DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '17 I => Topic started by: Joeytrom on February 05, 2017, 06:12:24 PM
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In an old World of Dark Shadows from the 70s, there was an article about DS returning with Jonathan Frid set to return as Barnabas in a new series under the title "Bitter Hill". Does anyone remember this? It was never mentioned again anywhere.
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Never heard about it.
The only thing I ever heard about a potential return with the original cast was back in 1986 when two guys, Scott Young and Jack Teetor, of Young/Teetor Productions tried very hard to negotiate the rights for DS to make a TV-movie called Return to Collinwood. Prior to meeting with DC, Young talked to Lara Parker, KLS, David Selby, Nancy Barrett, Louis Edmonds, Joan Bennett and Jonathan Frid, and they all said they were interested pending a script. And speaking of the script, after also talking to all four of them, Young planned to bring Ron Sproat, Sam Hall, Violet Welles and Joe Caldwell on board to write it. And after a lengthy first pitch to Ruth Kennedy of DCP, she said the idea was a possibility because DC wouldn't have to be involved with it. But in the end DC wouldn't strike a deal. So...
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It sounds like the attempt, in the later '70's, to reboot Star Trek back to television. Virtually all the original cast signed back on for Star Trek: Phase II, and new characters, including Persis Khambatta as a navigator named Ilia, coming from the completely bald Deltan race. Sets were built, some filming began and then for some reason it all fell apart and was salvaged to become 1979's cinematic sequel Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
TLATKLS remarked in a DS documentary, how both DS and ST aired at the same time and both appealed to the same viewing audience for polar reason - the former was often set in the past and the latter was set in the future. How interesting that both, at the same time, were seriously considered for a late-seventies television reboot or continuance. Just think of what it would've been like if the proposed Return to Collinwood, even if initially done as a made-for-TV film had been a ratings hit and it returned as a prime-time series, much in the same way that The Homecoming: A Christmas Story caught the audience and became The Waltons.
Gerard
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I do remember reading that, Joeytrom. I think that there was also another show called Salem's Children or Satan's Children that Frid was supposed to be a part of. I don't think any of those ever made it to the pilot phase.
And I also remember the project that you mentioned, MB. I think that it was in one of The Dark Shadows Files magazines. That was the golden era of nighttime soaps and it sounded like a great idea. I wonder if the script has ever surfaced anywhere.
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That was the golden era of nighttime soaps and it sounded like a great idea. I wonder if the script has ever surfaced anywhere.
I don't think it ever got as far as the script phase. And as well as being the golden age of nighttime soaps, it was also the golden age of reviving TV shows as a series of made-for-TV movies (think Perry Mason, Gilligan's Island, etc) and I believe Young wanted to go the series of movies route. But who knows what might have happened had Return to Collinwood actually been produced...
Three interesting bits:- Frid was adamant that hoDS be treated as if it didn't exist and a Return to Collinwood film had to somehow pick up from the daytime show.
- What Young planned was to pick up the story from the end of Leviathans.
- And he also wanted to do a flashback to the '20s that would somehow involve Quentin (sound like something that actually was done by a certain someone?).
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It's been years since I thought about this, as I lost the Files publications some time ago. But I seem to recall that the story would ignore much of the last year of the series. I specifically remember that Maggie was still going to be residing at Collinwood. And there would be too distinct parallel stories running simultaneously, with specific characters in each. Whether this would have involved time travel, cast doubling or something else entirely was never mentioned.
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It would've made sense to discard the whole Gerard-haunting/1840-41 thing since it was such a mess in plot and consistency (the '70 PT stood out by itself). I hope someone, somewhere, in perusing the internet or their memory, can find what the plot of the revival would've been. Imagine DS done, even in just a made-for-TV film format, in the budgets spent for Dallas, Dynasty, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, etc. And hopefully we wouldn't have had a Lego Collinwood like in the '91 version. The ones I built as a child from Lego's were better.
Gerard
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Having a flash-back to the '20's would've been fascinating (however it would've fit into the plot). Imagine, Jamison, Nora, Carl (if it was set before Barnabas went back into time and offed him) would still be around. Elizabeth and Roger would be small children. What if Quentin suddenly showed up? Of course, if Barnabas had not gone back in time, he wouldn't have, since he had been killed by Beth back in 1897. There were so many possibilities, all now lost. Just think of the sets, who would've played whom, the costumes, et. al.
Gerard
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Here are scans of the first two pages of the article from The DS Files book - and it's pretty much the only info out there about the ill-fated Young/Teetor Return to Collinwood...
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And here are scans of the last two pages.
Read them - and try not to sob for what might have been had DC been persuadable...
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Thanks for posting this, MB! I was surprised at how much of this I actually remembered. I don't think that anyone would have expected a tie in to either of the movies. I think most people have always regarded them as separate entities. But what a missed opportunity! 😢😢😢😢
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This isn't related to the BITTER HILL thread (I had never heard of this attempt), but my buddy Curt turned me on to a 1980s pilot called DARK MANSIONS which seems as if it must have been done by people who were fans of our show. If you watch to the end there are a couple of plot motifs that might seem familiar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cXNghQR3h8
It lasts around 90 minutes--he sent it to me on disc but I think I sent the disc to another fan after I watched.
Best, G.
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Yes, Dark Mansions was an attempt to revive a DS-type show (DS was mentioned in practically all the publicity for the pilot) but in primetime. And as you know, it's even shot at Greystone.
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Yes, Dark Mansions was an attempt to revive a DS-type show (DS was mentioned in practically all the publicity for the pilot) but in primetime. And as you know, it's even shot at Greystone.
In fact, one of the people involved with the Dark Mansions pilot went to a Manhattan Shadows convention to talk about it. I don't recall who it was.
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Dark Mansions even had an "old house"! It starred Joan Fontaine.
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Dark Mansions even had an "old house"!
That I didn't remember. I'm going to have to watch it again via Gothick's link when I get the chance...
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I enjoyed DARK MANSIONS but I barely remember it even though it was only a couple of years ago that I watched the movie. It's nice that it's on Youtube if I want to revisit.
Interesting that it was publicized in the early DS fandom, too.
G.
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Very interesting cast. With Joan Fontaine as the obvious analog for Joan Bennett, with the added benefit of her being in the original Rebecca. Michael York's British accent is a bit out of place but not glaring so. Louis Edmonds counterpart, I guess. Nicolette Sheridan is always fun to watch. I guess that she would be the Carolyn equivalent. Linda Purl was a pretty decent actress. I wish that she had gotten more work.
Grant Alexander must have done this after his initial run on Guiding Light.
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I watched the first half of the pilot last night (before I started to fall asleep (because it was very late - not because it was in any way boring)). I found much of it to be quite interesting with lots of potential - though being an Aaron Spelling production during a time when Spelling no longer knew the meaning of subtlety, parts of it were overwrought, and not overwrought in a good way but just bordering on the way that Dynasty became too over the top in its final seasons. What I found most interesting is Melissa Sue Anderson's psychic ability, the fact that Linda Purl's character looks like Michael York's dead wife, who died accidentally or was murdered, depending on who's telling the story (and some of the reactions to this resemblance are places where things are often far from subtle), and apparently there's some sort of force in the house because where I left off Linda Purl is alone in one of the rooms after just mentioning the dead wife and the fireplace erupts in huge flames (sort of like when Barn and Willie discussed Angelique in the '91 show - though minus the actual appearance of Angelique).
I'm definitely looking forward to watching the second half once I get to it...
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Michael York's British accent is a bit out of place but not glaring so.
They explain the accent away as his character having lived in England for an extended period and that's how he picked the accent up. Sort of like how the '91 DS explained away Jean Simmons' accent as Liz having been educated in England.
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Thanks for those notes MB. I know I would enjoy watching it again, especially because I have near total amnesia of anything in the plot. No spoilers but if you do watch to the end, you'll see that had the show gone into production, it would most likely have shared even more plot points and setpieces with DS... I can't recall specifics, just that there were a couple of surprises.
G.