Announcing the Coordinated Dark Shadows Watching Project!

Well, I'm not one of the original five volunteers, but I would LOVE to participate!   The only negative thing is I might be a little late with my posts.     (I'm always late... In fact, someone recently told me I would be late to my own funeral!) 

----- Sally -----
 

Count me in. Especially since you're starting off with a Willie episode.

I will do my best to participate!!!  I also have screen grabs and collages for all the episodes especially the ones after #209!!!  If it's ok with the mods, maybe I'll upload some during the discussions to add some "color".  

This is great!  I wish I'd hadn't put the start date so far into the future, but it would confuse matters unnecessarily to change it now.

If it's ok with the mods, maybe I'll upload some during the discussions to add some "color".

Well many of the Robservations already have screen captures posted in them - and I've been meaning to go back and add captures to the ones that don't. This project would be the perfect opportunity for me to do just that.    And it would probably be a good idea to link each day's discussion to its accompanying Roberservations because that way people who aren't actually watching the episodes because they don't have the time or they don't own them won't have to completely "pretend" or "cheat" because they'll have the Robservations to read and fall back on. 

However, dsbarnabasfan, that's not to say that if you have a particular capture (or two) of a scene (or scenes) that you notice is (are) not covered in the Robservations, you couldn't post it to the discussion topic. In fact, I think that would be quite nice because I limit myself to only highlighting about four scenes from each episode for the Robservations.

This is great!  I wish I'd hadn't put the start date so far into the future, but it would confuse matters unnecessarily to change it now.

I'm kind of glad you did set it for a later date. I'm in the middle of finishing up two shows right now. Are we going to do this on all of the Barnabas episodes, or just the ones you listed in the first post? If we do all the episodes, it would be neat if sometime in the future we could do two episodes a day. It'll be like watching DS on regular TV again. Fans watching and then coming to the forums to talk about it.

Are we going to do this on all of the Barnabas episodes, or just the ones you listed in the first post?

When we get near the end of the episodes I've listed, I'll list the next ten, with dates.  It should be sort of obvious what they'll be, but it might make it easier for those not already involved.

If we do all the episodes, it would be neat if sometime in the future we could do two episodes a day.

There's a lot to be said for watching two episodes a day - the most obvious point being that on one episode a day, five days a week, we won't have watched all the episodes until 2011.  I did have reasons, though, for limiting it one episode:
1)  I didn't want to ask people to commit nearly an hour a day to this.  I am dimly aware that some people on this forum have lives outside it.
2)  I've been watching one episode per day, 365 days a year, for nearly two years now, and what sticks in my mind is that, although in the end one remembers just the highlights, every episode is worthy of consideration on its own.  (Well, I can think of one or two where I thought, "NOT the best day on Dark Shadows", but that's not bad for two years of watching.)
3)  I like the idea of having the Friday cliffhangers happen on Friday, with the weekend to think about them, as we did when the show was first aired.  If we continue with this, sometime around September there will be a day off for Thanksgiving 1967, and we will observe that day, and eat turkey and watch football games, in order to keep the Friday cliffhangers happening on Friday.

I am only the Project Initiator, not the Project Dictator.  (And if anybody wants to make a power grab, I won't stop them.  Too lazy.)  If the general consensus is that two episodes a day would be better, I shall bow to the will of the masses.

If we continue with this, sometime around September there will be a day off for Thanksgiving 1967, and we will observe that day, and eat turkey and watch football games

Ooh, Thanksgiving two months early and then again when it really takes place. Sounds good to me! 

Unfortunately (?), I'm going to be taking a trip to Europe for the first three weeks of February, so I won't be able to participate for awhile.  But I've already gotten a head start of sorts, since I stated watching Volume 1 a few weeks ago and am already at the end of disc 2.  I'll keep going till I leave and try to be caught up for when I get back to the states in late February.

This is a fantastic idea, by the way.  Really cool.

If it's ok with the mods, maybe I'll upload some during the discussions to add some "color".

Well many of the Robservations already have screen captures posted in them - and I've been meaning to go back and add captures to the ones that don't. This project would be the perfect opportunity for me to do just that.    And it would probably be a good idea to link each day's discussion to its accompanying Roberservations because that way people who aren't actually watching the episodes because they don't have the time or they don't own them won't have to completely "pretend" or "cheat" because they'll have the Robservations to read and fall back on. 

However, dsbarnabasfan, that's not to say that if you have a particular capture (or two) of a scene (or scenes) that you notice is (are) not covered in the Robservations, you couldn't post it to the discussion topic. In fact, I think that would be quite nice because I limit myself to only highlighting about four scenes from each episode for the Robservations.

I won't do it here but on my list, I post the Robservations, with Robin's permission, with a slideshow of screen grabs I made for that episode.  Then we discuss it among the members.  Sort of like what you all have planned here.  I'd love to see a larger group of people do this too.

I have a question. What time of day are we to watch the episodes?

I have a question. What time of day are we to watch the episodes?

I hadn't thought about it.  I suppose if we all watched at the same time, it might create the sort of psychic energy that would compel Soapnet to start showing Dark Shadows, and other wondrous things might happen as well.  Unfortunately, my work schedule is such that on certain days the only time available to me will be 9am Eastern time, and I imagine that West Coast watchers would have trouble generating psychic energy at 6am Pacific time.  So if a Coordinated Time is chosen, I doubt I'll be observing it faithfully.

By the way, when I chose January 15 as the first day, I forgot that it is also Martin Luther King Day.  I've been trying to think of some tasteful connection between the two events, but haven't had any success.

Reminder: On Monday we begin with Episode 210!  Get ready to cheer Willie on in his tireless quest for ill-gotten gains!

Just a reminder - unnecessary, I'm sure - that on Saturday and Sunday, instead of forging on to episodes 215 and 216, we rest, and spend the weekend in dreamy contemplation of the previous week's glories and the coming week's possibilities.

Just a reminder - unnecessary, I'm sure - that on Saturday and Sunday, instead of forging on to episodes 215 and 216, we rest, and spend the weekend in dreamy contemplation of the previous week's glories and the coming week's possibilities.

I'll drink to that. "hic"