I'm sure that's far more than you wanted to know on this topic!

On the contrary!  I'm rather fond of Tarot lore.  hmm, I wonder which (witch?) card Natalie might have been looking at?

"its true beginning has never before been told" lol. how can they make that claim? mpi released the same episodes on vhs and sci-fi aired them and abc aired them in 1966-67!

I'm sure it was just a typo.  What they meant was "...never before been told on dvd..."  

There is a great deal of vampire lore, Dracula, and other more recent authors, but IMHO, I think a lot of it is shaped by people's interpretations, and if an author, or person, doesn't like one particular aspect of the vampire lore, then they change it to something more inventive or something more to their liking.

I realize that some things, for example, the cross being a deterrent to vampires is something that is used in DS, but on the other hand, do we really know for certain that Barnabas, or vampires in general must "sleep" in a coffin during the day?

[spoiler]When Barnabas and Vicki were in that car accident just after Vicki's return from 1795, Dr. Lang wants to keep Barnabas in the hospital for observation. Julia tries to convince him to allow her to take Barnabas home, but he refuses. She then insists that all windows, and doors be completely covered so that no amount of sunlight can enter the room. Lang agrees.[/spoiler]

I may not have gotten all the details correct, but the gist of it is, that Barnabas was able to remain out of his coffin as long as no daylight entered the room he was occupying.

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint Germain series  does this, despensing with the traditional fear of the cross, but keeping the idea that vampires are creatures bound to their native soil and so long as they rest on a bed lined with the soil from the land of their birth or line their shoes with it they maintain all their strength and powers even in daylight.  So yes, sleeping in coffins is not compulsory.

DS however takes the view that as dawn approaches they must return to their coffin to sleep and that they become kind of dead and vulnerable at this time, hence the need for a Willie or a Julia.  If this wasn't so, anyone coming to harm Barn at any time other than dusk would get a nasty shock when they open the casket.  However, I think it is more simply a need to be cut off from any source of sunlight, hence Julia's insistance that Dr. Lang keep the curtains closed in Barn's room.

But if he wants an actual live-in wife, Elizabeth would have been perfect for him - beautiful and gracious, but smart enough to see through a lot of guff when she cares to.

Beautiful, gracious and smart, I agree, but but but



SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE HIS MOTHER!!!  EWWWWW!
 

for me what's more problematic about this is not so much the actual change of year from when the storyline  began and when it ended(which the writers had no control over)but that virtually all of the plot threads started before vicki's trip back in time get dropped like hot potatoes once she returns to the present.

[spoiler]remember that the whole point of the sceance was to contact sarah to try and find out why david was so disturbed.once they return to the present that never gets mentioned again.julia was placing vicki under hypnosis and showing her barnabas in his coffin to make her fear him subconciously.that gets dropped.burke's plane had crashed and he was presumed dead but once vicki meets peter/jeff he's never so much as spoken of again(and he was a major character).barnabas was trying to drive julia insane and was in fact planning on killing her.by the time julia gets that chic haircut she's his greatest ally.[/spoiler]

all of that gets abandoned it's it's basically full steam ahead with the monster mash that was 1968.

How about this.  The seance was specifically held to get in touch with Sarah.  And at the time events were moving rapidly toward the scenario the last half of HODS had.  Suppose we assume Sarah caused Vicki's trip knowing that time would be altered to such a degree that when Vicki eventually returned to the present, all the destructive plots and plans would have been forgotten.  Barnabas and Julia become friends and allies, David forgets his fear of Barnabas, and [spoiler]once he becomes human again, Carolyn ceases to be under his control and has no memory of what Barnabas is,[/spoiler] etc etc.  Even present day Barnabas never mentions his precious baby sister again.  And Sarah is never seen again.  This the price Sarah had to pay for helping to save her brother.

Thanks very much for the update!  Much appreciated, even if the news is not the best.  Well, at least a fan recorded it so we have some kind of record of it.

One question:  Did ABC only have or keep one copy of every episode (of course I don't mean the kines)? I just mean was it standard practice to only have one copy that if damaged would be gone forever.  It seems that at the least there would be a master tape and at least one safety copy, but I may be talking completely through my hat.

Regards,
Nelson

It's just bad for those who don't have the tapes....like me. I don't want to join the club, so I suppose I'll try and get them off ebay.

Would DS fan club members be offered a discount of some kind on the dvds if purchased through MPI?

I'm very much looking forward to these!

However, if I am reading correctly, they will only be available through MPI?  Which translates as "full SRP of $59.98."  I may have to wait on these after all.