away from the front door of Collinwood.
Raineypark - my mom watches As the World Turns too. I was raised on soaps!
tripwire - Perhaps there was only one gate maker in all of Collinsport for the last 200 years, hence the exact same squeaky sound whenever a gate is opened.
VAM - new batteries? Maybe that's why she smashed the mirror. I can just see Angelique throwing a little hissy fit when the reception starts to go.
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I have to mention, too, that people come and go at all hours in Collinwood. Who goes for a walk at midnight? a stroll to Widows Cliff at 2 am? Does nobody sleep in this house?? The front door is always open! In one recent episode, Vickie had both a vampire (Tom J.) and Joe Haskell in her bedroom the same night-------after which Julia asks her,"Are you having trouble sleeping?" Nothing a little privacy wouldn't cure!!!
"I don't understand!" Misty
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I used to sneak down at night and turn the chimes off.
I wish I could have done that too, but my dad hid the key!
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Perhaps there is a novelty alarm clock somewhere in the house that crows like a rooster.
That reminds me of something that happened years ago. In a Sunday school class I attended regularly, a lady always wore a watch that had a rooster crowing at the top of the hour, and it always went off when we were in the middle of our closing prayer!
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One thing that bothers me is an occasional crew member caught in a scene! I can put up with the shadow of the mike crossing in front of Liz or Barnabas or Nicholas's face, but I feel pretty put out about the crew member in the blue shirt who is caught on camera when Barnabas first finds out that he's a vampire and is ready to strangle Angelique.
***Spoilers***
The second biggest pet peeve is the werewolf stunt man they used for Chris and Quentin. I can't stand it that he looks so small! But having said that, I just love the scene where the werewolf jumps down from the landing at Collinwood into the foyer and chases Liz around the table in the foyer.
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I'm peeved that everybody seems to have forgotten about Julia's side career as an author. She was able to live at Collinwood for four years without ever having to show anyone so much as a page or an outline of her Collins Family History or The Life and Death of Dr. Eric Lang.
ProfStokes
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You forgot about the best selling classic volume
How To Live Well on No Cents A Day
I'm peeved that everybody seems to have forgotten about Julia's side career as an author. She was able to live at Collinwood for four years without ever having to show anyone so much as a page or an outline of her Collins Family History or The Life and Death of Dr. Eric Lang.
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The fact that they almost never lock their doors (I thought it quite funny today when Barnabas said the children couldn't be there because he had locked the doors when he went to bed!!). Barnabas used to be in his coffin in the basement, or he and Julia were working on the experiment - all things you wouldn't want to risk someone coming in and seeing, yet the door was always unlocked so that anyone could - and often did - come in!!
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tripwire's
and another one, more funny than annoying, is whenever an old door, or gate, is being opened, its the same darn sound effect as when they open a coffin, and half the time, its not coordinated, as they have stopped the opening, the sounds just keep on coming.
That's funny you should mention this one because in yesterday's episode when they showed the cradle up in the West Wing rocking all by itself, the noise it made sounded just like a coffin opening up!!
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...it was the EAST wing that Elizabeth offered to open up for Vicki and Burke to live in.
I'm currently watching those episodes on tape and it actually is the west wing that Liz offers to Vicki and Burke. :)
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I'd have to say the sound effects are my biggest pet peeve..like when someone is screaming but the scream actually starts a few seconds later (Maggie did that once)..it kind of takes something away from the moment if the sounds aren't it sync with the action ....what a whiner I am ~ ::)
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Hey gang,
One thing that particularly irks me (especially when the show went to "full, living color") is the all-too-apparent presence of scratch/scuff marks on the furniture (desks, chairs, pianos, etc.) and, also, on the wood paneling used in 99.9% of the sets.
I realize that Dan Curtis & company were on a tight, no-frills budget back then. But, Jeez, couldn't Mr. Curtis have sprung for a relatively inexpensive bottle of Forman's Furniture Restorer and a can of End Dust over at the local Duane Reade's store?
Bob the Bartender, who considers Felix Unger to be one of the greatest men of the 1970's.
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You notice the scuff marks?......Roberto, caro, how on earth are you following the story line if you're looking at the the scuff marks on the walls?!!
Oh, and remind me NEVER to invite you to MY house!!!!!
[lghy]
Rainey
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I realize that Dan Curtis & company were on a tight, no-frills budget back then.
Hmmm...No frills budget but Staff, Cast, and Crew would sometimes hit the local restaurant for dinner after the show for that day-Go figure...
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Hmmm...No frills budget but Staff, Cast, and Crew would sometimes hit the local restaurant for dinner after the show for that day-Go figure...
Sure they did, on their own money! You don't really think he would PAY for it do you????? [spin]
Does anyone know how it works for lunch on a tv show set? I know in movies they cater it for the whole crew, which is a pretty nice perk for the workers. Do they do that on a tv show? I can just see the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that DC would generously provide! [greed]
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Hey gang,
Maybe they all dined alfresco at the corner hot dog stand outside of the ABC studio, sort of like the way that Gene Wilder and the late, great Zero Mostel did in "The Producers." I'm sure that DC was enough of a big spender to splurge for that epicurean feast.
Then again, maybe on extra-special occasions (Christmas, Bob O'Connell's birthday, etc.), they phoned down to Canal Street and placed a take-out order for complete Chinese dinners for seventy-five people.
Bob the Bartender, who just loves the way they make calzones down at the Azurra Grotto on Mulberry Street.
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Does anyone know how it works for lunch on a tv show set? I know in movies they cater it for the whole crew, which is a pretty nice perk for the workers. Do they do that on a tv show? I can just see the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that DC would generously provide! [greed]
TV shows have a catering truck for location shoots. Same thing on the sets, except for the large studios which have cafeterias.
I have no idea how lunch was handled on the DS set, but your scenario wouldn't surprise me at all. ;)
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Hmmm...No frills budget but Staff, Cast, and Crew would sometimes hit the local restaurant for dinner after the show for that day-Go figure...
But the actors paid for that out of their own pocket. That would not have anything to do with DC's budget for the show. It's not uncommon for actors and crew to go and hang out together after a day's shoot.
Nancy
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Sure they did, on their own money! You don't really think he would PAY for it do you????? [spin]
Does anyone know how it works for lunch on a tv show set? I know in movies they cater it for the whole crew, which is a pretty nice perk for the workers. Do they do that on a tv show? I can just see the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that DC would generously provide! [greed]
No employer anywhere in any business is expected to pay for the employees meals every day unless those individuals are working overtime or there is some stipulation of their lunch being provided for in some circumstance, such as some union agreement.
I don't know how it was back in the 1960s but today in AFTRA the union stipulations that food be provided for union actors. Non-union actors are more or less on their own but I've been on shoots where some "lesser food" was provided for the non-union personnel. Of course, the meals are provided because you are expected to stay on the set and not leave for lunch. On Dark Shadows, I've been told that the actors either ordered in or went out for a bite. That could be because the entire cast and crew broke for lunch at the same time and could leave or the union had not stipulated that lunch be provided - don't know on that score what it was back then.
When the House of Dark Shadows was being made, the actors were provided meals at the "honey wagon" as it was called.
Nancy
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Hey gang,
Bob the Bartender, who just loves the way they make calzones down at the Azurra Grotto on Mulberry Street.
Me too, Bob!! Delicious!
Nancy
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You're right Nancy most business don't provide lunch we get a discount at our cafe!
jennifer
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When the House of Dark Shadows was being made, the actors were provided meals at the "honey wagon" as it was called.
I went with my son's class when they visited a local shoot for 7th Heaven (the little girl was their classmate), and while being showed around someone explained where the term "honey wagon" came from. Ewwww.