DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '08 II => Topic started by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 07, 2008, 06:55:07 PM
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At least this time around the reviewer at DVD Talk freely admits that he's come late to the DS Appreciation Society (and he only has "some rather foggy memories of visiting the series sometime circa 1970"), which certainly explains how he frequently gets some of his facts so wrong, but for the most part I agree with everything he has to say in this review. I particularly love his assessment that there are "enough high strung histrionics to make Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf look like a quite night among the Middle American rabble." [lghy] (Though it's still aggravating that he's still laboring under the misimpression that DC preserved the DS eps, and so he continues to spread and reinforce such misinformation throughout the world. ::))
Check out: Dark Shadows: The Beginning, Vol. 5 (http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33817/dark-shadows-the-beginning-vol-5/)
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So who is responsible for preserving DS? Why did they do it?
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The short version is that ABC preserved the DS tapes because they apparently saw the syndication possibility in the show. Where things get interesting is that DC believed he owned the master tapes and he thought that ABC was supposed to turn them over to him. He sued ABC over ownership/possession, but he lost. Due to some legal restrictions back in the '70s, ABC had shifted ownership of the master tapes to WorldVision, but it was actually the resolution of the suit that paved the way for DS to be released into syndication. And the rest is history...
It's amazing how many people simply assume that because DC held the rights to DS, that meant that he owned the master tapes and they were in his possession - but that has never been the case. Though the myth lives on. But then, it's often the case that some people prefer to believe the myth rather than the truth...
There are topics on the forum that go into all this in greater detail (including one in which I transcribed a report from Variety about the suit), which is why I'm not doing it here.
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Very interesting to know. I would love to see the Variety post. Can you point it out??
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A simple search (again, the search feature is our friend ;)) using search terms like Variety and ABC will definitely bring up the topic. Look for a topic called "The Producers" that was started by Patti. [ghost_smiley] (I forget exactly what year it was posted, but you don't really need to know that to find it.)
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AGAIN...sorry I am learning!
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Oh, no problem. Sometimes people forget or don't even realize that the search feature is even there. But it's quite possibly the most important and the most useful feature on the forum. I suspect Midnite and/or I use it almost every day in some capacity or another. [ghost_smiley]
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Here's another review of this collection (one that also mentions the Fest and the Depp/DS film): Dark Shadows: The Beginning, collection 5 (http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/468778).
I love her remarks about Diana Millay's interview. Apparently she's never met her in person. [ghost_wink]
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Speaking of this collection IN GENERAL. I was most pleased to see Alexandra take part. I know she doesn't do the fest so it was great to see her and hear her take on the show. She looks great too. I can't wait to get this complete collection. Getting ready to buy the 3rd one. :) I did think the extras on VOLUME 2 were very slim though!!
As for the interview LADY, Dark Shadows found the secret of "ETERNAL" life a long time ago. I don't know what ROCK you been under!!!!!!!!! [ghost_tongue] It is a supernatural cockroach. EWW..talk about scary!! Sorry! Weird thought! [ghost_wacko] And I have never met Diana but I can tell from interviews what you mean.
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Actually, Diana really WAS Laura Collins. We just don't discuss that fire in that apartment house in Phoenix, and all the other unpleasantness involved....
*wink*
G.
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I've just gotten the first disc from Netflix (who provide super service, the day it was announced on sale it was in my mailbox). Ican't say this is my favorite part of the show, mainly because of its focus on Laura Collins. Diana Milay was not my favorite actress on the show and the emphasis on her is overwhelming at this point. While its obvious that the writers later transfered some of her powers to Angelique, I would have loved to see Lara Parker in this part instead of Millay. While its nice to see supernatural elements seeping in, I missed the sub-plot of Burke (which, while not eliminated, is downplayed to focus on Laura). I look forward to the coming of Jason McGuire on the next (and final) collection.
Nick
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I got my copy from Amazon yesterday; I've watched the extras, but none of the episodes. I'll be perfectly honest here by saying that I found the interview with Diana Millay a little creepy, but in a likeable way. Her comments on Louis Edmonds were surprising to me, as I had heard nothing but positive things. For those who don't have the set yet, she said [spoiler]that she loved him as a person, but as an actor, he, according to her, frequently stepped on her marks and often forgot his lines.[/spoiler]
Ron Sproat's interview was just sad. That poor man.
Malcolm Marmorstein didn't really deliver any new insights on the show, unless I missed something. I did quite enjoy his interview on Set 4, where it seemed he wanted to take most of the credit for the character of Barnabas and give little of it to Dan Curtis and none to Jonathan Frid.
Leonard Wolf's interview I honestly found a little boring. We've heard all of the stuff about sexuality and vampires before.
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That dissapoints me about Diana. Oh well.
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When they first went about casting for Angelique in 1795, did DC ask Diana to return to play her?
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Diana did say that she and Louie were great friends and she was with him up to his passing. It was an interesting interview and one wonders if she were always like this or playing Laura brought it on.
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I for one am glad that Diana Millay was chosen to play Laura. I think she adds 'creepy' in just the right amount for the character. I just can't imagine Lara playing Laura just as I can't imagine any one else playing Angelique but Lara. Speaking of Lara, I just saw her recently in Race With The Devil. I spoke with Diana Millay at a fest one year and although I knew that she knew that I was there, I still got the feeling that she was adrift somewhere in left field. [ghost_huh]
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I for one am glad that Diana Millay was chosen to play Laura. I think she adds 'creepy' in just the right amount for the character. I just can't imagine Lara playing Laura just as I can't imagine any one else playing Angelique but Lara.
I feel the same way. And both women played their respective roles to perfection. Some of the best moments in DS are their confrontations in the 1897 stroyline.
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i agree diana played laura to perfect pitch.
i wouldn't have wanted anyone else playing her.diana is laura and lara is angelique.period.two irreplaceable virtuosos.
in fact,although the pheonix's hundred year life cycle made this impossible,i would have liked to have seen much more of laura and/or diana throughout the series.
meeting diana in person is an odd experience.she definitely stays "in character" during the exchange.i've had several very strange conversations with her over the years but i think she's nice in general.during our last meeting she remembered me which i thought was nice.
does anyone know why she did not attend this year's event?
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Just an educated guess here,but it might be because she lives here in Westchester. Counting on my fingers I believe that Mr.Frid was the only guest this year who does NOT live in California. I DO think I remember her being at the Hollywood Fest I attended in 05, however.
Possibly it was felt that there were enough local guests without importing anyone other than the one major guest. (Again, just an educated guess from having been involved with guest heavy conventions in other fandoms. I'm not involved with the Fest in any fashion to know the reasons for certain -- though when I used my pansity email address, I was constantly getting emails and or IMs from people thinking I was pansyfaye who works for the Festival. LOL that's why I use the quentinscockney address -- which has its own little double entendre problems. [a2a3]
Jeannie
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I've just gotten the first disc from Netflix
Oh that's where my netflix is...i had that on my next up and now it says "SHORT WAIT"....hurry up and watch it Buzz and get it back in the mailbox willya? [ghost_tongue]
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Oh that's where my netflix is...i had that on my next up and now it says "SHORT WAIT"....hurry up and watch it Buzz and get it back in the mailbox willya? [ghost_tongue]
It shoud be in your hands soon. I mailed it back the other day Devlin! And I also had the "short wait" for Disc 2, so who was the wise-guy that was making ME wait?? [ghost_sad]
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Netflix is great for TV DVDs, as long as they're not new releases. They never get enough of those in to satisfy the initial wave.
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I know this is off topic but I've been meaning to say to GooberCollins that 'I love the Barnabas Avatar'..I think that's what they call the picture in your posts.
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Thanks! I decided that, though it fit very well with my username, the vampiric Mr. Peanut that I was using was getting old, and that it would be good to change it, so I used a still from the (more than slightly silly) video I put on YouTube on Sunday, which my signature currently links to.
Anyway, I'm almost finished with Collection 5. I've watched all but the last 6 episodes of it. October 27 or whenever it is that the final collection is released is so very, very far away...
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I admit I am 10 eps away from [spoiler]Jostte's ghost appearance[/spoiler] and I am counting the eps. I LOVED Vol. 1 and 2 got off to a good start but I find myself getting bored. I cannot wait to see the infamous ep # 70 that started all the "spooky stuff". [ghost_tongue2] And I CANNOT WAIT to see THE PHOENIX STORYLINE. Hard to believe I have been a fan for 17 years and have never seen these eps. I couldn't bring myself to buy the videos back in the day, cause I knew one day they would be obsolete and I would have wasted all that money on them. [ghost_shocked] I am now collecting DVDS, which should be with me for as long as I am alive. I also didn't get Sci Fi either so........
Just a reminder...Deepdiscountdvd.com has Volumes 1&2 of DS The Beginning on sale for 29 bucks and now they have Volume 1. with the introduction of Barney on sale for 29 bucks also.
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I'm quite enjoying the Laura storyline. Diana Millay is quite creepy, and I find her appearance in 1967 far less irritating than the one in 1897. Though I know how it works out in the end, I am very annoyed that I must wait until October to finally see the resolution, as well as seeing the first episodes of the Jason storyline, with the first Willie.