1-209

[Cloak]

OK so I bought the first DVD set because I heard alot about this show and I'm obsessed with soaps.  yada yada yada.  And then I find out that I bought the first episodes 210-250!  Now this pisses me off to no ends because I want to watch the whole thing from the begining.  Why did they do this!?  They are ruining a young soap opera fans hopes and dreams!!!  OK maybe not.    So here's the question.  The first set of the begining of the 209 are going to be released soon, BUT, it's going to be in *gasp* the begining of 2007.  I can't wait that long.  So I need some advice.  I was wondering if someone might have them on tape they might be willing to send ove or transfer to DVD maybe so I could watch them in order.  Of course we could haggle a price of course.  Or should I just wait until 2007.  OR should I start watching DS now and then backtrack when the new stuff comes out in 2007.  I really want to see them NOW, you can understand that, so if there is a way that is possible I would really appreciate it.  I might add I would buy the sets when they are released.  Otherwise how do I handle it?

Also how many DVD sets are there right now.  Someone mentioned that 26 only had 19 eps so does that mean that's where the series end?

Thanks alot for putting up with these questions, I did watch the first episode and I can't wait to watch the rest. 

[BuzzH]

OK so I bought the first DVD set because I heard alot about this show and I'm obsessed with soaps.  yada yada yada.  And then I find out that I bought the first episodes 210-250!  Now this pisses me off to no ends because I want to watch the whole thing from the begining.  Why did they do this!?

Hi Cloak, welcome!  Don't worry about starting w/ep 210, it's a WHOLE different show once Barnabas is introduced, IMHO.  It won't ruin the show for you to start there, then get eps 1-209 later on.  It's almost like TWO shows IMO, one w/Barnabas, and one w/out.  That's where I started, in fact, I'd venture to say that, unless  a person is an original watcher (i.e. ran home from school in the late 60's to view it when it originally aired on ABC), most of us here started w/ep 210 as that's where MPI started the tapes back in the '90's and also where most syndication runs, including the one on the SciFi Channel, started.  By the time you get to ep 1245 (the show's last ep) you'll be able to get the pre-Barnabas eps.  They did it this way because they, MPI, felt that it would be a better marketing strategy to start w/the eps that caused the show to soar in popularity all those years ago.  It's strictly a marketing ploy.

Also how many DVD sets are there right now.  Someone mentioned that 26 only had 19 eps so does that mean that's where the series end?

They've just released volume 24, will release volume 25 in July, then volume 26, the last of the post-Barnabas eps, in September.  It's true that volume 26 will only have 19 eps as opposed to the standard 40, but they are supposedly going to load that set down w/TONS of special features (documentary featurette's, rehersal footage, trailers, etc...) so it will still be a 4 disk set selling at the same price.

[michael c]

i consider myself fortunate in that i knew from the get-go that the show ran for nearly a year before the barnabas character was introduced.

therefore i made the decision to start watching sequentially from episode one.these episodes were available on vhs under the "collectors series" title.they have since been discontinued(until the dvd release)but perhaps there is still some inventory.i consider these episodes a must.

as has been said once barnabas comes along it becomes a different show and the original characters essentially become his supporting cast.the first year is critical in understanding who all of these other people are because later on they really don't get much character development.i enjoyed this part of the show as much as anything else that came along later.

make no mistake...it's a soap opera.gothic to be sure but not overtly supernatural until the laura collins storyline begins in late 1966.that storyline alone makes this period unmissable.

i know that the sci-fi channel aired the pre-barnabas episodes at least once because the first episodes i ever saw were when david lured vicki to the closed-off section of collinwood and locked her in.this was during the inimitable fountain pen plot which is so pre-barn.

[Cloak]

make no mistake...it's a soap opera.gothic to be sure but not overtly supernatural until the laura collins storyline begins in late 1966.that storyline alone makes this period unmissable.

You mean the Phoenix right?  That's one of the reasons why I want to see the pre-Barnabas.  And speaking of...

Did Passions take pages from DS?  I read that right now there's a mermaid running around and it just appears to have the same tone as DS.  Tell me this isn't a coincidence.

[Ian]

Did Passions take pages from DS?  I read that right now there's a mermaid running around and it just appears to have the same tone as DS.  Tell me this isn't a coincidence.

It didn't directly take anything from DS, but it is sometimes supernatural in the same sense. Although when Timmy used to be on the show, they played the DS theme during certain Tabitha/Timmy scenes. Other than that, it's just other (albeit different) supernatural related things i.e. pathways into hell (through an upstairs closet ), witches, demons, etc.

[jennifer]

i agree start with the Barnabas intro before that i don't like as much but you can watch it later


jennifer
if only someone would pick up the series again

[Barnabas'sBride]

I would just go ahead and start watching the Barnabas episodes. I don't think it will interfere with your enjoyment of the show by watching the pre-Barnabas episodes afterward. I started with the Barnabas episodes, and I'm looking forward to getting the first year.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

First off, welcome Cloak!

started w/ep 210 as that's where MPI started the tapes back in the '90's and also where most syndication runs, including the one on the SciFi Channel, started.

As no one else has mentioned this yet, I should probably say that, actually, Sci-Fi began both their '92-'95 and '95-'97 runs with Ep #1. And when they brought DS back in January '99, they began with Ep #189. 


I've mentioned this before, but I didn't start watching DS originally until somewhere around Ep #313. I distinctly remember David being trapped in the mausoleum's secret room and Barnabas and Willie arguing in the Old House's drawing room. When I went back to school in September '67, a friend that I hadn't seen all summer told me that he'd started watching this daytime show with a vampire on it and I should check it out too. Needless to stay I got hooked and pretty much haven't looked back since. 

I didn't see from Ep #210 onward until they were first syndicated in '76. I didn't see Eps 1-5 until they were shown at the '89 NY Fest. And I didn't see Eps 6-209 until Sci-Fi showed them for a second time in '95 (and even then I didn't see a few because Sci-Fi skipped them - those I didn't see until '97 when I got the MPI tapes).

I honestly wish I had originally seen DS from Ep #1 all the way through. As mscbryk points out, when it comes to so many of the original characters, the pre-Barn eps are:

critical in understanding who all of these other people are

And I definitely found out that I enjoyed pre-Barn just as much as anything else that came along later.

the inimitable fountain pen plot which is so pre-barn. (tongue)

Yes, THE true must-see plot. If you haven't seen THE PEN plot, you simply haven't seen DS!! 

[ClaudeNorth]

Yes, THE true must-see plot. If you haven't seen THE PEN plot, you simply haven't seen DS!! 

Perhaps THE PEN will make a surprise appearance at this year's Fest... 

[BuzzH]

Yes, THE true must-see plot. If you haven't seen THE PEN plot, you simply haven't seen DS!! 

Perhaps THE PEN will make a surprise appearance at this year's Fest... 

My understanding is that The Pen died in a horrific car accident in 1989.  True, or not?  Sorry, I know I'm gossiping.   

[michael c]

i beg to differ buzz.

the pen in fact has it's own wing at the smithsonian institute in washington d.c..

a fitting tribute to it's monumentality.

[petofi]

The Pen! The Pen! The Pen!  It would be a perfect match for my HAND!!!!

Petofi