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Topics - Professor Stokes

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Calendar Events / Announcements '06 II / The Jerry Lacy - Humphrey Bogart Resemblance
« on: August 20, 2006, 10:42:25 PM »
Dark Shadows gets mentions all over. Here is a new topic I started on my forum, entitled "Spooky Resemblance". Keep in mind that the typical member there has never heard of Dark Shadows, so I needed to fill them in a bit. I posted this in our "Popcorn" forum where we discuss movies and TV, among other things. Enjoy!
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A little background first.

Back in the Pre-Cambrian period, 1966 - 1971, when dirt was in the prototype stage, and fire was a distant dream, Pam and I (long before we met) used to watch a show called Dark Shadows. It was on after school, about 3pm. I'd watch that, and then the Three Stooges. Every day. I'd occasionally miss Dark Shadows when I went to my friend Steve Boncimino's house for our daily Stooges fix. I never missed the Stooges. But when possible I'd watch DS.

Dark Shadows was a semi-live gothic soap opera. Semi-live, in that they taped the night before, but the taping was continuous ...no retakes, and everything stayed in the aired episode ...even flubbed lines. It gives it a charm all its own ;)

Well, several years ago we signed up to purchase the VHS tapes of the show. We'd get one tape every 2 weeks or so, and it contained 5 episodes. I'd cap onto DVD, and we'd watch the disc the same day I capped it.

Well, the service that was sending the tapes just stopped. So Pam got the DVDs through Netflix. The last few months we have been watching 5 episodes (20 minutes each without commercials) right about the time we eat supper. It's a ritual, and we both have been totally hooked on the show again. It has quite a cult following, with conventions, fan clubs, etc. ;) We have to see our Dark Shadows every day now, or we begin to develop twitches and spasms, and occasionally lose continence. It's very addictive :eek:

One of the characters on the show, Reverend Trask, is played by an actor named Jerry Lacy.. And the man is the spitting image of Humphrey Bogart :eek: It's amazing. Even being costumed and make-upped as another character on DS, it makes the hairs on my neck stand up when he's in a scene, because he just looks that much like Bogey.

Apparently we're not the only ones who think so. He played Bogart in the 1972 Woody Allen movie "Play It Again, Sam".

He did other Bogart stuff too. Back in the aforementioned Pre-Cambrian era, there used to be a Right Guard deodorant commercial I remember clearly. It was one of my favorites because it involved a Bogart impersonator who looked and sounded exactly like Bogey. The tag line was (in perfect Bogey) "Dry up, shweetheart .....ushe Right Guard, in the shilver can!" :laugh:

It wasn't until today when I was getting the stuff together for this post that I found out that ....sure enough ...it was Jerry Lacy who did that Right Guard commercial :D

Anyways ...I think it's a remarkable likeness, and, like with most other things, I thought I'd share it with my Convo Pit family and see what you all thought ;)

First some screen grabs from a Dark Shadows DVD we recently watched:















Now a couple of comparison shots with the real Bogey's pic on the left and Jerry Lacy's pic on the right, in a pose as close as I could get:








Here are some grabs from that Right Guard commercial I mentioned:







And ...finally, a short video taken from the trailer for "Play It Again, Sam". I think whoever spotted this actor and used him as a Bogey lookalike was a genius ...and very lucky:

http://convopit.org/forum/files/pias2_161.mpg

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Current Talk '06 II / Hello DSF, Professor Stokes Here!
« on: August 20, 2006, 06:46:08 PM »
Hello all. Nice place you have here. I'm new to your fine forum and I'm finding my way around.

I wanted to post a topic to introduce myself, and to reflect on some of my own observations and questions about Dark Shadows.

Firstly, my real name is Kevin and I am the founder and site administrator of my own discussion forum, The Conversation Pit. We've been going for 18 months, reside on a dedicated server (phpBB2 forum, Apache/Linux server), and recently passed our 140,000 post milestone. My wife Pam is a forum admin there and handles trivia, history and word games, as well as being co-founder.

Secondly,, I watched DS when it aired back in the '60s. There were two things I would try to do after school - watch Dark Shadows, and watch The Three Stooges. DS came on at 3:30 in the Chicago area, and the stooges at 4. I never before, or since, got hooked on a soap opera. They aren't my cup of tea, generally. But Dark Shadows was such a superb achievement, and thoroughly addicting, I made an exception. Though it was long before I met her, my wife was a rabid DS fan.

Thirdly, the past few years Pam and I have renewed our interest in the show, with the availability of recorded episodes. We started out ordering VHS tapes through Columbia House, and after that eventually proved far too expensive, and it seemed to take forever ($18/tape, which held 5 episodes ...one tape sent every 2 weeks), we switched to using Netflix DVD rental to get our fix. Each DVD holds 10 episodes and we are members of the 6-at-a-time plan. We can finally watch DS every night!

What a joy to see that first episode with Vicky on the train heading for Collinwood! It immediately rekindled all the charm and attraction the original over-the-air show had, but with no commercial adverts!

Currently we are at the point in the show when they're in 1897, [spoiler]Count Petofi has switched bodies with Quentin, and Evan has just failed in his attempt to reverse the transfer using his black ceremony. Angelique has become an almost "good guy", and last night one of the episodes we watched had her being caught by Quentin/Petofi as she tried freeing the chains on Barnabas' coffin in the cave near Widow's Hill.[/spoiler] Fantastic stuff ...and I can't wait until tonight! We allow ourselves only 5 episodes/evening, else Netflix wouldn't be able to keep up.

I have a few questions for those DS sages here.

How did Magda come back to life? She was in recent episodes, but I recall her being killed off 20 or 30 episodes prior to this. Was it an oversight on Dan's part?

Has Jonathan Frid ever gone through a complete episode without flubbing at least one line???  ;D

Will Julia be able to ever speak a whole sentence without pausing two or three times?



My favorite characters, in order, and why:

Barnabas - He's the man. He single-handedly saved the show from the axe during the early days. He's the reluctant vampire, an unwilling victim of Angelique's curse over that whole nasty Josette business. Not a man to mess with - intelligent and refined, yet able to unleash incredible damage when necessary. How can you NOT like Barnabas? ::)

Professor Stokes - Intelligence personified. Cultured, open-minded, yet forceful when the situation demands. A gentleman, but one with a few tricks up his sleeve.

Julia - Gritty, gutsy Dr. Hoffman. She's Barnabas' only friend, confidante and protector there for a while. Along with Barnabas and Elizabeth, she is the heart and soul of the show.

Reverend Trask - Brilliant. <In best Chandler Bing voice> "Could Jerry Lacy LOOK more like Bogey?" :D Apparently Woody Allen didn't think so when he cast him in "Play It Again, Sam" ;) I love the self-righteousness of the character. He is so convincing, and when cornered, spouts scripture or blames it on the almighty. All the while pursuing Amanda Harris. You gotta love the guy!!

Elizabeth - The foundation of the family. The stability, moral compass and keeper of the flame for the Collins family. Her character played by a truly classy and talented lady in Joan Bennett.

Maggie - Pretty and smart. And she has the nicest legs of the entire cast ;)

Angelique - Prettiest face on the show (yes, even including Amanda. Gorgeous eyes, excellent acting by a relative acting newcomer Lara Parker. Yet extremely dangerous and exotic.

Quentin - Bad guy, then good guy, then bad guy. He talks too much, chases women, and needs to grow up a bit more. But you gotta love the character. He accounted for the second revival for the show just when it needed it.

Roger - Staid, conservative Roger. The backbone for the Collins family. But he needs to smile once in a while!

Carolyn - A '60s kinda girl. Nancy Barrett is an excellent actress, especially when she played the dull-witted Millicent bimbo character.


My least-favorite characters, in order, and the reasons why:

Nicholas Blair - Evil ...pure evil. I was glad when [spoiler]satan torched him on Widow's Hill.[/spoiler]

Willie/Carl - Whiney, sniveling Willie. Add ten gallons of caffeinated coffee to Willie, and you have Carl. Spineless waste of skin!

Adam - Never learned to control his temper. He had no patience. Of course, if you were thrown together from spare parts, you might be cranky too!

Eve - Cast iron nasty woman. Not a nice bone in her body. Belonged with evil Nicholas.



Characters that were just OK:

Vicky - I don't know. I was never crazy about Vicky. I realize she was the original basis for the show, but .... Maybe it was that whole Klaus Von Bulow business.

David - Lying little brat. Good acting.

Amy - Lying little brat. Also good acting for someone so young.

Sam Evans - The character could have been so much more dynamic. A pity.

Beth - Her neck is just a bit too long, and her chin just a tad too pointy. I keep looking at those things instead of concentrating on the dialog.



We're looking forward to Kate Jackson's appearance on the show, and we're wondering when the time shift back to 1969 will happen. It seems they've been in 1897 far longer than when Vicky traveled back to 1795 after the seance. We're ready to see the jump again. And ....I MUST find out if Barnabas is still alive in the future. He can't be dead ...he just can't :o

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