Dr Lange's length of stay

[Julia99]

****SPOILER******

Does anyone know much about the character Lange or the actor, was he to stay longer?  Did the actor want out, did everyone (cast and audience) hate him?  In all, he's only around for about 1 month of episodes. . .and then they go back to Julia being "superdoc". . .wonder if that was the plan all along or if something changed??

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Does anyone know much about the character Lange or the actor, was he to stay longer?

Doubtful.

did everyone (cast and audience) hate him? In all, he's only around for about 1 month of episodes

Why would they (particularly the cast) hate him?! Granted, the majority of Addison Powell's performance is far from subtle - but is that a reason to hate someone? Consider the fact that the directors could have reigned him in if they'd wanted to. And it's extremely doubtful that any audience reaction could have changed the direction of a storyline that quickly - just look how long it took audience reaction to change Leviathans.

wonder if that was the plan all along

That's pretty much a safe bet.

[Julia99]

Why would they (particularly the cast) hate him?! . . . .
And it's extremely doubtful that any audience reaction could have changed the direction of a storyline that quickly - just look how long it took audience reaction to change Leviathans.

Originally I was just joking but really. . Dr. Lange so quickly entered and exited that obviously someone wasn't pleased with what his character was doing, so the actor was not kept.

Also, I don't wish to be contrary, but they changed the plans for Barnabas and Julia pretty quick in response to audience reaction. . .so I think its a legitimate question.

[Luciaphile]

My guess is that Lang was slated all along as a throwaway character.  Unlike Barnabas or Julia, there was nothing remotely attractive about him, so he proceeded to the chopping block as scheduled.

Just an educated guess.

Luciaphil

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Dr. Lange so quickly entered and exited that obviously someone wasn't pleased with what his character was doing, so the actor was not kept.

I don't pretend to really know much about what Addison Powell's standing was with DS at this point, but he'd already been working on and off on DS for four months - first as the voice of Jeremiah's ghost, then as Judge Matigan (who wouldn't represent Vicki), then as Jeremiah's voice again, and then Dr Lang. Apparently someone liked him.  And let's not forget that he returned again during the 1840 storyline as Judge Wiley.

Also, I don't wish to be contrary, but they changed the plans for Barnabas and Julia pretty quick in response to audience reaction. . .so I think its a legitimate question.

I understand what you're saying. But the point you made about Lang was he was only on the show about a month. Comparing his stay to what happened with Julia isn't quite the same because at the point Julia had been on the show for only a month she had barely arrived at Collinwood and had just about met Barnabas.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Unlike Barnabas or Julia, there was nothing remotely attractive about him, so he proceeded to the chopping block as scheduled.

Just an educated guess.

And a very good one.

[VAM]

Also, I don't wish to be contrary, but they changed the plans for Barnabas and Julia pretty quick in response to audience reaction. . .so I think its a legitimate question.

I don't think the audience was a factor in the decision making of Dan Curtis. He did exactly what he wanted....

[Julia99]

I don't think the audience was a factor in the decision making of Dan Curtis. He did exactly what he wanted....

Touche!

[Luciaphile]

I don't think the audience was a factor in the decision making of Dan Curtis. He did exactly what he wanted....

On the other hand . . . he apparently gave Quentin love interests based on whose name got put up on a wall by fans.  

And the relunctant vampire was not his conception at all--it was only because it proved so popular with the fans that they kept that.  

Luciaphil

[jennifer]

Like Luciaphil sad he was just a throw away character
they already had a MD in Julia and it probably was in their minds  she would take over after he was written out i don't think anyone cared he was annoying It's easier to write out a character that is!

jennifer

Hey love this spell check Thanks MB and Midnite!

[VAM]

On the other hand . . . he apparently gave Quentin love interests based on whose name got put up on a wall by fans.  .  

Luciaphil

Do you really believe that nonsense?

I still say that Curtis does what he wants. The vampire thing just worked into his favor. Popular demand would have put some of the original cast in the 90's Series. Did you see it done???

[ROBINV]

I also think Lang was intended to be a "bullseye" character, although one of longer duration.  He was probably told by Curtis and Co. to go with that mad doctor characterization and take it to the hilt.  He also wanted Barnabas to open his mouth ridiculously WIDE so fans could see the fangs therein.

Methinks Curtis himself is an over-the-top kind of guy who wants everything done that way.  Subtlety isn't his strong suit, is it?

In seriousness, I find Powell's acting method so different from everyone else's that it gives every scene he's in a strange flavor--and not a good taste!  He could have toned things down and still come across as sinister.

Love, Robin

[Luciaphile]

Do you really believe that nonsense?

I still say that Curtis does what he wants. If you heard him talk at the William Paley Featival, you could see he was the person in charge. The vampire thing just worked into his favor. Popular demand would have put some of the original cast in the 90's Series. Did you see it done???

Curtis had an enormous amount of control over the show, but he still made concessions to audience or network demands.  

Roger was initially slated to be killed off (I refer here to the pre-Barnabas stuff), but proved so popular that they kept him on.  The same thing happened with Julia and Barnabas.   That's conceding to audience demand.  

You'll note that in both HODS and the 1990s series, Barnabas is a much colder, ruthless characterization.  And according to several interviews I've read with writers and directors, this was Curtis' preference.   The popularity of the character took off, however, and he went with it.  

By the time of the 1990s series, the original fan base had eroded in numbers.  Yes, there are a lot of us, but not enough to keep the ratings as high as they needed to be.  He was obviously looking for a larger fan base.  The whole approach to the new show was markedly different from the old one.  

Going with what the majority of your viewers want during a show's progression is a little different from reaching down to the diehards who used to watch your program.

I'm sure the man was/is very much in charge of a lot of things, but he doesn't exist in a vacuum (sp?).  

Luciaphil

[mfmdpt]

Methinks Curtis himself is an over-the-top kind of guy who wants everything done that way.  Subtlety isn't his strong suit, is it?

Which probably explains how RD could have been Curtis' favorite DS actor.

[mfmdpt]

By the time of the 1990s series, the original fan base had eroded in numbers.  Yes, there are a lot of us, but not enough to keep the ratings as high as they needed to be.

I've posted this before so forgive me for repeating myself, but what I find most fascinating about the ratings for the '91 series is that if it were aired today and still pulled in the numbers it did in '91, it would routinely be ranking in the Neilsen top 30, even on its lowest viewed week, which was the 3/15/91 ep, which pulled in 11.4 million viewers. Also, the '91 series pulled in Friday's largest 18-49 demographic, which seems to be more important to networks nowadays than ratings even are.

It's also interesting to note that in '96 the head of programming at NBC, Warren Littlefield, admitted to Curtis that he'd made a mistake in canceling DS, and he wanted Curtis to revive the show as a series of made-for-TV movies, something similar to what NBC had been doing with Perry Mason. However, Curtis told Littlefield that he wasn't interested - quite possibly because he still felt burned by Littlefield's treatment of DS after Brandon Tartikoff, who was the show's biggest supporter, left NBC.

He was obviously looking for a larger fan base.

That's certainly true.