i don't know about "evil" but both characters are certainly among the most annoying of thier storylines.they contribute greatly to the campiness the show is sometimes known for.

barnabas'bride...i'm with you on your spoilerized pick.i'm watching those episodes now and what have been treated as earth-shattering(maggie's memories)was almost used as filler while the story really focused on the adam/eve business.it just seemed like they were giving willie and maggie something to do because neither of them were that directly involved with the rest of the story at that moment(which if you think about it was not even really about barnabas).
i did think that the "flashbacks" maggie had were pretty cool though.julia even wore the hairpiece she was wearing when the events actually took place which i thought was a nice bit of continuity.

adam...much of the 1968 story...how the vicki character deteriorates after 1795.

while many fans(like myself)enjoy a certain "kitsh" value on the show like the flubbed lines,cheap production values,psychedelic costuming,etc. i don't think they would follow the show devotedly just for those reasons.there has to be some compelling storytelling happening to keep fans coming back and in many cases there is.i guess that puts me in penny's "third category".

i don't really get the whole barnabas/julia preoccupation.why isn't it o.k. for them just to be friends and colleagues?

this is a question that i've pondered as well.without the series being aired anywhere at present it's not attracting the attention of potential new fans.i wasn't even born when d.s. aired originally.it was catching the occasional episode on sci-fi that got me interested and i decided to start from the begining and watch it on video.
mpi can only market the same videos and dvds to the same group of fans for so long before everyone has everything and stops buying.without a steady stream of new customers the company could find itself in trouble.

the failure of the recent version isn't as problematic as the lack of exposure of the original series.no one saw it and the general public wasn't really paying attention to it's development(like we were)so they probably don't have an opinion of it one way or the other.but the original series needs to find an outlet to continue it's fanbase.
that said,i don't think the show is really "dying".sci-fi stopped running it relatively recently so maybe it needs time to "cool off" before another channel recognizes it's potential and brings it back.

it was matthew morgan's cottage.mrs.johnson spruced it up for laura(it was more feminine).i think that the fireplace area shows up later at professor stokes' house(waste not want not).i don't know if the set ever appears again.

"As God is my witness, I'll *never* wear Orbach's tweed again!" 

heather,when i read this i very literally "laughed out loud".