121591
Current Talk '04 I / Re:Other then DC, who created Barnabas?
« on: April 21, 2004, 08:11:02 PM »I'm surprised to hear that the supernatural aspects of the show began that early, about week 10. Not just spooky things that might have natural explanations, but an actual ghost.
Wallace's memory may be hazy, but he is correct that the show started getting really supernatural around week 10. I forget the episode # but there is a scene where we see a book opening by itself in the drawing room. The book is a Collins family history and it opens to a picture of Josette, I believe.
That is indeed true. And the episode in question was #52, which would have been the beginning of week #11. Wallace's recollection that something which was clearly supernatural and without logical explanation having happened "during the tenth or eleventh week" was quite accurate - particularly when he was able to pinpoint the time some 20 years later.
Quote
It sounds from this interview like Barnabas arrived on the scene hot on the heels of this first ghost (which would later prove to be Josette), but that obviously was not the case.
After Josette, there was Bill Malloy's ghost and the Widows, then Laura, then Barnabas. Although Josette's first appearance preceded Barnabas' first mention by about six months, Wallace actually said that soon after the show's first ghost, "the vampire idea came up" - not that the vampire himself soon appeared. Who knows how far ahead Wallace may have already plotted the show at that point? Unlike DC, Wallace did indeed believe in plotting events fairly far in advance. So with that in mind, the fact that it took another six months before Barn actually showed up doesn't seem at all unusual.
Quote
Maybe it's just that the Jason (I want to say "Blaire" but I know that's not right ... ) blackmail storyline seemed so interminable to me, I thought that story alone took at least a year.
I love that storyline. As I've stated serveral times, it's probably my favorite non-supernatural storyline that DS ever did - due in no small part to the absolutely wonderful performances of Dennis Patrick. During that storyline, Patrick had the ability to bring out the best in everyone he shared a scene with, and it was always a joy to behold. Well, at least for me. (It's just too bad that lightening didn't strike twice with his portrayal of Paul Stoddard. Paul did have some great scenes - but for the most part, given the character's huge potential, he was wasted during Leviathans.)
And BTW, Jason's first appearance preceded Barnabas' release from the coffin by only 17 episodes.
Quote
And he was closely involved "not much longer than one year." Did Barnabas appear at about the one year mark?
Barnabas arrived on the scene less than 10 months into the series.
Quote
Maybe this all works out, but it seems surprising to me that no one seems to talk about Art Wallace as the creator of Barnabas.
Sadly, Wallace rarely gets all the credit he deserves. And that's probably because many fans buy into the hype that DC is solely responsible for everything that ever happened on DS. But that is clearly not the case. And here on the forum, we try to make a point of pointing that out whenever possible...