What characters or stories do you like that aren't very popular with others?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, those storylines just didn't have the highest ratings, so that's what I meant.

They had ratings higher than Barnabas' first storyline. 

[Garth Blackwood]

Am I alone when I say that the level of ratings is not a reasonable measure of the popularity of the storyline? Sure they may be correllated, but many other things affect the ratings. The best story ever could have been the very first one, but not as many people had heard of the show yet, so it didn't get watched as much.

Also, I suspect the true dark shadows fans watched the whole series, but just had personal opinions about which stories were the best. The fluctuations in the ratings are likely due to transient fans who likely didn't follow whole storylines regularly, and thus do not fully reflect the quality of the storyline

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I totally agree with you on almost every point, Garth. The one caveat I'd add is that it's hard to argue that the large drop in ratings after 1897 didn't in some way reflect that a portion of the original audience who'd loved 1897 found something about Leviathans not to their liking. Thankfully, though, the ratings began to rebound after Leviathans. And, of course, just because something wasn't originally embraced in its own time doesn't necessarily make it bad. I mean, just look at how The Wizard of Oz was originally received, but nowadays it's considered a classic. (Though I wouldn't personally go that far with Leviathans.    It has some absolutely wonderful moments in the beginning - but, whoa, what a mess it becomes at the end!!  )

[GooberCollins]

...I need to start doing my own research instead of relying strictly on the official companions. They kind of painted it to sound like those storylines had next to no viewers. And, yes, I never thought of it that way. The die-hard fans probably did watch it all the way through to the end, while the casual fans dropped out.

[Miss_Winthrop]

Very interesting points of views from everyone.  This is a fantastic question and I'd like to add that I really liked the Leviathan storyline and had wished that Barnabas could've stayed evil.  I too get the Jeb & Carolyn sexual chemistry and I always liked Jeb.  I liked all of the storylines when Joan Bennet got a chance to act and not just be scenery dressing.  In particular was her portrayal of the 'death obssesed Liz'.  Good stuff.  As for PT, it's strange but I really liked the Bruno attraction for Angelique story. Too bad he was dispatched so early on.  All I can say about the Bramwell and Catherine storyline was I absolutely loved it. I really felt the chemistry between those two. I didn't care for the Morgan character in as much as he didn't ring true for me.  His character could have been written differently.  The first Laura storyline was the best along with her dealings with Dr. Guthrie sent shivers up my spine.