Cancellation

[FireRose]

It's very true that Frid wanted to play another character. And, frankly, I always thought that was only fair as all of the other major cast members had been able to play several different roles. But it's a misconception that Frid didn't want to play Barnabas - what he didn't want to do was play Barnabas as a vampire anymore. There are actually a few different topics on the forum that clarify that. 

Thanks for the clarification...

But... [spoiler]Barnabas was cured of being a vampire until the Leviathan storyline. Then here comes Jeb Hawkes and he puts the vampire curse right back on Barnabas again.[/spoiler] It seems Dan Curtis liked the Barnabas as a vampire storyline.

Based on that... I just don't believe that Dan Curtis ever would have agreed to Jonathan Frid's terms of not playing Barnabas as a vampire anymore?

So basically I still see Jonathan Frid leaving the show after 1841 parallel time had the show continued.

FireRose

[Mysterious Benefactor]

So basically I still see Jonathan Frid leaving the show after 1841 parallel time had the show continued.

The only way Frid could have left on his own would have been if his contract had expired or DC had let him out of it. Somehow I don't see the latter happening very easily after the fierce negotiations that had gone on to get Frid to sign a new contract (with that proviso allowing him to play a character other than Barnabas). And more than likely Frid's new contract was for much longer than six months. The standard soap contracts run a year, two or sometimes even longer...

[MagnusTrask]

The two specific moments I remember from DS in childhood are Thayer David's final voiceover, and the 1970 moment where Collinwood is being destroyed, and we see a canvas thing full of "debris" come down from the ceiling, and dump it, and go back up again.    I think I thought I was hallucinating!

[arashi]

In looking at the ratings between the Fall of 1969 and the Spring of 1971, folks have to take into consideration the fact that several ABC affiliates were either dropping DS from their afternoon schedules or moving it to evening timeslots during this period.

My Mother was a fan of DS back in the day. When I first started watching it she remembered Laura's first storyline and Paul Stoddard's "body" in the basement. (Even remarking on how long it took to find out what the hell was down there) I was watching Leviathans a few weeks back while visiting she and my Father in NYC, and she didn't recall the storyline at all. I wonder if she was one of those kids whose stations dropped the show. I remember reading somewhere that stations had dropped the show earlier than the movie.... after a particularly gruesome werewolf attack there were quite a few calls from irate parents. I can only think of the death of innkeeper Wells at the moment. I'll see if I can't find the article.

[loril54]

My question is where could they have gone with the show?? What other stoylines could they have done. They went through the storylines so fast. In high school I knew people who parents wouldn't let them watch the show. Also the fan base was growing up.

[IluvBarnabas]

It does seem that DS went through a lot of the old classic horror/mystery stories in such a short time....it was rumored they were going to do a story about a mummy, but it never went through.

[jennifer]

i know i was upset when it ended esp as we never see Barnabas and Julia again
and i hated the last storyline and i reallly hated Catherine i would have liked to
have seen the chris jennings story solved but alas maybe he still is baying at the moon
somewhere  (wouldn't his fans here like to know where )

jennifer
i'm currently watching 1897 again so it still lives on
i think Julia and Beth win most loyal for me

[Taeylor Collins]

Learn something new every day......I didn't know David Henesy left the show?  WHY???  I can't beleive I didn't know that....I have been in fandom for 16 yrs.

[IluvBarnabas]

Thinking about it, one good thing came out of DS being cancelled....many years later the show would be released on VHS then DVD, something that wouldn't have happened if DS had remained on the air.

So when you think about it DS being cancelled was a blessing-in-disguise, at least that's how I look at it.

[arashi]

Is cancelled the right word to use? Was it cancelled or did they just decide it should end?

[Joeytrom]

Since David Henesy had left the show, they could have had another actor play Tad.