Wow, I'm already thinking how much better the WB pilot seems, thus far, compared with the Burton/Depp opus.  I'm not going to pursue the comparison because I really think we're dealing with apples vs. oranges even if "it's all Dark Shadows."

I think what is bothering me is the completely "modern" feel I get from the written dialogue, hence the problem I think any writer faces when attempting to write "Dark Shadows" characters into the modern day.  I really think places like Collinsport and its people belong to the 20th century, though I am enjoying the pilot's Roger and Willie a great deal.  Victoria comes off as a bit too "turn of the twenty-first century" for my taste, and I'm not sure what's going on with Liz...  Both of those characters were well-executed in the Burton film, if lacking screentime.  Needless to say, I am anxious for the arrival of Barnabas.  Maybe he will send things back to the "classic age" of vampire dramas.

Seven days... stuck... on a cruise ship...   

This may not end well. 

Nero Wolfe is starting in a few minutes!  I'm really excited to see it. 

It never occurred to me that Barnabas may have had anything to do with the death of Burke.  I always took the incident at face-value.  It was convenient for Barnabas, and would have led to great plot development had the writers never introduced Jeff Clark.   

Really hating the "No offense" line today.  Eww...  Dark Shadows calls for far better dialogue than that. Anything that includes that terribly adolescent phrase is...  It makes Vicki sound like a 13-year-old. 

I love the description from the script.  That sounds like classic DS right there, much like the Barnabas "stalking" scenes in HoDS and the '91 series. 

The voiceover is interesting.  It's certainly not something I would have expected to hear at the time, because it's a significant departure from the more sweepingly Gothic, traditional VO of the OS and the '91 series.  Even Depp Shadows had a VO that was more traditional.  I'll be interested in seeing how the rest of the show shapes up. 

She did arrive in October, at least if we are to believe her arrival is within days of that of Barnabas.  Willie tells Barnabas "It's October.  That's why there's pumpkins."  A true statement -- pumpkins in a small garden would generally not be that ripe until October.