I am so grateful that this thread was started because I was going to start one with questions of my own about the DVD sets. I purchased all of the VHS DS tapes when they first came out and although I got many at a discount rate, the cost of the entire series at that time (254 tapes) was $5067.00!! ($19.95 per tape.)
I purchased the "Dark Shadows Special Edition" DVD some time ago. I was not happy with the picture quality. If the new sets are the same quality, I will not be interested. On the new DVD episodes they have already committed an unforgiveable (in my book) mistake by not including the pre-show slates, which WERE included on the Collector Series VHS tapes. Why in the world these slates were not included is beyond comprehension!! DVDs are supposed to contain EXTRAS that VHS tapes do not have! These slates were a wonderful addition, helping to keep the episodes in order, being a resource for the dates the episodes were taped and aired, and were sometimes great FUN when one of the actors held the slate (such as Alexandra Molke blowing kisses to the audience). Just the thought of not having these slates is keeping me from buying the DVDs, notwithstanding the poor quality that several of you are referring to. Within the next decade, according to the FCC, most of us will have High Definition TVs. If the imperfections of the new DS DVD sets show up on the HDTV sets, will this give MPI an excuse to re-re-release the episodes once again?
As for Murph's question about the Blooper tape, I totally agreee that it was sloppily thrown together. I remember way back in the early days of the DS Festivals that Joe Integlia put together a wonderfully hilarious blooper tape that puts MPI's tape to shame. The problem with MPI's tape is that blooper after blooper is too quickly presented without any set up, explanation, or enough time for the viewer to laugh. I feel that they could have stretched the bloopers on that one tape to THREE blooper tapes if they had asked someone like Roger Davis to host the bloopers ala' Dick Clark. For instance, Roger could have set up the blooper where Julia is dialing the police as Barnabas and Lang bang on the locked parlor doors by saying something like, " Now notice how Barnabas seems to forget Dr. Dave Woodard's name and has to be reminded by Dr. Lang who knew nothing of Dr. Woodard's murder." With set ups such as these (and possibly a laugh track) MPI could have made itself more money by releasing more tapes and the fans (and non-fans) would have better understood the bloopers.
(By the way, we have Joe Integlia to thank for the survival of the infamous Grayson Hall blooper when Julia was interacting with Tony Peterson in his office and Lela Swift yells "CUT!" Joe taped this blooper when it was aired in the early 1980s on an Atlantic City, NJ independent TV station. This wonderful LONG blooper was later erased from its master tape by Worldvision. Too bad that MPI can't give Joe credit where credit is due. Then again, MPI never credited Bob Issel for finding the Dark Shadows Game TV commercial which they use on their videos.)
And speaking of Roger Davis and the MPI DS series, has anyone noticed that the Sam Hall article (that appeared in TV Guide to tie up loose ends on the prematurely cancelled DS) was narrated in an EDITED form by Mr. Davis? Why did MPI choose to edit Sam Hall?!!
One other question about the DVDs. Are they complete and uncut? The VHS DS tapes were "supposed to be" complete and uncut but were they? On Volume 49 of the Collectors Series, at about 1 hour 14 minutes and 59 seconds, there is a 16 second segment that has been trimmed from that episode (just before Barnabas carries Maggie into the secret room of the mausoleum). Yet, this scene is shown in its entirety on the Regular DS MPI tape (Volume 5 at 1 hour 16 minutes and 33 seconds.) This seems to be the fault of the MPI editor. I wonder if this segment is missing from the corresponding DVD episode in the first box set and if there are other segments that we might find missing on later DS DVD releases? They have already let a typo slip by them on the first boxed set. Where is quality control?
As for possible extras on the DVDs, I know that actors' commentaries would be impossible for each episode but what about special episodes, like Lara Parker commenting throughout Angelique's first episode in 1795 or Angelique's famous "Burn! Burn!" house of cards routine? Or Alexis waking Angelique? How about Dan Curtis commenting throughout one of the episodes that he directed? It might not be accurate, but it would give the old winds-of-war-bag a chance to toot his horn!
And it's too bad that the enmity between Frid and Curtis will probably prevent Frid from doing episode commentaries as he enjoyed doing at the early Festivals. (Yes, he ENJOYED it. A scene would be played on screen and he would critique himself to the delight of the audience.)
Since DS was a daily show in a decade of turmoil and triumph, it would be neat if (as Murph suggested) some of the major national and world events could be included somewhere on the DVD. This would likely mean much more to us "old-timers" who watched the show in its original run than it would to the many "youngins'" who have discovered DS in reruns. Also, the possibility exists to include DS-related promotional events that correspond to a particular episode (like "The day that this episode aired, David Selby was grand marshall of the 'I Am an American' parade in Baltimore".... or....
"This episode aired the day that Jonathan Frid first appeared on the Merv Griffin show"... or... in the parallel time episodes "This episode was taped on the same day that filming for 'House of Dark Shadows' began.) There are MANY extras that have been shown at the Festivals that could be included on the DVDs. For instance, how about Humbert Allen Astredo's screen test for the part of Prof. Dave Woodard on the 1991 DS series?
There are many ways that MPI could be creative without going to great expense (and driving up the cost of the DVDs). Sadly, with their track record, it doesn't look as if MPI is interested in creativity. :-/
SDP
