In an effort to present a balanced view of what fans were saying back in 1990 about the '91 series, I've decided to present both sides rather than simply some of the complaints that first surfaced.
First up, some random quotes that might have some of us scratching our heads once we realize that all of them were indeed made without having seen so much as a 10 second clip from the pilot (those are my remarks between the brackets [ ]):
- "the look of the DS sets was specific and unique, from Collinwood's foyer and Josette's room, to the Collins mausoleum ... I could never relate to any sets other than the ones I already recognize for Collinwood, the Old House or Collinsport scenes like the Blue Whale Bar."
- "Now I'll have a whole new set of rooms to memorize, and frankly, it will be more of a nuisance than a pleasure. I can only hope the set-designers will make the sets resemble the originals as much as possible." [Gee, how wildly disappointed these two fans must have been. And how foolish of Fred Harpman, Janet Stokes & Jeannie Gunn to have created/decorated such a magnificent set as the new Great Hall. What were they thinking?! :o Don't get me wrong I love the original sets, but come on!]
- "above everything else, DON'T, for God's sake, pattern a new DS in the style and tone of DALLAS! Never! It's too slick and too corrupt, and the Collins family should never be like the Ewings," [Granted, he may have his moments, but why would DC have wanted to do anything even remotely resembling that?!]
- "We all have high hopes for it (but) I'm afraid that the hopes might be too unrealistic by the time it gets to the screen."
- "it will not be exactly the way we want it to be (I, like so many others who wrote continuation stories might be out of joint because all the wonderful new characters that we created were not included," [As if the writers would have ever considered basing anything on fanfic?!]
- "I would be very distressed if they made a new Dark Shadows without -- at the very least -- they didn't hire Jonathan Frid as a consultant. Ben Cross is a good actor, but he's no Barnabas." [DC hiring Frid as a consultant? Or Frid even wanting to have been one? Yeah, right!]
- "I've never seen much point in remakes. If the original is good, why do it again?"
- "Will this Barnabas have a caped coat? I doubt it. Another trademark down the tubes"
- "I have seen a photo of the new Joe Haskel, Michael Weiss [see attachment below] this new, unshaven version, who looks like a motorcycle-biker to me. ... Will Carolyn be into the New Age scene, or (shudder) punk rock? Will David take drugs? Joe?" [Gee, what a shame it didn't turn out that Joe and his "motorcycle-biker" buds didn't actually deal drugs, huh? :- ]
- "As time goes by many of us will begin tuning it out."
- "A new Dark Shadows! Why is it that I'm not very excited? ... I'm not happy."
- "I don't like the English accent Mr. Cross has either. I think it's too thick for Barnabas."
- "I've seen Mr. Cross in a vampire movie, and I wasn't pleased... he didn't look all that great with fangs." [Huh? Who knew fangs were supposed to be a flattering look?]
- it is the later Barnabas that I fear he will not be able to portray. ... I think Mr. Cross will have trouble with that part of the role. They are going to have to mellow Barnabas after a time, if the show lasts that long before cancellation that is, there is where the problem with Mr. Cross lies." [Who knew this person, who earlier in their letter had said that the only thing they'd ever seen him in was the vampire spoof "Nightlife" (which I thought was pretty funny and appreciate even more after having seen Cross in the '91 DS) could come away from that one performance fully aware of Cross' full acting range? Apparently checking out something like, oh, say, Chariots of Fire was just, well, too beyond them. It was simply one movie and they knew it all. ]
- and "will we see Roger all tied up in a junk bond scandal or Carolyn as the town slut with several illegitimate children running around Collinwood? Will David be a punker with a mohawk or will Collinsport give a new meaning to the phrase "Hello Sailor" as the Blue Whale has become a gay bar?"
- "it's got the potential to be a huge flop"
And believe it or not, these quotes are actually some of the milder complaints that were made (though I'm pretty sure that those next to last comments were supposed to be jokes - at least I hope so :- ).
Thankfully, though, these and other more harsh comments didn't go unchallenged after other fans had gotten the opportunity to read them. And some of those letters will appear in a followup as soon as I get the chance to gather them and post it. My hope is that they might help channel/spark current discussion/speculation regarding a WB DS into a more postive direction.....
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