I...turned the TV on, hoping beyond hope, that a mistake had been made and it would be back.

I had a similar experience with the 1976 syndication.  I was too young to be allowed to watch during the original run.  Six months into the syndication there was a change in the TV Guide listings.  It said that "The Best of Groucho" would start the following Monday.  It was on too late for me to see it regularly, but my best friend watched any way, hoping that a miracle would happen.  IT DID.  The show stayed on another few months courtesy of complaints from viewers.   When that year ended, it was yanked, of course.  We called the station and were told it was not available to ANYONE.  A newspaper article confirmed that World Vision had taken it out of syndication.  This puzzled us because a NH station started running it soon after.  I later found out that they'd gotten the rights at literally the last minute.  It was too far away for us to catch it.  I doubted I'd ever see the show again

They're even airing Beauty and the Beast, one of my fave shows from the late '80s.

I tuned in on Sat. to watch Beauty and the Beast for the first time in years.  I was disappointed to find the Poltergeist was on instead of the scheduled  'Beast marathon.

I swear Quentin did appear in a portrait in the background in one of the newspaper panels.

The Sunday March 21st strip has a panel that contains a portrait that appears to be Quentin.  It's small enough for them to probably deny that they are using Selby's likeness.  It seems almost certainly to be intended to be Quentin though.  I've not had the patience to go back and check every panel, so there may be others. 

The online encyclopedia ireference.ca reports that DS " became one of ABC's first daytime shows to actually win its timeslot" and that the show had an 8.4 rating at its peak in '68/'69.  That's compared to the 5.3 it had at the time of its cancellation.  http://www.ireference.ca/search/Dark%20Shadows/

It seems likely there's a connection between this hike in viewers and the introduction of Quentin.  I'm doubtful that he's the sole reason the ratings went up.  I'm sure they were on the incline the moment Barnabas came on, continued to rise with Angelique, and kept attracting new viewers as the show progressed. 

I'm also certain its not coincidental that Quentin is the only other character besides Barnabas to be heavily featured in the licensing.  It became Barnabas, QUENTIN, and the Horrible Monster of the Month, not Barnabas, Angelique, and the Deadly Whatever.  Quentin is featured in 18 of those novels; Angelique is only in one.The werewolf was the only other model kit aside from Barnabas.  There were Quentin postcards.  Notice David Selby gets top billing in Night. 

I'd say you could make a pretty solid case for the notion that Quentin was a large factor in the show's ability to attain its peak rating. 

They have always responded to my questions, but sometimes it took a few days.  Are you a subscriber?  Subscribers can download the stories.  Go to your account and look for your downloads.  I generally download the story before the CD arrives.  The download is generally up about a week or so after the CDs ship. 

As far as cracked cases go, mine always arrive cracked, but I figure it's cheaper to simply replace the case than it would be to pay higher shipping costs. 

Of course it's true that Braithwaite's advanced age was simulated through makeup.  My post was really commenting on two ideas.  First, as a kid, my friends and I thougt of certain people as OLD.  For example we thought Dr. Smith on Lost in Space was OLD].  In reality, Jonathan Harris was just over 50.  I thought of Professor Robinson as played by Guy Williams as being relatively young, yet he was closer in age to Harris than he was to Mark Goddard (Don West).  When I started watching Barney Miller, Fish seemed pretty ancient, and yet he's not that much older than Barney, Hal Linden. 

The second thing I was kind of obliquely commenting on is how are perceptions of age change.  As a kid, 46 seemed pretty old. In fact I've have been surprised to learn that Guy Williams was almost that old during Lost in Space.   I certainly don't feel old now.

It appears that something has to happen in the DS universe to jump-start the activity again

I'm surprised that there hasn't been more discussion about the Big Finish series.  That's certainly a major development, in my opinion. For the first time in decades we have new stories with original cast members.  Perhaps it's the audio format that puts some people off, but to me, they're as legit as the original series.  They are the first licensed stories that continue the saga of the original series. Not one of the Ross books or the comics can make that claim.  Given a choice between more stories by Big Finish and a movie with Depp, I'd go with the former.  I am EAGER to see the Depp movie and willing to view it with an open mind, but for now, I'm ecstatic about getting new tales with the original cast.