I started watching DS in syndication in 1976. WLVI TV 56 was showing it at 11:00 PM which meant I could only watch it on certain Friday nights!  I'd seen glimpses of the show during its original run but was forbidden to watch it. By '76 I was 13 and my mother had no problem with me watching it, but staying up until 11:30 was another matter. I had to pick the right time to ask or wait until my parents were going out. When that happened I also got to watch Night Gallery immediately after DS on the same channel.  After it finished its run, it was shown in Manchester NH. The listings were in our TV Guide, but I was unable to get the station. Apparently Cumberland RI was close enough. Jeff Arsenault reported, in The Collinsport Call, that he'd seen it on that station. I was in Newport and unable to watch it. There was one day when the weather was favorable for whatever reason. I did get glimpses that faded in and out along with the sound. That was the closest I came to watching an episode during that run. My brothers thought I was pathetic standing in front of the TV holding the rabbit ears over my head, waiting eagerly for a few seconds of relatively clear video and/or audio. After that, I had to be satisfied with audio tapes of the show. Various people sent me tapes of the series. I had about 70% of the episodes of the 4 years Frid was on the series, every story was in my collection but there were gaps after 1795.

DS was airing on WNBC channel 4, six eps a week.
Mon at 3AM.
Tues/Wed/Thur at 3:30AM
Fri at 4AM
Sat at 4:30AM

David, did it start out in the afternoon and then move to early morning?  I remember some channel, that was out of my area, but in the region, was showing DS in the afternoon with a great deal of publicity to promote it. I think it was Ch 4 out of NYC, but I'm not sure.

In HODS, Barnabas' [spoiler]killing off most of his family[/spoiler] was a major departure from the series and the character, enough so for me to not like the movie very much.

Oh I don't dispute that it was a departure. But for me, coming from the superhero Barnabas of the Ross novels, (I did not get Barnabas Collins or Secret of Barnabas Collins for several years-the books came to me in near random order), the way he behaved in the 1967 story was a shock. For me, it wasn't much of a leap to go from there to HODS. But if you were watching in the 60s and seeing 1840, I can certainly see why HODS would seem like a total departure, especially if you came in say, post 1795 and only saw his MOSTLY heroic period.

"I've seen purists (and not just DS purists)...They want everything to remain the same, practically down to every word of dialogue and even the sets/locations. And if that isn't the case, which it invariably isn't because it's only natural that anyone remaking something wants to put their own stamp on it, then it's sacrilege!

Unless they became more conservative after the show ended and NODS was released, then the first two movies are sacrilige as well. I'm amazed at people who will read the Ross books and the comics, yet be overly critical of anything that came after '76 (when the comic ended).

The opening sequence is approx 7:37, from WB logo to first note of the Moody Blues.

In this case, it looks like they were not going back beyond th 80s.  The original Star Trek did not make the list, but TNG did.  Same scenario with Doctor Who and Galactica.

Does anyone have any information about the release date of Lara's book?  I had a definate date on Amazon. It was set for delivery in either Oct or Nov.  Now it says it won't be out until 2013, and Barnes and Noble doesn't list it at all!