On Being on Dark Shadows From The Very Beginning ToThe Very End

[michael c]

by late 1968 Barnabas had become sort of a snooze. a vampire who wasn't a vampire...

so returning him to the "vampire state" in 1897 (a period in which Adam was not extant) was a way to give the character some "blood" again so to speak. there was a reason he always became a vampire again when the storyline shifted to another time period. you can't have a "vampire show" without a vampire.

[spoiler]so to me it's not that surprising that he killed Carl. he was, after all, a vampire again. and that is not without an intrinsic element of dangerousness and unpredictability. besides Carl was a "time travel" character. they're basically created with a built in shelf life. by the end of the period most of them usually end up dead anyways. and he was only in a few episodes and not very important to the overall plot so who really cares???[/spoiler]

all of the fuss that particular incident creates within the fanbase has always mystified me.

[BangsnFangs]

by late 1968 Barnabas had become sort of a snooze. a vampire who wasn't a vampire...

so returning him to the "vampire state" in 1897 (a period in which Adam was not extant) was a way to give the character some "blood" again so to speak. there was a reason he always became a vampire again when the storyline shifted to another time period. you can't have a "vampire show" without a vampire.

[spoiler]so to me it's not that surprising that he killed Carl. he was, after all, a vampire again. and that is not without an intrinsic element of dangerousness and unpredictability. besides Carl was a "time travel" character. they're basically created with a built in shelf life. by the end of the period most of them usually end up dead anyways. and he was only in a few episodes and not very important to the overall plot so who really cares???[/spoiler]

all of the fuss that particular incident creates within the fanbase has always mystified me.

That's interesting because I've never seen Dark Shadows as a "vampire" show.  After watching 1225 episodes, I'm still unsure exactly how to define it, but in broad terms for me it's a show about the strength of family and the power of love in overcoming overwhelming and almost impossible odds.  This is quite trite and cliched, but at the moment it's the best way I can put it.

As for Barnabas, his vampirism is only a small part of his appeal for me.  Angelique's curse exposes all of Barnabas' flaws: his poor and decidedly indecisive decision making, his immature and misguided love for Josette, and his dishonesty.  The 1795 illustrates all this brilliantly.  But I think Barnabas becomes even more interesting when he's cured of his vampirism.  He's been cured, but he still has all his same hang ups.  We see him kinda sorta trying to work through them throughout Adam/the Dream Curse, as he begins to start thinking less selfishly.  The moment he spares Jeff Clark's life for Vicki (I think that's what happened; it's been a while) is an example of this.  Fighting Quentin's ghost is really the first time we see this put into action when he works in a positive, proactive, selfless manner to protect the Collins family.  As for 1897, yes, he's a vampire again, but I've always gotten the feeling that for whatever reason (increased maturity, maybe) he had a certain degree of mastery over it.  In saying that (I hate that phrase, but there it is), the killing of Carl never really bothered me (from Barnabas' character's standpoint that is; from a storyline perspective it really bummed me out; I loved Carl).  I've always seen Barnabas at that point of the story as sort of like a dormant volcano that hasn't erupted in a while, but always has the potential to.  Those two aspects really added dimension to the character.  We see the same thing in the Leviathans, which is why I like it.

[michael c]

perhaps "vampire show" is a greatly oversimplified assessment...

but it was a significant component of it. and one that the producers must have known was important. I think it was one reason why in 1968, after Barnabas had been "cured" for awhile, Cassandra was jettisoned in favor of "Vampirelique" and Tom Jennings was shoehorned into the mix. the "vampire element" was missing.

and apart from the emotional impact of being returned to the "vampire state" whenever the time period shifted (and Barnabas' ensuing anguish over it) I think the writers saw it as an opportunity to reestablish a part of the character that was important.

by 1968 they had plastic fangs, Halloween costumes and lunchboxes to market featuring a vampire. not just some middle aged suit wearing guy worrying about his family. it was an important component of the "brand" and business side of the enterprise.

[michael c]

and I was hooked on the show from episode one. way before anybody ever thought or heard about Barnabas Collins.

so the "vampire element", and in fact the character of Barnabas itself, is only a small part of the whole mosaic for me as well.

but Curtis and the show's producers knew what their "hook" was and needed to capitalize on it.

[Gothick]

The fact that more or less every time DS shows up in the mass media (outside of fandom specific sites and fora) we see a photo of Barn baring his fangs does underline the fact that in the minds of the public... it's a vampire show.

A long time ago (maybe as early as the 1970s) I finally figured out that how DS is represented in the mass media and promotional goodies, such as the Gold Key comics and the board games, is very different from the reality of the show's actual content as seen in canon (the aired episodes from 1966 to 1971). 

Even the "Marilyn" Ross novelettes present a picture of the subject matter of the show that is very much at odds with how the actual episodes are written and played.  I well remember when the novel "Barnabas Collins" was published and I bought and was reading it and some version of "who the hell is this guy?" was going through my 11 year old's mind.

G.

[MagnusTrask]

It IS a big deal to have the main character of a show, who was thought of as the hero not the villain, murder an innocent cousin to keep his secret from being found out (and doing it in such a sloppy impulsive way that it didn't even work).

I agree that after one has thought long and hard about it, it does make the character and story much more interesting.

[michael c]

The fact that more or less every time DS shows up in the mass media (outside of fandom specific sites and fora) we see a photo of Barn baring his fangs does underline the fact that in the minds of the public... it's a vampire show.

A long time ago (maybe as early as the 1970s) I finally figured out that how DS is represented in the mass media and promotional goodies, such as the Gold Key comics and the board games, is very different from the reality of the show's actual content as seen in canon (the aired episodes from 1966 to 1971). 

Even the "Marilyn" Ross novelettes present a picture of the subject matter of the show that is very much at odds with how the actual episodes are written and played.  I well remember when the novel "Barnabas Collins" was published and I bought and was reading it and some version of "who the hell is this guy?" was going through my 11 year old's mind.

your remarks certainly bring to mind the way Julia was handled in the marketing/promotional juggernaut and continues to be til this day.

lets face it. a middle aged lady doctor in a green tweed suit does not a bobble head make. or a lunchbox. or a board game. or a Halloween costume.

but you know what does??? a vampire. a werewolf. and a witch. thus those three characters became the faces of the "brand" in terms of marketing and merchandising. even though on the series itself Julia was with the show longer than either Quentin or Angelique, appeared in more episodes, and was more important to more storylines. she's not easy to "market". she does not reduce well to 8'' "action figure" size.

so she largely gets left out of that component of the whole thing while the other 3, more easily marketable "monster" type characters, are front and center of the product lineup.

[dom]

Funny, I hadn't realized 'til now that I don't think of Quentin as the werewolf of Dark Shadows.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Same here - probably because Quentin was a werewolf for such a short time before he was cured. When I think of the werewolf, I tend to always associate it with Chris. And when I think of Quentin, I tend to associate him more with the Dorian Grey aspect of his character.

[Uncle Roger]

While Julia is pivotal to the program, she is largely excluded from the surrounding merchandise. If memory serves me correctly,  most of the women were largely overlooked. The only women who seemed to get some coverage in the teen mags that I was reading at the time were Lara, KLS and Denise Nickerson.

[Gothick]

Grayson got some coverage in 16.  There was a priceless page that showed Grayson Hall at home.  The other soap mags did similar features on her.  Grayson was one of the very few cool middle-aged ladies around in that era.  Mama Cowsill, may she rest in peace, was another.

This is off topic, but for those in my age range--we all remember Mrs. Miller, "the singing Grandmother."  I found a clip on Youtube recently where Mrs. Miller shows up on a teen rock program and the kids go wild for her.  It was hilarious.  Roddy MacDowell played some Phil Spector type producer who had the singing Grandmother summoned to his office to talk about a contract.

It all feels like things that happened in a previous incarnation, at this point...

G.

[The Doctor and K9]

Same here - probably because Quentin was a werewolf for such a short time before he was cured. When I think of the werewolf, I tend to always associate it with Chris. And when I think of Quentin, I tend to associate him more with the Dorian Grey aspect of his character.

I came into DS through the first year of syndication, the Ross novels, and the comics. For me, Quentin was a werewolf, first and foremost. I had no idea about the portrait until about 7 or 8 years later. I was surprised that he was not always the werewolf as that's how the licensing depicted him.

[michael c]

even recent spinoff media...such as Lara Parker's 'wolf moon rising' and the defunct 'dynamite' DS comic book series...present Quentin in some sort of werewolf context.

so even though on the series itself both Barnabas and Quentin spent significant time (if not in fact most of the time) in some "altered state" in terms of media coverage, marketing and promotion, toys and licensing deals, etc. Barnabas as a vampire and Quentin as a werewolf is definitely how the "brand" is represented.

[Uncle Roger]

Good point, michaelc. It seems that the vampire element was more exploitable as Barnabas is periodically a vampire throughout the series, though Quentin never becomes a werewolf again.

[dom]

I don't remember Quentin being marketed as a werewolf, only as a ladies man with big sideburns. I do remember him being touted as a zombie though. I don't think he was even the werewolf in the green card series. Of course, that's just my memory.