And Gothick, when you're done viewing the Grayson marathon, pull out some of those Best of Don Briscoe moments from your archives - no birthday is complete without Chris & Tom Jennings to sink your claws & teeth into (or THEIRS into YOURS).

Hope it's been a great day! Cheers!

-Sandor

GRAYSON: What do you mean I don't get top-billing over Jonathan Frid and Joan Bennett?!! Just three years ago, I was a contender for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar!!

I never underestimate the brilliance of Grayson Hall on "Dark Shadows" - she truly was the glue that held together the outrageous premise that Barnabas was a 175 year-old bloodsucker. He'd done so many heinous things (especially to her!) that by the time we, the viewers, realized Julia was in love with him, we couldn't help but love him too. Jonathan Frid, naturally, deserves much of the credit for his portrayal of Barnabas, but Grayson's Julia Hoffman was so identifiable.

After all, haven't we all loved and adored someone who didn't love us back as much, yet we remained faithful, dedicated, and hopeful that said person was worthy of our affection?!

My favorite Grayson scenes (as Magda, Julia, PT Hoffman, Natalie, etc.) were when she just talked turkey - commenting on the ludicrous goings-on at Collinwood, but in such a way that you believed this stuff could actually be happening - like when Elizabeth realized the children were possessed by ghosts, and Julia wryly quipped, "Mrs. Stoddard, if I had told you there were spirits roaming the house, would you have believed me?!" And Liz solemnly answered, "I do now."

Nicholas' slap to Angelique, when she got caught defying his warning about going after Barnabas in the summer of '68, was a juicy moment.

And speaking of Nicholas, he deftly avoided a slap from Eve, as I recall.

Those scenes between Ava Gardner and Grayson Hall are priceless! No slam to Joan Bennett (who was superb as Elizabeth/Naomi/Judith/Flora), but wouldn't it have been a coup for Dan Curtis to get AVA GARDNER to play the role of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and her many alter-egos??! Sandor digresses....

LOUIS: You realize, Joan, if this silly show clicks with viewers, we could be here for a good 4 to 5 years!!

DIRK WILKINS and TIM SHAW starring in "BROKEBACK MAUSOLEUM."