DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '02 II => Topic started by: Paul on August 26, 2002, 03:27:05 AM

Title: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Paul on August 26, 2002, 03:27:05 AM: What day is Alexandra Moltke's last? :P ?!?Paul
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on August 26, 2002, 04:05:44 AM: Quote
What day is Alexandra Moltke's last? :P ?!?Paul

This Thursday's second episode is her swan song.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on August 26, 2002, 04:05:46 AM: Her last episode (#627) airs this Thursday at 10:30am. After that comes her EVIL LOOKING (IMO) replacement Betsy Durkin. *Shivers thinking about Betsy*
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Craig_Slocum on August 26, 2002, 04:15:57 AM: Quote
After that comes her EVIL LOOKING (IMO) replacement Betsy Durkin.

I don't like any of the replacements. :(
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: jennifer on August 26, 2002, 04:56:02 AM: So she must be "preggers" as Luciaphil put it in these episodes!

jennifer
they should have just knocked Vicki off(oh heehee)
instead of using those horrid replacements!
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Miles on August 26, 2002, 06:15:55 AM: Quote
Her last episode (#627) airs this Thursday at 10:30am. After that comes her EVIL LOOKING (IMO) replacement Betsy Durkin. *Shivers thinking about Betsy*

Jeez. Betsy Durkin. Was she really canned after only *10* episodes, or was she only brought on to buy some time and send Vicki into the past (and off the show)?
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Connie on August 26, 2002, 06:30:03 AM: Quote
So she must be "preggers" as Luciaphil put it in these episodes!

Some people will do ANYTHING to get out of kissing Roger Davis -- even get pregnant and be out of a job.
(and it was worth it!) ;D

-CLC
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Minja on August 26, 2002, 06:40:33 AM: Have I mentioned lately that I can't STAND Betsy Durkin!? [vylnt]

Mark Rainey, git yer shotgun ready!!![uzi][/color]

[shadow=purple,left,300]Always, Minja [vryevl][/shadow]
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Julia99 on August 26, 2002, 08:11:11 AM: MINJA!! Where ya been hidin'??? And wherever it was. .was Ben there too??
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Cassandra on August 26, 2002, 08:11:58 AM: Quote
Have I mentioned lately that I can't STAND Betsy Durkin!? [vylnt]

You and me both!!
The second replacement wasn't all that bad though, at least she seemed to have a little resemblence to Vicky. As for Betsy Durkin, they must have found her in a hurry! ;)
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Carol on August 26, 2002, 02:10:05 PM: Quote
You and me both!!
The second replacement wasn't all that bad though, at least she seemed to have a little resemblence to Vicky. As for Betsy Durkin, they must have found her in a hurry! ;)

She probably was a friend of a friend of a friend of Dan Curtis' wife. Or maybe just shopping at Ohrbachs, didn't like their latest season of clothes and thought a stint in Collinsport might bring her closer to Brewster's Department Store. They have the latest, you know! ;)
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: MikeS on August 26, 2002, 09:50:44 PM: Quote
Jeez. Betsy Durkin. Was she really canned after only *10* episodes, or was she only brought on to buy some time and send Vicki into the past (and off the show)?

I've also always wondered if the show planned to write out the character after Moltke's departure, or if the decision was made following the poor response to Betsy Durkin, who IMHO was an awful recast.

I feel Carolyn Groves did a decent job during her few appearances. If the original plan was to keep the character, perhaps replacing Moltke with Groves instead of Durkin would have made a difference.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Dr. Eric Lang on August 26, 2002, 11:59:41 PM: Quote
I've also always wondered if the show planned to write out the character after Moltke's departure, or if the decision was made following the poor response to Betsy Durkin, who IMHO was an awful recast.

I feel Carolyn Groves did a decent job during her few appearances. If the original plan was to keep the character, perhaps replacing Moltke with Groves instead of Durkin would have made a difference.

KLS seems to indicate in her book "Scrapbook Memories" that Betsy Durkin simply wasn't "catching on." I doubt if Curtis wanted to eliminate the character of Victoria Winters, the first one he dreamed up. Apparently he later asked Alexandra Moltke if she was interested in returning, which she wasn't. (Maybe that's when he came up with that awful Leviathan tie-in.)

I agree that Carolyn Groves made a much better Victoria than Durkin. Notice that after this, Curtis never again recast a character on DS.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: CastleBee on August 27, 2002, 12:00:41 AM: I have always wondered why OH why Alexandra couldn't have seen fit to stick around until they could do away with her character properly. I know she was preggers but maybe they could have creatively shot around it...Elizabeth Montgomery was busy have her family at about the same point in time I believe and they did a pretty good job with that in Bewitched - before, during and after Tabitha (and the little boy ?) I believe.

Once again, we're left with poopy ole Betsy Durkin...sounds like some kind of obscure spice you use once and let sit in your kitchen cabinet for the next 10 years. Anyway, the analogy holds up a little better if, lik me, you quickly notice that her rendition of Vicky smells as bad as something that's long past its expiration date. ::) Sad in more ways than one.

Nope I tend not to care much for the cast replacements either - except for Willie 1's replacement by Willie 2 of course...now THAT was screeching to be done! ;D
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on August 27, 2002, 01:15:49 AM: I think they were going in the direction of keeping a recasted Vicki. I would think that they would have had AM stay there to finish off the character ?!? Carolyn Groves seems to bear a resemblence with AM. I'm actually looking forward to Betsy . . . for the wrong reasons. I can't wait to make fun of her while I watch the show ;D
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Paul on August 27, 2002, 01:19:14 AM: I can't wait to see her and cut up and make fun of her. I know I am wicked.Hahhahha ;DPaul
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: ClaudeNorth on August 27, 2002, 05:23:22 AM: IMHO, Kate Jackson would have been perfect as a replacement for AM as Vicki.

After reading all the posts in this thread, I started thinking that it might be wild if one year at the DS Fest, they had a celebrity panel featuring Betsy Durkin, Carolyn Groves, James Hall, Diana Walker, Mark Allen, and the original Matthew Morgan, whose name escapes me (is he still alive?). I wouldn't be surprised if they had some interesting stories to tell about their experiences on DS.

Regards,

John
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Maria_Merriweather on August 27, 2002, 05:48:26 AM: The first Matthew Morgan was played by George Mitchell. I thought he was quite good in the role. He died in 1972 according to the IMBD. :)
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Paul on August 27, 2002, 05:48:48 AM: The original Matthew Morgan's name is George Mitchell. That would be a dream come true if that panel of substitutes could be assembled for a discussion. They would be forthcoming because they have nothing to lose. I bet they never beleived back then that they would be discussed so thoroughly over 30 years later.Paul
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: murph on August 27, 2002, 05:29:29 PM: I certainly do not envy the women who portrayed Victoria after AM left the show. I don't remember these episodes and I'm not sure when I started watching as a child. I didn't remember the Victoria Winters character at all but when Sci Fi started over at the beginning a year ago but I've seen what a huge part of the show she was especially before Barnabas.

With a character that huge in the show I doubt that anyone could have come in and portrayed her successfully because in the eyes of most viewers Alexandra Moltke was Victoria Winters. Can you imagine another actor coming in after 2 1/2 years and successfully portraying Barnabas Collins? I can't.

It will be interesting for me to watch Betsy Durkin in this role next week. I believe I was watching the show by the end of '68, I just don't remember the current plot line at all.
Title: ;DRe: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: franimal on August 27, 2002, 05:45:22 PM: ;D
Quote
I believe I was watching the show by the end of '68, I just don't remember the current plot line at all.

I know I was watching, but I don't remember this either. Hmmm.....maybe I was grounded and couldn't watch for a while. Wouldn't be the first time! ;D As a matter of fact - I could never move back home because, technically speaking, I still am. I believe it was, "you're grounded for the rest of your life!" Sheesh, my parents had no sense of humor ::)

Franimal
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Joeytrom on August 27, 2002, 08:20:31 PM: Believe it or not, Betsy Durkin beat out Jacklyn Smith (then Mrs. Roger Davis) for the role of Victoria Winters.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Paul on August 27, 2002, 10:00:59 PM: >:(I bet the reason Betsy Durkin beat out Jaclyn Smith was because Jacyln wanted more money. What other reasin could there possibly be? :-/
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Dr. Eric Lang on August 27, 2002, 10:51:40 PM: Quote
Believe it or not, Betsy Durkin beat out Jacklyn Smith (then Mrs. Roger Davis) for the role of Victoria Winters.

My understanding is that Jaclyn Smith, who was dating Roger Davis at the time (what did she see in him???) was offered the role but turned it down. It may well be that she was offered the role AFTER Betsy Durkin was let go, since Carolyn Groves bears a striking resemblance to a young Smith.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: kuanyin on August 27, 2002, 11:06:31 PM: I have such mixed feelings about this. On one hand Vicky's role deteriorates so drastically that I am just happy for AM to get out of it! Replacing her was such a BAD idea, it was just too far into the show.

I have read that Vicky wanted very much to come back, but as a different character. That was never to be, which I think is a real crime. At least she had the dignity to refuse the dopey "I don't understand" bit a second time.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: HobbiesDS on August 28, 2002, 12:32:20 AM: I don't remember seeing the first Vicki replacement. I saw the 2nd one and while she looked similar I didn't care too much for her. *I think Jacklyn Smith or Kate Jackson would have been good choices.

Knowing what stories came after, I have a hard time imaging what storyline they would have had for Vicki if she stayed. (I kind of liked intergrating Maggie into the Collins household and they couldn't have 2 governesses, although with David and Amy maybe they did need 2!)

I thought Vicki's departure was very fitting. Too bad, she didn't stay until the end, but perhaps she thought she might be returning so then there really wouldn't have been a point for her to stick it out.

HobbiesDS 8)
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on August 28, 2002, 12:44:26 AM: At least it was Betsy Durkin and Roger Davis who got 'married' on the show . . . those two hams (when it comes to acting) sure deserved each other ;D I agree with kuanyin about AM's role being deteriated. Too bad they didn't get a Rose Marie's baby storyline started and have Vicki become possesed, maybe AM would've stayed then lol. Too bad they never let her be a 'bad' girl like she wanted.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Paul on August 28, 2002, 01:07:35 AM: >:(I think they could have easily camoflauged the pregnancy for several more months and the role would never have had to have been recast. They did it for eight and a half months with Mary Stuart on Search For Tomorrows in the fifties and it was live.Paul :-[
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on August 28, 2002, 01:34:10 AM: Quote
>:(I think they could have easily camoflauged the pregnancy for several more months and the role would never have had to have been recast. They did it for eight and a half months with Mary Stuart on Search For Tomorrows in the fifties and it was live.Paul :-[

Yeah I agree. I can't even tell she's pregnent right now on the show. She was barely pregnent . . . I mean if she had her child in late June of 1969, she would've been like 1 and a half months pregnent during her last episodes.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Dr. Eric Lang on August 28, 2002, 03:06:17 AM: Quote
Too bad they didn't get a Rose Marie's baby storyline started and have Vicki become possesed, maybe AM would've stayed then lol. Too bad they never let her be a 'bad' girl like she wanted.

Actually, Alexandra Moltke has said that she feared such a story line was being planned (using her real life pregnancy in a Rosemary's Baby rip-off) and was one of the chief reasons she wanted to get out of there when she did.

She had no interest in returning to the show afterward, as Victoria or any other character; but while she was still on the show, she did ask Dan Curtis if she could play some other role. She wanted to be a vampire or some other villain.

One wonders what they would have done with her in the 1897 story line. Both she and Joel Crothers left DS because of their dissatisfaction with their roles; yet the 1897 story line was right around the corner.
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Mark Rainey on August 28, 2002, 03:14:06 AM: Quote
Mark Rainey, git yer shotgun ready!!!

Hmm. I hadn't checked out this thread till now. Well, all I can say about Betsy Durkin is that I've had door mats with more charisma.

So there.

[shadow=navy,left,300]--Mark[/shadow]
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on August 28, 2002, 03:19:30 AM: Quote
Actually, Alexandra Moltke has said that she feared such a story line was being planned (using her real life pregnancy in a Rosemary's Baby rip-off) and was one of the chief reasons she wanted to get out of there when she did.

Yeah I read about that before. I guess Vicki would just be too naive too even think about having a child lol.

I was scared of seeing Betsy when I found out there was a Vicki #2 back in Febuary when I started watching. . . .

. . . now I'm even more scared *Runs and Hides in the root cellar near Collinwood to avoid seeing any Betsy look a likes on the streets*
Title: come back as a vampireRe: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Craig_Slocum on August 28, 2002, 03:38:54 AM: Quote
She wanted to be a vampire or some other villain.

She mentioned that at the Paley Festival a year ago, probably the only time I will ever see her, since she doesn't attend the Dark Shadows Festival. Had she come back as a vampire on the show, that would have been interesting, who would've made a good victim for her?
Title: Re: Alexandra Moltke's Last Day
Post by: Nancy on August 28, 2002, 03:44:02 AM: This is taken from a Q&A session at the 1993 Dark Shadows Festival in New York with Lara Parker and Jonathan Frid.

This segment leads into Parker discussing Alexandra Moltke wanting out of the series and the lengths she went to be released from her contract. Apparently, she wanted out before the pregnancy became an issue.

<snip>
Fan: Hi Jonathan and Lara. I'm very excited to be here. I have wanted to
meet you for years. You made high school bearable. My question is was there
ever anything in the show that really scared you? Was getting in and out of
the coffin ever scary? Did the lid ever shut . .(inaudible) [audience laughs]

JF: No. You people were the doing all the acting, that's what I've always
claimed, reading into things. What scared me was not knowing my lines
everyday. I was nervous almost every day. It was absolute hell for me for
that first year. Certainly for a long while. I'm such a slow study. I'm
not really good for soaps - at least how they were done in those days. It
was very much weekly stock and you had to learn the lines overnight and not
in a week. So, I scared myself . . .

LP: We were too scared to be scared. (addressing fan who asked the
question) Were you scared right before you asked your question?

Fan: Was I scared?

LP: Yes. Were you scared?

Fan: Well, yeah.

LP: Yes, scared. That's how it eels when you act. I mean, you don't care that you are in a coffin. [laughter] You're thinking: "Oh my god, it's going to be my turn" [laughter and applause]

Fan: My question is really for Jonathan. First of all, it's wonderful to see you in person after admiring you for over 20 years. However, my question
is really about Alexandra Moltke who is another favorite of mine on the show. I am curious as to why they used two substitutes knowing that she was
pregnant and was going to leave? Why didn't they end the storyline with her and wasnt' there a general clamor among the fans to have her back? She was
popular . .

JF: I remember that happening. I was asking the same question at the time. Why she was leaving . . I can't remember how much they knew in the front office. Sometimes with an actor something can happen so quickly that you can't change. I don't have the answer, maybe Lara does.

LP: Ours is not to reason why.

JF: She just moved on . .

LP: Alexandra Moltke wanted to be off the show very, very badly. She did not want to do it. She refused to wear makeup, she hardly bothered to comb
her hair. She did not want to be there. If you watch the tapes towards the end you can see that she didn't wear makeup. A lot of times - as opposed to
the rest of us who were plastered with it - she would do the least possible. She had a contract and she stuck by it but she wanted to leave. She didn't
enjoy it. So when she got pregnant, they finally let her go. That's all I remember. I remember liking her very much.

Fan: It was strange to have a substitute for such a short time but with the pregnancy issue I can understand. Thank you. [applause]