DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '11 II => Topic started by: Zahir on September 25, 2011, 07:42:40 PM
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What if Dark Shadows hadn't ended in 1970?
Bear with me for a moment. Suppose the series hadn't been cancelled. One reason folks often said the show ended was that they'd run out of ideas, or classic works of gothic/supernatural literature to rip off. [ghost_cheesy] But is that true? Really? I invite you all to suggest...sources of inspiration...the show might have used and how they could have played out. Consider also that the last time we saw Barnabas, Julia and Professor Stokes they'd returned from the past having changed history quite a bit (duh--Edith died a young woman!). We know Elizabeth and Roger were still around, and methinks we can presume David and Carolyn as well. But at the very least we might find another branch of the family somewhere, descended from Quentin and Daphne maybe?
So here are some suggestions on my part:
The Haunting by Shirley Jackson. In this wonderful (and terrifying) novel, a scientist who's longed all his life to find some kind of proof of ghosts persuades the owners of a New England mansion with a bizarre history to let him bring in a couple of real psychics for a week and see the results. If this isn't tailor-made for DS I don't know what is! One possibility that comes to my mind is that Barnabas might agree to let such an experiment at the Old House in hopes of contacting the spirit of Angelique!
Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, about a melancholy female vampire who visits a lonely person her own age and begins feeding, almost against her will. Wouldn't it be interesting to see another reluctant vampire, one who successfully hid their tracks even from Julia and Barnabas? Yet we'd all be rooting for them to connect because after all Julia does have a cure! She could turn this young woman back into a human being!
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This has enormous potential for humor, frankly. Suppose a pretty young woman came to Collinwood expecting to find all kinds of gothic mysteries and dark secrets--then utterly misinterpreted things! She might obsess about a perfectly ordinary object, thinking it cursed, or become convinced a natural death was in fact murder, or try to find the 'code' to decypher an old document whose real meaning she totally misses! Oh, and let Quentin fall in love with her. That'd be a nice touch, don'tcha think?
So many possibilities...Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, Rappacinni's Daughter, The Great God Pan, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mummy, etc. etc.
What would YOU like to have seen? [ghost_smiley]
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A mummy story might have been fun. But I would have loved to have seen Carolyn and Jeb in a Rosemary's Baby storyline
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Uncle Roger, I don't know if the daytime world would have been ready for that in 1971! [ghost_cheesy]
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True enough! Although they somehow were able to air the episode where Nicholas Blair performs a black mass to prepare Maggie for her new residence in hell. And, as I recall, this episode aired the day before Thanksgiving. Quite the holiday episode!
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A mummy story might have been fun.
Yes, but a "cousin" in rotting bandages might have been hard to explain. [ghost_cheesy]
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Uncle Roger, I don't know if the daytime world would have been ready for that in 1971! [ghost_cheesy]
Oh, I don't know. Look at the PT1841 storyline that involved something about a bundle of joy. Pretty heady stuff for DS.
Gerard
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All very true and valid points. 1973 saw the first legal abortion on AMC, so you never know!
And, yes, the Black Mass certainly was quite the extravaganza! [ghost_cheesy]
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There's The Flying Dutchman, though that might have come across as being too similar to the 1967 Barnabas storyline.
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Hasn't Alexandra Moltke said that one of the reasons she left DS was that she was afraid they would write her real-life pregnancy into the show as a Rosemary's Baby storyline? [ghost_blink] She may have been joking, though.
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Although it may have been somewhat similar to the Leviathan storyline (what with Jeb Hawkess as the leader of some evil race of beings), perhaps the Dark Shadows writers could have "borrowed" the concept of the newborn "Anti-Christ" from "The Omen" series of films?
Then again, maybe the writers could have adopted author John Fuller's nonfiction book, "The Interrupted Journey" (dealing with the alleged abduction of Barney and Betty Hill by ET's in New Hampshire, way back in 1961), and have had both Barnabas and Dr. Hoffman abducted by the "greys" in a storyline, entitled "The Interrupted Sojourn to Widow's Hill"? [ghost_rolleyes]
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The sense I get is that DC and Company were pretty much burnt out from doing five years of DS. If the show continued past April 1971, I suspect there would have been a significant turnover in cast and crew, which wouldn't necessarily have been a bad thing.
Also, I think the show would have found new life as a result of the 1971 publication of The Exorcist, which spawned a heightened awareness of, and interest in, the occult. Those who remember the 1970s will recall the large number of supernatural- and occult-themed made-for-TV movies and theatrical films. I can imagine DS morphing into a more "realistic" exploration of these themes and developing a grittier feel. (Hints of this can be seen in the John Yeager-Buffie Harrington storyline.)
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Lot No. 249 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have been the perfect way to bring a mummy into the DS storyline.
"Lot No. 249" (published in 1892) is a short story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story tells of an Oxford college student who, through the use of Egyptian magic, manages to reanimate an ancient Egyptian mummy (called "Lot 249" for its number in an auction sale), which he then sends to attack all the people against whom he holds a grudge. Written in the wake of the late-19th-century fascination with Egyptology, "Lot No. 249" was the first story to depict a reanimated mummy as a sinister, predatory figure and had a profound influence on the horror movie genre throughout the 20th century.
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A "Lot 249"-type story would have been fun! If Desmond could bring back the head of Judah Zachery from the mysterious Far East, surely some other Collins must have thought of bringing back a mummy. [ghost_grin]
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There was definitely a lot of other material that DS could've mined for inspiration to continue the story. Part of the charm, for me, of Dark Shadows was that they used the same actors to play a number of different characters and every now and then a new actor would join the show. If there had've been a major cast change, I wouldn't have liked it, but I'm sure the show would've continued nonetheless. Just look at the numerous occasions viewers are expected to ignore such things on today's soaps. I know there have been several times when I was watching General Hospital that there would be two even three actors playing the same character within the same week. Or even two actors in the same episode (which I only remember once, a long time ago).
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Lot 249 sounds like a great idea for a Mummy storyline!
With Laura and Quentin's ties to Egypt I'm surprised they didn't somehow work that in there.
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I agree. I've always thought a Mummy storyline would have been plausible in 1897 -- mostly because of the already established connections to Egypt. Plus, the Edwardian era sort of lends itself to this type of storytelling. I wonder if someday, the show could have returned to 1897 and played out a Mummy story?? Were enough of the main characters still alive? Would a return to 1897 have even been possible?
One thing I've often thought about is how the audience seemed to accept "wilder" storylines when the show was in an alternate time, but often rejected them in the "present". For instance, the Jekly/Hyde storyline worked (in my opinion) in parellel time, but wouldn't have worked in the real timeline. A mummy story might have been accepted in 1987, but not the present. Etc. I even believe that both the Adam/Eve stories and Leviathans story would have worked well in a past timeline, even though they were rejected by the audience as they played-out in the present.
We seemed better able to suspend our disbelief in alternate timelines, plus we had less investment in those characters. In alternate timelines, nearly every character was expendable. In the "present", we knew that none of the major characters would die, and that everything would eventually get back to normal. That must have been very restrictive for the writers. Does anyone else agree?
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Hmmmm! That's an interesting theory! Even though I enjoy the Leviathan storyline a lot, it would have been cool to have them show up in an earlier timeline, but for some reason I don't think they would have worked in a parallel timeline, but that just might be because I find both those storylines painful to watch (with the exception of the Cyrus Longworth/John Yaeger story.)
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Speaking of borrowing story lines. SUPERNATURAL this year has introduced The Old Ones as the big bad and guess what they call themselves......drumroll please......LEVIATHANS! I don't know if Eric Kripke was fan but I am thinking there is a fan on the writing staff or they have found this information looking for story lines! [bat7628]
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That's funny, TC! But H. P. Lovecraft invented the original Leviathans, so Supernatural may have gotten the idea from him rather than from DS.
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Yes but HP didn't name them Leviathans...DS was the first to give them that name! ;) That is all I was trying to point out. Sorry if I wasn't clear! HP referred to them as The Old Ones.
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You're right, TC! And I should know better--my husband is a big HP fan.
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One thing to keep in mind with respect to "what would have happened if Dark Shadows had continued" is that it appears JF did not want to continue playing Barnabas. That is to say that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with playing a vampire. That's why Bramwell came into being. I'm not sure how well Dark Shadows would have been able to work without the potential threat of Barnabas being a vampire again. In a way, they'd already done the "other vampire" thing with Roxanne.
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Sorry if I got a bit off topic...I just didn't want to start a new thread to tell everyone about that SPN! As for DS continuing, I feel that if the show had continued it would have been wise of them to mix traditional soap elements with the supernatural elements. The perfect example would be (for me) Laura The Phoenix storyline. To me that storyline was a perfect balance of all the elements. As much as I love the show after that period; I have to wonder how much better those latter story lines may have been if the writers who were writing at the start of DS and The Introduction of Barnabas had stayed with the show.
As for Frid, I have to wonder how many more years he signed on for. I am also glad that MB was able to clear it up a few years ago (for me) that Frid would have played Barnabas he just didn't want to play him as a vampire. We got a taste of that in 1968 and considering they revamped him I guess it wasn't quite as popular with fans. [skelleton_runs] [candle_in_skull_2]
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It is stated in some 1969 fan magazines that DS was going to have a mummy story after 1897 ended but DC didn't like the idea and said it is because all a mummy does is drag its leg slowly. That's the one supernatural plot he wouldn't use.
Jeremiah Collin's ghost looked something like a mummy though.
[Evil_Pumpkins]
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I am also glad that MB was able to clear it up a few years ago (for me) that Frid would have played Barnabas he just didn't want to play him as a vampire. We got a taste of that in 1968 and considering they revamped him I guess it wasn't quite as popular with fans.
Assuming that Dan Curtis agreed not to make Barnabas a vampire ever again, and assuming DC didn't break his word, and also assuming that DC believed that defanged Barnabas was less popular with the fans...what would DC have done with Barnabas to yank up the ratings again? Turned him into a werewolf?
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Maybe a hybrid vamp/werewolf???
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Perhaps a storyline along the lines of 'The Enchanted Cottage'. Quentin would live there without the benefit of the Dorian Grey portrait permitting him to look handsome upon demand. Jenny's obsessive/compulsive nature would be restrained but at times would get the better of her. Each would work hard to control their violent natures and they would deal with their problems and perhaps find true and lasting love. [hall_cry]