i'm doing 1840...finally

[michael c]

for about four years i had been watching the show sequentially from begining to end...but about a year or so ago i started to get burned out on the whole thing and stopped watching with the "summer of 1970" episodes.

i re-watched a few favorites(laura collins,1795)but i finally decided i was ready for something new and i just bought dvd collection 23 and thus will begin my "journey" to 1840 this weekend.i have always heard very mixed things about this storyline but i'm excited for a new group of sets and characters.

to get "reaquainted" with the storyline leading up to this i watched some of the summer of 1970 episodes this week and was reminded of why i stopped watching with these episodes.the writing was terrible and everyone seemed really worn out.grayson especially seemed exhausted here.

this has been said many times before but both david and hallie were much too old for the storyline.
i wonder why they needed to remain "children"?the storyline could easily have been written with adolescents or teenagers in mind.the business with the playroom,dollhouse and governess were much too babyish for kids that age.

still,as uneven as i'm told 1840 is i'm glad to have new stuff to watch.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

still,as uneven as i'm told 1840 is i'm glad to have new stuff to watch.

Fans shouldn't necessarily believe what others say about the individual storylines because we all love and dislike a whole assorted array of things when it comes to DS - and no two fans are completely alike. And truthfully, our differences are what makes discussion boards like this so much fun to take part in. But at the same time these boards can often give the impression that everyone thinks this or that - though, of course, that's not true. For instance, Leviathans is many fans' least favorite DS storyline - while others rank it as one of their favorites.   So try to approach 1840/41 with a completely open mind and go for the ride. Others may perceive it as flawed (though one might ask what DS storyline is actually perfect?), but it also has some absolutely wonderful things going for it.

[Gothick]

Things I adore about 1840:

The incredible Virginia Vestoff and her scorchingly brilliant work as Samantha

Joan Bennett's *initial* characterization as Flora (who all too quickly turns back into Reigning Dowager of Collinwood--but Joan does get to have some fun first!)

Nancy Barrett's return as another Faye--Leticia (presumably Pansy's Grandmother???)

The *initial* Judah Zachery storyline (I won't mention here where I think it jumps the shark since it involves a *major* spoiler)

There are some other moments that shine involving specific scenes but, again, as this involves major spoliation, I won't bring them up here.

Chris Pennock is really brillaint as Gabriel, too, although I find that a little bit of the character goes a long way.

Hope you enjoy watching the shows!  I gather you've never seen PT 1841, either?

G.

[BuzzH]

Fans shouldn't necessarily believe what others say about the individual storylines...for instance, Leviathans is many fans' least favorite DS storyline - while others rank it as one of their favorites.

SO true!!  I'd always heard terrible things about Leviathan and dreaded it's approach greatly.  But I LOVED it, I thought it was great!

Nancy Barrett's return as another Faye--Leticia (presumably Pansy's Grandmother???)

Wow!  I never even picked up on that, duh!     What an interesting fan fic that would make showing a familial relationship between Pansy and Leticia!  

I gather you've never seen PT 1841, either?

Ah, I LOVE 1841 PT!  

[barnabasjr]

Things I adore about 1840:

The incredible Virginia Vestoff and her scorchingly brilliant work as Samantha

Joan Bennett's *initial* characterization as Flora (who all too quickly turns back into Reigning Dowager of Collinwood--but Joan does get to have some fun first!)

Nancy Barrett's return as another Faye--Leticia (presumably Pansy's Grandmother???)

The *initial* Judah Zachery storyline (I won't mention here where I think it jumps the shark since it involves a *major* spoiler)

There are some other moments that shine involving specific scenes but, again, as this involves major spoliation, I won't bring them up here.

Chris Pennock is really brillaint as Gabriel, too, although I find that a little bit of the character goes a long way.

Hope you enjoy watching the shows!  I gather you've never seen PT 1841, either?

I was going to snip this quote to concur with your praise of Virginia Vestoff, but I just couldn't disregard the rest of your post, Gothick. You've really pointed out the great things about this storyline, and, myscbryk, I sincerely hope you are able to fully enjoy these fantastic characters. Sometimes it may seem like a long ride, but this era of DS is, in my opinion, vastly underrated. Have fun!

[Brandon Collins]

I've never really had anything against the 1840 storyline. I think it's pretty tight, barring some obvious things that have been pointed out many times here and other places. It's basically the same story, or the same way into a story in the past as the Quentin/Beth thing, but it's told in a newer way, which is nice. I like it primarily because it doesn't stretch on for MONTHS like the 1897 story eventually did.

And I used to HATE 1841 PT when I watched it when I was younger. The first and second times I saw it I thought it sucked. But now that I'm older, and can appreciate regular soaps more, I like this storyline much more. It''s very well written and has some great plot developments, and even pushes an evelope in one relationship. It's become one of my favored DS storylines.

[MagnusTrask]

1840 is the reason not to give up on DS after Petofi disappears, I think.     It sags after Judah goes out of his head.     I love the new bit of music associated with the Head.   Gabriel is great.    JF come to life again ironically when he plays 1840 Barnabas w/o 1970 BC in hin yet.   

[michael c]

a few more thoughts on 1970 before i start 1840...

again i'm reminded of how bad the writing was towards the end of this storyline.

but more importantly i was thinking about barnabas,julia and quentin.here we have a trio of two formerly evil characters(barnabas,quentin)and one at least formerly flawed and conflicted character(julia).

once these characters became wildly popular with the fans they were written into the roles of "protagonists" and "anti-heros" and in the process lost alot of what i think made them interesting in the first place.

1967 julia is a way more fascinating character i think than 1968-70 barnabas' assistant julia.she becomes a one note character after a while.quentin i think becomes similarly dull and even superfluous after parallel-time.barnabas in also too much of a goody-two-shoes during this period as well.it's easy to forget he's still a vampire.with gerard afoot the whole thing is top-heavy with villians and former villians and the rest of the cast is largely wasted.the writing for maggie is terrible here and i can see why this is the moment she chose to jump ship and move to france.

anyways i just think b,j and q are woefully dull during this part of the show.

[MagnusTrask]

Ideal Barnabas for me is the anti-hero, intimidating, frightening protagonist of early 1897.    Plain old "evil" Barnabas gets boring fast to me, but straight-ahead good guy BC even more so.    1840 Barnabas who is of 1840, at the start, is great.    He hadn't stewed in his juices long enough to get really twisted yet... but long enough to make him interesting.    I love 1795 human Barnabas.  It's just the present day good Barnabas that really bothers me, though he gets boring in 1840 too.

Few writers write protagonists who are interesting and have personalities.   It can't be an impossible task.

[arashi]

I'm off and on watching 1840 myself. The odd thing is that when I first watched it I was riveted to the damn screen, this time I am distracted and keep going back to the Leviathan storyline which has really become one of my favorite storylines on the show. From what I have seen (To the end of disc one in boxset 24) it's pretty fun, but for some reason I just can't get into it right now. I LOVE Samantha though, I forgot what an awesome character she was, I also really like Roxanne. I'm waiting for things to kick off I think. I remember really loving Kendrick and Gabriel too. Maybe I'll give the discs a spin tomorrow. Don't give up on 1840, it gets to be a kick in the pants (LOL! Again, from what I remember.)

As for summer 1970 I used to think it was a pretty damn ridiculous storyline as well, but after another viewing had entirely different thoughts on it.

[MagnusTrask]

I haven't seen evidence of you for awhile, arashi.   Welcome back!

[arashi]

Thanks Magnus!

[Gothick]

John Karlen as Kendrick is *luscious* but just doesn't have all that much to do.  Particularly after a certain plot development.  His scenes with Nancy Barrett are a highlight of the remainder of DS.

I forgot to mention that this period (really the entire final 12 months of the series, but this period in particular) was, for MANY years, a Holy Grail for fans, because up until I think around 1993, this period had never been syndicated out or shown on television in any form and what fans had to go on for it were publicity photos, stills and people's Dark Shadows Journals (also, some people had taped each episode at home and then lovingly preserved the tapes--I think those fan cassette tapes were used to replace dialogue that was missing on the master tapes, most notably in the missing episode towards the end of the series).

When fans finally got to see it again (I think on Sci Fi; if memory serves, the Sci Fi airing pre-dated the VHS release of these shows, but I could be wrong about that), it was a huge rush for oldtime fans and probably something the like of which DS fans will never see again.  I think this may be part of why the reaction to how certain developments was handled in 1840 has proven so durably extreme in fandom--that, and the nature of the crowning denouement of 1840, which a lot of fans find simply unacceptable (in various ways, of course).

As for the Summer of 1970, what I don't get is why they set up such a different backstory from events as they actually staged them in 1840.  I can only presume that the writers were working under their own reconnaissance and then at some point DC came in and saw what was planned and yelled, "A shipboard romance on THIS show?  Whaddya think our budget is--the national debt???" Or words to that effect.

cheers, G.

[MagnusTrask]

I guess you're talking about all of 1840-1, whether PT or RT.   Unless you meant Desmond instead of Kendrick.

[michael c]

one more thing on 1970...

i just watched maggie's final episode where she dons that little head scarf,says goodbye,and is driven to wyndcliff.

i actually felt a bit emotional about saying "goodbye" to maggie.we've been through alot together over the years.

yes i know i can watch hundreds of other maggie episodes but this was the last time i would see her in an episode that was "new" to me.i felt sad.since vicki's final appearance featured an actress other than alexandra i wasn't that emotional about it but with mags it was k.l.s. from day one.

also during these episodes maggie reminded me alot of linda blair about mid-exorcist before she really turns into the pea-soup spewing monster.
i don't know alot about vampire lore(my knowledge is limited to d.s.)but as maggie here was the victim of a female vampire is there anything "saphic" about that?obviously that could not be spelled out in specifics on a soap in 1970 but can this subtext be read into it?