i was quite startled on the subway this morning to see a picture of barnabas in the post.

i didn't know vampires were "back".

i was only there for a few hours on saturday so my observations are few.

obviously it was a great treat to see jonathan although i agree that the editing could of been a bit tighter on the clips he narrated.needless to say he was greeted with sustained ovations.

there weren't alot of new offerings in terms of the merchandise.lara,diana and kathryn seem to be plugging the same books as in years past.i believe that lara offered a cd reading of "the salem branch" which i certainly wasn't tempted to go for considering how much i loathed the book.

one thing i did pick up which was very well done was "dark shadows:the first year" book.it's quite nice.there is alot of interesting trivia.for instance i never knew that lara parker originally auditioned for the role of victoria.how ironic is that?

there is also a nice foreward by writer ron sproat.fans of the pen plot will be glad to know that the writers themselves never fully understood it.

the production documents from episode one are included with vivid details of everthing from props to sets to wardrobe.

there is a cool description of collinwood from the orginal abc-tv publcity material...

"the great dark hulk of collinwood looms on the crest of the rocky cliff known as widows hill,overlooking the small maine fishing village of collinsport.the home of the collins family was built in 1830,modelled in the style of an english manor house.there is a large central hall,with wings extending in both directions.two stories in height,a total of forty rooms in all,a graceful carriage road adding majesty to it's entrance,commanding a magnificent view of the ocean,collinwood is the most imposing structure in the area.now however a good portion is closed off;weeds have overgrown the formal gardens,and the few people who live in it...the sole remaining members of the collins family...walk like ghosts through it's dark corridors."

it was nice to see everyone and i'm sorry i didn't get to say goodbye to midnite.
i needed to get back to town early.

sarah was a very tricky character because while ghosts don't age living flesh and blood children do and fast.

sharon smyth grew alot just during the six or so months she was on the show.kids that age do.she looks much older by the end of the 1795 storyline then she did when her ghost first appeared in 1967.

b.t.w. along with the rest of the changing dates sarah's age at the time of her death kept changing too...from being either ten or "almost ten" when her ghost first shows up to actually dying on her eleventh birthday during 1795.

very nice description of angelique.

here goes...vicki.

what can i say.for staters she's extremely pretty.beautiful in fact.she has long black hair which is worn in various styles but the classic vicki "do" is the front pulled back into a topknot with the back cascading down her back.this style is generally finished with a bow.it's quite ingenue-ish,even girlish,but it suits the character's nature.

vicki's wardrobe is the subject of much derision.as you might have heard the predominant item in her closet is a boxy,above-the-knee,sleeveless shift dress.it comes in a variety of colors.she occasionally wears black or pastels but it's usually dark tones like eggplant and indigo.this style is not especially flattering to her but that's what the producers decided she should wear...something about it read as "governess".like many of the female characters on the show vicki got a green coat...mint green to be precise.it sometimes clashed with what she was wearing underneath it but i guess green coats were fashionable at the time.

one particular item of mockery,although not sleeveless,is in my opinion the archetypal vicki garment.its a red,long sleeved trapeze-line dress with blue stripes running down the front and the sleeves.it looks like a dress an eight year old would wear but it's childishness perfectly sums up the character's naivety.she favors a low,squat heel but not a flat.

although the character was supposed to be this poor orphaned girl alexandra moltke actually came from a wealthy family of danish descent.this lent the character an aristcratic air that shouldn't have worked but i think did nicely.alexandra's somewhat flat acting style ended up giving the character a melencholy air that suited her.at the same time she was rather doe eyed and when she fretted over something she'd wring her small hands together.at times she had a girlish,even doll-like appearance.that's it,sometimes she reminds me of a life-size doll.

all in all dreamy i think.

when i first watched these episodes i thought that they had built a rather elaborate set for tony's office...

it made a bit more sense a few weeks later when it reappeared(refurnished of course)as the master bedroom at the old house during the 1795 storyline.it must have been built with that in mind.

later it shows up as both dr.lang's and nicholas blair's house.i forget if we see it again at a later point in the series.

since after 1795 the set is otherwise being occupied poor tony peterson gets stuck working out of his apartment...where else but room twenty four.

after catching random episodes on the sci-fi channel over the years when i decided to really "do" this thing and watch from begining to end i started the only place i saw fit...episode one.

in some ways episodes 1-209 do function as a stand alone series even though they include many of the actors,sets,musical cues,etc. that will remain with the show during the full onset of the supernatural years and throughout it's entire run.the general tone of the show shifts so dramatically once the barnabas character is introduced.

still there is a spiritual connection between the two that cannot be ignored.

so as much as i love what comes later the early episodes will always have a very special place in my heart and i think i would have enjoyed episodes 1-209 tremendously even if it had just been a short-lived,stand alone series.

boy anne hathaway is getting high marks as a nice choice for victoria.someone should contact her agent.

in the span of a two hour movie i don't think that they're going to bother with alot of "secondary" characters.if vicki is on board she's going to be pivotal so casting her well is crucial.

and yes julia,willie and angelique will be critical as well.even though liz will probably end up being a small,cameo-like role i'm very curious to see who they cast.