Kate's much delayed autobiography, The Smart One, was supposed to be released on February 1. The book has had many delays since I first heard about it in 2011 and it has apparently been delayed again. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are now giving a release date of December 2020.

I had a wonderful time at Chiller Theatre this weekend in New Jersey. Met some very interesting celebrities and saw quite a few DS fans as well.

One of the featured guests was the very iconic Barbara Steele. She looks amazing, virtually unchanged since her time on the NBC show. Barbara is a bit eccentric but carries it off with style and panache.

There were several other guests who didn't appear on DS but had connections to the show. Marion Ross was the longtime companion of Paul Michael, King Johnny Romano.

Cindy Williams told me how gracious Joan Bennett was to her during the production of Suddenly, Love, a movie of the week from the early 1980's.

Teri Garr, who is currently battling MS, told me that in the early 1960's, she worked as a dancer with Donna McKechnie.

Chiller is a lot of fun but it is definitely NOT cheap. If your only convention experience has been at DS festivals, Chiller is much, much different. The celebrities are accessible and generally quite friendly. But there are no freebies. The price varies a lot. Some were $20 but Hulk Hogan (who I did not meet) was charging $80.

The appropriately named Retro TV will be showing episodes of the vintage soap The Doctors beginning September 29th. DS cast members that appeared on the show include James Storm, Nancy Barrett and Virginia Vestoff. Other cast members include Julia Duffy, Alec Baldwin, Armand Assante, Gil Gerard and Kathleen Turner.

The show will start with episodes from 1967, when the show first went to color. Retro TV is open to airing other vintage soaps, if this proves successful. Perhaps even DS.

Now, somewhat on the same topic, here's a question thrown out to our fantastic general audience.  Dan Curtis originally wanted to do a "direct" sequel to HoDS where Barnabas returns but the concept was ended when Mr. Frid refused to reprise the role.  If it had gone forward, what would've happened?  Most of the original cast had been offed.  All that was left of the major characters was Elizabeth, David, Maggie, Jeff and Todd.  Oh, and Mrs. Johnson.  There wasn't much left to build on.

In theory, Barnabas and any or all of the other vampires could have been resurrected by removing the stake from their hearts. Barnabas had limited success in trying to control Carolyn. Would he have been able to control her, Roger and Stokes? Stokes would have made a particularly cunning adversary.

Willie and Julia certainly appear to be really and sincerely dead.

Dark Shadows day player Abe Vigoda will be making an appearance at Chiller Theatre in Parsippany,  New Jersey this month,  April 25-27. He will not be signing autographs. He will be available for photo opportunities with a professional photographer. No price has been announced as of yet.
For further information, chillertheatre.com

I just finished reading this which summarizes the history of DS' sister soap OLTL. None of the DS actors are interviewed except for Steve Fletcher who appeared on the NBC version. But there are some things that DS fans might enjoy. Peter Miner was very well liked and respected especially by actors who needed to adapt to the soap medium.
But the bits with Sam Hall are extremely interesting. Sam says that he created the character of Dorian and that he and his wife discovered Judith Light.
He also says that Gordon Russell was an actor when they first met and that Gordon "remained an actor playing a writer all during our years together. He was so busy acting that he couldn't cope with writing."

You find Dark Shadows in the strangest places.

Last night, I attended David Drake's cabaret act, in which he plays a character called Tawny Heatherton. Tawny is the long lost niece of the almost forgotten '60's bimbo Joey Heatherton. What does this have to do with DS? The show is built around Tawny's somewhat bizarre life as a Joey knockoff. Tawny was a child star whose first job (at the age of four) was playing the ghost of Angelique on Dark Shadows. Now, everyone on the forum knows damn well that there was no such character on the show. But a lot of the aging baby boomers felt that they had seen it
 One guy even said that he had the tape.
It's a very entertaining show and I would recommend it. One other interesting tidbit. David Drake is a stage name. His real last name is Drakula!