He did initially annoy me, but over time he grew on me. 

I have to say I'm so glad the great, incomparable Thayer David was cast as Professor Stokes.  For me, Stokes is THE iconic occultist detective.

G.

I wonder if the character of Kelly was invented in part to explain how Willie, not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, was able to figure out the clues about the hidden Collins "legacy."

She's clearly got the brains between the two of them...

G.

Thanks again for these notes, MB. I somehow missed yesterday's quote about Kelly being asked by Stokes to index Collins family correspondence.  So when I saw today's quote, I was thinking that she must be talking about Ben's diary--wrong!

I'm on vacation next week and will most likely miss most if not all of the posts here, but I really am enjoying this presentation very much--in fact, so far I've enjoyed it much more than viewing the actual pilot tape all those years ago!

Hard to believe that 2004 was ten years ago now...

Best,  G.

And they've set it in ... Paris??? It was so much about the New York setting and the ominous world of the Dakota that if Ira Levin were still alive, I wonder if he would sue for false advertising.

As I posted at the time, I attended a repertory screening of Roman Polanski's classic film in Cambridge's Brattle Theatre (originally founded by a group including our own Thayer David!), and I was very tickled to learn that the Witches Coven in the movie acclaimed 1966 as Year One of Satan.  Given that that was also the founding of our favorite show, the coincidence amused me very much.  (Especially given that a few fundamentalist religious groups targeted DS back in the day as "Satan's favorite TV show."  LOL!)

G.

Oh wow. I really wish we had gotten at least a glimpse of Stokes, "the freak with the beret."

Loving this...

G.

I wish I could report this more accurately, but what I recall from my one viewing is that the scene in Willie's digs was shot in a very offbeat way.  I remember weird angles and garish color grading with lots of brilliant scarlet and orangey-yellows from the lighting.  Most of the pilot had a very unusual look to it.  It may be that further memories will be sparked by MB's incredibly helpful and expository posts, and if so, I'll write what I can recall.  I took no notes and didn't really discuss the screening much with my friends at the time, so these memories are vague at best.

Again, excellent work from all involved with this project.

G.

Matt is one luscious lad... with or without glasses... in or out of clothes.  and I write that never having seen him in anything other than the screening of the above episode.

If they'd wanted to have intimations of "Willarnabas" on this show, given how hot both Alec Newman AND Matt are, the possibilities could have been distinctly delicious.

Excuse off topic musings.  I have to go now...

lol, GothEEEEEEK!

LOL.  I think Carolyn plays some Chopin at one point in a 1966 or 1967 episode but the details are eluding what's left of my memory.

I've wondered if Liz's playing of Chopin is a kind of remnant of Art Wallace's earlier teleplay THE HOUSE, in which if I remember correctly the Liz character is a village piano teacher--it's been said that Art Wallace's original DS treatment owed something to THE HOUSE, but I've never seen a copy of the teleplay (either the script or a video recording).

G.