DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '04 II => Topic started by: michael c on August 07, 2004, 08:31:51 PM
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over the past three years i have been(slowly)watching d.s. on video from episode one.i get one or two volumes a month.and i have been rivited by each one(until now).
i loved the naive charm of the 1966 eps...the mystery of the laura collins story...the drama of the liz/jason blackmail story...the suspence of the early barnabas eps. and julia's introduction...the excellence of the 1795 story and the excitement of the return to the present.
but i just watched the eps. where adam is brought to life and is being kept at the old house.for the first time ever i was distracted,disinterested.for the first time i felt as if i were being had by the writers.i didn't care about the character or what was going on because it didn't relate to anything else on the show before.it had a loud,cartoonish quality that seemed like a different show.it's campy.subtlety and suspense tossed out.vicki suddenly becomes less focal...in other words i didn't like it.i intended to watch this thing from begining to end,but now i'm wondering if i'll lose interest.
does anyone else think the show took a turn for the worse around this time? :'(
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Yes I do.
Don't get me wrong, there are some strong aspects to the Adam storyline (Robert Rodan's acting not least among them), but having sat through that storyline twice, I don't think I'll ever bring myself to do it again. But don't give up. While there's a distinct difference between the earlier episodes and those ahead, some superlative moments lie in wait--many, many of them, as a matter of fact. The tone of the show changes, and I'll be the first to say I prefer the "real world" feel it had in its formative days, but there is lots to look forward to, especially in the 1897 period. The actors got to shine many times over in some of the storylines yet to come.
--M
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey
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Mark is absolutely right. Watching DS is sometimes like diamond mining.....just when you think you can't look at another lump of coal, a diamond-perfect performance comes along that you're thrilled you didn't miss. Sometimes the dialogue is exceptional....sometimes it's one of the actors really getting caught up in the role....and sometimes it's just the twist that comes out of nowhere that makes you come back for more. ;)
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I can't stand the Adam story either and it's so upsetting after 1795. I wonder what the heck happened to the writers? Though I agree Robert Rodan does just about everything he can do with the role, his acting is very good and he had nice chemistry with Nancy Barrett...I like Nickolas Blaire also but the Frankenstein ripoff is very tacky. Is it possible the writers didn't know what they had and why the show was so good? Did they think it was just the moster thing?
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I have to say that the Adam storyline is one of my least favorites, and I felt very bored while watching it. (Fortunately, Professor Stokes and Nicholas Blair pop up occasionally to liven up the story.) DS has a pattern of presenting truly excellent, creative, suspenseful stories (1795, 1897) and then follwing them with sub-par, boring, poorly-written drivel (Adam, Leviathans.) I've always wondered why this was so. Perhaps the writers had expended all their creative energies and couldn't rise above a lousy plot, or perhaps they just didn't know how to follow up their past successes.
That said, please don't give up on the show, mscbryk. Many hidden gems lie ahead. DS has its ups and downs, but it's worthwhile to stick through to the end.
ProfStokes
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Actually, I liked the opening of the Adam story and I thought it had lots of possibilities. But, when they started changing it and having some other characters getting involved with it, I thought it really ruined things.
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in other words i didn't like it.i intended to watch this thing from begining to end,but now i'm wondering if i'll lose interest.
does anyone else think the show took a turn for the worse around this time? :'(
I didn't care too much for the Adam storyline either but as some of the other members have stated there were other characters that added more exitement to the storyline so don't give up just yet. Of course, it doesn't help too much having to listen to Jeff Clark rant & rave about his memory loss though. ::)
Cassandra
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the best thing to come out of the Adam/Eve thingy was that the show got 2 really good actors to play them......and eve in that black gown got my goosebumps going as a kid of 13.......btw.....anyone have any idea what became of Adam after the good Prof. Stokes referred him to the nip and tuck facility......and thank gawd he got rid of that green turtleneck!!!! :o
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The Adam storyline was also not my favorite. In fact, it was my least favorite and at times a real bummer for me to watch. But, like the fine folk here have said, it does have its shining moments. I guess we have to remember that even the best storylines, like 1897, also had their moments which were real clunkers. So it all comes out pretty even in the wash.
Gerard
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thanks for your comments guys.i thought jeff clark was annoying...i found these episodes to be almost physically jarring they were so different from anything before them.it was if they plunked something awful right down in the middle of something that was great.all shows have ups and downs but for me d.s. just went from strength to strength before this.i never saw an episode i didn't love.so i am disappointed.i don't know what the writers were thinking.perhaps they had some new mandate from the network..."monsters=ratings!"but it's a letdown.i understand i have a werewolf to look foreward to ::).the pacing is all wrong.just imagine what they could have done if they explored the cassandra character in greater depth.and poor alexandra,her character abruptly diminishes during this period.i know she was unhappy with her role when she left the show and i'm starting to see why.everyone says the 1897 story is great so i'll stick with it even though i prefer the present day eps.i usually watch my tapes time and again,absorbing everthing from the minutia of the voiceover to how dr. hoffman's tweeds are playing against the drapery at collinwood.i watched these to get through them and on to the next thing...but i never want to see them again >:(.
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i thought jeff clark was annoying
You thought Jeff Clark was annoying? Mscbryk, you are way too nice! I'm sure even Roger Davis knew that Jeff Clark was annoying. It's a good thing Dr. Frankenstein never did lop Jeff Clark's head off to stick on Adam's body. If that would've happened, even Satan would've turned down Nicholas Blair's offer to create a demonic race based on the subsequent creature.
Gerard
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It's a good thing Dr. Frankenstein never did lop Jeff Clark's head off to stick on Adam's body. If that would've happened, even Satan would've turned down Nicholas Blair's offer to create a demonic race based on the subsequent creature.
LMAO, Gerard! Funny and scary at the same time.... LOL ;D
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[spoiler]I too didn't care much for the Adam storyline at first. Now that I've seen it several times, it's grown on me. I love the catty remarks Eve makes to Adam (the poor guy, I felt so bad for him), love the overacting of Dr. Lang when Cassandra makes her surprise visit for a sprained ankle (Lara Parker can hardly contain her non-scripted laughter!) and the menacing Nicholas Blair. The scenes between Adam and Willie are priceless. Eve was actually my least favorite character at this point but that gal has really grown on me and I can appreciate her abhorrance at being stuck with Adam for the rest of her life and thinking that there is no way out. As others have said, there are some really bad moments but it can also be quite good and well written.[/spoiler]
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i'm still struggling to get through adam.i tried to "get into the groove" of these eps. but i still find them annoying.i think that if they had occured late in the show's run(like laviathans) i'd be more accepting.most show's get weaker as the years pass but these eps. immediately followed the show's best stuff so it's frustrating.and since i really like alexandra it's disappointing that her final months on the show were squandered on this dumb story :'(.
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I totally agree about the Adam storyline (and other storylines taking place at the same time). They're some of the worst on the show, IMO, up there with the middle and end of Leviathan. Thankfully, there were still some gems during that time period (like the introduction of Humbert Allen Astredo as Nicholas and Marie Wallace as Eve), or else the show would've become almost unwatchable...Jeff and Adam both got on my nerves to no end, and Elizabeth began to grate with her constant fear of death. I loved Eve and Nicholas though.
I loathed the way the show seemed to focus completely on the latest 'freak'...the Collins family and Collinwood were pushed to the backburner while Barnabas and newer characters took up most of the airtime, with the Old House being the central location.
After 1967, it seemed like the show didn't have that much success with the present-day plots, with the exception of the haunting of Collinwood in early 1969. Leviathans and Adam both were a bust (IMO), and the second haunting, while not bad per se, had its share of faults.
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I believe there were many good parts to the Adam/Eve storyline although some were just so silly... :P
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I totally agree about the Adam storyline (and other storylines taking place at the same time). They're some of the worst on the show, IMO, up there with the middle and end of Leviathan. Thankfully, there were still some gems during that time period (like the introduction of Humbert Allen Astredo as Nicholas and Marie Wallace as Eve), or else the show would've become almost unwatchable...Jeff and Adam both got on my nerves to no end, and Elizabeth began to grate with her constant fear of death. I loved Eve and Nicholas though.
I loathed the way the show seemed to focus completely on the latest 'freak'...the Collins family and Collinwood were pushed to the backburner while Barnabas and newer characters took up most of the airtime, with the Old House being the central location.
After 1967, it seemed like the show didn't have that much success with the present-day plots, with the exception of the haunting of Collinwood in early 1969. Leviathans and Adam both were a bust (IMO), and the second haunting, while not bad per se, had its share of faults.
i don't have anything against humbert allen astredo as nicholas blair except that he was a totally unecessary character.why?why introduce another monster when the show had not even resolved what to do with the ones they already had?it's just such overkill.it is sad the way the collins family gets pushed aside during this period...in fact,if the actors didn't have contracts i'd be willing to bet that the writers would just have written them all out to focus exclusively on barnabas and the monster-of-the-week.this story definitely is aimed at those "kids that ran home from school" rather than at adults who might favour a more subtle,well plotted tale :(.
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is sad the way the collins family gets pushed aside during this period...in fact,if the actors didn't have contracts i'd be willing to bet that the writers would just have written them all out to focus exclusively on barnabas and the monster-of-the-week.this story definitely is aimed at those "kids that ran home from school" rather than at adults who might favour a more subtle,well plotted tale :(.
But the show had already been on this path for some time by this point. It was the arrival of the supernatural in the character of Barnabas that altered the series from a soap opera with gothic overtones to the "horror" hit that it became. We "kids who ran home from school' may not have been the audience originally imagined, but once they had us, they'd have been fools to ignore us.
Let's not forget that a TV series is a for-profit product and not art-for-art's-sake. The purpose of Soap Operas is always to sell soap.... ;)
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But the show had already been on this path for some time by this point. It was the arrival of the supernatural in the character of Barnabas that altered the series from a soap opera with gothic overtones to the "horror" hit that it became.
hey rainey, i don't think this is entirely true.the 1795 story would not have had the impact that it had if it was just about a group of stupid monsters.it was about the history of the collins family.that is what made it so good.i don't object to the supernatural elements the show introduced,but during this story the family gets pushed aside and i don't think that's a positive development.during barnabas' whole first year his story was told within the context of his family.i just would have liked to have seen more of this and less 1968 monsters. ::)
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Oh I absolutely agree with you that the relationships among the characters were the best thing in the show. And I would have gladly done without Adam and Dr. Lang, myself.
But once they had Barnabas on the scene, they were never going back to stories that were ONLY about the relationships.
It gets better. There are WONDERFUL relationships in up-coming stories. Wait till you see Judith and her brothers all in the same room together!! :D
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Adam was most sweet and likable before [spoiler]Nicholas got a hold over him and started twisting his mind. Adam was quite vulnerable in his love for Carolyn and you can't help but ache for the poor guy when Carolyn is unable to feel as strongly about him as he did for her.[/spoiler]
The Adam story, while certainly not the best DS storyline (and I don't blame anyone for not liking it), it still held enough interest to keep me tuning in.