1968

I appreciate the fact the writers didn't turn Barnabas into a goody-two-shoes once he became human again. He wasn't as evil as he had been as a vamp, but he wasn't really quite the same man he was back in 1795, before the curse.

All throughout the show I believe Barnabas was fighting an inner war within himself, between good and evil, that's what I always found fascinating about him. I can cheer for him and cry for him at times, other times I can be mad as hell at him and want to smack him upside his head. This to me is what made Barnabas such a fascinating character to me.

He could be very selfish, but he could also be caring and compassionate towards others.

Barnabas was a shades-of-gray type of character, not all good, not all evil. That's why I love him so.

the second Harry whose sole purpose was to [spoiler]bring his mother lightbulbs down to the cottage during the beginning of the Quentin-intro storline.[/spoiler]

How many Harry Johnsons does it take to change a lightbulb?

I appreciate the fact the writers didn't turn Barnabas into a goody-two-shoes once he became human again. He wasn't as evil as he had been as a vamp, but he wasn't really quite the same man he was back in 1795, before the curse.

All throughout the show I believe Barnabas was fighting an inner war within himself, between good and evil, that's what I always found fascinating about him. I can cheer for him and cry for him at times, other times I can be mad as hell at him and want to smack him upside his head. This to me is what made Barnabas such a fascinating character to me.

He could be very selfish, but he could also be caring and compassionate towards others.

Barnabas was a shades-of-gray type of character, not all good, not all evil. That's why I love him so.

Me too.  Exactly.  That's why I was hoping to see a 3-dimensional transition where we see the process where he goes from being twisted to having a real conscience.    

I think the daytime show did a better job of the good/evil nature struggle within Barnabas than the 1991 series.

[spoiler]In the revival series, Barnabas is evil and blood-thirsty one episode, then Julia offers to cure him and he becomes Mr. Nice Guy (at least until Julia causes him to revert due to her jealousy of his relationship with Victoria). He all too willingly trusts her completely almost imediately she offers to cure him....that wasn't the case in the daytime show. Barnabas allows Julia to do her experiments on him, but he clearly does NOT trust her and is always suspicious of her. I always found this more believable than the Barnabas/Julia lovey/dovey scenerio in the new show.[/spoiler]

BC becoming human was a glorious opportunity wasted.    His first healthy entry into Collinwood should have been as affecting as his first in 1967.   His new life should have been a wellspring of compelling scenes and moments.    It should have been part of what DS was about for awhile...

Word.

I think the daytime show did a better job of the good/evil nature struggle within Barnabas than the 1991 series.

[spoiler]... He all too willingly trusts her completely almost imediately she offers to cure him....that wasn't the case in the daytime show. ...[/spoiler]

No, but it was in hoDS, from which DC, um, "borrowed" heavily for the first four hours...

No, but it was in hoDS, from which DC, um, "borrowed" heavily for the first four hours...

Yeah you got a point there. HODS had the same problem of Barnabas trusting Julia too quickly, although for the most post I did like the movie.

I think that's another reason why I never quite warmed up to the 1991 series....instead of coming up with a new and original twist to the Barnabas story, Dan or the writers or both chose to remake bits and pieces of House of Dark Shadows at least in the first couple of episodes.

instead of coming up with a new and original twist to the Barnabas story, Dan or the writers or both chose to remake bits and pieces of House of Dark Shadows

Well, DC wanted the WB pilot to be a remake of hoDS.    Thankfully he was overruled.

but he himself admits to being a 'slow-study' and frankly, he never seemed to be the kind of actor who could 'think on his feet' and recover from a flub like say, Louie Edmonds can.

Louis was great but he didn't have the lines or presure that Jon had. 

I don't think "talent" had anything to do with it.  Frid's extensive experience with classical theatre training and performances were not useful when it came to doing DS.  One doesn't "wing" Shakespeare, nor does one "ad lib" it.  If Barnabas had ever had occasion to quote long passages of the Bard, I'm sure Frid would have been brilliant!

I don't think that DC really gave him very much time off show and appearances.

Ah, those were the days.  I love how they talk about Joe having to be in the hospital for "weeks."  In today's post-HMO world, you'd get - "How many fingers am I holding up?  One.  Right!  Send him home!"

This is so true 

Thank you for putting up with my comments on the 2 previous posts as comments.  But I do have one thought one thing hasn't really been talked about. Tom and Julia, Angelique the Vampire and Barn the Victom. Also I always wondered what happened to Adam. Was the connection lost when Barn went back in time.

My personal viewpoint is that the writers always wanted Barn to be the Vampire.   

I appreciate the fact the writers didn't turn Barnabas into a goody-two-shoes once he became human again. He wasn't as evil as he had been as a vamp, but he wasn't really quite the same man he was back in 1795, before the curse.  All throughout the show I believe Barnabas was fighting an inner war within himself, between good and evil, that's what I always found fascinating about him. I can cheer for him and cry for him at times, other times I can be mad as hell at him and want to smack him upside his head. This to me is what made Barnabas such a fascinating character to me.  He could be very selfish, but he could also be caring and compassionate towards others. Barnabas was a shades-of-gray type of character, not all good, not all evil. That's why I love him so.

TOTALLY agree!! 

BC becoming human was a glorious opportunity wasted.    His first healthy entry into Collinwood should have been as affecting as his first in 1967.   His new life should have been a wellspring of compelling scenes and moments.    It should have been part of what DS was about for awhile...

Ah, but we DO get [spoiler]that WONDERFUL scene in the hospital room w/Dr. Lang when he first sees the sun again after 175 years in the dark!  When he's on the balcony of his hospital room (how many hospitals have BALCONY'S on their rooms?!  LOL!) he's almost giddy like a little boy on Christmas, seeing and enjoying the sunlight, and I'd venture the WARMTH of the sun again.[/spoiler]

Thank you for putting up with my comments on the 2 previous posts as comments.  But I do have one thought one thing hasn't really been talked about. Tom and Julia, Angelique the Vampire and Barn the Victom. Also I always wondered what happened to Adam. Was the connection lost when Barn went back in time.

My personal viewpoint is that the writers always wanted Barn to be the Vampire.   

Well, to paraphrase Frid when he appeared on What's My Line, I think the writers knew what side their bread was buttered on; a tortured vampire is a lot more ratings friendly than a human with spikey bangs and relationship issues

As for you other points..... well, IMHO, Tom the Vampire was HHHHHHOOOTTT!  [spoiler]Whoowee, and Julia may have agonized about it when she wasn't with him, but unlike Jeff, Joe and Barn with Ang, she was soo sultry and pliant when she was with T the V.[/spoiler]

Ang:  [spoiler]I don't think it's ever made entirely clear but I think she stays in the netherworld with Diabolos and Nicholas.  Perhaps she gets to torture Blair?  And things may have been left hanging deliberately to maintain suspense and Barn may revert or Ang come back for him.  Barn the victim (again not explained in the show) seems to recover from his thrall to A the V, as it seems does Joe.  Either Nicholas freed them off screen, or after a period of time with no renewed contact, the thrall fades.[/spoiler]

Adam: [spoiler]I always got the impression that Adam might have made a comeback the way he was written out, with Stokes sending him away to have his scars removed and commenting on need a new project.  But he was never mentioned again.  I surmise that off screen Stokes supervised his higher education and the creation of papers to make Adam legit.  Perhaps one of the few Collinsport residents to actually have something approaching a "happily ever after."  

One does wonder what the effect is on Adam when Barn goes galivanting across time and parallel universes.  Again this is pure supposition, but I wonder if Adam died when Barn became a vampire again during the leviathan affair.  Since Ang's Dream curse didn't work and Barn survived, perhaps we may take it as read that Barn becomeing a vampire again means Adam must have died (indirectly) at the hands of the Leviathans?[/spoiler]

I daresay that Adam and Barnabas' tie was severed during all his time traveling. In 1897 and 1840 he had body switches.

[spoiler]When he went to 1897 his life force left his body in 1967/8 and then went back in time to enter his old, 1897 vampire self. So, who's to say that when Angelique did that whole doppleganger deal that she didn't take Barnabas' vampire essence (or at least part of it anyway) and use that to be the doppleganger, thereby negating the whole bond between he and Adam. Or when the Leviathans turned him back into a vampire after he was human (like Nelson said), that could have double negated his bond with Adam.[/spoiler]

After all, with all of his body switching and time-jumping, who knows where the original 1960s Barnabas is. I can just imagine him sitting down all his other selves and writing on a chalkboard "Here's what you need to know if you go back to the present instead of me:

1. Julia is in love with me, and I don't show my feelings towards her. Let's keep it this way until Angelique decides that she loves me.

2. Angelique and I are enemies, except for the times that we decide to like/love one another and work together.

3. Vicki Winters and Maggie Evans are MINE, not yours, so keep your mitts off. I'll find my way back to them someday.

4. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE. YOU MUST LISTEN TO DR. LANG'S TAPE NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU'VE HEARD IT BEFORE, YOU MUST PLAY IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN OR YOU'LL DIE."