Having thought about it for a couple of days, I agree that the early days of the show might be the best upon which to base a new version...  There is a strength of characterisation and history for the characters that very little of the show's later years can compete with.

I increasingly think a new series should turn the whole thing on its head...  take a handful of the best original characters (Barnabas needn't be amongst them), throw in a few new ones, and take the whole thing back to basics.  It needs a sense of dread and remoteness -- Collinwood is a distant threat, casting long shadows over the lives of everyone who lives in Collinsport.  Have a community all bound by their secrets and betrayals, with the supernatural lurking around the corner, barely seen but ever-present.

Maybe the other approach is to look at stuff the original series never did and ask why...  Why are there no children, for instance.  I'd like the idea of something strange, like there have been no children born in Collinsport since Carloyn Stoddard, with a deep, dark threat bubbling to the surface when someone falls pregant.  or something.  Something that's always been there, but we've never realised before.

Basically, anything but governesses on trains, graverobbing caretakers unleashing cousins from England... it's been done.  As Mark pointed out, DS has a much broader range of stories to offer than a sympathetic vampire yearning for love.  And a new version that really explores those possibilities could be great fun for everyone.

I never will understand why fans get so skittish about talk of a new DS -- any production, no matter how good or bad, can do nothing to alter the reputation of the original.

Of all the pilot concepts mooted over the last decade, this one seems the most promising to me.  New blood (and before people start whining about dumbing down, bear in mind that John Wells' pedigree in TV drama is hardly for MTV-gen fluff...) and a network that will need retooling of the concept are its best chance.

A straight redux of the series won't work -- it's largely the reason all redux efforts have grounded since 1991, and Dan Curtis finally seems to be facing that fact, so fair play to him.

Jonathan Frid still has his cane from the show, but none of his costume.  When DS ended, he kept the cape, a ring and bought one of his suits (the brown one, I think). His secretary threw out the ring and cape during the 1970s, and the suit was eventually auctioned off at a convention, I believe.

As you say, you and I will probably never see eye-to-eye on this, but I maintain that it's valid.

No one is suggesting that these fixes "modernise" the show -- it's not intentional and its not realistic. However, to argue that it should be released in a technically substandard form because it is a show with a small market makes no sense to me.

DVD is a format with higher technical quality than VHS, which the DS releases should be aiming to match throughout, and the remastering is a crucial part in that. Similarly, regardless of whether it reaches a wider market, it should be comparable in quality to other cult television releases - that is the market its potential lies in, and that's the market that stores stocking the discs are aiming at.

Personally, I'm delighted with the DVD releases. For me, it's been like watching a whole other show and light years away from VHS.  I'm aware of several people I know who got hooked on DS from the DVDs - new people hop on all the time, and a more professional level of presentation plays a small but important part in that, I think.

(1)  What Is Your Favorite Victoria Storyline or Time Period?

She's pretty good in the early episodes, where she has a quest and a purpose. And the sequence where David traps her in the abandoned wing is a highlight of the first year - pure gothic pulp.

(2)  What Would You Have Wanted For Victoria If The Character Had  Stayed Until The End, Or What Do You See What The Writers Could Have Done?

Evil Vicki!  Hahahahaha... How cool would that have been? Possessed by the Devil and covertly psychotic would be amusing. Or maybe she finds out she's really a Collins and begins to dig her heels in, all bitter over her lost birthright. The Liz/Vicki revelation is an obvious one, and it might have been rewarding seeing the fall-out and the pair reconciled.

(3) Who Would Victoria Ulitmately End Up With If It Was Your Choice?

Her and Burke. Both of them are lonely people - he's got a past he wants to forget, she's robbed of one... they both know what it's like to be an outsider. Hmmmmm...

(4) Who Were Victoria's TRUE Parents?

"Return to Collinwood" answers that one... please no bleating about "canon", people

(5)  Would The Show Have Lasted Or Been Better In It's Final Years Had Victoria Been Present?

No.  After 1795, she's a bit lost, truth be told. Alexandra Moltke's memorable bitch at the time about Vicki's stupidity generally hits the nail on the head.

In some respects, it's a pity that Carolyn Groves didn't get the gig before Betsy Durkin, because I think the character would have lasted, and Groves manages to bring some interesting new shades to the role. Her Vicki seems far more mature and self-assured, and it might have been interesting to see if and how the writers would have responded to it.

Speaking to my site last month Jim Pierson said that the plan was to get the whole series out on DVD

Great release -- I only bought this for completeness, really, but it was a pleasant surprise.  A lot of the time, I think DS goes seriously overboard on the nostalgia/tribute angle, but this seemed to justify its rose tint.

Watching the music montage with the reunion guests, I broke into a broad smile -- probably like some demented and overproud parent -- and i guess pride is the best sentiment the disc conveys. The fans, the actors, everyone genuinely seemed proud and at peace with the show, not attempting to apologise for its shortcomings and disappointments.

The extras are fun too -- Joan Bennett does a classy turn on the Mike Douglas show, while Kathryn Leigh Scott gamely smiles through some hilariously inept 1969 promotions for the show, which are all the more amazing for not even trying to explain what "dark Shadows" is about! Bless 

The full interview is now up -- it can be accessed from the homepage of my site