Announcing the Coordinated Dark Shadows Watching Project!

[Lydia]

Happy New Year, friends!

Following up on a suggestion I made a while back, I am initiating a Coordinated Dark Shadows Watching Project, to start on January 15, when cousins will have had time to take down their holiday decorations and dig out their DVDs and tapes.  The plan is that all Project Participants will watch one pre-determined Dark Shadows episode per day on weekdays, starting as follows:

Monday, January 15:  Episode 210,  originally aired Monday, April 17, 1967
Tuesday, January 16:  Episode 211,  originally aired Tuesday, April 18, 1967
Wednesday, January 17:  Episode 212,  originally aired Wednesday, April 19, 1967
Thursday, January 18:  Episode 213,  originally aired Thursday, April 20, 1967
Friday, January 19:  Episode 214,  originally aired Friday, April 21, 1967
Monday, January 22:  Episode 215,  originally aired Monday, April 24, 1967
Tuesday, January 23:  Episode 216,  originally aired Tuesday, April 25, 1967
Wed., January 24:  Episode 217,  originally aired Wednesday, April 26, 1967
Thursday, January 25:  Episode 218,  originally aired Thursday, April 27, 1967
Friday, January 26:  Episode 219,  originally aired Friday, April 28, 1967

Project Participants will then discuss these episodes in this forum in an intelligent, refined, and morally uplifting fashion.  Or anyway, we'll discuss them.

If I had my druthers, the Project would start with Episode 1, but I don't have Episode 1, and it would set a dangerous precedent if the Project Initiator didn't have a clue what was going on.

I'm looking for five good fans and true to come forward and swear on their grandmother's thrice-robbed grave that, as Project Participants, they will watch the specified episodes on the specified days, or else they'll pretend to have watched them, so that I can be sure that the Project will get off to a good start.  The proper thing to do would be to offer a reward to the first five, but I don't have any firstborn Projects currently available for distribution.

Who's in?

[Lydia]

Bother.  I really and truly meant to put this in the Calendar Events/Announcements section.  The Project Initiator turns out to be incompetent.  Very dangerous precedent.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Actually, you're not incompetent at all because you did post it over there. I moved it over here because any discussions that might take place will take place over on this board. I know the CE/A board says it's for announcements, and that's certainly true when it comes to making announcements about other Web sites' updates, additions and projects. But since this would be discussing the DS storylines on this forum, that actually takes precedence, so that sort of announcement is better suited to this board. 


Sorry for the confusion. I probably should have left a redirection post...

[David]

I like this idea & will try to participate.

But I'd REALLY like to see us step up our efforts
to get reruns on SoapNet or TV Land, and to get a new series or new movies on Showtime.

David  

[Sunny_Collins]

What a great idea! I'll participate! 

[michael c]

I like this idea & will try to participate.

But I'd REALLY like to see us step up our efforts
to get reruns on SoapNet or TV Land, and to get a new series or new movies on Showtime.

speaking of soapnet...

i only recently realized that soapnet came with my cable package.i rarely ventured that high up on the remote.

i was always under the impression that it aired old soaps(hence the frequent talk of d.s. being aired there)but from what i can tell they rerun that day's episode of a given soap.over the weekend they rerun episodes from the previous week and they have an annoying talk show called "soap chat" or something to the like.

this came as a disappointment.in this era of dvr technology why does a network exist that reruns shows that only aired earlier that day?this doesn't make alot of sense to me.

if this is in fact the situation(perhaps they air old soaps late at night?)why do people think that they would ever air d.s.?

p.s. i may have already asked this question but i forget what the reply was.

[Raineypark]

The problem with SoapNet is that they have to run HOURS of episodes every day.  I'm not sure how many shows they are currently running, but they show all the episodes multiple times during the week.

It's mainly a chance for viewers to catch episodes they missed on the first run.  I, personally, would have thought that videotape had solved that problem....but perhaps everyone threw out their VCR's when they started buying DVD's.

In any case, there must SURELY be a slot somewhere in their schedule for a daily hour of DS....if there was only a way to convince them there was an audience that sponsors wanted......

[David]

Every morning they show reruns of Port Charles, Another World & Ryan's Hope. They show FOUR eps of PC a day.
Time for them to cut PC back to twice a day & show DS.
Both shows feature vampires, after all.

They do same day repeats of 5 current soaps, but do they need to show each episode 5 times over??????
They have room for DS, let's convince them!

David

[arashi]

*Raises hand* I'm in. I'll have to start on Wednesday though. I'm at work all day tomorrow with a meeting in the evening T_T

[rainingwolf]

Would love to do this! May I play, too, please?

[Lydia]

We have four brave volunteers:  David, Sunny Collins, arashi, and rainingwolf.  And the fifth will be.....?

I like this idea & will try to participate.

Remember, you have the option of pretending to have watched the day's episode.  "Great dialogue today!  And interesting camera angles!  I was simply glued  to my TV set!"

*Raises hand* I'm in. I'll have to start on Wednesday though. I'm at work all day tomorrow with a meeting in the evening T_T

Don't worry, the Project doesn't start for another couple of weeks.  This gives everybody ample time to cancel meetings, birthday parties, Caribbean vacations, children's music recitals, attendance at the deathbeds of filthy rich relatives, open-heart surgery, and anything else that might conceivably interfere with Project Participation.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Remember, you have the option of pretending to have watched the day's episode.  "Great dialogue today!  And interesting camera angles!  I was simply glued  to my TV set!"

But wouldn't that be cheating? 

Don't worry, the Project doesn't start for another couple of weeks.  This gives everybody ample time to cancel meetings, birthday parties, Caribbean vacations, children's music recitals, attendance at the deathbeds of filthy rich relatives, open-heart surgery, and anything else that might conceivably interfere with Project Participation.

Because, after all, what could possibly be more important than watching DS?! 

[Gothick]

What a cool idea--and how delicious to have refined discussions about the shows!  I'm willing to give it a shot.

As for SoapNet, the people I know who are into current television (as I think I have mentioned before, I've officially given up on it, although I just started watching a newish show called Life on Mars that a friend was kind enough to send me on videotape) all have TiVo, one of the forces pushing the VCR into the graveyard of the dinosaurs.  Knowing that they pour hundreds of dollars per month into the tube makes me feel almost virtuous when I occasionally buy a beloved series on DVD.

cheers, G.

[Lydia]

Hurrah!  The Project has its Initial Five!  I have no doubt that the names of David, Sunny Collins, arashi, rainingwolf, and Gothick will be forever honored in Dark Shadows history.  Anybody else interested?

But wouldn't that be cheating? 

No, because I stipulated:

they will watch the specified episodes on the specified days, or else they'll pretend to have watched them

Then again, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get the requisite five Participants if I made the rules too strict.  We may become more exclusive as time goes on.

[Satan]

Anybody else interested?

I'm gamed. I haven't watched my DS DVDs in a long time. I need something to get me back into them and this will be fun.


Regarding SoapNet. I read on another forum that Santa Barbara is going to the channel this July. It's supposed to replace Dallas. I don't know if it's a rumor or if it's actually happening, but people seem to believe it's true. I would like to see the show people claim was the best soap during its run.