dark shadows 2016

[michael c]

i had some unstructured time on my hands this morning .so i did a little d.s.math.
now d.s. was a daily show that originally aired 1225 episodes over a five year period.now what if it had been a weekly prime-time show instead.there are about 23 episodes in a prime-time t.v. show's season.so what if they tried to cover the same area story-wise and produce the same number of episodes?dark shadows would have been on the air in first-runs until the year 2016!

let's take a look.season one.twenty three episodes.story-wise this would have brought us to the car crash/bleeder valve business.and a quick reference to luciaphil's idle thoughts reminds us that at this point in the show we were on day three.three days covered in a year-long season!
barnabas would not have been released from his coffin for nine years!the seance that led to the year 1795 would not have taken place until 1981.now if we think 18th century fashion as seen through the late 60's was weird think of it seen through the early 80's(a new-wave influence?).victoria would have been on the show until 1993.we would now be viewing episode 900-ish.early leviathan stuff.

there were a few re-casts on the show but can you imagine this scenario?as actors aged and moved on to "greener pastures" they'd have to be replaced.would they characters constantly be re-cast to maintain the age they were originally or would they have been allowed to age in real time?would jeb hawkes be dating a sixty-something carolyn?could barnabas still turn into a bat in his eighties?would davis still require a governess in his fifties?

like i said i had some unstructured time.

[PennyDreadful]

Wow, 2016 huh?!  That's interesting mscbryk.  I was actually wondering how long DS would have been on the air if it had been a once a week show, but still with the same number of eps, but was too lazy to do the math! Thanks for figuring it out!

~PennyDreadful~

[victoriawinters]

I think the format of the scripts would have been different had it been in prime time.  I believe they would have had to move the story along a bit faster.  Soap opera is a particular way to tell stories.  There are certain plot devices you don't see in prime time.  You have to resolve plot points a lot quicker in the hour format then you do the soap format.  The stories can take years to unfold in soaps.  This is one of the reasons why we enjoy our characters so much.  They can be fleshed out and take time to develop.  You don't have as much time in prime time.

Instead of an average of two and 1/2 hours per week you get one, not counting commercials.  Soap opera is a different format then anything else on the dramatic planet.  I happen to love it.

[Barnabas'sBride]

I have to admit, overall I'm not too fond of the Soap Opera format.  I'm not too fond of soaps in general though (DS is an exception).  It isn't so much that the plots are extended for as long as they possibly can be that bothers me, it's the fact that it reaches a point for me where I feel like I'm on a never ending merry go round. I suppose I enjoy having a payoff of sorts and with soaps, you don't really get that.

I think it's possible to develop characters in prime time, over a period of seasons.

With the exception of DS, I rarely ever get invested in soap operas. But that could be because most soaps are just too "ordinary" for my taste. DS had a flavor all of its own. I love the mystery elements tied in with supernatural (though I'm not as fond of the overdone monster happy storylines on DS, like Adam & Eve/Nicholas Blair/Cassandra...it takes away from the Collins family too much).

[michael c]

thanks for the thoughts guys.monday was cold and gray and besides doing my laundry coming up with this d.s.equation was as fun as it got.

i like your handle penny.i've often thought that "penny wise" would make a cute name for someone.perhaps a very bookish drag queen(done up in very dr.hoffman-ish tweeds).

[PennyDreadful]

i like your handle penny.i've often thought that "penny wise" would make a cute name for someone.perhaps a very bookish drag queen(done up in very dr.hoffman-ish tweeds).

  LOL!  That would be perfect! Any time I hear the word pennywise now though, I think of the clown from Stephen King's 'It'.  Specifically, of Tim Curry as the aforementioned clown!

  I use the moniker Penny Dreadful on my radio show (check it out if you can catch it on live internet at www.wsmu.org - it's on Fridays from 12-3PM Eastern Time)  I make DS references quite often!  It's mainly punk, goth/deathrock, psychobilly, rockabilly, surf, and garage mod-rock type stuff.  Three chord rock 'n' roll.  Simple and sweet.  I also used Penny Dreadful as my name in a semi-defunct band I was in - http://webhost.bridgew.edu/d1oliveira/shitty_kitty.htm     My husband was the bass player.  We only really played/play at parties.  We kinda suck but, hey, that's our charm.

The name Penny Dreadful is derived from penny dreadfuls which were 8-page books popular in Victorian times.  They were published in installments and were cheaply-produced, often lurid tales of murder, romance, revenge, detective stories, etc...  Sheesh now I sound like your bookish Penny Wise, eh? 

 ~Penny Dreadful (or Shilling Shocker if you prefer)~

[MagnusTrask]

That is a stellar name, Ms. Dreadful.