DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '08 II => Topic started by: Gothick on August 22, 2008, 03:09:23 PM

Title: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Gothick on August 22, 2008, 03:09:23 PM: Dear Fans,

Am I the only one who's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by the quote ascribed to Nicholas on today's snapshot? I thought I knew the 1968 storyline like the back of my hand, but I have total amnesia around this!

Anyone feel like helping out?

I do love and adore Nicholas, especially the 1968 Nicholas--my absolute favorite Humbert Allen Astredo performance, and one of my top favorite characters on the series! His scenes with Julia rate as among the series' finest moments in my book.

G.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Midnite on August 22, 2008, 05:01:37 PM: Gothick,

You'd love the really cool T-shirt made for the recent Fest by the fan who posts here as Evan Hanley. It's a tribute to HAA, and the back says, "Let the Legions of the Damned Salute You." I wish I'd taken a picture! (I bet THAT quote raised some conservative eyebrows back then.)

Anyway, the calendar quote follows [spoiler]an uncomfortable confrontation at the Blue Whale between Joe, who is summoned from the date to be Angelique, and Maggie, who has recently visited Tom in the hospital. Nicholas shows up to take advantage of Maggie's frustration:[/spoiler]
Quote from: ROBINV on July 15, 2002, 08:28:51 PM
(http://www.dsboards.com/epimgs/0563-2.jpg)
... Maggie is smiling broadly as she watches Nicholas pull his handkerchief off another tall drink. She protests she shouldn't, she doesn't drink that much. He says this evening they should do everything they don't normally do, break all the rules! If she hates to swim after dark, they'll swim. If she's always home till midnight, they'll stay out until dawn. The camera focuses on his eyes as he tells her he's trying to take advantage of her, and she says she doesn't believe him. ...

His shameless flirting leads to a dinner invitation, which she accepts.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Gothick on August 22, 2008, 05:23:09 PM: Oh wow! I haven't watched that episode in donkey's ears! I must, must, MUST (!) revisit!

That t-shirt sounds to die for! I always loved that line...

Thanks for posting the quote and photos from Robservations!

xo G.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Midnite on August 22, 2008, 05:37:55 PM: Yes, you mustttt!
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on August 22, 2008, 10:46:57 PM: I am with you Gothick. Nicholas was wickedly delicious. :) And I LOVED his scenes with JULIA as she stood her ground and didn't care if worked the Devil.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Lydia on August 22, 2008, 10:54:06 PM: I'm not 100% certain that Nicholas Blair never got scruted.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on August 22, 2008, 11:35:38 PM: I have looked on Dictionary.com and nothing is coming up for scruted. So I really have no idea what you are saying. [ghost_nowink]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 22, 2008, 11:38:45 PM: There's no such word as scrute. Lydia's just being funny by playing off the word inscrutable and changing the adjective scrutable into the nonexistent verb scrute purely for the joke. [ghost_wink]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Lydia on August 22, 2008, 11:44:10 PM: Well I'm glad somebody knows what I'm doing, because it's often a mystery to me.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 22, 2008, 11:51:29 PM: It's part of Midnite's and my job description and responsibility here on the forum to pick up on these things. ;)
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: MagnusTrask on August 22, 2008, 11:58:54 PM: Quote from: Lydia on August 22, 2008, 10:54:06 PM
I'm not 100% certain that Nicholas Blair never got scruted.

I very nearly said something along these lines.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: ProfStokes on August 23, 2008, 12:21:44 AM: Quote from: Midnite on August 22, 2008, 05:01:37 PM
You'd love the really cool T-shirt made for the recent Fest by the fan who posts here as Evan Hanley. It's a tribute to HAA, and the back says, "Let the Legions of the Damned Salute You." I wish I'd taken a picture!

I did. ;)

Back and front.

ProfStokes
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 23, 2008, 12:23:47 AM: Thanks so much for posting your photos, ProfStokes. [ghost_smiley]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Midnite on August 23, 2008, 01:36:03 AM: Yay, and thank you!
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on August 23, 2008, 01:55:02 AM: Yes thanks for the pics and the explanation. I guess I am slow. [ghost_embarrassed] That shirt is HOT and the man is hottie too! No offense to him if he posts here. Off Topic: I for one have never understood why anyone would mind a compliment regardless of which sex did the complimenting, now matter which way one swings.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: borgosi on August 23, 2008, 02:21:25 AM: Quote from: Taeylor on August 23, 2008, 01:55:02 AM
Off Topic: I for one have never understood why anyone would mind a compliment regardless of which sex did the complimenting, now matter which way one swings.

It's call being insecure. [ghost_wink]

(edited by admin)
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: quentincollins on August 23, 2008, 04:14:53 AM: I love those t-shirts too, and I have to agree the guy is a real cutie too. Woof woof!
Nicholas is a great character, one of the best villains in DS, he can be so charming even as he's planning the destruction of all humanity.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Joy Collins on August 23, 2008, 05:30:20 AM: I'm a HUGE Nicholas fan. He is definitely one of my favorite characters. I love all his mannerisms and he had some of the best lines in the show. All of his scenes with Julia and with Angelique/Cassandra are wonderful. I loved when he would make fun of Angelique!

[spoiler]However, I didn't like that, at the last minute, they decided that he was actaully "in love" with Maggie and wanted to be human. [ghost_tongue]
I thought that was completely out of character.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 23, 2008, 03:55:25 PM: Quote from: Joy Collins on August 23, 2008, 05:30:20 AM
[spoiler]However, I didn't like that, at the last minute, they decided that he was actaully "in love" with Maggie and wanted to be human. [ghost_tongue]
I thought that was completely out of character.[/spoiler]

Well, we can certainly debate whether it was out of character or not, but [spoiler]Nicholas' attraction to Maggie was apparent practically from the first second he laid eyes on her in Ep #532/533. And their relationship built over time, so it's not like his feelings for her came from out of nowhere. [ghost_wink][/spoiler]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Joy Collins on August 23, 2008, 04:16:12 PM: Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on August 23, 2008, 03:55:25 PM
Well, we can certainly debate whether it was out of character or not, but [spoiler]Nicholas' attraction to Maggie was apparent practically from the first second he laid eyes on her in Ep #532/533. And their relationship built over time, so it's not like his feelings for her came from out of nowhere. [ghost_wink][/spoiler]

That's definitely true. I didn't mean that his feelings came out of nowhere,
[spoiler]I just always got the feeling that he was planning to do something evil to her. I really didn't buy that he wanted to give up his powers and live with her as a human. But maybe that's just me. [ghost_blink] [/spoiler]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: borgosi on August 23, 2008, 04:20:36 PM: I would have. [ghost_grin]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 23, 2008, 04:48:34 PM: Quote from: Joy Collins on August 23, 2008, 04:16:12 PM
[spoiler]... I really didn't buy that he wanted to give up his powers and live with her as a human[/spoiler]

On DS, love often does strange things to several of the supernatural characters. With some it influences nearly their every move, while with others it causes them to turn completely about face and to act in opposition to the way(s) they had been. Angelique would be the perfect example of the former, while Nicholas would be an example of the latter. We can and often do debate whether what they're feeling is actually love - but the characters themselves believe it is - and that's what's most important. [ghost_wink] And with Nicholas the true irony is that he criticized Angelique up and down for clinging to her feelings of human love, but [spoiler]in the end it's very similar feelings that lead to his downfall in the Adam/Eve storyline.[/spoiler]

Actually, the influence of love or lack thereof is quite possibly the biggest theme running through all of DS because it affects each and every character in one way or another. In rare occasions it leads to happiness - but most often it leads to tragedy...
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Gothick on August 23, 2008, 08:35:56 PM: I watched the episode earlier this a.m. Glorioski, but Nicholas was one S-M-O-O-T-H operator. In fact, footage of him coming on to Maggie could be turned into a music video for that old song about the smooth operator.

I also watched an episode I seem to have missed entirely, although I think I did see it back in '68--when Barnabas is at the House by the Sea trying to persuade Joe to leave--and Angelique nearly attacks Barnabas--but holds off because of Nicky's threats. Great work all round, especially from Joel and KLS in this one.

G.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: buzz on September 02, 2008, 08:17:54 PM: Nicholas is one of my all time favorites as well, and NOT because he has the same first name as I do [ghost_grin]. He put personality into the character, as well as a sense of humor and a certain charm even at his worst. His one on ones with Julia and Angelique was sensational, but he was equallly entertaining with the Reverend Trask as well. I'm sure someone will refresh my foggy memory, but I recall a scene where Trask is trying to use his "powers" to get rid of a ghost and fails? I do recall Trask sarcastically applauding Trask and calling him "Mr. Trask" instead of Reverend. This was a guy you didn't mess with! Another favorite scene is with Julia where he reveals his plans to create a race of superhumans. He is supremely sinister in that scene. As good as he was in other parts or returning later, he was at his best in the Adam storyline. In a radio interview I think he described himself as a "OO7 of the Underworld".

Nick (or, if you perfer, Nicholas...) [ghost_wink]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: IluvBarnabas on September 02, 2008, 08:44:06 PM: I always enjoy the character of Nicholas Blair (even though he was up to no good and did lead Adam astray from the honest path Professor Stokes was trying to lead him on).

They couldn't have found a better actor for the part of Nicholas than Humbert Allen Astredo, who infused Nicholas with such a charming, if sinster personality with great one-liners and zingers, usually aimed at Angelique. He was so funny when he was going at it with her too, especially when she was posing as Cassandra. I recall he called her a suburban housewife with human worries. He was hilarious.

Also loved his confrontations with Julia too. [spoiler] Especially when she confronted him over allowing Angelique to attack Barnabas. [/spoiler]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 03, 2008, 11:19:31 AM: I get the impression he really enjoyed the part, and that that mischievous aloof sense of evil was part of him somehow. I wonder if some things such as the snuffing of candles with fingers and tongue, and the sidestepping of certain God-centric terminology in casual conversation (even with Maggie! "...before... your Christ was born..." !) were improvisations from him... does anyone know?

Still, as great as he was, I don't think any actor can pull a poor script out of the fire, and though he made 1968 much better than it would have been, to me he's much more enjoyable as the Nicholas Blair wanna-be Evan Hanley.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on September 04, 2008, 05:30:35 AM: Humber is still living isn't he. I would love to see footage of his old treks to conventions!!
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Devlin66 on September 29, 2008, 03:57:17 AM: Blair will always be the ultimate power broker of Collinwood in my opinion. Sad that he had one weakness which cost him dearly [ghost_blink]
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 29, 2008, 05:41:10 AM: Yes, he became just an old softie by the end....
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Patti Feinberg on September 29, 2008, 07:35:55 PM: [spoiler]I really hope I'm not having a DSFMS moment...[/spoiler]

....I really loved Nicholas in Leviathan storyline.....

Patti
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on September 30, 2008, 06:24:05 AM: Honestly as horrid as it gets toward the middle there is such a spooky and "dome to the earth " feel about THE LEVIATHAN era that makes me love it, so don't feel bad! I am a closet loving Leviathan! And I love seeing Nicholas again. I do love [spoiler]when he dies and gets out of his body even though I hate that it is Humbert's swan song as NB. [/spoiler] Great work for a daytime show on a shoe string budget! GROOVY! [ghost_wink] I came out again.....I am a Leviathan Lover! ;)

Ima gonna steal a line from Gothick.

Cheers
Tae
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: MagnusTrask on September 30, 2008, 07:20:57 AM: It always seems strange to me that it's possible for Nick to die. I sort of pictured him as never having been alive in the ordinary sense in the first place. Was he born anyplace on this planet? It seems doubtful.
Title: Re: The Inscrutable Nicholas Blair
Post by: Taeylor Collins on September 30, 2008, 09:03:19 PM: When thinking of it logically, I think he died and his spirit went back to hell just to await it's next incarnation. I just liked the awesome (for a daytime) show effect!! [ghost_wink]