Hey, MB, so then I'm only 32, right?  Which means I wasn't around to watch the first DS airings on ABC, I guess....LOL--I'd rather be 52 and know that I am one of the pioneer fans who "ran home from school" (well, actually, I rode a school-bus) to watch our favorite show "way back when."  I think many of us "mature" fans will admit that DS, in its first showing, had a significat and permanent impact of our lives that has carried through to our adult lives.  Right?

Brian
(Now 52 and loving life!)

As far as 60s beach movies go, this one isn't too bad, with several familar faces, including Fabian, Shelley Fabares, Barbara Eden and Tab Hunter (in addition to Roger Davis.)  It's good old-fashioned beach-party fun for us old-timers who grew up with these films. 

Brian

Was the one story in it, entitled Bobby, remade for the Trilogy of Terror II movie?

Yes, and it was almost a scene-for-scene remake, with the same Cobert score.  But I think the first with Joan Hackett was much better!

Brian

I have a box of fan-copied VHS tapes, stored away in the spare-room closet, with the first 65 episodes.  The quality is not horrible, maybe 2nd  or 3rd generation--but after watching about 20 episodes, I gave up on this show.  Maybe someday I'll go back to watching again, but I found the show a pale (can I say again, PALE!) imitation of DS, and I just could not get into it.  That's my "humble" opinion, for what it's worth.

Brian

I just spot-checked those 4 episodes from my DVD set on my media computer and I don't see anything so dark that I can't see faces and such.  Not sure what the problem is with your set (could your TV or computer not be calibrated for proper viewing?), but I don't think MPI has done anything to the master tapes/digital files that were used to create this and other DVD sets.  In the Blue Whale scene, I can clearly see both Joe's and Carolyn's faces, not just their eyes.  And now, of course, I am wanting to go back and start watching those shows again...but first I must complete the pre-Barnabasr DVDs...

Brian

MB, I think you're correct...why else would the phrase "Dark Shadows" even be mentioned as part of the "mansion"?  Just as phrases such as  "Wicked Witch of the West," "Star Trek," "Green Acres," "Ghostbusters," "The Exorcist" and "Twilight Zone" (to name but a few) bring up specific images/thoughts, "Dark Shadows" has beocme a part of our collective consciousness, and evokes a certain concept or image for the American public.  (Heck, even my parents [who didn't watch DS with me but knew how important it was to this 1969 13-year-old that they held the family dinner until after 4:30 pm] made reference to Barnabas Collins many times long after the show was cancelled.)   

Brian 

The box should've gotten together with the afghan and demanded collective bargaining.

LOL....great comment, but we all know how Dan felt about unions....

Here's what I found in the ONE LIFE TO LIVE: THIRTY YEARS OF MEMORIES book (since I wasn't watching the show in 1988--I started in 1992):

(In 1988), a drugged horse threw a blind Clint Buchanan, who hit his head on a rock and lost consciousness.  When he awoke, Clint realized that his vision had returned: he could see!  But what he saw caused him to blink in amazement.  He had been inexplicably transported back 100 years in time to an Old West town called Buchanan City.  As he hobbled into town, Clint happened upon a showdown between two bitter rivals - the ranchers and the farmers.  To Clint's amazement, the head rancher, Buck, looked remarkably like his own pa, Asa.  It dawned upon Clint that he had somehow slipped back in time and landed in the home of his Wild West ancestors!  Clint was astounded by the sight of Buck Buchanan's right-hand man, Cody Vasquez, who looked exactly like Clint's own son, Cord!  Equally amazing was Ginny Fletcher, the town's uptight schoolmarm, who was the spitting image of Viki!  Clint realized that Ginny was Viki's own great-grandmother.  Before long, Clint learned why destiny had hurled him 100 years back in time.  An old Native American clairvoyant, Clear Eyes, explained to Clint that he had been called into the past to bring Farmer McGillis' clan and Rancher Buchanan's family together to mend their fences.  Clint eventually accomplished the mission and watched with deep satisfaction as the two families celebrated their newfound friendship with the marriage of Cody Vasquez to his true love, sweet May McGillis.  Clint’s next mission was to reunite Ginny Fletcher with her estranged paramour, Randolph Lord.  It dawned on Clint that if he did not accomplish his goal, then Viki would never be born.

And for the record, as of now, Viki’s name is Victoria Lord Riley Burke Riley Buchanan Buchanan Carpenter Davidson, with Banks soon to be added, I suspect.  LOL.  Erika Slezak even poked fun at Viki's many marriages in her appearance on THE VIEW last week.

Brian