Opening Voiceovers

[A.I.Collins]

Hey Guys!...Does anyone know why they used females for most of the opening voiceovers during the run of the show? I always assumed it was because the females had better elocution(Spelling?) than the males.But has anyone noticed that the Opening Voiceovers are usually done by one of the actor/actresses in that day's episode?I guess the directors just picked whoever felt like doing the OV that day and let them do it.I think the Opening Voiceovers are really cool though....they clue the viewers in on what is happening and such....it's just one of the many things I love about DS!!!

Adra

P.S...Who do you guys think does the best Opening Voiceovers??...I love to hear Grayson Hall myself.

[VictoriaWintersRox]

Hmm I dunno why they used females more then males, but I think the ladies on the show did a better job at it. I think John Karlen is a great actor, but I can't stand it when he does the voiceover.

[Connie]

According to the 30th Anniversary Almanac, there were 50 different actors who did voice-overs.  I added them up quickly, and YES...the women far outnumber the men.

Women: 960
Men:  265

Alexandra Moltke obviously did the most, by far - 387
Grayson did a lot - 156
Nancy Barrett - 116

Of the men, first place goes to David Selby - 46  
Followed closely by Thayer David - 45
Louis Edmonds - 33

Maybe some had better voices than others.  But then maybe it was merely a matter of who was most amenable to doing it that day!  LOL

-CLC

[tripwire]

after hearing about what a tightwas dc was, i am sure he wouldnt wanna pay an actor just to do the voice over.  I noticed something else, that if an actor was in the last scene of the day, but was not going to be in the next days script, they would always make an exit, like eve the other day screaming "someone is gonna die in this house, tonight" can think of a lot of occasions that occured, but today, i noticed stokes was there when barnabas began choking, and the show ended, but wasnt there when they redid the scene the following show.

[Connie]

after hearing about what a tightwad dc was, i am sure he wouldnt wanna pay an actor just to do the voice over.

I read somewhere that there HAD been an announcer that was doing the voice-over, and indeed - DC did NOT want to pay for it, so he got the actors to do it.  They did not get paid for doing voice-overs.

-CLC

[Cassandra]

  today, i noticed stokes was there when barnabas began choking, and the show ended, but wasnt there when they redid the scene the following show.

Ya know, I was wondering the same thing? Where the heck did he go? When Barnabas started choking in the first scene, the Prof. was reading a book in the backround, then suddenly jumped out of camera range. Either he wasn't suppose to be in that scene or he was running to go and find BATHIA MAPES!!                         [/b]  

[MrsJ]

P.S...Who do you guys think does the best Opening Voiceovers??...I love to hear Grayson Hall myself.

So do I.  She's got the most exotic voice for a dramatic reading...as an aside, I've heard a couple of radio dramas she'd been involved in.  The quality wasn't great, but what a treat to sit back, close my eyes and just listen to that voice!  It's a shame she didn't do more of that type of work.

MrsJ.

[scout75]

Joan Bennett always seemed annoyed when she did the opening voiceover, especially during the 1795 storyline.

[petofi]

Dan Curtis was, indeed looking to save money with the voice overs being done with the day's cast.  Originally, the voice overs were done only by Alexandra Moltke, and she was paid even if she wasn't in that day's episode!  DC figured this out, and began using cast members who were already in the episode, eliminating the possibility of paying Alexandra for a VO only.

Petofi

[Cassandra]

So do I.  She's got the most exotic voice for a dramatic reading...as an aside, I've heard a couple of radio dramas she'd been involved in.  The quality wasn't great, but what a treat to sit back, close my eyes and just listen to that voice!  It's a shame she didn't do more of that type of work.

I agree Mrs.J,  Grayson had a good strong voice and was great at telling a story.  I realized this after hearing her opening voiceover for The Haunted Mansion at Disney. Her diction was always perfect, plus she sounded great. You're right, it would have nice if she did more of this kind of stuff.  

[Dr. Eric Lang]

Dan Curtis was, indeed looking to save money with the voice overs being done with the day's cast.  Originally, the voice overs were done only by Alexandra Moltke, and she was paid even if she wasn't in that day's episode!  DC figured this out, and began using cast members who were already in the episode, eliminating the possibility of paying Alexandra for a VO only.

Petofi

Also, the requirement for the VO was that the actor was not in the opening scene (although I have seen an exception to this at least once.)

I was disappointed when they stopped having Alexandra Moltke start each show with "My name is Victoria Winters." It wasn't long after that before Victoria started to become more of a supporting player than the lead.

I think my favorite VO's were done by Thayer David; he had a serious quality about his voice that made the intro seem more interesting than it might actually be.

[Craig_Slocum]

Either he wasn't suppose to be in that scene or he was running to go and find BATHIA MAPES!!

VAM said she should get together with Harry Johnson, so maybe she did!  

[Craig_Slocum]

I agree that Grayson Hall did the best voiceovers.  

[kuanyin]

Also, the requirement for the VO was that the actor was not in the opening scene (although I have seen an exception to this at least once.)

I hadn't heard that one. I have noticed that if Vicky is in the show, she almost always still does the voiceover. I don't think she is the best at it though. I have to go with the others this time, Grayson and the Professor  are the best.  Though I also enjoy some unknown with a small part in that day's episode, as it is fun to try to guess who the heck it is!

[A.I.Collins]

I know what you mean Kuanyin.I remember two particular episodes in the 1795 storyline that I thought Nancy Barrett did the voiceovers,but I later went to the DarkShadows.com website and found out that it was Jane Draper.(Suki forbes)

Adra