DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '25 I => Current Talk '06 I => Topic started by: BuzzH on June 01, 2006, 02:45:42 PM

Title: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 01, 2006, 02:45:42 PM: Well, so far I'm liking this plotline too. A few thoughts: Quentin is an ass, don't like him at all! Talk about a petulant temper meister! All he does is yell and scream, not at all the charming Quentin of RT. Even though I *am* enjoying this plotline, I must say, w/the exception of Alexis, I don't really care what happens to anyone. I do feel bad that [spoiler]Alexis will eventually be killed by Angelique.[/spoiler]I guess that will change as the plotline goes on, but knowing these ppl have no connection to OUR Collins clan, it's hard to care. At least when they go back in time we're talking about ancestors to our cousins. ;)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Gothick on June 01, 2006, 03:50:24 PM: I love the setup of Parallel Time--the new look of the sets and costumes, the initial scripts with all those juicy scenes, Hoffman's scheming froideur, Roger's bitchy zingers, a bitter, cynical Carolyn, a dowdy and regretful Liz. Alexis is a great character, too. I do agree with you that neither Quentin nor Maggie (in my opinion) starts out garnering much sympathy from me, and by about two thirds of the way through, I don't care a toss what happens to either of them. [spoiler]There are some fabulous characters introduced later on, notably Aunt Hannah portrayed by the wonderful Paula Laurence, who more or less covers Grayson Hall's disappearance from the storyline during the period when they were filming the movie, and deliiciously sleazy low-life, mad scientist/occultist Tim Stokes--Thayer David at his most magnificently seedy. I think Thayer had some of his best scenes in all of DS during the final weeks of PT.[/spoiler]

I hope you continue to find something to enjoy in this storyline. I think of it as something of a romp for the actors and, in some ways, for the writers as well.

G.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Barnabas'sBride on June 01, 2006, 05:25:26 PM: Quote from: BuzzH on June 01, 2006, 02:45:42 PM
I guess that will change as the plotline goes on, but knowing these ppl have no connection to OUR Collins clan, it's hard to care.

This is probably my first problem with parallel time. I couldn't care less about what happens to any of the people in it. But I also think I feel that way because I find them all uninteresting....I see parallel time as a lost opportunity. I prefer real time and wished they would've stayed there, but parallel time could've been used to tell a more creative "what if" story, IMHO. Instead we get Angelique, who, yet again, can't get a man without spells and manipulation (they just replaced Barnabas with Quentin) - and Maggie, the victim. The only two parallel time characters I find remotely interesting are Will and Carolyn, and they're not in it long enough to matter.

I have to say, despite my dislike for the Adam and Leviathan storylines, I prefer them both to parallel time, because at least the familiar favorite characters are there, even if many of them are used poorly. I'm much more invested in them.

If they had to go into PT, I'd prefer it if they had taken it in a different direction - say, show what it would've been like if Barnabas hadn't been released. You could have had Willie & Jason and possibly Burke & Victoria, and Julia as the hardnosed doctor who never had a vampire to soften her up. Maggie could've remained the wisecracking waitress.The Collins family could've been front and center again, and you could place Barnabas in the middle of that and have different things occur than what did in regular time.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 01, 2006, 05:45:25 PM: Quote from: Barnabas'sBride on June 01, 2006, 05:25:26 PM

This is probably my first problem with parallel time. I couldn't care less about what happens to any of the people in it.

Funny thing is, although, so far, I don't care about the PT characters in 1970, I *did* care a *lot* about the 1841 PT plotline! Figure that one out folks, LOL! [hdscrt]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: michael c on June 02, 2006, 12:54:12 AM: much like leviathan 1970pt was a late storyline i was fully prepared to dislike but ended up getting a kick out of anyways.

while i didn't "care" about the characters in the same way i do about their real time counterparts the fact that they were played by familiar faces gave me enough to hold my attention(at least after the filming of the movie was complete and the main cast returned to the storyline).

the whole cyrus/yeager thing was a snooze for me.liz,roger and carolyn went underused(again,the movie)and quentin and maggie were as annoying as hell.

but i did think that lara parker was given a great opportunity here.her scenes with grayson hall both as hoffman and rt.julia crackled.i also liked her scenes with kls.her few scenes with louis edmonds brought roger and cassandra to mind.those two had interesting chemistry.i also enjoyed the buffie harrington and hannah stokes characters alot too.when nancy barrett returned to the storyline her final episodes were amazing.

[spoiler]as much as i didn't care for sabrina stuart in general i found her fate to be sad and unfair.she's really one of the show's ultimate victims[/spoiler]

flawed to be sure...i really did want more of the main cast...but i enjoyed it in the end.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: MagnusTrask on June 02, 2006, 09:47:12 AM: Buzz... as they increasingly just ditch reality for another reality, it does become more difficult to care. Every time they had difficulty coming up with ideas toward they end, they just wiped the slate clean, and started over. When you're presented with too many alternate realities, your ability to suspend disbelief gets interefered with. That's my memory of the late days of DS, from childhood. I couldn't keep track of whatever reality it was supposed to be at any given moment, and no one seemed "real"... only potential alternative people, not real people.

That means they viewed the history of the RT characters as something holding them back. Shaking everything up by creating a new reality is something that might have appealed to tired producers and writers "on paper", but I don't think it helped. Then you have to still exhibit imagination and come up with fresh stories. I think the history is something that should and could have been exploited. It didn't hold them back. They would have had to violate the "stability" of characters' RT lives, maybe kill someone off occasionally, but that's not the worst thing in the world.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: jennifer on June 02, 2006, 02:13:04 PM: i don't know buzz the whole concept of PT annoys me anyway (hey what if my PT
counterpart has a much better life LOL)but i hated Quentin in 1970PT wished
Maggie just left and took him for his money

jennifer
Hoffman was good though :)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 02, 2006, 02:41:54 PM: More thoughts: So far I like Trask, it's refreshing to see a Trask character that, so far, is not an ass. Hope he stays that way. I think Buffie is AWESOME! Realy like her. Also like Hannah Stokes. Too bad these characters/actress's didn't show up in RT. I know that Elizabeth Eis briefly appeared in Leviathan, but her character there sucked.

I like the sets too-Cyrus' lab is too cool and like Buffie's room too--like that her bed is inside the window box w/the curtains there so she could, if she wanted, close them up and have a Ebenezor Scrooge bed. ;) Bruno is still a pimp w/the clothes too. [pimp]

[spoiler]Angelique has just killed Alexis so that's sad, I really liked Alexis and feel bad for her. It was like, for me, RT Angelique killing PT Catherine (1841). Didn't like it.[/spoiler]

Looks like the movie shoot in almost over as some ppl seem to be drifting back, first David Hennesy and then Barnabas, Will and Carolyn. [spoiler]Wish though that Barnabas could have met Alexis before she met her fate[/spoiler] Oh well...

So far I like the Cyrus/Yeager stuff too. Find it interesting that when they bill Pennock though, he's Christoper when he's Cyrus, and Chris when he's Yeager. Wonder why they did that...
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 02, 2006, 06:03:03 PM: I LOVE Parallel Time 1970! It's one of my favourite plots on the show--maybe because Lara Parker is in it so much. Anyway, I think she did a superlative job with the PT Angelique character, quite different from her real time counter part and much more frigid. The end of the "dinner party" episodes, [spoiler]when Maggie is almost driven to suicide as Angelique's face appears in her portrait via chromakey,[/spoiler] is a particularly effective and creepy scene.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 02, 2006, 07:03:41 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 02, 2006, 06:03:03 PM
quite different from her real time counter part and much more frigid.

I haven't yet personally seen much of PT Angelique, but watching the DS Addict's videos and seeing the 'promo' one for PT, that Angie definately seems a lot angrier than our own RT Angie. A different take on the character I suppose. ;)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Gothick on June 02, 2006, 08:05:53 PM: I thought that PT Angelique was a psychotic sociopath, full stop. And, clumsy as Cass/Angelique often was in her spellcraft, PT Angelique's spells had all the finesse and control of a chainsaw on acid.

I didn't really get that PT Angelique was angrier; just completely out to lunch. I wish [spoiler]they had done more with the storyline that hinted that Hoffman and Ang had been lovers at one time. There were several hints about that during the first week of PT shows, but it was dropped when everybody came back from making the movie; probably because they realized they would never be able to get anything more explicit past the network's censors.

I thought it was interesting that in our time, Julia Hoffman fell in love with Barnabas and more or less helped him redeem his humanity. The result of PT's Hoffman's love for Angelique went in the opposite direction--if anything, Hoffman encouraged Angelique to indulge her own monstrous ego and swollen vanity to excess. There was one scene in the later part of the storyline where this is shown more or less explicitly, but I don't think you have gotten there yet, Buzz.[/spoiler]

G.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:30:59 PM: Quentin in Parallel Time was not an interesting character, and I just didn't like it that they kept having David Selby play all of these different characters who were all named Quentin.

I think that Parallel Time would have been more fun if they had done it with our Quentin going through, instead of Barnabas. This would have given Jonathan the time he needed to be in the movie.

I also would have preferred that Angelique [spoiler]have used Alexis' lifeforce, instead of Roxanne's.[/spoiler]They could have used Donna W. as our time Willie's Roxanne then, or they could have used Elizabeth Eis for Willie's Roxanne. I know I never cared for Barnabas falling for Roxanne.

Anyway, I wish they had stayed in normal time too, and forgot about Parallel Time. Also wish they had, had David Selby play Quentin, our Quentin, and not all of the wierd, boring Quentins.

Misa
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:43:11 PM: Just got to thinking about Angelique/Alexis, and having Alexis used as the lifeforce again, it could have been interesting to have had Barnabas fall for her. At least this would have made more sense then having him fall for Roxanne.

They could have Barnabas meet Alexis, and fall in love with her. Then "Alexis" would have to pretend to be in love with him. This would explain his wanting to save the lifeforce much better. His falling in Love with Roxanne, just because she was pretty was really lame! There are lots of pretty girls out there, is he so simple that he falls in love with women just because of the way they look? He knew nothing about Roxanne, she could have been very undesirable for all he knew. Maybe she was a prostitute.

Anyway, as I said, they should have introduced some of these characters into regular time, and forgotten about Parallel Time.

I also think that if they wanted to do the Gerard Stiles ghost story, they should not have gone back to 1840. This was already done in the Quentin ghost story. They should have had the ghost story scarier, and had the RT cast perform a successful exorcism. At least that would have been different.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 03, 2006, 12:03:03 AM: Quote from: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:43:11 PM
There are lots of pretty girls out there, is he so simple that he falls in love with women just because of the way they look?

That IS a rhetorical question, right? [b003]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 03, 2006, 12:24:51 AM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 02, 2006, 06:03:03 PM
I LOVE Parallel Time 1970! It's one of my favourite plots on the show

I love 1970PT too. I find the interactions between the characters (yes, even Quentin and Maggie) to be absolutely fascinating. 1970PT is actually one of the DS storylines that becomes richer with repeated viewings, and I find that my enjoyment of it only increases each time I watch it.

As for PT Quentin, he's a deeply troubled and tortured character. But the thing is that it isn't until almost the very end of the storyline that we fully understand why that is. So, it's only natural upon first viewing to possibly find him boorish and bossy, if not downright insensitive. And, of course, even after the explanation for his behavior is given, it doesn't necessarily mean all of his actions are forgivable - but they are all understandable. And it's really quite interesting on subsequent viewings to see all the hints and clues - as in this scene from Ep #1027 in today's slideshow:

(http://www.dsboards.com/eventimages/0602ds_9.jpg)
1970: Ep #1027 - Quentin tries to explain to Maggie that he's struggling
very hard to free himself from and to understand 'certain things.'
- that are laid down long before that final explanation for his behavior is revealed.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: michael c on June 03, 2006, 05:51:06 PM: another intersting thing about parallel time(apart from it being a parallel time)is that in alot of ways it seems more "normal" than real time collinwood.

apart from angelique(and barnabas when he shows up)the family doesn't seem to have been plagued by centuries of supernatural shenanigans.no vampires chained in coffins,pheonixs' on the 100 year cycle or werewolves on the prowl.since angelique had only married into the family perhaps a dozen or so years earlier(judging from daniel's age)was the collins family in this time band essentially free of curses?

the familie's finanaces seem to have been in better order here too.where as real time collinwood is rather frowsy and threadbare here it is,i believe i'm quoting someone here,"bright and flowery and well ordered".there is apparently a full staff.besides hoffman and stokes there is talk of unseen chambermaids,gardeners and cooks.interestingly this was the only time period on the show that didn't have a governess of some sort.i do wish they had explained why elizabeth and roger had been the "poor relations".those characters needed a better backstory.

i thought that the chris and amy collins characters were totally unnessesary.i wonder if they were just finishing out don briscoe and denise nickerson's contracts?

i re-watched a few episodes and i was reminded of how forced and contrived the whole barnabas and roxanne thing was.i didn't buy it for a second.i think the writer knew that the barnabas/josette thing was played out and hoped viewers would go for this.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Joeytrom on June 03, 2006, 07:08:47 PM: Collinwood is bright and cheery isn't it?

I guess Liz had a happy marriage and is probably a widow, so there is no gloom hanging over the house in that aspect. Roger never married, thus no Laura to deal with.

Quentin and Angelique apparently were happy most of the time.

When the show returned to Real Time, they should have changed the sets somewhat and had a story to be told in regular time, at least for a year or more. The last three stories were already told in three different time periods. Too much time travel did hurt the show I believe.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 03, 2006, 07:54:16 PM: For me the two most interesting things about 1970PT are that the bright and cheery ambiance of Collinwood actually belies the dark and completely cheerless place it actually is, and that [spoiler]Quentin and Angelique's marriage was a nightmare - at least for him. The legend of Angelique was a complete facade which totally glossed over the conniving, malevolent and adulterous bitch that she really was. (And lets not even get into the fact that Angelique was more OCD than Martha Stewart could ever be, what with her insistence that the furniture and brick-a-brack in the drawing room (and presumably every room) never be moved even the sligtest fraction of inch from where she wanted it to be placed! [b003])[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Raineypark on June 03, 2006, 08:25:43 PM: Bwahaha....[lghy]

Do you suppose Martha watched DS while she was in college?
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: MagnusTrask on June 03, 2006, 09:03:51 PM: Maybe one reason for doing PT was that they felt they needed a reality where all the supernatural events hadn't happened, so trhe characters would be unsuspecting.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: tragic bat on June 04, 2006, 01:13:34 AM: I really liked a lot of 1970 Paralell time, and found that I did care for the characters; especailly Carolyn and Maggie; the former being so heavily emotionally scarred, and the latter just living a very sad, sad life. Angelique, however, was a whole lot worse than her RT counterpart. She was unhinged, and was keenly interested in torturing people (as evidenced by how she tried to make quentin call maggie back just so that she could ruin her life; RT Angelique, I'm sure, would have been just fine if Josette had gone back to Martinique.) A lot of her story is just creepy (the fate of Dameon Edwards comes to mind); and she seemed to have intense (and intensly sexual) relationships with almost everyone.

What I really wanted to see was Hoffman fired, and Claude North given more of a story. I personally really like Roxanne and her choice of boyfriends. I think people at this message board seem to forget that if Barnabas had become involved with Julia, she would DIE. He is cursed, and none of the cures for vampirism that took place (i.e. Adam, Julia's tinkering with his blood, Angelique's doppleganger) ever dealt with the issue that anyone who loves him will die. Angelique (x4), Josette, Rachel, Kitty, Roxanne (x2,) Viki...are all dead, and Julia would die too if they had an affair.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Barnabas'sBride on June 04, 2006, 02:37:02 AM: Quote from: tragic bat on June 04, 2006, 01:13:34 AM
I personally really like Roxanne and her choice of boyfriends. I think people at this message board seem to forget that if Barnabas had become involved with Julia, she would DIE. .

The problem with Roxanne for me is that she came out of nowhere and Barnabas's love for her also comes out of nowhere. I dislike them for the same reason I dislike Quentin & Amanda. No development, just BAM! Instant love. I'm not a fan of Barnabas & Julia as a couple, and they're not the reason I dislike Roxanne....but the line "Whoever loves you will die", seems ambiguous at best to me. If you go by words alone: "Whoever loves you will die", Julia should've been dead pretty early on. Sometimes I think that line simply means that Barnabas, as a vampire under the curse, will outlive anyone he loves and anyone that loves him. He will go through eternity watching family members and loved ones die because he's immortal.

MagnusTrask - I agree with most of your points on parallel time. With the constant "wiping of the slate" it gets hard to care. But it's not really about suspending my disbelief so much as it's about investing in characters and storylines. Once the show began time jumping on a consistent basis, my emotional investment decreased. Constantly having to adjust to new characters, knowing the storylines wouldn't last anyway....it starts feeling pointless.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: tragic bat on June 04, 2006, 04:11:18 AM: Quote from: Barnabas'sBride on June 04, 2006, 02:37:02 AM
"Whoever loves you will die", seems ambiguous at best to me. If you go by words alone: "Whoever loves you will die", Julia should've been dead pretty early on.

Angeliques own definition of love was obviously not one of restrained affection, watching from afar and hoping to one day build into true intimacy. Therefore, the curse hasn't touched Julia, not a romantic or declarative person, as of yet. It has touched people who engaged in the actions of love with Barnabus (the list I gave above.) Angelique was never very interested, either, in people instantly dropping dead. Someone who created the dream curse is clearly more interested in drama, so the curse works by ensuring the tragic fate of whoever loves Barnabus. That is how I see it, at least.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 04, 2006, 05:22:39 AM: I think an interesting aspect to Parallel Time that's often overlooked is Angelique's relationship with her son, Daniel. Now, they both are in only one or two scenes together, and I would've loved to have seen more of them. At any rate, it's difficult to see Angelique as a motherly figure--in either time period. She's far too self-centred to be a good caregiver. Quentin, too, is hardly in any scene with his son, and he also seems like a poor parent. It's a shame Parallel Time never explored any of these family connections before everyone started getting killed off and the story abruptly ended. Parallel Time could have been the start of a "normal" storyline with real, vibrant characters--I actually like the PT characters better than their real time counterparts in most cases, though I do find PT Liz rather boring and undeveloped.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: michael c on June 04, 2006, 05:40:58 PM: it's true that daniel got short shrift during this storyline.

he hardly had any interaction with his mother at all.on angelique's part daniel didn't seem very high on her list of priorities either.she was focused almost entirely on quentin.this is in marked contrast to the obsessive focus of david's relationship with his mother laura during the 1966 and 1897 storylines.

like most of the main cast david henesey was filming the movie during much of parallel time but it would have been nice to see more development between daniel and his mother.

in general david's characters would get pushed to the back burner when in fact it would have been more interesting to have him in the thick of things.this certainly happened when his father was married to cassandra.they share a few scenes but essentially their relationship is not explored.during this same period david and vicki share very few scenes which is sad because they had a cool relationship(he is the reason she's at collinwood in the first place) and then alexandra leaves so there is really no closure for them.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 04, 2006, 08:57:07 PM: It occurs to me that there might be a misconception as to how much the actual filming of hoDS affected the 1970PT storyline. 1970PT runs from Ep #981 through Ep #1060 - however Eps #981-#988 were taped before filming of the movie began, and the movie had wrapped production by the time Eps #1011-1060 were taped.

hoDS began its 30 day production the week of March 23, 1970 and it wrapped the week of April 27, 1970 - but during that time production of the daytime series was completely suspended from April 1-12, 1970. The only eps of the daytime series that were simultaneous taped while hoDS filmed were the 22 eps from Ep #989 through Ep #1010. So, that's only 22 eps out of an 80 eps long storyline. And, in fact, several of those 22 eps were shot out of sequence to accommodate the actors' hoDS schedules for those who were doing double-duty on both the film and the series.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: MagnusTrask on June 04, 2006, 10:40:28 PM: I'll have to see those movies sometime.

It says something that after three viewings or so of PT, I can't even remember Henesy being in it.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 05, 2006, 02:36:17 PM: Quote from: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:30:59 PM
I just didn't like it that they kept having David Selby play all of these different characters who were all named Quentin.

I agree, it would have been interesting, at LEAST w/1840 and/or 1841PT, to have DS play a DIFFERENT character. Same goes for JF, although he DID play Bramwell.

Quote from: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:30:59 PM
I think that Parallel Time would have been more fun if they had done it with our Quentin going through, instead of Barnabas. This would have given Jonathan the time he needed to be in the movie.

Well, they [spoiler]chained Barnabas[/spoiler]up so that gave JF the time off he needed for HODS.

Quote from: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:30:59 PM
I also would have preferred that Angelique [spoiler]have used Alexis' lifeforce, instead of Roxanne's.[/spoiler]They could have used Donna W. as our time Willie's Roxanne then.

Very true, I too don't understand the introduction of Roxanne, but since they did it would have been nice to see Willie's Roxanne played by DW. What a dilemma for Barnabas, to be in love w/his servant's fiance! ;)

Quote from: Misa on June 02, 2006, 11:43:11 PM
Just got to thinking about Angelique/Alexis, and having Alexis used as the lifeforce again, it could have been interesting to have had Barnabas fall for her. At least this would have made more sense then having him fall for Roxanne. They could have Barnabas meet Alexis, and fall in love with her. Then "Alexis" would have to pretend to be in love with him. This would explain his wanting to save the lifeforce much better.

Now THAT would have been interesting! Barnabas falling for an Angelique look-a-like! And the fact that JF and Lara had chem makes it all the more logical.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 09, 2006, 12:32:17 AM: Quote from: Gothick on June 01, 2006, 03:50:24 PM
[spoiler]There are some fabulous characters introduced later on ... deliiciously sleazy low-life, mad scientist/occultist Tim Stokes--Thayer David at his most magnificently seedy. I think Thayer had some of his best scenes in all of DS during the final weeks of PT.[/spoiler]

I loved Thayer when I watched Ep #1031 today. [spoiler]By way of proving who's really in control of things, Stokes performed a ceremony to sap Angelique's life force temporarily. And then after getting her to admit he'd won the round while he sat playing chess with himself, he remarked with drunken triumph and glee, "I've been a loser for most of my life. What a joy it is to win." Such a great moment![/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 02:58:03 PM: Quote from: mscbryk on June 03, 2006, 05:51:06 PM
i thought that the chris and amy collins characters were totally unnessesary.i wonder if they were just finishing out don briscoe and denise nickerson's contracts?

You're probably right about this. They are, so far at least, pretty unnecessary. But I'm only about a 1/3 of the way through. Had to take a break to watch Hill Street Blues-2nd Season. ;D
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 03:01:58 PM: Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on June 03, 2006, 07:54:16 PM
[spoiler]And lets not even get into the fact that Angelique was more OCD than Martha Stewart could ever be, what with her insistence that the furniture and brick-a-brack in the drawing room (and presumably every room never be moved even the sligtest fraction of inch from where she wanted it to be placed! [b003])[/spoiler]

Yeah, like I said before, this Angelique is NUTS! A true sociopathic lunatic. RT Angie is just a selfish, possessive, conniving bitch! ;) Of course, she, like her PT counterpart is also a sociopath.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 03:05:49 PM: Quote from: Barnabas'sBride on June 04, 2006, 02:37:02 AM
The problem with Roxanne for me is that she came out of nowhere and Barnabas's love for her also comes out of nowhere. I dislike them for the same reason I dislike Quentin & Amanda. No development, just BAM! Instant love.

Yeah, I totally agree w/this, Q&A? WTF!!?? When did he stop loving Beth? Hello??? ::)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 03:08:51 PM: Quote from: tragic bat on June 04, 2006, 04:11:18 AM
Quote from: Barnabas'sBride on June 04, 2006, 02:37:02 AM
"Whoever loves you will die", seems ambiguous at best to me. If you go by words alone: "Whoever loves you will die", Julia should've been dead pretty early on.

Angeliques own definition of love was obviously not one of restrained affection, watching from afar and hoping to one day build into true intimacy. Therefore, the curse hasn't touched Julia, not a romantic or declarative person, as of yet. It has touched people who engaged in the actions of love with Barnabus (the list I gave above.) Angelique was never very interested, either, in people instantly dropping dead. Someone who created the dream curse is clearly more interested in drama, so the curse works by ensuring the tragic fate of whoever loves Barnabus. That is how I see it, at least.

True, but, [spoiler]how do you explain Sarah, Naomi and yes, even Abagail? They all loved him, but weren't in a romantic situation w/him, and they all died. For that matter, the present day family, I'm sure, loved him as a cousin. They didn't die either.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 03:13:19 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 04, 2006, 05:22:39 AM
At any rate, it's difficult to see Angelique as a motherly figure--in either time period. She's far too self-centred to be a good caregiver. Quentin, too, is hardly in any scene with his son, and he also seems like a poor parent.

Hell, that could be said for any and ALL Collins parents, LOL! With the exception of Liz in RT, Flora in 1840 and PT Flora, all are terrible, uninvolved parent's! ;) [spoiler]One can only hope that Bramwell and Catherine, because they are CRAZY about each other and thrilled w/her pregnancy (except for the initial angst of Morgan finding out) will be better parents.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 09, 2006, 03:51:00 PM: Quote from: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 03:13:19 PM
Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 04, 2006, 05:22:39 AM
At any rate, it's difficult to see Angelique as a motherly figure--in either time period. She's far too self-centred to be a good caregiver. Quentin, too, is hardly in any scene with his son, and he also seems like a poor parent.

Hell, that could be said for any and ALL Collins parents, LOL! With the exception of Liz in RT, Flora in 1840 and PT Flora, all are terrible, uninvolved parent's! ;) [spoiler]One can only hope that Bramwell and Catherine, because they are CRAZY about each other and thrilled w/her pregnancy (except for the initial angst of Morgan finding out) will be better parents.[/spoiler]
But you can add Mrs. Johnson to the list of exceptions: she seemed to care about her troubled, criminally-involved son. Oh, and add Jenny too. She did love her "babies." Still, I guess you're right: Angelique's just one of many bad Collins parents. Luckily, RT Angelique and Barnabas never had any kids. What would have been the result?
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 05:13:51 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 09, 2006, 03:51:00 PM
But you can add Mrs. Johnson to the list of exceptions: she seemed to care about her troubled, criminally-involved son. Oh, and add Jenny too. She did love her "babies." Still, I guess you're right: Angelique's just one of many bad Collins parents. Luckily, RT Angelique and Barnabas never had any kids. What would have been the result?

True, Jenny was very maternal, forgot about her. But I don't know that I necessarily agree about Mrs. J. Don't get me wrong, I simply ADORE her (she's a hoot and a half!) but she was always verbally abusing Harry, saying he was a troublemaker etc...and of course, the abuse started at birth when she named him Harry w/a surname like Johnson! >:D Makes me wonder how she treated her mentioned, but never seen, daughter.

As for B&A, we can be eternally grateful they never bred, LOL! ;)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Pansity on June 14, 2006, 01:55:31 AM: Interesting thread as I have been reading through the posts. One thing I didn't see mentioned, though, was the fact that the main characters, Quentin, Angelique Maggie and Hoffman were STRAIGHT out of DuMaurier's Rebecca. I think a lot of the weaknesses of the plot come from that: Quentin has to be a bullying jackass, Maggie has to have a backbone of limp linguinini (Keep in mind that the 2nd Mrs. DeWinter didn't even have a NAME) Hoffman/Mrs. Danvers is an obsessed psychopath in love with Angelique/Rebecca, who is rotten to the core beneath the veneer of adoration and perfection.

The thing that makes PT interesting to watch is how they took is how they combined that plot and Jekyl and Hyde and threw in the original things and it still all worked.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 14, 2006, 10:10:04 PM: Quote from: Pansity on June 14, 2006, 01:55:31 AM
Interesting thread as I have been reading through the posts. One thing I didn't see mentioned, though, was the fact that the main characters, Quentin, Angelique Maggie and Hoffman were STRAIGHT out of DuMaurier's Rebecca. I think a lot of the weaknesses of the plot come from that: Quentin has to be a bullying jackass, Maggie has to have a backbone of limp linguinini (Keep in mind that the 2nd Mrs. DeWinter didn't even have a NAME) Hoffman/Mrs. Danvers is an obsessed psychopath in love with Angelique/Rebecca, who is rotten to the core beneath the veneer of adoration and perfection.

The thing that makes PT interesting to watch is how they took is how they combined that plot and Jekyl and Hyde and threw in the original things and it still all worked.
You're quite right about PT being a bit too Rebecca-derived. I picked up a copy of the novel the other day and as I've been reading it, I've noticed how close the plots are. Even the dialogue is eerily identical. That said, Rebecca certainly doesn't have the identical twins, Jekyll/Hyde, Carolyn & Will, murder mystery stuff that PT has...at least, not from what I've read so far (I'm about 1/3 of the way through as of now). I think I ought to watch PT again after I read Rebecca. I'm enjoying the book a lot, and PT has always been a favourite of mine.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Pansity on June 14, 2006, 11:06:42 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 14, 2006, 10:10:04 PM
You're quite right about PT being a bit too Rebecca-derived. I picked up a copy of the novel the other day and as I've been reading it, I've noticed how close the plots are. Even the dialogue is eerily identical. That said, Rebecca certainly doesn't have the identical twins, Jekyll/Hyde, Carolyn & Will, murder mystery stuff that PT has...at least, not from what I've read so far (I'm about 1/3 of the way through as of now). I think I ought to watch PT again after I read Rebecca. I'm enjoying the book a lot, and PT has always been a favourite of mine.

The book is quite interesting; Du Maurier wrote GOOD gothics. And by the way you're right, you WON'T find the other subplots in Rebecca. You'll also note a number of other changes to the main plot as you go along. Interesting thing here is I remember reading the book for the first time in Junior High (I had made the mistake of telling the teacher how many times I'd already read Gone With the Wind, so she insisted I pick something else and recommended Rebecca as something a person who loved GWTW would like. She was right. ;D). By that time DS was over and gone and I honestly don't remember the book reminding me of DS when I first read it. Then again, maybe I had just missed seeing most of that storyline during the original run. (The mad dash home from day camp when the busses didn't even get back to the school till 4pm did me in on pieces of most of the storylines.)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: jennifer on June 15, 2006, 08:07:16 AM: the book rebecca was great and the movie stands the test of time
Mrs Danvers was so weird i love the scene when she is showing the second Mrs
D. Rebecca's "intimates" and saying they were hand made by nuns it was too funny
as one that thought nuns never wore underwear or even knew what they were :D
i thought Hoffman did a fine job with her role and wondered what Mrs danvers would have been
like if Rebecca had come back

jennifer
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: MagnusTrask on June 15, 2006, 08:12:03 PM: Jeannie... the Rebecca plagiarism is my main complaint about PT, that and the Jeckyl/Hyde pilfering, but I decided that everyone must be sick of my going on about it by now. Once those two excrutiatingly predictable storylines play out (if only the maid/2nd Mrs. DeWinter thing, and the J/Hyde thing, had taken a drastically unexpected turn...), PT starts to get interesting for me. Things loosen up, and they're not in a straightjacket anymore. It's not a job watching it anymore. Until then, I keep screaming in my head, Hoffman, tell her to jump out the window already!
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 15, 2006, 08:37:02 PM: I love Rebecca and the Rebeccaesque elements 1970PT incorporates. But I have to confess that when I originally watched 1970PT and first loved it in '70, I'd never read Rebecca or seen the movie, so the story was fresh for me (not to mention it was an infinite improvement over the insanity that was the last weeks of Leviathans). Perhaps if I'd first seen 1970PT when I was more aware of Rebecca, it might have been different. [idontknow] But even at that, as I stated in a previous post, even now that I am aware of Rebecca, I grow to love 1970PT even more with each subsequent viewing because the levels of the plot and the construction of the storyline just seem to deepen for me.

Quote from: MagnusTrask on June 15, 2006, 08:12:03 PM
Until then, I keep screaming in my head, Hoffman, tell her to jump out the window already!

Well, you have to admit that the way that element from Rebecca plays out is different because it's [spoiler]Angelique/Rebecca who encourages Maggie/Noname to jump, whereas Hoffman/Mrs. Danvers simply listens outside the door. In fact, Hoffman hates the very idea that Angelique would go to such lengths to get rid of Maggie.[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 15, 2006, 09:02:42 PM: Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on June 15, 2006, 08:37:02 PM
I love Rebecca and the Rebeccaesque elements 1970PT

I find it very interesting that once they'd gone through all the classic horror plots (Dracula, The Wolfman, Frankenstein) they turned to classic literature. First Rebecca (1970PT) and then Wuthering Heights (1841PT). And like 70 PT with it's throwing in of other plots (Jekyl/Hyde), 1841 PT also threw in a good smattering of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. 8)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: CyrusL on June 15, 2006, 10:24:44 PM: Quote from: BuzzH on June 09, 2006, 05:13:51 PM
[True, Jenny was very maternal, forgot about her. But I don't know that I necessarily agree about Mrs. J. Don't get me wrong, I simply ADORE her (she's a hoot and a half!) but she was always verbally abusing Harry, saying he was a troublemaker etc...and of course, the abuse started at birth when she named him Harry w/a surname like Johnson! >:D Makes me wonder how she treated her mentioned, but never seen, daughter.
Do you suppose the Werewolves on Dark Shadows had Hairy Johnsons? [Wolfie] [banana]

Okay, me bad [angel12]

Michael [laughing_devil]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Pansity on June 15, 2006, 11:46:55 PM: Quote from: MagnusTrask on June 15, 2006, 08:12:03 PM
Jeannie... the Rebecca plagiarism is my main complaint about PT, that and the Jeckyl/Hyde pilfering, but I decided that everyone must be sick of my going on about it by now.

I can understand your point of view, even though I rather enjoy that aspect. Two reasons I think. Not only am I an English Lit major (the other major was History, big shock I know to those who know me. [rofl10] ) but I also spent a lot of time in the fandoms for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, where the steals from books, old movies (and just about everything not nailed down) were a big part of the fun. Spot the in joke and figure out which movie THAT came from were the big sports. [nerd] [naughty]

PT and 1897 are the storylines that did it the most -- and the most obviously -- I think. But then again there IS 1841 and "The Lottery" not to mention the Jane Eyre steals in EVERY storyline.... And, as you say, the interesting stuff is really in the additions, twists and turns that change the "known" plot into DS.

Now this is making me wonder: Did they do it ONLY as a quick and dirty way to come up with stories under the unreal pressures of writing for daytime TV? Or, as with the Lucas films, was it also the nudge nudge wink wink acknowledgement of the material that inspired it all? [9050]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: PennyDreadful on June 16, 2006, 03:39:08 AM: My knowledge of this will earn geek points but so be it! Ha! There was this gothic horror tabletop role-playing game called Ravenloft in the 90s that did the exact same thing DS did. Ravenloft took classic horror literature and film characters/storylines and restructured them to create their own mythos based on those classic tales. All of those classic character archetypes existed in the Ravenloft world similarly to the way they did in DS. I think it was cool that DS incorporated all those classic stories into the fabric of the show. Some worked better than others, but it was a neat idea to take those and work them into the DS story. Supposedly the writers had a rolodex of classic horror stories which they'd rifle through to find new storyline ideas. I wonder which ones were in that rolodex that never made the cut?
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: retzev on June 16, 2006, 05:22:12 AM: Quote from: PennyDreadful on June 16, 2006, 03:39:08 AM
I think it was cool that DS incorporated all those classic stories into the fabric of the show. Some worked better than others, but it was a neat idea to take those and work them into the DS story. Supposedly the writers had a rolodex of classic horror stories which they'd rifle through to find new storyline ideas.

Don't you just love a good Monster-Mash? :)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: PennyDreadful on June 16, 2006, 03:51:40 PM: Quote from: retzev on June 16, 2006, 05:22:12 AM
Don't you just love a good Monster-Mash? :)

Oh I do sir. I do. [blackbat]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: CyrusL on June 16, 2006, 07:29:20 PM: Quote from: PennyDreadful on June 16, 2006, 03:39:08 AM
My knowledge of this will earn geek points but so be it! Ha! There was this gothic horror tabletop role-playing game called Ravenloft in the 90s that did the exact same thing DS did. Ravenloft took classic horror literature and film characters/storylines and restructured them to create their own mythos based on those classic tales. All of those classic character archetypes existed in the Ravenloft world similarly to the way they did in DS. I think it was cool that DS incorporated all those classic stories into the fabric of the show. Some worked better than others, but it was a neat idea to take those and work them into the DS story. Supposedly the writers had a rolodex of classic horror stories which they'd rifle through to find new storyline ideas. I wonder which ones were in that rolodex that never made the cut?

The only two I ever heard a reference to being actually considered were the Mummy [egypt] and Dickens "A Christmas Carol."(That is a topic in itself, which I think we should do in the proper holiday season) Dan Curtis once made a remark along the lines "I couldn't figure out how to get a mummy up into Maine." Actually, I've always said, "Just tie it into a Laura Collins story!" which we did on old AOL DS roleplaying. I have some ideas I always wondered if they could have been incorporated into the show...
A Phantom of the Opera type story [fangs]
Creature from the Black Lagoon type story: Seems a natural for all those beach fronts [tongue2]
Ghost Ships: While they briefly touched on these, a full on Flying Dutchman story could have been very good. [Ghost00]

I don't think I would have liked trolls or leprechauns on DS. Likewise, I'm iffy on an "Island of Lost Souls" story. Do we really want Roger interbreeding with alligators or sheepdogs? Now a weird circus in Collinwood...hmmmmm [clown] [clown] [clown]

Michael
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 18, 2006, 06:21:32 PM: What exactly is Elizabeth's relationship with Quentin in PT? I'm watching the seance episode early on in the storyline, and he calls her "my sister." Strange.

Oh, and is there a pure piano recording of the "Ode to Angelique" without the cheesy '60ish sound effects? I have the version on the soundtrack CD, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 18, 2006, 06:44:38 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 18, 2006, 06:21:32 PM
What exactly is Elizabeth's relationship with Quentin in PT? I'm watching the seance episode early on in the storyline, and he calls her "my sister." Strange.

That was a slip-up. Apparently Selby had a Judith flashback. ;) Liz and Quentin are cousins in 1970PT.

Quote
Oh, and is there a pure piano recording of the "Ode to Angelique" without the cheesy '60ish sound effects? I have the version on the soundtrack CD, but I'm not entirely satisfied with it.

Hmmm - I'm thinking the only pure piano version of OtA is the intro on the version that was released as a single in '70. The intro only lasts about 25 seconds, however, then the arrangement becomes fully orchestrated - though simple piano does return for the final fadeout. The single version is available on The 30th Anniversary Collection CD.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Gothick on June 19, 2006, 02:40:25 PM: A solo (or "pure") piano version of the entire composition, "Ode to Angelique," is included on the fourth (I think) of the series of CDs of Dark Shadows soundtrack cues that were, once upon a time, distributed by MPI. The CDs were compiled from Robert Cobert's master tapes. The quality is excellent and I highly recommend them if, like me, you've always thought the music was one of your favorite aspects of the show.

Now WHEN are we going to see Laurie Johnson's music for the Diana Rigg seasons of The Avengers released on CD???

cheers, G.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 19, 2006, 03:11:43 PM: I have the 30th Anniversary CD (perhaps I should have made that clearer, but I'd forgotten its official title), which has, like you said, MB, the orchestral version. It's not bad, but I'd really like to hear the piano-only version that's heard on PT so much.

I've looked on Amazon for the MPI Dark Shadows CDs, but they must be extremely rare: only volumes three and four show up on the American site (volume two is on Amazon.co.uk), but four is currently unavailable and three is rather expensive (over $20, I believe, which is more than I'd like to spend). I've added four to my wishlist, and I hope a copy pops up soon.

Oh, and the music on DS really does make the show: every time I see Liz walk in a room, for example, my mind immediately starts humming the "Joan Bennett theme."
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: MagnusTrask on June 19, 2006, 05:21:00 PM: Quote from: Gothick on June 19, 2006, 02:40:25 PM
Now WHEN are we going to see Laurie Johnson's music for the Diana Rigg seasons of The Avengers released on CD???

Yeah! I haven't thought of that before! Every other program gets multiple soundtracks now, because of fan agitation, i think.

J Bennett had a theme?
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: AndreDuPres on June 19, 2006, 06:30:02 PM: Quote from: MagnusTrask on June 19, 2006, 05:21:00 PM
J Bennett had a theme?

Well, it wasn't an official theme (a la "Quentin's Theme" or "Ode to Angelique"), but a little piece of music usually pops up whenever Joan Bennett (in her various characters) walks in the drawing room or whatever. They use it only with her--never with any other character, as far I know. Also, KLS has a "theme" too: whenever the camera pans over to the Evans' cottage or whenever Maggie's mentioned or etc. another piece of music plays. It transfers to Kate Jackson once KLS leaves the show. Angelique has her own special spellcasting music, too, that's sometimes used with other characters like Nicholas, but which I tend to associate with her (it was used in an Angelique screensaver from the now defunct Portraits of Collinwood website, if anyone remembers). I'm sure there are other "themes" used in the show, but these three are the ones I've noticed.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on June 19, 2006, 07:03:23 PM: Quote from: Gothick on June 19, 2006, 02:40:25 PM
A solo (or "pure") piano version of the entire composition, "Ode to Angelique," is included on the fourth (I think) of the series of CDs of Dark Shadows soundtrack cues that were, once upon a time, distributed by MPI.

Not the fourth, the second. :) Yesterday when I looked at the CDs I missed that. I saw the version on the third CD, but it sounds like it's being played on a harpsichord (probably an organ with a harpsichord feature ;)) and so I didn't even look at the second CD. :-[ However, the pure piano arrangement on the second CD lasts for about 1 minute and 44 seconds before it changes to a more music box sounding arrangement that also incorporates more "spooky" elements. The second half of the arrangement lasts for about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. But still, the version on the second CD is the best and longest version featuring, at least in part, a pure piano arrangenment.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 19, 2006, 07:38:51 PM: Quote from: AndreDuPres on June 19, 2006, 06:30:02 PM
I'm sure there are other "themes" used in the show, but these three are the ones I've noticed.

Some character themes that come to mind right off the top of my head are: Carolyn Stoddard, Joe Haskell, Josette's Theme, Adam & Eve At Blair House, Melanie & Kendrick, Morgan & Catherine (always bugged me that this arrangement WASN'T named Bramwell & Catherine, but I digress...). I'm sure there are others but I don't have my 4 CD's in front of me to check. MPI had a FABULOUS deal on these 4 btw at the 1991 LA Fest, all 4 for $20 bucks! Baby don't ya know I snapped those suckers up! ;)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: michael c on June 19, 2006, 09:04:55 PM: i don't believe it's technically her "theme" but there is a piece of music they always used for vicki in 1967.

it always brings to mind her standing on the terrace in the moonlight,fountain tinkling,waiting for burke to show up. :-*
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on June 19, 2006, 09:33:08 PM: Quote from: mscbryk on June 19, 2006, 09:04:55 PM
i don't believe it's technically her "theme" but there is a piece of music they always used for vicki in 1967.

it always brings to mind her standing on the terrace in the moonlight,fountain tinkling,waiting for burke to show up. :-*

Yep, there IS a Victoria Winters theme too. And actually the so-called Joan Bennett theme is called Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, I think. ;)
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: CyrusL on June 22, 2006, 06:19:10 PM: I used to really like the "David Collins" theme, which was rather moody with french horns and made me think of the old Universal films. I think they also used it for Adam's theme for a while. [frankie]

Michael
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Gothick on July 25, 2006, 09:59:27 PM: Sorry to rehash this again, but I just got out my copy of the CD, "Original Music from Dark Shadows, volume 4," dated 1990 on the Media Sound Records label (once distributed by MPI). I gather this is now out of print.

Anyhow, the final track on this disc, track 28, is a 2.24 minute version of Ode to Angelique arranged for solo piano. Part of it was heard several times on the series when Bruno would be seen tickling the ivories (as we used to say) with what seemed to be not just his favorite, but his ONLY composition (I think he played it so much because he knew how much Quentin loathed it).

I played the track through and it's just piano--no music box or other sound effects. Really very pretty music.

Let's hope this track is included on the massive new set Darren mentioned in an earlier post.

Best, G.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 25, 2006, 10:40:24 PM: That's very interesting, Gothick - not only because it's on your copy of the 4th CD - but because my copy of that CD has only 24 tracks. :-
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Gothick on July 25, 2006, 11:15:38 PM: I just double-checked, and those last 4 tracks have an asterisk which marks them as "bonus tracks." I presume they are bonus to the previous release which must be the one you have.

Does yours include a couple of extremely rare photos in the inlay "booklet" (which is only two pages in mine)? Mine has a shot of Joe giving Maggie a kiss (from a 1968 publicity session from which another picture of the two together has been much more widely circulated), a picture of Quentin in his post-werewolf shredded clothing posing in the drawing room set, shots of Gregory Trask and Magda, and a photo of Liz and Carolyn together from Episode 2--all seldom if ever seen elsewhere (by me).

Best, G.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 26, 2006, 03:07:11 AM: Quote from: Gothick on July 25, 2006, 11:15:38 PM
I just double-checked, and those last 4 tracks have an asterisk which marks them as "bonus tracks."

Oh, I didn't doubt for a second that your CD has 28 tracks. You certainly wouldn't make something like that up - especially when you were specifically reporting that Track 28 was the piano version of Ode to Angelique. ;)

Quote
Does yours include a couple of extremely rare photos in the inlay "booklet" (which is only two pages in mine)? Mine has a shot of Joe giving Maggie a kiss (from a 1968 publicity session from which another picture of the two together has been much more widely circulated), a picture of Quentin in his post-werewolf shredded clothing posing in the drawing room set, shots of Gregory Trask and Magda, and a photo of Liz and Carolyn together from Episode 2--all seldom if ever seen elsewhere (by me).

The only pic in that group that mine has is the one of Quentin. And the only other rare pic is one of Sarah dressed in her nightclothes. The other 10 pics are all ones we've seen elsewhere, either before or since.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: PennyDreadful on July 26, 2006, 03:57:45 PM: I have the CD and mine has the full 28 tracks as well. Hopefully the upcoming release from MPI will have all the music in it. Though I wonder if it'll contain the non-Cobert tunes such as the original Josette's music box theme.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: BuzzH on July 26, 2006, 04:21:05 PM: Quote from: Gothick on July 25, 2006, 09:59:27 PM
I just got out my copy of the CD, "Original Music from Dark Shadows, volume 4," dated 1990 on the Media Sound Records label (once distributed by MPI). Anyhow, the final track on this disc, track 28, is a 2.24 minute version of Ode to Angelique arranged for solo piano. I played the track through and it's just piano--no music box or other sound effects. Really very pretty music.

Yes indeed Gothick, not only is that track my favorite version of Ode To Angelique, it's my favorite track period for all 6 CD's that I own. ;)

Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on July 25, 2006, 10:40:24 PM
That's very interesting, Gothick - not only because it's on your copy of the 4th CD - but because my copy of that CD has only 24 tracks. :-

That's strange MB, when did you buy your CD? Perhaps it was before they issued the version we have?
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 26, 2006, 04:53:17 PM: Quote from: BuzzH on July 26, 2006, 04:21:05 PM
not only is that track my favorite version of Ode To Angelique, it's my favorite track period for all 6 CD's that I own.

Oh, thanks for rubbing it in that it's your favorite track on all the CDs - and I don't have it! [wink2] [lol2]

Quote
That's strange MB, when did you buy your CD? Perhaps it was before they issued the version we have?

I'm not sure of the exact time. I remember buying the vinyl versions of Volumes 2-4 when they first came out between '86 and '88. And I could swear I bought the CDs when they were first offered by MPI back around, I'm thinking, '92?

Some day when I've got time, I'll have to dig out my old MPI catalogues to see what they say...
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Sunny_Collins on August 30, 2006, 03:36:07 PM: At first I was very interested in the mysterious room of parallel time, and how people could watch their counterparts live different lives, but once Barnabas arrived in that actual time, it became quite boring.

Upon Alexis's arrival, I thought "Oh boy, it's Angelique up to one of her tricks again, pretending to have a twin sister for some possible vicious scheme." [spoiler]But once Angelique came back and killed Alexis I felt bad for poor Alexis and that I had spent so much time thinking she was Angelique. How terrible was it of Angelique to kill her own sister! :o[/spoiler]

It became rather tiring to see that angry Quentin, and no other variation in his character. It was so different from the Quentin we are all used to. And Maggie, being treated so terribly by Quentin and Angelique, it's no wonder she left for a while.

I didn't really care for Willie and Carolyn as a couple, not really sure why, they just didn't seem to fit.

[spoiler]And for a long time Willie was holding barnabas captive, and after a few episodes without barnabas I started missing him. :( I kept wondering when Barnabas would return.

Although one interesting point was how Willie forced Barnabas to tell his story, and Barnabas obliges. It was fascinating to see him under Willie's control.

Then enter Roxanne! Barnabas and Julia go to Stokes's house to get rid of the life force that is sustaining Angelique, but once Barnabas sees how beautiful she is he instantly decides not to kill her. There has to be some other way. So if she was just a plain girl, it would have been all right to get rid of her? Is that all that motivates Barnabas, is outer beauty? >:([/spoiler]

Don't get me wrong, I love Barnabas, but sometimes he can be so annoying when he starts waxing poetic about the flawless beauty of a woman, as if that's the only important quality in women.

So he falls in instant love with her, notice that this happened with Quentin and Amanda in 1897 as well, after only knowing Roxanne for a very short time. How can he know he loves her. He knows nothing about her, but of course she's beautiful, so that's reason enough, right? ::)

These characters didn't inspire any kind of caring, and I just wanted it to be over so we could return to the RT characters we do care about.

All in all I felt PT was very disappointing and a waste of time. They should have stayed in RT and done something more creative.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: arashi on March 15, 2007, 03:19:14 AM: I just ended boxset 19 and started boxset 20. Oh the Pain!

If this whole storyline was nothing but Quentin being a jackass, I'd gladly skip it. Not having seen these episodes since my original run on Scifi, I had forgotten how truly painful some scenes were. Mostly any scene with Quentin in it. I did get quite a kick out of the "How dare you woman!" line. Hysterical. If I were Maggie I would have STAYED in New York with my sister. Every little thing he just flies off the handle at her, and I can't tell you how much I wish somebody would deck him one. He totally deserves it. Obviously, the man has issues.

I am however, sitting through it, and so far for two reasons. One, I forgot how fantastic John Karlen was as the drunken author William H. Loomis, which makes me yearn to see 1840 again, and two, I really like Chris Pennock in villanous roles, so I'm looking forward to the Jekyll & Hyde thing. Oh and also, I can't wait to see Julia [spoiler]kill "herself" with a fire poker. >:D[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: arashi on April 01, 2007, 04:46:07 AM: All right, I'm now about half way through the storyline, the night of the big costume party. Chunks of this storyline plod along like wading through oatmeal, but parts of it are fantastic too.

[spoiler]Yeager's confrontation with Horace: Great scene. The atmosphere, the fog, the actors, everything was terrific. Very spooky and very sinister. I must say I wish they had kept the actor who played Horace Gladstone around longer, he was a great... well not villan, but not so morally-upright character.

Yeager/Cyrus' obsession with Maggie: Cyrus rubbing Maggie's gloves all over his face, not to mention Yeager licking his lips while he dry humped Maggie down on the docks, and then licking his hands after he had escaped to the lab.... it makes your skin crawl. Chris Pennock must have had an absolute BLAST playing Yeager. I must also add Yeager's blue checked suit to this list because really... it's not only stylish, it's got flair! What happened to Sabrina at this point?

The return of Barnabas: I always love Barnabas when he is being covert and sly. He's got domination over William again, and their interaction is fantastic. He suspects all is not right with the "twin sister of Angelique" and is trying to figure out what the hell is going on in the house. It was like a drought without him and I realize now that it would have been hard for the show to continue beyond the point it did if JF chose to leave.[/spoiler]

Quentin and Maggie however I just want to throttle. Maggie is bearable when she stands up for herself. Quentin... dear God. The man actually told his wife to "go to her room." Also Buffie Harrington. I really like Elizabeth Eis, and I love the scenes later where she stands up to Yeager... though why she didn't call the cops after he beat the hell out of her (and possibly more) I don't know.
Title: Re: Parallel Time
Post by: Uncle Roger on January 11, 2012, 08:10:05 AM: Parallel time is one of my favorite storylines. For starters, it manages to tell
a pretty good story without the presence of most of the core characters.

And it gives a lot of the cast a chance to do something a bit different. Nancy is wonderful as Carolyn Loomis. Her drunken scenes are hysterical. It's nice to see a nasty Julia. Louis Edmonds seems to have a lot of fun as this Roger. And Lara's Alexis is some of her best work.

I think that a more fitting end for PT would have had Alexis return to reclaim her life force from her sister.