Why We Hate Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Actually, it wasn't that Frid didn't want to play Barnabas anymore. Yes, he wanted the chance to play a different character, so that's how Bramwell came along - and if the show had continued, perhaps he would have gotten other chances at other characters. But it was that he didn't want to play Barnabas as a vampire anymore.

[Brandon Collins]

They certainly would've had the opportunity to keep Barnabas mortal if the show had continued, what with Angelique lifting his curse during 1840. Obviously there are questionable timeline issues there, but DS always ignored those anyway.

I rather liked non-vamp Barnabas during the 68 storyline. Though, it would have gotten old to have repeated attempts or threats at turning him back into a vampire, or to have evil characters hold it over his head to manipulate him, as with the Leviathans.

I wasn't alive when the series originally aired and thusly did not watch it until 30 years later. But I would imagine that for the rabid fanbase of kids/teenagers who were watching, they probably would not want to see non-vamp Barnabas for long stretches of time. Hell, I doubt many fans now would want to see that. But there is a lot of story potential there and I wouldn't mind.

[KMR]

I have no idea how typical or atypical I was, but as an original-airing DS fan, I was dedicated to the show and loved it, regardless of the storyline of the moment. I don't think Barnabas being a vampire or being cured had any bearing on my interest in the show. There were plenty of other elements that kept it going for me.

[Gothick]

Same here, KMR. But the perception from DC, the publicity unit, the network heads etc. was that it was the vampire thing that made it so huge.

There's a funny interview on one of the DVDs (I am not sure if the "coffin set" includes all the interviews) with an ABC publicist who told a story about a network executive more or less accidentally tuning into an episode of DS sometime in 1967 and turning, baffled, to the publicity guy and saying "what's going on with Cousin Barney's teeth??"

G.

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting discussion about the reasons behind the cancellation of the show, and how much potential was left. Considering that it had to end some time, better that it didn't limp its way out ... still, could you imagine if it had kept on for decades, like a few of the soaps did! DS might have become a part of one's life for so much longer (something like a later generation growing up with the Harry Potter books, which lasted a few years longer, anyway), rather than a brief highlight that one goes back to rekindle time and again ... I don't know if one way is better than the other.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Same here, KMR. But the perception from DC, the publicity unit, the network heads etc. was that it was the vampire thing that made it so huge.

Exactly the same thing here, too. I know there are many fans who do, but I've never watched DS just for Barnabas. I enjoy all the characters. And some may find this sacrilegious, but at points in various storylines I find the other characters a lot more interesting than whatever Barnabas might be doing. When he's missing from the storyline, more often than not I don't even notice. Back when DS was on Sci-fi people would make comments about how they'd been missing Barnabas because he hadn't been in the last several episodes and I wouldn't have noticed until they'd pointed that out.

(I am not sure if the "coffin set" includes all the interviews)

Back when that set was being publicized they promised that all the interviews that had appeared on the previous DVD/VHS releases would be included in the set. I seem to remember that they even said that some new interviews would be added. However, I've never checked for that. There are discs in the set where more than one video is featured at the end of certain discs, but it may have been that same way on the original discs as well.

Somewhere there's a list of all the extras on the original DVD releases. And all the extras for the "coffin set" are listed in the booklet that comes with it. But I've never compared them...

[Brandon Collins]

MB, I agree that the times where Barnabas is absent I usually do not notice unless the other characters mention his name a number of times in relation to the plot, or something that may have happened earlier during the storyline. Most times, the story while Barnabas is gone is strong enough, and the characters are strong enough, to not miss him. There were a few times that he was locked back in his coffin over the course of the series and it wasn't really a big deal.