I think part of Grayson's appeal is in the primary character she played.  Dr. Julia Hoffman was strong, intelligent, open-minded, vulnerable, and unconditionally accepting and protective of someone who constantly feared not being able to fit in.  

The other part of her appeal, based on the few interview tapes of her and stories I've read about her, is that she was, off-camera, a genuinely open-minded, intelligent, witty person.  There seemed to be an adventurous, Auntie Mame kind of spirit about her.  I was impressed with an article written by one of her fan club presidents about how she had given him her home phone number and encouraged him to call her with questions ... COLLECT!  

It seems that anyone could feel "safe" around Grayson, or certainly Julia, but perhaps these aspects strike a chord among gay men.  

Ben
(who regrets that Grayson never lived to attend a Fest -- I think she would have had a blast AND have brought the house down)

"When did this happen...I don't understand!"  

Minja, that's just what I thought in 1999, when I first saw the early relationship between Barnabas and Julia.  Because I didn't start watching DS until '69 (when B & J were more or less established allies), I had no clue that their initial encounters were so adversarial and -- WORSE YET -- that Julia was secretly pining for Barn.  

Ben
(feeling like Vicki every time I think of this)  ?!?

31 years ago today, April 2nd, 1971, ABC television broadcast the final episode of DARK SHADOWS.

Hi, Joe!  Thanks for the reminder.  Even though I can't remember the very first episode I saw (probably in '69), I do remember "mourning" that very last one.  I was in eighth grade watching it on a 19" Sears Silvertone B&W set in my living room.  I remember the only thing taking the edge off of the last ep was the fact that I had never really gotten into the 1841-PT storyline and characters, so there was no Barnabas, Julia, Prof. Stokes, and Willie to miss.

I also remember wondering, as I listened to Thayer David's epilogue, why the finale hadn't been more eventful.  With Peggy Lee's then-recent hit in my head, I kept asking myself, "Is that all there is?"

How appropriate that it is a rainy, dreary, even gently thundering spring day here in Chicago (which, come to think of it, seems like Collinsport this morning).

Ben

I would have to say Grayson as well.  It didn't matter what time period it was, poor Julia always got the worst of the bunch.  :(Even with the more flattering outfits, such as the 1795 period, she still had the worst of them all. Last week she wore a dress with a large cape, between that & the beauty mark, she reminded me of the queen of hearts. I always liked her though and felt she could have looked as flattering as any of the other actresses, had she been able to wear the right outfits.

My thoughts exactly, Cassandra.  Even before Grayson would make her entrance in a new storyline, I would notice how attractively dressed Joan Bennett, Lara Parker, or TLATKLS usually were and anticipate -- with sadness -- the shabby number poor Grayson would be stuck with.     She deserved better!

I'd like to give special mention to those black, low-heeled, no-nonsense t-strap shoes Mrs. Johnson waddled around in ... I remember many a nun in grade school wearing those clunkers!

Ben

I'm sure if we waited long enough, mention would've been made of them first connecting on The Dating Game.
Gerard

Then, Gerard, right after that fatal reference, we'd see the actors looking up, visibly startled by those peppy Herb Alpert horns (the way the jarring organ music used to startle the actors on Carol Burnett's soap-spoof, "As the Stomach Turns"), as we cut to a commerical for Ms. Cleo.

Ben
(recovering now from my momentarily silly lapse, so I can straighten my tie and run off to a court hearing)

Ben, I remember you had that reaction to Cobert's "Joanna's Theme" from the 1840 story.

Midnite, I must have made that fleeting comment either last year on the VantageNet board or last August to you in person at the Fest.  And you remembered! 

And now, finally, I got those two songs straightened out in my head.  Thanks!

Ben

Ben, In addition to the Cheers theme, would you please play for me, the theme song for my favorite show (after Dark Shadows), the one and only Gilligan's Island: "With Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionare and his wife, the movie star, the Professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan's Isle."

Hmmm, requests?  Sure!  My current TV theme medley includes the following distinguished fare: Bewitched, MASH, Cheers, Andy Griffith, Leave It to Beaver, The Flintstones, Everybody Loves Raymond, Hill Street Blues, Growing Pains, Family Ties, I Love Lucy, LA Law, and Perry Mason.  We can add Gilligan to that list.

Ben
(still thinking of a way to translate the main DS theme into a piano solo, although Quentin's Theme and that maudlin thing Laszlo always did are do-able  )