Has TV Land Snubbed Us?

[Brandon Collins]

Just sitting here and watching Bravo's 100 greatest TV characters of all time. Not sure if any DS peeps made the list or not, but they were interviewing Andy Griffith at some TV Land awards show, and a thought struck me.

TV Land does all these things on old shows. Charlie's Angel's, Star Trek, Dynasty, etc etc. What about Dark Shadows? Not only has DS lasted as long as or longer than those other shows, but has been attempted to be brought back twice as well (Star Trek fits this too, I know)!

So why don't we see more DS specials on the air? How about an E! True Hollywood Story? (Even though they only like shows with BIG trouble behind the camera). What about a TV Land reunion special?

Could we be getting ignored like this because we have fests every year? Star Trek has fests! I'm not seeing it.

If anyone knows the answer, feel free to inform.

[BuzzH]

How about an E! True Hollywood Story? (Even though they only like shows with BIG trouble behind the camera).

The Sci-Fi Channel did one, I think they called it Sci-ography or something like that.  It back-fired as many of the stars were pissed when they realized that the producers were after the 'dirt' on the show and it's actors rather than life on DS.  KLS, Johnny Karlen and Marie Wallace were all furious as were, I'm sure, others on the show.  They showed this at the Fest in 2002(?) during the Sunday night banquet and Pierson was blasted for it by the stars!  Several walked out in fact, KLS and Marie were two of them I think.

Anyway, someone DID do a sort of 'retrospective' back in the late 80's (PBS?) called Casting Shadows which was quite nice, and probably what the stars thought this Sci-Fi thing was gonna be like.  I remember thinking how sweet it was to hear from Sharon Smyth (Sarah) that Jonathan helped her learn her lines. 

[IluvBarnabas]

It's probably because Dark Shadows had been a daytime show that it doesn't get any specials....rarely do daytime shows (rather off the air or still on the airwaves) get their own specials with cast reunions and clips.

And it would also have to do with whether or not the actors, writers and producers want to get involved with such a special. I know the cast gets together yearly for the DS festivals, and they did make a tape with interviews with the cast and Dan Curtis.

Unfortunately I myself have never been able to attend a DS festival, because I really don't have the money to attend one. I wouldn't mind a network special about Dark Shadows myself, but I don't think it's gonna happen.

[Phil]

The Dark Shadows Special Edition DVD is the closest thing you'll see. Clips and interviews. Fun stuff.

Related note: Does anyone here have the Dark Shadows Reunion DVD? If so, I'm wondering if you can confirm something. The Q&A starts, and someone stands up in the audience and asks about DVDs of the movies. I'd swear from the voice this is Jim Pierson. My suspicions deepen when Curtis, smirking, says, "Jim Pierson is the guy to ask about that, if you can find him." WTF?

[Brandon Collins]

Wow! I had no idea about that Sci-ography or whatever it was called. I'd be pretty pist too if it was falsely advertised as one thing and then they ended up doing it in a completely different way.

I have the DS Reunion and Special Edition DVD, so I'll check on your question Housefly.

Personally, I don't think that a reunion special or whatever will ever happen, either. We have the fests each year so I guess that is what is supposed to tide us over on our DS stars fix. It would be nice for a reunion to pop up though.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wow! I had no idea about that Sci-ography or whatever it was called.

Check out:

Sci-Fi Channel Documentary

which also has a link to an older topic from 2002. 

[David]

Casting Shadows was done for WNYC in New York and was lovely. I still have a tape of it & need to transfer it to disc.
WNYC is no longer on the air so that show is a rarity.

KDOC TV in Los Angeles also did a DS special in the 80s.

As for getting our reruns back, I say we should all write to TV Land & Soap Net, with Soap Net as the greater possibility.

Encore Mystery, Showtime Beyond, & Hallmark Channel might also be worth writing to, and local PBS stations.

Anyway, at least we have our DVDs!

David

[Brandon Collins]

Yes, I'd love to see DS on a channel again, and agree that SoapNet would be the likely choice for that. I believe there were talks of SoapNet picking it up, but like usual, nothing ever came of it.

And even though we have our DVDs, and I watch at least one episode every day if I can find the time, there's something about a movie or a tv show being on TV that makes it more appealing. I have a couple of shows on DVD and have TONS of movies, but I rarely pull them out to watch, and if they are on TV I usually always watch them. Funny how that happens.

BTW, does anyone here have Directv? I saw an add for the Horror Channel the other day and can't find it on my service. Anyone know if you have to have a special package to get it? Or what channel it is?

Perhaps I'll check the site.

[David]

Brandon:

check out www.HorrorChannel.com
this channel has been in development limbo for YEARS!

Comcast now has an on=demand horror channel called
Fearnet.
Comcast on Demand also offers many B horrors~~including wonderful "spook show" trailers~~at
their Something Weird channel.
I go to a pal's house to watch these.

My provider, Dish Network, offers two horror channels:
Showtime Beyond & Monsters HD, either of which would make great homes for DS!

David

[Josette]

I always think the serial aspect of DS is part of the problem.  While other series may have continuing developments of characters, the basic shows are still separate, individual stories.  If they want to do a marathon or something on DS, it isn't as easy to come up with something.

[Brandon Collins]

I always think the serial aspect of DS is part of the problem.  While other series may have continuing developments of characters, the basic shows are still separate, individual stories.  If they want to do a marathon or something on DS, it isn't as easy to come up with something.

This is true, but I'm sure that if I had to sit down and come up with the 10 most important episodes of DS, for a 5 hour marathon, I could probably do it. Here are a few that spring to mind:

1. Barnabas' introduction (1967)
2. Barnabas' curse (1796)

I was trying to come up with an episode from 1897, but there are so many episodes and several plotlines to cover, so I can't pick just one. Perhaps two from that timeline.

Anyone care to add to the list?

[David]

1. episode # 1
2. Barnabas meets Liz, Vicky & David in 1967.
3. Barnabas tells Vicki & Carolyn the story of Josette's death in 1967.
4. the 1967 seance.
5. Angelique frames Vicki during "exorcism".
6. Angelique places curse on Barnabas.
7. Barnabas rises as a vampire for the first time.
8. Death of Josette.
9. Josette rises from grave.
10. Vicky returns to 67/68

David

[Brandon Collins]

Great list, David! That covers the initial storylines post-Barn.

But I'm still racking my brain trying to come up with 10 that can somewhat cover the entire series in just 10 episodes. That is amazingly difficult. lol.

[Darren Gross]

Related note: Does anyone here have the Dark Shadows Reunion DVD? If so, I'm wondering if you can confirm something. The Q&A starts, and someone stands up in the audience and asks about DVDs of the movies. I'd swear from the voice this is Jim Pierson. My suspicions deepen when Curtis, smirking, says, "Jim Pierson is the guy to ask about that, if you can find him." WTF?

Nope, wasn't Jim. This guy was sitting much closer to the front, while Jim was very near the back, mostly standing as I recall.

[Darren Gross]

My provider, Dish Network, offers two horror channels:
Showtime Beyond & Monsters HD, either of which would make great homes for DS!

Well, MONSTERS HD wouldn't make a good fit for DS, simply because it's an all HD channel. They would only consider High Definition programming...

Maybe if they started "MONSTERS Low Definition" ...