DS: The Next Generation?

[Zahir]

Okay, here's a thread to generate ideas for a different kind of new DS, a t.v. series that is a sequel to the original.  Liz and Roger are no more, as presumably the same can be said of Barnabas, Julia, Professor Stokes, etc.

One would assume David Collins to be patriarch of the family by now, assuming of course he himself is still alive.  He'd be into his fifties in 2008, old enough to have adult children.  Lots of possibilities, there!  Given the examples with which David grew up, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to learn his relationship with his family not the best.  For that matter, he might easily have two sets of offspring from two marriages!  If, for example, Amy Jennings were his first wife, then their children would carry the curse of the werewolf!

Another possibility is another branch of the family.  When last we left the Collins family, history in 1840 had been changed so that the original Quentin Collins lived to wed Daphne Harridge.  So back in 1970 a whole new crop of Collinses might exist!  One plotline that immediately comes to mind is which branch is more affluent?  If David and his kids aren't as so well off anymore, perhaps they live in the Old House while renting Collinwood to their cousins?  Just a thought.

What about Carolyn?  She was supposed to have been born in 1949, which makes her almost sixty in 2008.  A nice touch would have been if she married a Collins cousin so that her children bear the Collins name.

Myself, I think the Leviathans could easily be brought back.  I thought they offered a marvelous explanation for the strange goings-on at that patch of ground.  Was what became Collinsport a place of power to them in some forgotten epoch?  Are they tied there in some eldritch way, fostering magics and curses?

I would also point out there are at least two fascinating gaps in Collins family history just waiting to be exploited:  Most of the 18th century, between the eras of Isaac & Amadeus Collins, and that of Joshua Collins; and between the years 1840 and 1897, including the Civil War.

Just some thoughts, really.  Anybody else want to add their ideas?  Plots to explore?  Actors and actresses to cast? 

[Gerard]

I know I've mentioned this here before.  I also wrote another novel (this one a completed rough-draft) back in '99 in the hopes that it could become part of the aborted HarperCollins series.  It was set in 2000 and was a where-are-they-now-next-generation story. 

Carolyn and David were the "co-masters" of Collinwood.  Carolyn never remarried and about two decades earlier, with her now-deceased mother's support, threw a huge investment into the construction of a resort hotel which was not only successful, but turned Collinsport into a posh vacation spot with other hotels, shops, cafes, stripmalls, etc., making it another Bar Harbor.  David married, has two sons, and his wife had the entire Collinwood estate restored, making it the social center of the rich-and-famous who now populate the community.  Carolyn and David's astute financial dealings have made the family mega-wealthy.  Also living in Collinwood is Roger (Louis Edmonds was still alive) who's a loveable and always complaining curmudgeon.  Quentin also lives there, working in Carolyn's businesses.  Yes, he is still "immortal" and hides his "unaging" (and that's part of the storyline).  Barnabas and Willie live in quiet retirement in the fully restored and modernized Old House.  Imagine, electricity, plumbing, central heat and air, a satellite dish on the roof, Willie using a microwave and automatic dishwasher, Barnabas pursuing his hobby of history via the internet on his computer.  Maggie is living in southern California, married with grown children to a successful husband; she comes to Collinsport for a visit after being gone for decades.  And Angelique returns, this time a totally and completely reformed woman, totally human.  And something else returns to Collinwood, something not rather nice.

It was fun to write, bringing everything up-to-date, with my own heart-tugging scenes, such as visiting the final resting places of now-long-gone-but-not-forgotten family and friends, such as Elizabeth, Julia and Eliot.

Gerard

[alwaysdavid]

Barnabas and Angelique live in the old house where she tries to live a mortal and quiet life, but sometimes magic makes things so much easier and with servant Willie and his son Little Willie  always seeming to get into some misadventure there are occasions.  Then there is the problem of their practicing witch daughter Hallie who is the first wife of David Collins and mother to his oldest son Tim.   She has taken none to kindly to David's second wife  Melanie who just happens to be the daughter of Victoria and supposedly Peter Bradford.  David and Melanie have  a son  Brandon and a daughter  Laurie.   

Elizabeth left Collinwood to her eldest daughter Victoria who has never understood how she became pregnant in the frist place, but the arrival of a strange yet familiar man who is determined to take down the Collins family set's her off to Wyndcliff to Dr. Amy Jennings in hope's she can unlock the secret with  hypnosis.  Victoria has been drawn into the past more times than she can count and died there only to be rescued by some member of the family.  She also has a teenage son Daniel Collins. 

The mysterious man who calls himself  Blake Madison come to town with his granddaughter  Eden and when she and Brandon Collins meet at Collinsport High sparks fly

[GooberCollins]

The first bit reminds me of Bewitched.

Victoria has never understood how she became pregnant? Thank you, whether intentional or not, that gave me the biggest laugh I've had in quite a while. XD

[Miss_Winthrop]

I once had in mind a daily soap that I would write about the passing years of the originals from Collinsport and their children.  First I'd have Maggie return to Collinsport from Hollywood.  She has a daughter Darla who cannot stop meddling into the strange happenings going on in the countryside surrounding Collinsport and which results in disasterous consequences for her.  Maggie, newly divorced from her 3rd husband has settled in Collinsport with the intention of having a New England style antiques regional roadshow television series originate in Collinsport.  Maggie has the blessing of her second husband, Duke (not Darla's father), who by the way is still in love with her, and is financing the venture.  With a lot of fanfare, the new TV series catches fire bringing a lot of people into the area and Collinsport begins to experience rapid growth much to the chagrin of the town's population. There's immediate unpleasantness between Maggie and the Collinses about the changes.  David has returned as the head of the family to Collinwood with his new wife Cassandra who has every intention of tearing the old mansion down and starting afresh. One by one our beloved characters will be featured in the new series.

[MagnusTrask]

Any ideas need to be startling and have a surprising horror component, not just a soap opera quality of this or that happening to the characters.

[Zahir]

For what it is worth, Magnus, I agree with you.  DS needs the supernatural, which is why I was suggesting one of David's children be Amy's son, hence a werewolf.

Myself, I wouldn't re-use any adult characters from the original series simply because it would involve re-casting, which is a headache I myself would rather avoid.  But perhaps that is just me.

Some other motifs I think could definitely be used in order to recapture the "spirit" of the original:

* A mysterious visitor with a dark secret, most likely claiming to be a long lost Collins.  In this day and age, his or her background could easily be checked so perhaps a more modern twist would be for this person to be an illegitimate child of David.
* Ghosts.  Someone we haven't seen before, but with an agenda set in motion by something happening in the modern day.  Pages of a diary found or a secret grave uncovered, etc.
* There should definitely be a split among the characters, especially the Collins family, between those who Believe in the paranormal and those who are Unbelievers.
* Harkening back/ripping off classic horror and gothic literature.  The original series did a lot of them, but there remain various other sources, including LeFanu's Carmilla, the stories of Edgar Allan Poe (not just The Cask of Amantillado), H.G.Wells' The Invisible Man, the motion picture The Mummy (the original) or the Karloff/Lugosi classic The Invisible Ray.  Plus The Creature from the Black Lagoon!

At the same time, there are new elements that can be introduced, ones that were impossible in the 1960s but can be included in new series:

* Native Americans.  Who would be surprised to learn that the natives of what we call New England have legends about the spot of ground where Collinsport lies?
* Gay characters.  This was absolutely taboo when the original series was made, whereas it is a common source of storytelling in modern shows.
* DNA and its secrets.  Imagine, for example, the possibilities of someone looking for the genetic marker of being able to wield witchcraft?  Or a test revealing someone is a Collins who had no idea he/she was related to the family?
* More modern horror motifs to be honored/ripped off, like evil Clowns or the iconic little girl from The Ring (and a hundred other Japanese horror films), an animated doll or mannequin or scarecrow, etc.

[Miss_Winthrop]

I believe a new DS series would definitely work.  I agree that there is so much out in the world today that could be woven into the ongoing story of the Collinses and their offspring.  The focus could be on the Collinses, the Evans and Stokes families.  I'm particularly intrigued by a Native-American storyline.